‘All those years of growing flowers and pruning in the Pleasure Gardens and it will have been destroyed and burned to smithereens,’ reported Audrey to Lily, Elsie and Betty. ‘Sewers have been smashed and buildings damaged. It’s just causing more disruption for folk. There are craters thirty feet wide and fifteen deep, apparently.’

  ‘Reg said a firewatcher was hurt too,’ said Lily. ‘Lucky that nobody was killed.’

  Helping the yawning, quiet children up to the kitchen, Audrey put the kettle on the range and stared out of the window at the sea, massaging her lower back. Angry dark clouds were gathering over the water, and she squinted at a strip of pale light far away on the horizon. A gap in the clouds perhaps, but far, far, away and well out of reach. She sighed again, before checking her pocket watch and realising that, despite being sleep-deprived, she must get on with the day.

  ‘Lily, Betty, can I leave you to take care of the little ones for now?’ she said. ‘I need to get my overall on ready for work and Elsie, if you’re free, could you give me a hand? Often when there’s been a raid like this, extra bread and cakes are needed for the bombed-out at the rest centres and I need to be prepared.’

  ‘Yes,’ said Elsie, stifling a yawn. ‘Of course. I’ll freshen up. There’s something I want to talk to you about too.’

  * * *

  Elsie’s bones ached and throbbed with tiredness after the uncomfortable night in the shelter, but, as she helped Audrey sort out the buns and put the scones in to bake in the cooling oven, she didn’t utter a word of complaint. How could she? With Audrey heavily pregnant but still working like a carthorse, and William and John up all night baking the bread, risking their lives throughout the air raid for the good of the local community, she owed it to everyone to stay upbeat. Inside, though, she was burning to confess to someone what she’d done. As she kissed William briefly on the lips before he went up to their bedroom for a nap, her thoughts went, for the hundredth time, to the letter she’d written and sent to David’s mother, Alice Fielding. Despite Audrey warning her not to contact the woman, she hadn’t been able to stop herself. Perhaps it was the Italian blood in her, a sense of loyalty to William’s good name, or simply caring deeply about someone, but she passionately believed in doing everything in her power to help right a wrong. After their awful visit and despite Alice’s intense grief, Elsie was determined to tell her that William was not to blame. Taking a deep breath, she decided to tell Audrey.

  ‘I wrote to David’s mother,’ she said quickly as they worked side by side in the shop, stacking loaves on the shelves and in a line up against the window. ‘I just had to, Audrey. The words wrote themselves, really.’

  Audrey stopped what she was doing and bit her bottom lip.

  ‘Has she replied?’ she said quietly.

  Elsie shook her head and felt a lump forming in her throat. She wished that Alice would reply, but so far, there hadn’t been a single word from her.

  ‘What did you say in your letter, Elsie?’ Audrey asked tentatively. Elsie couldn’t tell if Audrey was annoyed with her – she seemed distracted more than anything.

  ‘I just told her how sorry I was for her loss,’ said Elsie, ‘and I told her how much William was hurting, that he hadn’t visited her for forgiveness, but to share her heartache and grief.’

  Audrey shook her head. ‘Oh gracious me,’ she said, paling.

  ‘What?’ Elsie said. ‘What is it?’

  ‘I wrote to her too,’ said Audrey.

  ‘You never did!’ said Elsie, clapping her hand on her mouth.

  ‘I did,’ said Audrey. ‘I wanted her to know that we all feel her pain. Through William’s condition, we feel her loss, but we know that he’s suffering too. Poor woman probably feels under attack. Oh gosh, why did I go against my own advice?’

  Elsie and Audrey stood for a moment contemplating their actions, until the jingle of the doorbell sounded and a man entered, his face smudged with black soot. Audrey instantly stiffened.

  ‘Robert, you’re back,’ she said. ‘Let me call Betty. She’s upstairs. Betty! Where did you go?’ She turned her attention back to him. ‘You know your three children were terrified last night and didn’t know when or if you were coming back? I expect you went off to drown your sorrows in a pint of ale, but I can tell you this for free: ignoring your troubles only makes them worse.’

