‘It can’t be that time already, surely,’ Livvy remarked as she glanced around. ‘It feels like we only just got here.’

‘Ah well, you know what they say – “time flies when you’re having fun”.’

She opened her mouth to pass some icy remark but then seeing the mischief twinkling in his eyes she promptly closed it again. Much as she hated to admit it, he had been very good company, although she would never have told him so.

They trailed through the streets of Lincoln with the rest of the crowd to the pick-up point and as they made their way across the treacherously slippery pavements it seemed the most natural thing in the world to hook her arm through his again.

‘I’ve enjoyed tonight,’ he told her as they jolted their way back to the camp in the jeep. ‘Perhaps we could do it again on our next night off?’

‘Perhaps.’ She answered in an off-hand manner, but in actual fact she had enjoyed herself just as much as he had, not that she would ever admit it, not even to herself.

For the next few days they saw little of each other except to say hello occasionally in the canteen. But Livvy was aware that he was flying most days and she found that it bothered her. And then one evening as she was coming off duty, she found him waiting for her with a grave look on his face.

‘Hello, is anything wrong?’ Just one glance at his face told her that something was amiss.

‘There is actually,’ he answered, taking her elbow and drawing her into the shadows. ‘I’ve had a letter from grandad today and … Well, I don’t quite know how to tell you this, but young Bobby ran away from Treetops when he heard about all the bombings in London on the radio. He went to check on his family, I dare say, only to find when he got there that they had died in an air raid. But that’s not the worst of it, unfortunately. Poor Bobby was killed too. They think he was probably trying to get back, but he got caught in a raid with his little dog just near the station. It seems they were both killed instantly when a wall collapsed on them.’

‘Oh no!’ Tears sprang to Livvy’s eyes as her hand rose to cover her mouth. ‘The poor little scrap.’

Giles nodded. ‘Apparently Grandad arranged to have his body taken back to Treetops and he’s going to be buried in Mancetter churchyard in two days’ time. He says in the letter that he felt it was the least he could do for little Bobby.’