Bill sucked the air between his teeth as he weighed it up. ‘Depends on the transport. Getting to North Wales is the easy part; getting to the farm where she’s working will be a lot harder. A taxi from the train station will probably cost you an arm and a leg, so you’d have to bus it. Even so, I very much doubt it would take you more than a couple of days from here, so the answer is yes, you could make it there and back. Don’t forget you’ll have to clear it with the folk she’s staying with, only I shouldn’t imagine there’s a B&B nearby, nor a hotel come to that.’

‘I could stay in a tent?’ suggested Felix, causing both Alan and Bill to break into laughter.

‘In December? You’d freeze yer knackers off!’ Bill spluttered.

‘An igloo,’ chuckled Alan, ‘that’d be a better bet.’

‘Just how far away is it?’ said Felix.

‘Like Alan said,’ replied Bill, ‘she’s in the mountains. It’s not so much distance as height, if you get my meaning?’

Felix nodded slowly. ‘But the mail takes for ever. I never got any of your letters and you only got one of mine. I know Australia’s a lot further, but even so, it’ll take time, and that’s the one thing I’ve not got.’

Bill was rubbing the newly formed stubble on his chin. ‘You could always send a telegram, that’d be a lot quicker.’

Felix beamed. ‘Of course! Why didn’t I think of that?’

‘Because you’re too busy gettin’ your knickers in a twist, and not thinkin’ straight,’ said Alan, ‘that’s what women do to you.’ He turned to find he was talking to thin air – Felix had already left.

Roz stared at the boy who stood in the doorway to the kitchen. ‘A telegram? Are you sure it’s for me?’

The young boy waved the telegram at her. ‘If you’re Rozalin Sachs, then yes, this is a telegram for you,’ he said slowly and loudly, as if Roz couldn’t understand English.

Too scared to take the telegram, Roz looked at Mabel. ‘There are only two people who know I’m here, Bill and Alan. Why would they send me a telegram? I can’t imagine it being anything good. After all, we know there’s only one kind of news that gets delivered by telegram during wartime.’

Heulwyn took the telegram from the boy and handed it to Roz. ‘This lad’s got places to be; best you read it quick in case you need to send a reply.’

Roz pulled herself together and read the contents whilst everyone around her looked on with bated breath.

‘It’s Felix,’ she whispered, her heart racing with relief, ‘he’s back in Liverpool and wants to know if he can see me before he goes off for training.’