we’re in trouble.’
‘We are. Up to the ear-’oles in it. We’d better think up an excuse. It’ll ’ave to be good, so don’t come up with something like us all bein’ knocked down by a herd of stampedin’ giraffes.’
‘Or attacked by a plague of locusts?’
‘Hey, Jane. Tell yer funny friend that locusts isn’t valid neither,’ Vi retorted, pan-faced. ‘Come on, queen. Get thinkin’.’
‘Then seriously, how about an air raid? No bombs, of course – they could easily check up on bombs – just an alert, so we’d all be forced to find a shelter.’
‘Sounds good. About eleven o’clock, would you say?’
‘That’s it.’ Vi nodded. ‘That’s just about right. And by the time the all clear went, the train had gone. Okay?’
‘But would a train be allowed to leave during an alert?’ Lucinda frowned. ‘Wouldn’t it have to stay in the station?’
‘Ar, hey, Lucinda, whose side are you on?’ Vi demanded.
‘Sorry. Just a thought.’
‘Well, like ’im with the ’ook said, you know what thought did, don’t you? No, it’s got to be an alert, and if we all keep to the same story we might just get away with it. We’ll get it all worked out and one of us’ll do the talkin’, all right? Stick together, eh?’
‘Like the Three Musketeers, you mean?’
‘The three wot? Who the ’ell are they, when they’re at ‘ome?’
‘Were. Three soldiers; figments of fiction.’
‘Imaginary, sort of?’
‘That’s it. Three inseparable friends.’ Lucinda smiled. ‘They stuck together through thick and thin. One for all and all for one. Rather like us, I’d say.’
‘Mmm. Like us.’ The idea pleased Vi and she smiled broadly. ‘Well then, since it was my fault we missed the train again, it’d better be me who does the talkin’ when we get there. You two’ll just have to stand behind me and nod your ’eads.’
‘But Vi –’
‘No buts. I’m the biggest and the oldest. No more to be said. Now, let’s grab that bench. If we stay there all night we can’t miss the next train, can we?’
‘Want to bet?’ Lucinda liked Vi McKeown. Vi had what Goddy would call a defiant set to her jib. It would be really rather nice, she thought as she picked up her cases for the fiftieth time that day, if they could all stay together, though it was hardly likely. They didn’t do nice things like that. They. The faceless ones who spoke with the omnipotent voice of authority and who, for the duration of hostilities, would be obeyed without question.
It would be all right, Jane thought without conviction. Surely it would all come right. It wasn’t that she doubted that the Allies would win – of course they would. But where and when would it all end? Years and years and years it would take.
‘Now then, young Kendal. Don’t look so miserable!’
‘Sorry, Vi. I didn’t mean to. I was just wondering how long it’s going to be before it’s all over and we can go home.’
‘Not long.’ Vi beamed. ‘Now that us three’s in the Navy it’ll be over by Christmas!’
‘Bless you, Vi. I shouldn’t have said that, should I?’
‘You say what you like, queen. It’s still a free country, innit? We’re all a bit fed up, but it’ll pass. It’s like Mam used to tell me. “Nothing lasts, our Vi. Good times nor bad times nothing lasts.” An’ she was right. Tomorrow night we’ll be laughin’ our ’eads off about all this.’
‘Of course we will,’ Lucinda whispered. ‘And let’s all try like mad to stay together, shall we?’
‘Like them Musketeers, you mean?’
‘Like them.’
‘Right, then. All for one! Let’s grab that bench. We’ll soon be on our way. Not long to wait. Five hours’ll soon pass.’
But contrary to Vi McKeown’s shining optimism, that night was the most uncomfortable any of them could remember. Not only were they the longest hours they had ever been called upon to endure, but the coldest.
‘You wouldn’t think it was June.’ Jane shrugged into her greatcoat then spread her raincoat over her knees. ‘I’d give anything for a cup of tea. Anything.’
‘Then let’s all close our eyes and wish like mad for the WVS lady and her trolley to materialize right here in front of us like a dear little fat fairy.’
But of fat fairies bearing hot sweet tea there was never a sign and the fingers of the station clock jerked away the minutes with maddening languor, the tedium of their watch being broken only by the intermittent arrivals and departure of trains.
‘I wonder,’ Vi frowned, ‘where that lot’ll end up, poor sods.’
They were watching the departure of a troop train from an adjoining platform. The soldiers, laden with packs, had arrived in trucks, and at-the-double feet quickly formed into orderly ranks before disappearing into the unlit interiors of a dozen carriages. Sergeants rapped out indecipherable commands, corporals checked kitbags and wooden crates and boxes into the luggage vans, stamped their feet and saluted their officers smartly. Then the engine belched smoke and steam and pulled reluctantly away from the platform.
‘Ships that pass,’ Jane murmured.
‘Think they’re going abroad?’
‘Suppose so. Going down river to Greenock, I shouldn’t wonder. Probably to a troopship …’
‘Where d’you imagine they’ll end up?’
‘Middle East, perhaps. Or maybe the Far East: Hong Kong, Shanghai, Burma … Would you ever volunteer for overseas, Vi?’
‘Dunno.’ Mentally, as was her considered duty, Vi blessed the receding train, commending its occupants to the care of St Christopher. ‘Ask me tomorrow when I’ve got some food inside me. Now you two try to get some sleep and I’ll keep me eyes on that platform. We don’t want that train creepin’ in and creepin’ out again while nobody’s lookin’.’
She reached out and pulled them to her in a protective motherly gesture. ‘Close your eyes, now. God bless. And don’t worry. It’ll all come right, just see if it doesn’t.’
It was 5.30 A.M. and a new day had begun. Vi stretched her cold legs and rotated her ankles. Her feet still hurt and she felt the tingle of cramp in her right arm where Jane’s head rested heavily. Poor kids. They’d fallen asleep, a head on each shoulder and she was determined to leave them like that for as long as she could.
Not for a long time had Vi felt so uncomfortable. She
