The wind from the river was bitter, it was bad enough being an ARP warden in this weather, how was she going to manage flying in an open-cockpit Tiger Moth when she was finding doing this so unpleasant?

  After drinking half the flask of tea, Lucinda felt more optimistic. Then she remembered she’d not opened the other two letters and she’d left them in her room on her bureau. The important one had been the invitation to try out for the ATA; she thought that one of them must be from the bank about the trust fund and possibly the third could be from someone in the WAAF or the WRNS telling her to attend somewhere for their interview.

  When she’d learned to fly – also in a Tiger Moth – she and the other three girls who’d been fortunate enough to have that opportunity had shared the necessary clothing. How she wished that she’d been the one to keep the goggles, leather helmet and leather gloves and not one of the other girls.

  What she’d need were thick trousers and her jodhpurs would be perfect. She’d also got jodhpur boots, a thick hacking jacket and a variety of other suitable things in the flat in Knightsbridge.

  Somehow, she’d have to collect them between now and next week. She wasn’t altogether sure that returning to the scene of her disgrace was a good idea but she’d no option. If she wanted to become an ATA pilot, then she had to put all that behind her.

  Ralph wasn’t the man she’d thought him to be. During their three months together she thought that she’d got to know him well. His threats would have been merely bluster. He’d almost lost his job, his marriage, and she was sure he wouldn’t do anything to risk that a second time.

  Tramping about the sleeping village gave Lucinda plenty of time to think. She’d go to London on Tuesday – risk being bombed overnight – and collect what she needed. Then she’d have ample time to get to Hatfield the next morning.

  The family would be pleased for her, but Mr Hatch wouldn’t be as he’d have to find somebody else to patrol Tuesday and Wednesday, and possibly Thursday as well.

  15

  Emily had been relieved the news about Grandpa wasn’t as bad as she’d expected. By the end of the week that her family had been there he was up and about and almost his old self. Lucinda’s news that she was going to Hatfield to try out as a pilot was so exciting and she couldn’t wait to get to school on Friday and tell Penny about it. Her friend hadn’t been at school yesterday but hopefully would be back today.

  Being at school was a waste of time as so far all that had happened was that the girls had been reorganised, but no lessons had been taught. She and Penny and the rest of the upper fourth scholarship girls were now in a new classroom on the first floor, down the passageway from the medical room. The girls who’d returned from relocation had thrown Greyfriars into chaos. Even the teachers didn’t seem to know what was going on.

  After lunch, she and Penny found a quiet corner in the cloakroom so they were hidden by the coats. It was also warmer there than most other places.

  ‘This is the first chance we’ve had to catch up – I’ve really missed you. Did you have a good time in Kent for Christmas?’

  ‘We stayed in a really nice hotel close to the barracks, the food was good, the place was warmer than home and Toby and Thomas entertained the other residents.’

  ‘That sounds all right. It occurred to me that as there’s not much going on with the army that your father should be able to get leave. I thought he was something in the city, not a regular soldier, so how come he was conscripted at his age?’

  ‘He spent every spare minute in the Territorials, the reservists, so as an experienced training officer they needed him. Because of his age he didn’t go with the BEF. He wanted to see us because his regiment’s preparing to be sent overseas somewhere. This time he’ll have to go.’

  ‘Golly, that’s horrible for you all. Your mother must be very upset.’

  Penny shrugged. ‘To be honest, I don’t think there’s much affection between them. We only went so the twins could see him as they’d forgotten what he looked like.’

  ‘What about you? Don’t you like him either?’

  ‘He’s never been interested in me. He wanted a boy and was overjoyed when my brothers arrived but they were too much for him. Mum told me he could have refused to go to Kent as he wasn’t a regular, but he couldn’t get away fast enough.’

  ‘That’s sad. Were your brothers pleased to see him? Did he make a fuss of them?’

