Danny nodded. ‘That’s true, of course. But I know we’ve only just begun to settle down as a family again, and now something else happens to turn everything upside down.’

Kitty’s expression was rueful. ‘That’s war, though, isn’t it? You never know what you’ll be called upon to do. Besides, it won’t be for ever.’

Danny got up, draining his tea. ‘Let’s go over and tell Tommy, and then Dolly and Pop can hear it at the same time.’

As he and Kitty reached for their jackets, he admitted to himself that they could tell Sarah too. He didn’t know what she’d think. He knew he’d miss her – their regular talks, the way she quietly helped out behind the scenes, how much he’d come to rely on her steady friendship as a constant in his day-to-day life. There was nothing to be done, though. He had to go.

Kitty ran her hands through her curls, shielding her face from Danny. She couldn’t let his news rattle her. Her thoughts had flown to Alfie and the sly way he’d looked at her. Danny wouldn’t be around to protect her from any more unwelcome threats from the horrible man. She’d just have to be careful. Anyway, that incident outside the station had been an accident; he hadn’t planned it, and she shouldn’t go worrying over something that most likely wasn’t going to happen. She certainly shouldn’t worry Danny about it. Their job now was to reassure Tommy. Kitty picked up her handbag and they headed out to break Danny’s exciting news to the others.

‘What time shall I meet you, Patty?’ asked the Wren with the tight brown curls, calling across the yard to her friend.

‘Better make it seven thirty,’ Patty shouted back, locking the door on the black car she’d been driving American officers around in all day. ‘Don’t suppose we need to ask you, do we?’ she said pointedly to Laura. ‘I dare say you’ve got something far better arranged for this evening. Whatever we do, it won’t be good enough for the likes of you.’ Without waiting for a reply she strode across the yard to Patty, little puffs of dust rising into the air from her brisk footprints.

Laura sighed but made no move to follow the two young women, now glancing back over their shoulders and laughing in a deliberate way so that they knew she’d see and hear them. They were trying her patience, but she wouldn’t let them realise how annoying she found them. That would be exactly what they wanted. They were being childish, and so she had to do the decent thing and act like an adult around them. She was barely older than they were, but she felt at least twice their age.