Winter on the Mersey(84)

‘Of course, sir,’ Kitty had said automatically, even as her mind reeled in shock. She was going to be with Frank for this special meeting. She’d probably have to travel with him. She wasn’t sure whether to be delighted or to dread it. Could it be that he’d asked for her especially? Maybe he’d engineered it somehow. Perhaps he knew just how she felt about him after all, particularly since Christmas …

As if in a daze, she shut the meeting room door behind her, to find that Moira Butcher was waiting for her.

‘Well, looks as if you’ve got yourself a cushy number,’ she said airily. ‘You’ll be able to live it up in the bright lights. You were down there before for a while, weren’t you?’

‘Yes, I was,’ said Kitty, a little offended that this was how her colleague saw it. ‘I don’t suppose there’ll be much time to live it up, though. These meetings go on and on, you know that as well as I do. They won’t bring people from all over the place just to give them a chance to hit the West End.’

‘I’d make sure I managed it if I were you,’ said the Wren, and Kitty realised she was jealous.

‘I might try to see someone I did my initial training with who’s still posted down there,’ Kitty admitted. It felt like a long time since she’d last seen Laura.

The other woman raised her eyebrows. ‘See, I knew you wouldn’t be on duty every minute,’ she said. ‘And, by the way, don’t go thinking there’s something special about you and that’s why you were chosen. I happen to know that Lieutenant Feeny specifically asked for your superior officer to go, but he was overruled and you’re the second choice. So don’t go giving yourself airs.’

Kitty was too shocked to answer and Moira walked away, head held high, without a glance back. Had the woman hated her all along? As if she’d give herself airs about anything. But now Kitty felt sick to her stomach, knowing she hadn’t been top of Frank’s list. He would probably resent being stuck with her when he’d wanted someone more experienced with a higher rank. She was just a poor substitute. He hadn’t fixed this so they could be together – the very reverse. Somehow she’d have to get through the ordeal without revealing what she now knew. Well, she’d have to give it her all, to demonstrate she was no pushover. If Commander Stephens wanted a responsible Wren to represent the Western Approaches Command, then she would do her utmost to live up to what he’d asked of her – with or without Frank’s approval.

‘You never think I’m old enough to cope!’ Tommy complained. ‘I will be all right on my own. You don’t have to worry about me.’

Kitty shook her head. It was one thing to leave Tommy for a few hours in the evening when he got back at his regular time and she was on lates. Even then Kitty knew very well that he often went across to Dolly and Pop’s, or sometimes even to the shop. He very rarely spent many hours on his own. It would be another matter altogether to have him sleep alone in the house. He wasn’t yet fifteen.

‘Don’t you trust me?’ he went on. ‘You just think I’ll go to the pub again, don’t you. Well, I won’t. I won’t let you down.’ He was going red in the face just like he used to when he got cross as a little boy.

Kitty had wondered if he could stay with the Feenys but the place was, as usual, bursting at the seams. Maybe Rita could take him, but she’d recently decorated the smallest bedroom in the flat for Ellen and therefore Tommy would have to stay on the settee. Rita would be coming in at all hours and Ellen would wake up as likely as not. It wasn’t a recipe for a growing lad to get a good night’s sleep. Privately Kitty was unsure of how much use Ruby would be as a guardian, either.

The tension broke as there was a quick knock at the door before Sarah came in. ‘Look what I found,’ she said as she stepped inside. ‘Tommy, this is yours, isn’t it?’ She held up a scarf.

‘Oh, that’s my old one! I’ve been looking for that for ages,’ said Tommy, his expression changing from mutinous to relieved. ‘Where was it?’

Sarah laughed and shook her head. ‘Believe it or not, behind the sideboard. Heaven knows how it got there. Well, now you’ll have two.’ She held it out to him. ‘Careful, I tried to brush off all the dust but you’ll need to wash it, I should think.’

Tommy took it eagerly. Even if he now had a new warmer, softer scarf, he was delighted to get this old one back – you never knew when you’d need a spare. Besides, it had annoyed him that he’d lost it – just one more thing that Kitty would use in her argument that he wasn’t sensible enough to take care of himself.

Sarah realised there had been something going on before her arrival. ‘What’s the matter?’ she asked, sharp as ever.

‘Oh, nothing,’ said Kitty, at the exact same time as Tommy said, ‘Kitty’s going away and won’t let me stay here on my own.’

Sarah glanced from one to the other and Kitty gave her the details, while Tommy chipped in with his objections at every possible moment. Eventually he was satisfied that Sarah had understood his point of view, not just Kitty’s. He liked Sarah and couldn’t bear her to think he was still the little boy they all considered more of a liability than a help.

Sarah nodded, and sat herself down at the kitchen table. ‘I see,’ she said slowly. ‘Actually, you know, this might get me out of a tricky situation. As long as you don’t think I’m being cheeky.’