  ‘Not really, although they were very well behaved, at least they were for them. They loved seeing the soldiers, watching them drill and so on. I’d much rather have come and stayed with you, but I couldn’t let Mum travel with the boys on her own,’ Penny said.

  ‘Well, I’m glad you’re back. Did you get the twins to school all right this morning?’

  ‘Yes, they actually enjoyed it yesterday. I’m not sure the teacher felt the same way as she looked exhausted when I collected them. That’s why I didn’t come in, just in case I had to collect them because they were being so difficult. It’s going to make life so much easier as now Mum can do regular hours and our finances will improve.’

  ‘You have to leave them early at school and collect them late – I’m surprised the school agreed,’ Emily said.

  ‘Someone from Paxman’s wrote to the headmaster so they had no choice. Any road up, we’d better go as the bell will be going soon.’

  ‘I’ve never heard that phrase – what does it mean?’ Emily asked as they headed upstairs.

  ‘The boys learnt it from one of the sergeants who comes from somewhere in the north of England. It just means anyway, but I think it’s fun.’

  George and Sammy didn’t ask to come with Emily the next morning. They were still engrossed in their new-old toys. They’d brought back a suitcase full of treasures. Several jigsaws, some strange board games, a few lead soldiers but the best was a clockwork train set.

  Penny didn’t have to take care of her brothers at the weekend any more which meant every Saturday was now theirs to do as they pleased. She’d told Penny not to track down to the ferry as the weather was so awful and asked her to say the same to Doris.

  They were spending today in the little cottage. Mr and Mrs Smith, better known as Nan and Grandad even to Emily and Penny, had asked the girls to clear out the loft for them. In return they’d get lunch and tea provided.

  Halfway through the morning, they had an unexpected extra helper.

  ‘I found that little Jimmy sitting on the doorstep. I didn’t have the heart to send him home so I’m sending him up to you. I’m too old to deal with tiddlers,’ Nan called up the stairs.

  Penny was closest to the steep steps to the loft so she turned so her back was against the almost-ladder and slid down.

  ‘Well, Jimmy, what are you doing here? You should be at home in the warm.’

  ‘I ain’t had no breakfast nor any tea last night. The big ones locked me in the cupboard and never let me out until it were dark.’

  ‘Goodness, that wasn’t very kind of them. You stay here with Doris and Emily and I’ll see if I can find you something.’

  Emily slid down the same way that Penny had and Jimmy laughed. ‘Blimey, can I have a go at that? See, got me nice clothes on. I’d not let no one take them away.’

  Doris poked her head out. ‘Let’s see if you can climb up without falling off. I’ll be at the top and Emily will be behind in case you slip.’

  The little boy was in his socks and shot up as if he’d been climbing steep ladder-stairs all his life. Without waiting for permission, he deftly turned on the top step and prepared to slide down. What he neglected to do was hold on and if Emily hadn’t been standing at the bottom he’d have disappeared down the main staircase.

  As he flew forward, Emily braced herself and caught him easily. He scarcely weighed more than Grace and this worried her.

  Jimmy was beaming. ‘Can I do it again?’

  Doris joined them on the top landing – there was scarcely enough room for all of them to stand together.

  ‘You ain’t doing that again, young man, if our Emily hadn’t caught you, you’d have broken your neck. You were supposed to hold on the sides like what we did.’

  ‘I never knew that, you never told me. I like being caught by Emily. She’s soft and nice.’

  Emily swallowed the lump in her throat. ‘Did your mum come back yet?’

  He shook his head. ‘Good riddance to bad rubbish, if I got me dinner and that I’d be happy there. No bombs and I started school with Thomas and Toby. They treated me nice.’

  Doris sat on the top step of the narrow staircase that led to the lower floor. The door at the bottom had been propped open to allow some light in as there was no electricity in this cottage.

  ‘Do those horrible big children lock you in a cupboard all the time?’

  ‘Only if they can catch me, I know where to hide. I found myself a lovely little cubbyhole, snug and warm at night. The rest of them sleep in the room next to the kitchen but I ain’t going back in there, not for no one.’

