Winter on the Mersey(55)

‘Oh, no, I can’t …’ From the state of her clothes, Tommy could tell she could scarcely afford to part with even the lowest-value coin, but she grabbed his hand insistently and pressed it into his palm.

‘Yes. Please take it. Vince would want me to.’ Her teary eyes met his and he knew this was something she needed to do for her husband. He couldn’t say no.

‘Thank you, missus. Now I have to go.’ He picked up his bike as quickly as he could, as the neighbour’s net curtain twitched again. He hoped the neighbour was friendly and would help the devastated young woman, whose world he had just brought crashing down.

Cycling along past Oriel Road, he replayed the conversations he’d had with Danny and Kitty about this job, and how it would require responsibility and tact. He’d said ‘yes’ and ‘of course’ to them, but hadn’t really thought what it would mean. Now he had a better idea of what they were on about and his heart sank. He knew he would see that woman’s face in his dreams for a very long time.





CHAPTER EIGHTEEN


Danny picked up his pen from the kitchen table and scribbled in the final answer to the crossword in that day’s newspaper. He should have spotted it ages ago – it turned out to be an anagram and he could usually recognise one as soon as he read it. He must be distracted, he thought. His mind was still on the meeting he’d been called in to that afternoon.

He heard the door open and flicked the newspaper over to the front page. The headline said that Paris had been liberated. That must be good news all round. The allies had been making further inroads all across France, but to win back the capital was a huge success and he couldn’t help but smile at the account of the Parisians cheering the troops as they marched through the streets. It was enough to give everyone hope.

Kitty came through to the kitchen. ‘You beat me home, Danny. My bus broke down, and I ended up walking some of the way.’

‘Bad luck,’ he said automatically, wondering how he was going to broach the subject of his news. He hoped Kitty would understand and not be upset. It wasn’t as if he had much choice, when it came down to it. ‘The kettle’s just boiled if you want a cuppa.’

‘I’m far too hot,’ moaned Kitty, taking the top sheet of the paper and fanning herself with it. Then she caught the headline and stopped. ‘That’s such good news, isn’t it? That’s a real milestone. Imagine what those people must be feeling after all that time. Did you read this page?’

‘Of course,’ said Danny. ‘I was as keen to find out what was going on as you are. It’s what we’ve all been hoping would happen for ages. We’ve got Hitler on the run, now. I didn’t just turn straight to the crossword.’

‘Well, you usually do,’ Kitty pointed out, sinking into a chair on the opposite side of the table to her brother. It was still early evening and the light was shining through the back window. It was far too warm to argue for long. ‘How was your day? You look as if there’s something on your mind.’

Danny squirmed. How was it that his sister could tell when he was worried? He thought he was pretty good at hiding his feelings when he had to, but it never worked with Sarah or Kitty. ‘Make me a cuppa and I’ll tell you,’ he suggested.

‘Danny, you are the limit.’ But she rose again and did as he asked, as she could now see something was wrong. She ran the cold tap, putting her wrists under the cool stream of water, and instantly felt better. Reaching for the milk, she asked, ‘Where’s Tommy?’

‘He went across to ask Pop about something.’ Danny was bending the truth a little – he’d sent his younger brother over the road with a question about spare parts for bikes. He knew that there was a strong likelihood Dolly would offer him something to eat and he’d be out of the house for a while. He didn’t want to share his news while his young brother was in the room.

‘So, then,’ said Kitty, setting down the teapot in front of him, ‘out with it.’ She pushed a stray dark curl out of her eye and sank back on to the chair.

Danny poured his tea, putting off the moment as long as he could. He slowly stirred it, adding a drop more milk to cool it down. He had no idea how his sister was going to react.

‘The thing is,’ he began, staring at the old table top. ‘I was called in to see Commander Stephens today. He asked me to go on a course.’

Kitty looked at him. ‘But that’s good, isn’t it? It shows that they rate you highly.’

Danny shrugged. ‘That’s as maybe. The trouble is, it’s not around here. It’s down south somewhere. An old house that’s been taken over. Bletchley something or other.’

‘Oh,’ said Kitty. ‘Will it be for long?’

‘Depends,’ said Danny. ‘I might not be any good, for a start.’

‘Well, they wouldn’t send you if they thought that,’ Kitty pointed out at once. She wasn’t taken in by that for a moment.

‘Then it looks as if it’ll be for several weeks, if not months,’ Danny said. ‘They wouldn’t tell me exactly. And now I’m wondering if this – ’ he pointed to the headline on the front page of the newspaper – ‘will mean we won’t be needed for much longer.’

‘Or it might mean you’re needed all the more,’ Kitty said. ‘We don’t know, do we? I don’t suppose they asked you if you wanted to go, did they? They’ll have told you it’s what you’ll be doing, like it or not.’