  ‘Listen, lady,’ Robert said. ‘I haven’t had my nose in a pint of ale or anywhere near one. I went for a walk, to think, and walked miles. Then, on my way back, the siren went off. I found myself near to where the bombs exploded and I got involved in a rescue.’

  ‘Did someone say “rescue”?’ asked Flo, who had arrived in the shop with Elizabeth to collect their bread. ‘Is this about last night?’

  Both women, closely followed by Pat, crowded around Robert to listen to his tale. Basking in their attention, he raised his voice.

  ‘I had to dig out the occupants of a house that had been turned into a crater,’ he said. ‘In another house a grandfather, father, mother and a boy were in the basement when it was hit. I pulled them all out alive and they went off to the rest centre, but the old man was injured. Their neighbour was an elderly woman and she refused to leave her home – she wanted to stay with her husband, who was paralysed – but eventually, with my help, we got them both out.’

  ‘You were in the right place at the right time, son,’ said Elizabeth. ‘Thank goodness for you.’

  ‘I’m not all bad,’ he said, turning to Audrey.

  ‘I’m sorry, Robert,’ said Audrey. ‘I shouldn’t have spoken to you the way I did.’

  Betty came in with Vera, who ran towards her dad and flung her arms round his legs. He lifted her up as if she was lighter than a feather and kissed her cheek. Elsie shared a glance with Audrey, who wore a guilty expression, but her expression changed to one of concern when a police officer came into the bakery.

  ‘There you are,’ he said to Robert. ‘Finally caught up with you. Sorry, ladies, but this man was seen thieving from a property bombed out last night. He needs to come into the station with me for questioning. Has he been bothering you? Had his hand in the cash box?’

  ‘Thieving?’ said Betty, her jaw dropping. ‘Whatever next, Robert?’

  ‘I…’ Robert stuttered, placing Vera gently back down on the floor. The next moment, quick as a flash, he shoved Audrey out of the way so hard she stumbled backwards and fell to the floor, where she lay spread-eagled.

  ‘Oh Audrey!’ said Betty, crouching down by her side. ‘Are you all right? Robert wouldn’t want to hurt you. I’m so sorry!’

  ‘It’s not for you to be sorry,’ Audrey managed, wincing in pain. ‘He was scared, that’s all.’

  Everyone was so shocked and concerned for Audrey’s welfare that Robert had a clear run to the door, which he flew out of. He legged it down the street. The police officer, an older, overweight chap, ran outside and shouted Robert’s name, but he didn’t stand a chance of catching him. Elsie knelt down next to Betty to help Audrey up, but she yelped and screwed her eyes shut.

  ‘Is it the babies?’ Elsie asked and Audrey nodded, clearly in agony.

  ‘I think they’re coming early,’ she said. ‘Someone will have to watch the shop for me, I can’t…’

  ‘Betty and Lily can watch the shop,’ said Elsie. Betty nodded. ‘I’ll help you upstairs. Pat, you’ve had babies. You’ll know what to do.’

  Elsie searched Pat’s face, hoping that Audrey’s mother-in-law was as tough as she seemed.

  ‘Let’s get you upstairs right away,’ Pat said in a gutsy voice. ‘And get these Barton babies born.’

  Chapter Seventeen

  Left in charge of the shop, Betty stood in the doorway, craning her neck left and right to see if Robert was anywhere in sight or whether, when he realised he’d left his children behind, he might come crawling back. But, apart from Old Reg chalking up a sign for toffee-dipped carrots on sticks as a treat for children who were missing sweets and chocolates, the street was empty.

  ‘Robert Mitchell,’ she muttered under her breath, ‘you’ve some nerve running from the police!’

  Wondering if any of what he’d recounted about rescuing people in the air raid was actually true, she sighed and went back inside the shop. Scanning the shelves of remaining loaves and the almost empty trays of counter goods, she noticed Cyril eyeing up a carrot cake.

  ‘I’ll get you a slice out of my wages,’ she said, feeling suddenly desperately sorry for Robert’s three children. As Cyril darted off behind the counter, she wondered what was going through their young heads. First, they’d lost their mother and now their father was acting like a criminal!

  ‘Perhaps it’s my fault,’ she thought, blushing. Perhaps he’d had to resort to crime because she’d taken his money, leaving him penniless? Rubbing her hands together anxiously, she went back behind the counter – and tripped as she almost stepped on a leg. Vera’s leg.