  Penny poked her head into the stairwell. ‘Nan says to come down as she’s got cake and tea for us and porridge and toast for Jimmy.’

  Emily had expected him to rush off to get his food but he was still holding her hand. ‘Can I have cake and tea as well after eating me porridge and toast?’

  ‘I’m sure you can, sweetheart, if you haven’t eaten since yesterday lunchtime you must be starving.’

  Going down the narrow stairs with him holding onto her was going to be impossible so she picked him up and he put his arms around her neck and his legs around her waist and clung on as if he was drowning. She thought he probably hadn’t had much love or affection in his short life and it just wasn’t fair.

  Grandad was in his rocking chair by the range with the ancient black-and-white cat in his lap. He nodded and smiled – he rarely spoke but seemed happy enough to see them all crowding into the kitchen.

  Nan, a sprightly old lady with her grey hair pinned up neatly in a bun, pointed to the communicating door that led to the front room. ‘You lot go in there, too much fuss with all of you in my kitchen for Grandad.’

  There was an oval gate-leg table that had seen better days but was still highly polished and already opened up to its full size. A mismatch of wooden chairs stood around it and one of them had an old cushion on the seat.

  ‘Cor, me own chair. Ta ever so, Doris, your nan’s doing me proud.’ Jimmy scrambled up and somehow he knew he had to wait till everyone else was seated before he started on his porridge.

  ‘Eat up, there’s plenty more in the pot if you want it. Not much sugar, but you can have a teaspoon and a bit of top of the milk from that jug,’ Nan told him.

  Emily watched the little boy scrupulously take exactly what he’d been told he could have and then tip a little of the thin cream onto his steaming porridge.

  There had to be something they could do for this little boy and she and her friends would have to come up with a way to make his life bearable or there’d be no option but to inform the authorities and then he’d be put into an orphanage or foster care.

  Ralph had returned home for a couple of nights and renewed his charm offensive. Leone was a poor substitute for Lucinda, but she’d do. If he couldn’t have the woman he still fantasised about then he was damn well going to have wealth and status.

  Spending time outside with his daughters wasn’t as tedious as it might have been and his attention to them certainly pleased his wife. As he was leaving on the Monday morning, she followed him to the front door.

  ‘I’m almost certain that I’m pregnant, Ralph, I’m only two days late but I’m always on time. I know the doctor can’t confirm it until after I’ve missed my second one but I’m hopeful there’ll be another Castleton in August.’

  He hugged her. ‘I’m not sure when I’ll be able to come home again, there’s a lot going on at the moment.’ He gestured to the waiting car which was only sent to collect him in an emergency. ‘If your symptoms are the same as before then I don’t think we need a doctor to confirm it. I seem to remember that you were nauseous almost immediately – let me know if that happens as then we can start to plan.’

  ‘Before you go, darling, I can’t find my diamond bracelet, the one that my grandfather gave me. Do you remember you took it to have the catch mended? Do you think it might still be in London?’

  Ralph knew exactly where it was, or where it used to be. He’d given it to Lucinda. He’d hoped that Leone had forgotten about it as she had so many expensive pieces of jewellery. He remembered that it had been put with the other things he’d given Lucinda and he prayed that she’d not taken them with her after the debacle a few weeks ago.

  ‘I definitely picked it up from the jewellers, I thought I’d brought it home but possibly it’s in the pocket of a different jacket. I’ll search for it, if you haven’t got it in your jewellery box then it must be there. I’m really sorry.’

  ‘I’m not cross, but I would like it back. My parents are visiting as soon as the weather improves and they always expect me to wear it.’

  He kissed her and then made a dash for the waiting car. His superior, a bad-tempered colonel, had sent it along with a short note insisting he returned to the office immediately.

  The drive was more hazardous than usual, not just the appalling road conditions as the worst of the snow had been cleared, but because of the recent bomb damage. His driver had to make several lengthy and slow detours in order to get him to Horse Guards where his underground office was situated.

