Home Front Girls by Rosie Goodwin Page A

warm.
    ‘Same as always. We’ve been workin’ on parts fer tanks today.’
    Mrs P shook her head sadly. Almost all of the large factories were making either aeroplane or tank parts now, which only made them all think of how things had changed since the outbreak of war. It seemed that there was no getting away from it.
    Lucy rose and carried her plate to the sink, but when she started to wash it Mrs P shooed her away. ‘Leave it in soak,’ she told her. ‘You’ve done enough fer one day.’
    ‘Well, if you’re sure.’ Lucy began to put her coat back on. ‘I’ll get madam there round home now then and get her ready for bed.’
    Mrs P chuckled. ‘That’s if you can wake her up. Here, let me help yer get her coat on. Better still, rather than disturb her we’ll just wrap it around her, eh? You’ve only got to go a few steps an’ she looks so peaceful it’s a shame to disturb her.’
    With Mary clutched to her chest, Lucy stood aside while Mrs P opened the back door for her, then after planting a quick kiss on the woman’s cheek she stepped out into the cold yard they both shared and rushed across to her own back door.
    As she entered the tiny scullery she shuddered, but after quickly going into the back room which served as a kitchencum-living room, she smiled when she saw that Mrs P had been round and lit the fire for her. The woman was a real angel.
    After laying Mary, who didn’t stir, onto the small settee, she then hurried across to make sure that the curtains were firmly drawn before dashing upstairs to fetch Mary’s pyjamas and warm them on the fireguard. Eventually the little girl was tucked up nice and cosy in Lucy’s bed, a habit she had adopted since her big brother had been gone. Lucy didn’t mind in the least, in fact she liked having Mary’s little body to cuddle up to on a cold night. Now she looked around her modest living room and felt contented. It was only an ordinary terraced house, but she and Joel had worked tirelessly on it to turn it into a home since they had moved in. Joel had scoured the second-hand shops to find the three-piece suite, which had come up a treat with a good scrub, and Lucy had then brightened it up with cushions. She had bought the curtains for a snip from a rummage sale along with the hearthrug, and all in all the room was now very comfortable. But it just didn’t feel the same without her brother.
    The nights were the worst, when Mary was in bed. That was when the loneliness would close in on her and why she had not been averse to getting a job. She and Joel had always kept themselves very much to themselves, but at least now she would have someone to chat to apart from Mary and Mrs P. She wondered what Joel would be doing now and hoped that he was all right, then she set to tidying the room and getting Mary’s clothes ready for the morning.
     
    Dotty was hurrying through the deserted streets with her coat collar turned up against the cold. She hated going out after dark, particularly since the blackout had been in force. Even the streetlamps were turned off and the odd people that were out and about loomed up out of the darkness like spectres.
    I wouldn’t be surprised if it didn’t snow soon, she thought to herself. It certainly felt cold enough. The pavements were white over with frost and they glistened eerily in the gloom. At last the house came into view and she fumbled in her bag for her key. Once inside, as always the smell of stale cabbage met her. She was sure that cabbage was the staple diet of Mrs Cousins and her children, but at least they would have something different this evening. She had called in to the corner shop on the way home and picked up some milk, bread and a tin of corned beef along with a few apples for the woman.
    ‘Why, hello, luvvie,’ Mrs Cousins greeted her when Dotty tapped on her door. ‘What can I be doing for yer?’
    ‘Nothing,’ Dotty responded with a shy smile. ‘But I just realised if I don’t get rid of these