‘Don’t make me repeat it,’ Isobel snapped, her tone returning to normal almost immediately. ‘It’s embarrassing enough for me to say it once!’

‘Oh – er – yes.’ Mavis was floundering, her plump cheeks turning pink. ‘Well – you don’t need to say anything, Isobel. We all help each other.’

‘Well,’ Isobel said, slightly mollified. ‘I just wanted you to know I appreciate it, that’s all.’

Kate listened to the interchange in amazement. Was Isobel Cartwright actually beginning to behave like a human being?

Mavis, still embarrassed, glanced towards the door as it opened and several girls came in, Edith amongst them. With relief at being given the chance to change the subject, Mavis called, ‘What’s the weather like, Edith? Is this fog going to lift?’

Edith came towards them, shaking her head. ‘No. It looks like it’s here for a couple of days at least. All aircraft are grounded. There won’t be any operations and,’ she smiled and Kate thought immediately how pretty Edith was when she lost her frightened-mouse look, ‘ . . . there shouldn’t be any air-raids from the other side either.’

‘Oh, Edith – you clever old thing!’ Kate clapped her hands. Edith’s cheeks were pink with pleasure as if she were being given the credit for having personally arranged the blanket of fog that lay over the strangely silent airfield. During the last few weeks, the girl had blossomed. Her short hair now gleamed glossily and curled prettily around her face which was not so white and pinched. She was still shy, but thanks to the efforts of Kate and Mavis, she was now included in all the activities and the humiliation surrounding her arrival was forgotten.

‘She’s not the only one to get nits!’ Mavis had said in her blunt, matter-of-fact manner. ‘My mother travelled home from London once in a filthy railway carriage and somehow, she got ’em. She nearly went mad! You should have seen us – she had us washing our hair every day for a fortnight – the whole family. Me dad threatened to shave his all off, if she carried on.’ Mavis guffawed at the memory.

Isobel had said nothing, but even she made no more sarcastic remarks to Edith, and whilst she made no effort to befriend the girl, she made no objections when Mavis and Kate included Edith in what was fast becoming a foursome.

‘So are we all getting a forty-eight-hour?’ Isobel drawled now at the news.

‘No – but almost as good as.’ Mavis’s eyes sparkled.

‘Come on, Mave,’ Kate said, ‘we can see you’re dying to tell us something.’

‘The lads said if the fog didn’t lift, they’d put on a dance in the Officers’ Mess tomorrow night and we’re all invited.’

There were whoops of delight and even Isobel’s eyes gleamed.

‘Back to earth, girls,’ someone shouted from the end of the hut near the door. ‘Stand by your beds. They’re coming – kit inspection!’