  Ralph still had a key to Lucinda’s apartment and after he’d finished work for the day he took the underground from Westminster station and emerged into the blackout a few stops later. The miserly beam on his torch was enough to stop him breaking his neck but if he hadn’t known exactly where he was going then he doubted he’d have got there.

  He wanted to collect the bracelet, and the other gifts if they were there, and get back to his own residence. He didn’t want to be caught out in the streets when the bombing started as public shelters were notoriously insanitary and overcrowded. Being crushed with the hoi polloi didn’t appeal. The one beneath his block would at least only be occupied by people like him.

  If he used the front door, the concierge would see him and that would be a disaster. Lucinda must never know he’d been back. He smiled in the darkness, revelling in the knowledge that whatever she wanted to do after her initial training in the WRNS or the WAAF she’d find herself in the laundry or the kitchen. He made his way around to a little-used side door which was unlocked until around eight o’clock. It was now a little after six and he should be in and out in less than a quarter of an hour and safely away before the concierge came to lock the door.

  Lucinda had loved the spacious, elegant, expensively furnished two-bedroom flat on the first floor of the Georgian house in Cadogan Square. Now, as she approached the entrance she felt sick. She didn’t want to go in as everybody there knew what had happened. A well brought up young lady didn’t have an affair with a married man and if she did, according to the circle she moved in, what happened next was entirely her fault. Nobody ever blamed the man.

  Jonathan had wanted her to travel before the blackout as moving around in the city in the dark would be far harder than wandering about in Wivenhoe but she’d missed the train and it was now after six. It was too dark to see where one was going but as she was familiar with the route she had no trouble arriving safely.

  She straightened her shoulders, put her head up and pushed open the heavy glass door that led to the luxurious entrance hall. The blackout curtain had been hung on a semicircular rail which meant negotiating it was simple.

  There were no lights on at the front of the vestibule but there was a small lamp on the concierge’s desk which threw a golden circle onto the polished surface.

  ‘Good evening, Miss Somiton, I have your correspondence here. You didn’t leave a forwarding address or I would have posted it on to you.’

  ‘Thank you, Cyril, as you know I left in rather a hurry and a forwarding address was the last thing on my mind.’

  ‘Nobody thinks badly of you, Miss Somiton, you were duped and what happened wasn’t fair.’

  ‘Never mind, I’ve moved on. I’ll be staying in the flat tonight but leaving early tomorrow morning. I’m trying out to be a pilot with the ATA and have come to collect things that I’m going to need if I’m not to freeze to death.’

  Knowing that her neighbours didn’t think badly of her was a relief, it meant that maybe she could really start again and put the affair behind her.

  ‘Good for you, you look well, I’m glad you’ve landed on your feet. I’ve read several articles in the newspapers about these ATA girls – they seem to be top drawer – you’ll fit in perfectly.’

  Lucinda had always got on with Cyril and was happy to tell him her good news. He listened avidly.

  ‘My word, that’s something. Good luck tomorrow, I hope you get in.’

  As she approached the door to her flat, her erstwhile neighbour, an elderly gentleman who’d been something in the Foreign Office many years ago, opened his door.

  ‘I heard the lift stop and as there’s someone moving about already in your place, young lady, I wanted to see who it was as there’s nobody else lives on this floor.’

  Lucinda froze in shock. ‘I know who it is. It’s Castleton, he’s no right to be in there, I’d forgotten that he still had a key.’

  Mr Reynolds gripped her elbow and more or less pulled her into his flat. ‘Don’t attempt to go in. I’ll dial 999 – I don’t know anyone who’s called that number and I’m excited to do so.’

  Lucinda was about to stop him but changed her mind. It would serve Ralph right to be arrested for burglary. She didn’t know a lot about this new system for calling the police, ambulance or fire engine, but did know it only worked if you lived within twelve miles of Mayfair. They were probably only about three miles away so it should be all right.