Kitty nodded. ‘Foxy was telling me that they’re digging trenches for the men to shelter in, in France, and they say the conditions they are existing in are appalling.’ Out of the corner of her eye she saw Tallulah disappearing off under her bed with yet another of her shoes then and she immediately chased after her. This was the second pair her puppy would have ruined in a week if she didn’t manage to rescue it.

‘Naughty girl,’ she scolded as she retrieved the shoe, undamaged this time, but she then followed up the telling-off with a kiss on Tallulah’s silky head. She loved the little dog unconditionally now and couldn’t imagine being without her no matter what damage she caused.

‘You spoil that dog,’ Maggie commented, although truthfully she was just as guilty of doing the very same thing.

‘That’s what you have dogs for, to spoil them,’ Kitty replied philosophically. For most of the time they avoided speaking of what happened on the nights she entertained Richard’s acquaintances now. Kitty knew how much it upset Maggie and tried to avoid the subject.

‘Do you think we might end up with certain things being rationed?’ she asked Maggie then.

Her friend nodded. ‘I can’t see how it can be avoided. Once the German warships start patrolling the British coast, lots of things that come in from abroad are not going to be able to get through, are they? I think clothing might be hard to find too. Most of the clothes factories have already pledged to sew uniforms for the forces for the duration of the war, so it stands to reason that there aren’t going to be so many fashionable outfits available in the shops.’

The girls lapsed into silence then, until Kitty took Tallulah down into the garden to see Arthur and have her usual runabout.

She found the lad in a sombre mood and asked, ‘Where’s that cheeky smile then? Is something wrong, Arthur?’

He looked up and bit his lip before admitting, ‘I’ve gone an’ upset me mum, though I didn’t intend to.’

‘Really? What have you done that’s so bad?’

‘I, err … I went and joined up yesterday an’ she’s bin cryin’ her eyes out.’

‘You did what?’ Kitty gasped. ‘But you aren’t old enough to enlist.’

‘I am … nearly,’ he answered sullenly. ‘I just told ’em a bit of a white lie about me age, that’s all. But a few months is neither here nor there, is it?’

‘Oh, Arthur.’ Kitty stared at him. He was at that curious age where he was neither a boy nor yet a man, but all arms and gangly legs, and Kitty felt almost as upset at his news as his mother was. She looked forward to seeing his happy smiling face each day and knew that she would miss him. Tallulah would too.

‘Is there no way you could get out of it?’ she asked then and he looked horrified at the suggestion.