‘Bollocks . . .’ Shelly said, then laughed. ‘And if we don’t move ourselves, the owners will return to find the cats still have theirs.’

Eve giggled. ‘OK, I get it, change the subject, but I’m not giving up,’ she promised.

*

Shelly and Eve became friends in school but lost touch when Eve studied in Liverpool and Shelly at Oxford. They became partners in the veterinary business, and got on tremendously well. Quite remarkable for two opposite people.

Eve was all glamour and high-maintenance. She would never admit to being past thirty-five, and due to the Botox, hyaluronic acid, lash and nail extensions and laser treatments, she looked less than thirty. She knew every new exercise regime, diet, and fashion trend, and had built-in radar for detecting wealthy, handsome men from a hundred metres.

Shelly, on the other hand, was not interested in her looks, men, or fashion. Shelly was an achiever. She collected skills, certificates, and awards like Eve collected lipsticks and perfumes.

*

That evening, when her father had gone to bed, Shelly opened the door of the spare room and surveyed the contents. There were boxes everywhere. It seemed like a mammoth task but if she did one box each evening, six would be gone by Sunday. She lifted a large shoe box off the Lloyd Loom bedside cabinet, took it downstairs, and used a damp cloth to wipe away a thick layer of dust. That box would do to start with. Probably full of rubbish for the bin.

She lifted the lid, puzzled by the contents at first, then she recognised the ancient cassette player and collection of tapes. It had belonged to her great-grandmother, Gran Gertie. The tapes were labelled THE MEMOIRS OF GERTIE SMITH: TAPE 1,2, and so on.

She plugged it in, loaded cassette one, and pressed play.

Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

GERTIE

Dover, 1990.

MY NAME IS GERTIE SMITH, and I’m recording my life story on these cassette tapes for my darling family, especially Margarete and Shelly, my granddaughter and great-granddaughter. After a happy life at White Cottage, I’m now living at The Gables Retirement Home, in Dover. I’ve been blessed with great love in my life, and also some heartbreaking sadness. You will learn that where there’s passion there’s pain, especially regarding those we hold dear. I hope by telling you my story, showing you what I overcame, I might give you a little extra strength when you need it. I found the most difficult thing we have to learn in life, is to let go. Let go of guilt, anger, and blame; and the hardest of all is to let go of those we love, my darlings. But this is something we must do, for their sakes, and ours.

My story starts on Wednesday, 5 August 1914, with the outbreak of the First World War, though we called it the Great War in my day.