‘I’d love to,’ breathed Rita. ‘Come on,’ she said, tugging on his arm. ‘What are you waiting for?’

Peter Ryan grinned at Peggy’s concerned expression. ‘No worries, missus; reckon she’ll be right. Catch you later.’

Peggy anxiously followed them down the path with Cordelia and Ivy trailing behind her. She stood at the gate and watched Rita abandon her crutches and settle on the seat behind the Australian, her damaged leg stretched out so her foot rested on his thigh.

Peggy’s heart was beating faster than usual as the engine roared, Rita put her arms about his waist, and they went hurtling down the alley at what looked like breakneck speed before shooting out onto the main road and roaring up the hill.

‘He’ll get her killed,’ fretted Cordelia tearfully. ‘You should have stopped them, Peggy.’

‘I wish I had,’ she replied on a tremulous breath. ‘But you know Rita when she sets her mind on something. Nothing will shift her.’

‘Rita knows what she’s doing,’ soothed Ivy. ‘And so does he, ’cos he told us ’e used to do a lot of dirt-track racing back in Darwin.’

‘But not with a girl on the back with a broken leg,’ snapped Peggy. ‘I shall be having a strong word with the pair of them when they get home.’

But Peggy never did read them the riot act, for when the Australian brought Rita home a couple of hours later, the girl had been glowing and unscathed from her risky adventure, which made Peggy realise it had been just what she’d needed to lift her spirits.

However, she did still worry about this new friendship, and as she closed the door on the cheerful young man and returned to the kitchen to make the evening cocoa, she began to gently probe Rita about him.

‘What’s an Australian doing up at Cliffe aerodrome?’ she asked as they sat in the quiet kitchen. ‘I thought most of them had been sent to the Middle East or out into the Pacific.’

Rita’s laughing eyes regarded her over the rim of her mug. ‘He’s done more than his share of flying ops, so he’s been ordered back to train up new pilots and have a break from combat duties.’ She sipped the cocoa. ‘He was shot down twice, saw his brother and best mate killed, and although he won’t admit it, he’s exhausted and on the edge of losing his nerve.’

‘He seems quite gung-ho when it comes to tearing about on your bike,’ countered Peggy. ‘And how come he ended up with it when the Yanks promised to repair it?’