Winter on the Mersey(102)

The woman sniffed. ‘Indeed. That’s as maybe, but I’d be grateful if he wasn’t seen around here again. Meanwhile, he left you this.’ She took a small envelope from her pocket, then spun on her low heel and made her way back to her own quarters at the rear of the house.

Laura mounted the stairs wondering how soon she could transfer to a different billet. It was true that Freddy still didn’t look much like the average airman in uniform, but he had improved tremendously under his doctor’s care, the regime of proper food and special exercise, alongside careful debriefing, working wonders for his health in every way. That the narrow-minded landlady could insult him so readily was deeply enraging. Still, she probably knows no better, Laura muttered as she stepped into her cramped room and sat down on the window seat to read his note.

A moment later she was on her feet again, almost leaping for joy. The message was terse, evidently written in a hurry, most likely with the unsympathetic gaze of the landlady curtailing his time.

L. No time for details but Marjorie’s made it. Message received via very brave French agent last thing yesterday. She’ll be home as soon as can be arranged. More news to follow. Contact me when you’ve read this. F.

Laura shut her eyes and breathed a long, drawn-out sigh of relief. Her friend and Freddy’s soul mate was alive, contrary to their deepest fears. On top of the lack of sleep, she felt as if she might crumple, and she put out one hand to steady herself.

She was severely tempted to rush back to the admiral’s flat, wake up Kitty and tell her then and there. She stopped herself, knowing her friend needed her sleep and that a few more hours would make no difference. The second she finished her shift, however, she was going to be back there, sharing the news. Last night, for one bleak moment, Laura had thought she’d lost both of her dearest friends. Now they were both restored to her. To hell with her miserable landlady – life was wonderful again.





CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO


For a moment Nancy couldn’t move. Then she ran, with Tommy hissing ‘keep down!’ as he followed behind. She halted by the shed door and bent to the ground. It was definitely Georgie’s little slipper, blue to match his favourite pyjamas. She picked it up. He was here, she could feel it in her bones.

‘Georgie!’ she called softly. ‘Georgie! Are you there? It’s Mammy and Tommy, come to get you.’

She could hear nothing but her own short breaths and the hammering of her heartbeat. Putting her mouth close to the shed door, she tried again.

Tommy crouched so that his ear was right where the door met its splintered frame. ‘Georgie!’ he called, a little louder. ‘Are you there? Can you hear me?’

For a moment there was silence, and then came a tiny scrabbling sound.

‘Georgie? Is that you?’ Tommy asked, turning so his mouth was next to the door’s edge.

There was more scrabbling, closer now.

‘Mammy!’ came the little voice. ‘Mammy! I’m cold!’

For a moment Nancy couldn’t move. Fear, relief, anger and overwhelming love for her child flooded through her in waves, rooting her to the spot. Then she sprang into action, trying to open the door, tugging at the handle, but it didn’t budge.

‘Keep down!’ Tommy hissed. ‘Look, it’s fastened with a lock. You’re just making a noise for nothing.’

‘We’ve got to get him out!’ she exclaimed.

Tommy nodded, but he was thinking fast. ‘I know. I know.’ He addressed the door edge again. ‘Georgie, we’re going to get you out any minute now. You stay quiet and keep a little way away from the door. You’ll see me and Mammy soon.’ Then he turned to Nancy. ‘Have you got a hair grip in your bag?’ he asked.

‘Tommy, this isn’t the time for—’ Nancy began, but he held out his hand and spoke over her.

‘Then give it to me,’ he insisted. ‘I’m not fooling around, I know what I’m doing.’

Baffled and uncertain, she delved into her bag and hunted around in its contents for her precious store of Kirby grips. They’d been a present from Gary. Well, if Tommy could make use of them to free her son, it would be the best present he’d ever given her. She thrust them into Tommy’s hand. ‘What do you want them for?’

‘Wait and see.’

Tommy steadied himself so that he was at the level of the lock and gently extended one of the grips. He forced himself to breathe slowly and evenly, as he’d been taught, to keep his hand steady. Carefully he manipulated the narrow prong of metal until he heard the clicks he’d been waiting for. Cautiously he tried the door. It moved.

‘Let’s go in and keep as quiet as we can,’ he suggested, and the pair of them swiftly edged inside the damp, cold shed.

There was barely any light penetrating from the cobweb-covered small window, but it was enough to see Georgie, in his blue pyjamas, standing back from the door just as Tommy had told him to. His cheeks were smeared with grime and his hair stood up on end, but otherwise he looked unhurt. His face broke into a delighted smile and he ran into his mother’s arms, hugging her tightly as she picked him up and spun him round. ‘I knew you’d come,’ he said. ‘The bad man shut me in here and said you’d never find me, but I knew you would.’

Nancy came to a stop and set him down gently. ‘It was Tommy who found you,’ she said. ‘He’s very clever, he knew exactly where you’d be.’