  ‘What are you doing?’ Betty cried, startled. ‘I almost trod on you!’

  Hiding behind the counter, huddled together on the floor like fledglings on the branch of a tree, were Vera, Dora and now Cyril, all of them looking up at her with enormous button-brown eyes that seemed to blink with the deliberation of a doll. Stacked in a tower next to Cyril, who had his arm proprietorially over them, were their three gas mask cases.

  ‘Are you our dad’s friend, miss?’ asked Cyril, which almost broke Betty’s heart. She knelt down next to the trio and thought carefully about what she should say.

  ‘Yes,’ she said generously, ‘I’m Robert’s friend. He’s had to go out for a while. I’m not sure how long he will be. He’s done something naughty and he needs time to work it out, but…’

  Dora started to cry and Betty sighed, glancing over at Lily, who was pulling a worried face.

  ‘…but I’ll look after you,’ she found herself saying, patting the little girl’s head. ‘Lily, can you manage on your own for a little bit while I find something for these little ones to do? Maybe there’s a jigsaw, or you could play in the backyard.’

  Betty desperately tried to think of something that these three children would like to do.

  ‘Course I can,’ Lily said. ‘I’m not due into the library until tomorrow. Mary has Joy outside in the yard, they’re playing marbles, so you could all go out there to play. Or better still, why don’t you take them down to the promenade for half an hour? Nobody’s allowed on the sand at the moment, thanks to the wartime restrictions, but there’s a great big pile of sand that’s blown up onto the promenade and little ones can have fun in there. You could get them one of Reg’s toffee carrots on a stick too. They’re a halfpenny each. They’ll help you see in blackout – or so he claims!’

  Betty nodded, grateful to Lily, and glanced down at the children. They were still in yesterday’s clothes, but they were now all smiling. Having never looked after three children all at once, she suffered a moment of self-doubt. Could she properly take care of them?

  ‘I’m not sure if I can—’ she started, but Lily interrupted.

  ‘If I can do it,’ she said, reading her mind, ‘you can. Besides, there’ll be another two joining us soon enough. We better get used to taking care of little ones.’

  Audrey lay on top of the bed in silence, propped up against a pile of pillows, the floral eiderdown draped over her bent knees. Letting the waves of pain roll over her, she held on to Pat and Elsie’s hands, refusing to release the scream that threatened to burst out of her lungs. She didn’t want to scare any of the kiddies in the bakery, or indeed her customers, many of whom had given birth numerous times, probably while preparing a hotpot for dinner and darning socks at the same time!

  Instead, she counted through the contractions and fixed her gaze on the sky out the window. Brilliantly blue, white clouds tore across it as if pulled on a string, the sea breeze rattling the panes of glass in the weather-beaten wooden frames. A fat seagull landed for a second on the windowsill and peered into the room before crying out and flying away. She imagined Charlie, wherever he was in the world, looking up at the same sky and tried to tell him, telepathically, that she was in labour. Perhaps the wind would blow her message to him: that she longed for him to be home, pacing the wooden floorboards in the corridor outside their bedroom door, waiting for news of the twins. This was the biggest moment of their married life and they were hundreds of miles apart. She was determined not to feel sorry for herself – she knew she wasn’t the only woman having babies while her husband was away. She tried to channel all their energy.

  ‘You’re thinking about Charlie, aren’t you, love?’ said Pat, holding a cool, damp cloth against her brow. ‘Just imagine how happy he’s going to be when he comes home on leave to meet his babies. My son’s not one for emotional outpourings, but he loves you, Audrey, and he will be a brilliant father when he comes home. Just like his father was to him, bless his soul.’

  Nobody said the unmentionable, but Audrey knew they had all thought the same thing, if only fleetingly: if he comes home. Almost every day it seemed someone she knew received a telegram bringing bad news about their son, brother or husband.

  ‘I’ve wanted this for so long,’ she whispered, thinking of all the months and years gone by that she’d hoped and prayed she would have caught, only to discover she hadn’t, yet again. ‘I can’t believe it’s happening. I only hope I can be a good mother, like my own mother was before my father died.’

