She kept up a bright chatter while helping the girl to sort out her kit. ‘Where are you from?’

‘Nottingham.’ Edith’s voice was no more than a whisper.

‘Oh, that’s not too far away. You should be able to get home on leave quite easily.’

The girl bent her head again and did not reply. Kate had the feeling that perhaps she had said the wrong thing.

Isobel’s complaining voice rose again. ‘Where’s the bathroom?’

Now Mavis did laugh outright. ‘Where on earth did you do your basic training – the Ritz?’

Isobel shot her a vitriolic glance, sat down on her bed and crossed her shapely legs. She was wearing silk stockings, Kate noticed. She doubted if even their easy-going corporal would let Isobel get away with that! From her pocket, Isobel pulled out what looked like a silver cigarette case, opened it, extracted a cigarette and lit it, inhaling deeply.

‘Actually,’ she drawled, ‘we were in an hotel – in Harrogate. At least it was civilized. When we went to the place for our R/T training it was very basic – to say the least! But I thought this would be different. I mean, it’s a newly built station.’

Kate couldn’t stop herself trotting out the well-worn phrase that was used as an excuse for every short-coming. ‘There is a war on, you know . . .’ She paused and then added with delicious delight, ‘Cartwright!’

Isobel glared at her and instantly Kate regretted drawing her old enemy’s attention to her. But Mavis took up the cudgels. ‘New it may be, but I suppose they had to get the place banged up and operational as quickly as possible. The new squadron arrives tomorrow complete with Manchesters.’

Kate’s interest sharpened. ‘Really?’ According to something her stepfather had said at Christmas, Danny could be on Manchesters. ‘Where are they coming from? What squadron is it?’

‘How should I know?’ Mavis laughed and added teasingly. ‘You should be able to get all the info – after all, you’re closest to the CO.’

‘That’s true,’ she murmured, her mind racing.

‘Close to the CO? How come?’ Isobel was watching her with renewed interest.

‘She’s the CO’s personal driver,’ Mavis told them with a tinge of reflected importance. ‘Hand-picked, she was.’

‘Really?’

Kate glanced up to see Isobel watching her. On the girl’s face there was a rather calculating expression and something else too. Could there possibly be a tinge of respect, Kate thought in surprise. But then, she reminded herself, Isobel Cartwright hasn’t realized just who I am – yet!

*

More WAAFs arrived over the next two days and soon their hut was fully occupied, with the corporal in charge of them sleeping in the small single room just off the entrance into the hut. After a couple of days they were gradually getting used to being with girls from different parts of the country – from all walks of life.