The Victory Garden(32)

Emily nodded. She wished she could be sure. They walked together to the Seaview, where the landlady had a good laugh about their predicament. “Mercy me,” she chuckled. “Did you not know that the tide leaves those upper reaches dry? Did you not ask yourself why there were no other boats up there?”

“Robbie’s from a place that’s hundreds of miles inland,” Emily said. “He’s never driven a boat before. And I’ve certainly never been up this river.”

“Well, no harm done, is there, apart from missing your train home,” the old woman said. “And as it happens, your room is still vacant. What time do you want breakfast in the morning?”

“Oh, I’m afraid I must leave long before breakfast,” Emily said. “I must catch the first train out or I’ll be in even bigger trouble.”

“Then I won’t charge you for breakfast,” the woman said. She looked fondly from Emily to Robbie. “In fact, you know what? I won’t charge you at all. And if the young man had a mind to stay the night as well . . . I might not even notice.”

They laughed uneasily, but Robbie said, “Kind of you, missus, but I’m overdue back at the hospital. Just take good care of my fiancée, will you?”

“Fiancée, is it now?” she asked.

“It is. We’re getting married as soon as the war’s over.”

“Let’s pray that it’s very soon,” the old woman said quietly. “Too many young lives have been wasted in this stupidity. God bless you, my dears.”

Emily walked with Robbie a little way down the street. “I can’t bear to say goodbye,” she said. “Please take care of yourself. No heroics. Don’t take on any dangerous missions you don’t have to. And write to me.”

“I will, whenever I get a chance, I promise. You take care of yourself, too. And I’ll send you that ring as soon as I can. Maybe they make good rings in France.” He looked at her tenderly, then tilted the brim of her hat back and kissed her.

“Goodbye, my darling,” he said.

Emily blinked back tears as she watched him vanish into the night.





CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Miss Foster-Blake eyed her coldly as she came towards the farmhouse. “And what do you have to say for yourself, young woman? I thought I could trust you, or I would not have let you go in the first place. A fine example you are setting for those girls who are not of your class.”

“I’m so sorry,” Emily said. “We went out on a boat, you see. And we didn’t know that rivers are tidal. We got stuck in the mud for hours in an awful thunderstorm, and by the time we made it back to Plymouth, I realized I would have no way of getting a ride to the farm.”

“A good excuse for spending the night with a young man.” Miss Foster-Blake was still glaring at her.

“No, absolutely not,” Emily replied. “He put me up at a guest house and he went back to the hospital where he is being treated. He was also really worried that he’d be in trouble.”

“I see.” Her expression had softened a little. “Well, I suppose you can’t be expected to know about tides.”

“The doctor who owns the boat was supposed to be coming with us,” Emily said, “but he had a last-minute emergency. Otherwise, there would have been . . .” She broke off in mid-sentence. Otherwise, Robbie would not have made love to her and asked her to marry him. One small thing and her whole world had changed. She tried to keep the repentant look on her face and not to smile.

“I don’t expect you’ve had breakfast,” Miss Foster-Blake said. “Well, go and grab some bread and jam, and then get into your work clothes while I find a way to ferry you out to your colleagues.”

Alone in the bedroom, Emily changed out of her crumpled clothes and put on her uniform. Robbie would already be heading to Dover and across the Channel. She managed to put on a cheerful face as a van deposited her at the potato field. Her fellow land girls broke off their work as she appeared.

“Here she is at last,” Maureen called out. “The sinner returneth! Staying out all night? And I thought you were pure as the driven snow.”

Emily felt herself blushing. “If you really want to know, we were out in a boat in a thunderstorm and we got stuck in the mud,” she said. “By the time we made it back to the harbour, it was too late to catch a train, so my young man put me up in a guest house—”

“Sure he did.” Maureen nudged Ruby who was standing next to her. “They spent the night in a hotel. You hear that, Ruby?”

“It wasn’t like that at all,” Emily said, her face bright red now. “He took me to the guest house and then he went back to the hospital. And today he’s on a train heading back to France.”

She swallowed hard, worried that she might cry.

“Watch your tongue, Maureen,” Alice said sharply. “Can’t you see the poor girl is upset? Her bloke’s going back to the front. Never you mind, love.” She put an arm around Emily’s shoulders. “Come on. We’ve got plenty of lovely taters to take your mind off him!”

Emily looked at her and grinned. “You’re wicked,” she said.

“But at least I made you smile,” Alice retorted. “So you had a lovely time, did you?”