Wartime Family by Lizzie Lane Page A

waiting for him to appear.
    A small chink of light showed as Hunter opened the door and shrugged aside the blackout curtain. She got out and stood ready to open the rear passenger door.
    Instead of getting into the car, he paused and looked directly at her. ‘Are you feeling better, Randall?’
    His question caught her off guard. ‘Sir?’
    ‘Your bread and cheese. Did it fill a gap?’
    She felt herself blushing. He’d found her out. ‘Yes, sir. It did.’
    ‘That’s fine, but just make sure your dining out doesn’t interfere with your duties. I might have needed to leave quickly.’
    This was too much for Lizzie. Suddenly she didn’t care if she got put on a charge. ‘Sir, I’ve had nothing to eat since six this morning. I might have got so faint you’d have to have driven yourself!’
    She could see from his expression that she’d offered too much information. He hadn’t asked her when she’d last eaten. She should know better than to give anything more than the basic facts.
    ‘Is that insubordination I hear in your voice, Randall?’
    She couldn’t find it in herself to back down. ‘No. Just information. An army marches on its stomach and I drive on mine. A little consideration wouldn’t come amiss!’
    The moment it was out, she knew she’d gone too far. Her stomach tightened so much, she was sure it was stuck to her spine. She waited for the consequences: a charge, loss of leave, perhaps even a posting to somewhere she didn’t want to go.
    The moon did something to his face. The firm jaw seemed to slacken, though it was hard to tell in such a light.
    ‘I didn’t know that.’
    He got into the car. She shut the door and slid back into the driving seat. In the rear-view mirror she saw him pause before reaching for his pen and notepad. His eyes met hers.
    Lizzie considered what could happen if he did report her and the thought made her gulp. ‘I apologize for being insubordinate, sir.’
    ‘No need to. I was partly at fault – just partly, mind you. I assumed you use the mess.’
    She noted that he didn’t apologize.
    ‘No, sir. I’m back too late. All the best is gone, and seeing as I have to pick you up early, I usually skip breakfast. I don’t like eating that early.’
    He nodded slowly as though he were thinking things through. ‘My fault, but I figure I’ve made up for my shortcoming in more ways than one.’
    Her response was out before she could stop it. ‘Why’s that, sir? Sorry, sir. I’ve got no business asking—’
    ‘They charged me for your bread and cheese.’ He dropped his eyes to his notepad. ‘Drive on.’
    ‘Oh!’ She paused. ‘If you’d allow me to pay you, sir.’
    His head jerked up from his notes. He looked surprised. ‘No need, Randall. No need at all.’ His eyes returned to the paperwork.
    Lizzie smiled. One up to her and no mention of her leave being postponed.
    ‘Shall I see you in the morning, sir?’
    ‘No,’ he said, then got out of the car, walked up the steps and disappeared behind the heavy oak door.
    Only the knowledge that she wasn’t far from her bed kept her eyes open as she drove back to her cosy billet above the stables. But before she collapsed into bed she first reported to the adjutant.
    ‘You’re not required any more,’ Charlie Grimsby said when she looked into his office.
    ‘I’m not?’
    ‘No. You must have blotted your copy book.’
    Lizzie thought of the bread and cheese and smiled. ‘I must have done.’
    She left the adjutant’s office still smiling. What did she care? She was going on leave in two days and was looking forward to it.

Chapter Six
    ‘Mrs Randall!’
    Mary Anne was ironing and Daw was folding pillowcases when John’s uncle came hammering at the door. On opening it, she found him standing there restlessly, his eyes round with shock.
    ‘Your things, Mrs Randall. They are thrown all over the place.’
    Mary Anne rushed down the stairs and out into the yard. Things she’d rescued from the pawn shop –