Jim had heard enough of Jumbo’s stories of his life in the Highlands to be able to imagine him tramping through the heather like a modern-day Moses in his sturdy boots and kilt, his fiery beard flowing freely as he tended the deer, went fishing in the burns and lochs, or sought the shellfish on the rocky shores to cook over a fire on the beach with only the moon and stars for company.

In a way Jim envied him, for he was free to do as he pleased and cared nothing for what people might think of him. And yet, despite Jumbo’s protests to the contrary, it must be a lonely existence, and the thought of not having Peggy and the rest of the family around him made Jim shudder. They were his life’s blood; his reason for fighting this damned war was to keep them safe.

He idly watched the nurses laughing and splashing in the water. They reminded him of his Anne and Cissy, and the longing to be with them again was a physical pain in his heart. And yet he was stuck here in Burma with no choice but to wait for the army to decide where it would send him next.

If only the Japs would surrender, then they could all go home.

22

Somerset

Anne climbed back into the rickety old bus and sat down next to her headmaster, George Mayhew, as the driver ground the gears and they set off with a burp from the exhaust and a groan from the engine. It was the last Friday in June and they’d just accompanied the few remaining evacuee children to Taunton railway station. George’s wife, Belinda, was travelling with them to make sure they were all safely collected by their families and would then make the long journey home again. Anne had offered to do it, but with things the way they were with Martin, it was decided she should stay close to home.

Some of the families who’d hosted the children had come to see them off, and there was a sorrowful silence in the bus as they started for home. The youngsters had become a part of the village community since the start of the war, and the men and women who’d taken them in had come to love them – and were loved in return – so it had been a very emotional parting, with tears on both sides when the train had pulled away.

Anne wondered how the children would adapt to life with their estranged families in war-damaged London after the gentle, welcoming years they’d spent in the heart of the quiet countryside, and could only hope that the lessons learnt and the assurance gained during that time would sustain them for whatever lay ahead.