  Her thoughts went to her mother, Daphne, in London, and she felt relieved that they had at last made amends. She imagined writing to her as soon as the babies were born and hoped Daphne and her step-father, Victor would be able to visit them – if travel was permitted. Closing her eyes as yet another wave of pain washed over her, her body moving the first baby into position, she breathed deeply and pushed with all her energy.

  ‘That’s it, love,’ said Pat, dabbing her forehead, where Audrey’s hair was stuck to her with sweat. ‘You’re nearly there. You know some women now are having analgesics in hospital to relieve the pain, so you’re doing so well coping on your own. You’re going to need a good strong cup of tea after this and then you’ll be right as rain.’

  From nowhere, the thought of those poor mothers and the new babies who had been killed in the Mill Road Hospital in Liverpool, by a Luftwaffe bombing raid, filled her mind. Audrey felt like screaming again – a blood-curdling scream that would shatter all the windows in Fisherman’s Road – but she managed to hold it inside.

  ‘You will be a wonderful mother,’ said Elsie. ‘You already are, to dear little Mary. These twins will be the luckiest babies in Bournemouth.’

  Audrey felt she was dangerously close to losing control of her emotions. Thoughts and feelings bombarded her and a lump grew in her throat when she thought about Mary. These last few weeks she’d been so caring and sweet with Audrey, helping her when she could and doing jobs like polishing her boots, or knitting up baby socks with old scraps of wool. Audrey had no doubt she was going to make a loving big sister to the twins and she would make sure that Mary never felt any different to them; she would soon be a mother of three, all of them equally treasured and loved.

  ‘Oohh,’ Audrey said, when, after a moment’s reprieve, she felt instinctively that this push was the one. Gritting her teeth, she gripped onto Pat and Elsie’s hands and pushed until she felt a great sense of release and the first baby was born.

  ‘Congratulations!’ Pat said, ‘Your first baby is a girl.’

  ‘Oh Audrey,’ Elsie said, tears running down her face. ‘I’m so happy for you.’

  Pat handed the baby girl to Audrey and she kissed her, crying with pure joy, but she hadn’t yet finished. There was another to be born. She breathed through the pain and pushed with every bit of energy she had, and the second baby came into the world to a cheer from the women in the room.

  ‘And this time you have a boy!’ Pat said, laughing, her voice breaking with emotion and her face wet with tears.

  ‘Oh, gracious me, what beautiful twins,’ said Elsie. ‘Double the love.’

  Audrey wept with exhausted happiness as both babies were placed in her arms. Checking over every inch of their tiny bodies, she marvelled at the two new lives in her care, silently vowing to love, nurture and protect them with her whole self, forever more.

  ‘What a blessing to have a girl and a boy,’ she whispered, as she gazed at their faces in astonishment. ‘We must get word to Charlie and tell him we’ve been blessed with Bournemouth’s bonniest babies!’

  Glancing up at Pat and Elsie, who had their eyes fixed on the twins and who were grinning from ear to ear, she erupted with joyous laughter, before feeling sudden tears spill down her cheeks.

  ‘Dear me,’ she said, wiping her eyes and shaking her head at herself. ‘I’m not myself. I’m crying with happiness, I think! I’m sorry.’

  Elsie reached for Audrey’s hand and squeezed it tightly, while Pat tucked Audrey’s hair behind her ears.

  ‘Look what you’ve just done!’ said Pat, gently patting her hand. ‘You should be immensely proud of yourself. Time for tea and toast.’

  Audrey smiled, overwhelmed with gratitude for her mother-in-law and sister-in-law’s help.

  ‘Thank you both,’ she said, her voice quivering. ‘For all your help and support through this and all the difficult times we’ve had. I couldn’t have done any of it without you.’

  Elsie waved her hand in the air dismissively and Pat raised her eyebrows almost up to her hairline.

  ‘Ah,’ she said. ‘Now what is it that Roosevelt woman says? “A woman is like a tea bag – you can’t tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water”.’

  Audrey laughed through tears, and stared lovingly at the twins, wishing Charlie was there to greet them. She might be a strong woman, but she was weak with longing for her beautiful, tiny new twins.

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20