Chapters (52)
- Cover
- Margaret Dickinson
- Dedication page
- Contents
- Part One
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Part Two
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Sow the Seed
- Note
- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
- Copyright page
Kate smiled. What a character! She’d been lucky to pal up with Mavis, she thought, as she heaved her kit-bag on to her back and made for another platform to catch her connection to Lynthorpe.
Seven whole days, she thought, with Christmas in the middle. And Danny is sure to be getting leave at the same time, she told herself.
She couldn’t wait to get home to see him.
Twenty-Two
‘He’s not here, lovey.’
‘Not – not here? But – he – he must be. He must be getting leave at the end of his training like me, surely? And it’s Christmas too!’
Sadly, Beth shook her head as she pulled open the back door wider, silently inviting Kate in. Although it was warm in the kitchen, Kate pushed her hands deeper still into the pockets of her greatcoat, hunching her shoulders.
Suddenly, she felt very cold.
The train journey home had seemed interminable. Standing on draughty platforms, waiting for connections, and then the train had chugged along at what seemed to Kate an inordinately slow pace.
And now Danny was not here.
‘Do you know when he’s coming?’
Beth shook her head, laying out cups on the table and mashing a pot of tea. ‘All I know is he’s having extra training so he can fly.’
‘Fly! Oh no. He’s not going to be a pilot, is he?’
A frown creased Beth’s brow. ‘No – but he’s going to be part of the crew on – on bombers. He said he was going to be – now, what was it? “A tail-end Charlie”, that was it.’
Kate sat down suddenly as her legs gave way. ‘A rear-gunner – and on bombers!’ Kate whispered, then her voice rose shrilly. ‘He – he’ll be flying over enemy territory. He’ll – he’ll . . .’
The sight of Beth’s white face stilled Kate’s outburst and she swallowed hard. She stood up suddenly and went to the older woman, putting her arms about her. Beth laid her head against Kate’s shoulder. ‘Oh, Kate, I couldn’t bear it if – if . . .’
The two women clung together in their mutual fear for Danny’s safety.
A little later when she left the Elands’ cottage, Kate felt too restless to return home. She set off across the marsh towards the Spit, walking the full length of the promontory of land. She stood at its tip, letting her gaze travel around the expanse of water. The wind whipped across the sea, making the waves choppy, the surface like a huge sheet of corrugated iron. It was grey and cold and so lonely, especially without Danny.