happened so special to put the smile back on your face?’
‘We’ve had another egg, Ness! I heard such a cackling and there it was, all warm and new-laid. Something special, see? So I hard-boiled both eggs and put them in the salad. There’s ham left over from William’s sandwiches, so what do you say to ham and egg salad and boiled new potatoes for supper?’
‘I’d say,’ Ness smiled her wide, beautiful smile, ‘that this is the best billet I’ve ever had – and I’m stopping. Well, till Himself’s home on leave again, that is.’
‘And we’ll worry about that,’ Lorna said, chin set at defiance, ‘when it happens. So where is your kit?’
‘At the hostel. I’ve had the use of a bike these last three days. I’ll pedal over after supper; put the big case on the seat, and push it.’
‘I’ve got a better idea. We’ll collect your stuff in the car. And before you ask if I can spare the petrol – yes, I can! I wheedled a gallon out of William.’
‘You’re learning, Lorna Hatherwood! And I’m ravenous. I’ll just have a wash, then there’s such news to tell you!’
‘Potatoes ready in five minutes!’
Lorna let go a breath of relief. It would be all right. Tonight, William would phone to let her know he was safely back and she would tell him to take care and that she loved him.
Yes, of course it would be all right …
‘It was good of you to go to all the trouble. Will you mind doing it again, next leave?’
Lorna sat on the spare-room bed, watching Ness unpack her kit.
‘Mind? No. Glad to be back, for all that. And I haven’t told you the news.’
They had been so occupied at supper, oh-ing and ah-ing over the amazing home-produced, hard-boiled eggs and trying to sweep the matter of William’s heated departure under the mat, that Ness’s gossip was still untold.
‘Anything new?’
‘There is! I was talking to one of the soldiers at the manor yesterday. Said he was in the REME.’
‘Electrical bods …’
‘Oh, ar? Didn’t enquire. Anyway, they’re getting the place ready for wounded soldiers – a convalescent home, he told me. Makes sense. There were a lot of wounded at Dunkirk.’
‘I see. So Rowley Wintersgill can rest easy,’ Lorna said tartly. ‘I can’t imagine men on crutches, maybe men who have lost a limb, rampaging over Glebe Farm land taking anything that isn’t nailed down, as he put it.’
‘Kate was quite pleased when I told her. At least there won’t be drill sergeants yelling orders, nor firearms practice. And talking about firearms, the Local Defence bods have got their uniforms. Bob and Rowley went to Meltonby to collect theirs. But no rifles, as yet, so what they’re going to stop them Jairmans with, I don’t know.’
‘Makes sense. The Army blew up our ammunition dumps before they left France. Our lot might be a bit short on rifles. But let’s not get back to the invasion.’
‘Fine by me. Saw Flora Petch on the way here. The baby arrived at Meltonby early this morning. She said being wakened up in the small hours wouldn’t have been a lot of good for me but better luck on the next leave. No more babies expected hereabouts – or none she knows about.’
‘Lucky woman. I wouldn’t mind a baby, Ness. Oh, I know starting a family in wartime – especially now when things are in such a mess – might not be the wisest thing to do, but if an accident happened, I wouldn’t care. Anyway, what else is news?’
‘They’re getting another worker at the farm. They’re still in need of help, and I know I’m not a lot of good to them. I said so, but Kate said to let her be the judge of that; said she wouldn’t mind another one like me. But there’s no chance of getting a land girl – not till they find another hostel around these parts to put more of them in.
‘So Bob got in touch with the Ministry of Labour, oh, ages ago. Had given up all hope of getting more help, then he got a letter on Saturday. Said there’s a man available, but it was up to Bob whether or not he took him.’
‘Why? Is he fresh out of prison,’ Lorna grinned.
‘No. Worse. He’s a conchie, and men who won’t fight are trouble. But Bob said he’d give it a try.’
‘Then he must be desperate! How are you going to feel, working with him, Ness? Don’t think I’d much like one of those working for me.’
‘One of those? I don’t think he’s a Nancy boy, Lorna. He just has conscientious objections to being in the Armed Forces. Maybe he doesn’t want to kill. Live and let live, eh? Kate said if there was any trouble he’d have to go, but that he might be a decent young man underneath. And Rowley smirked and said he’d see to it that the conchie would get all the dirty jobs around the place, and see how much he liked being a conchie then!’
‘Rowley makes me sick. He should think himself lucky that farming is a reserved occupation and he won’t ever have to join up!’
‘You don’t like him, do you? What’s he ever done to you, Lorna?’
‘Nothing. He wouldn’t dare. But he’s got a reputation for womanizing, and I don’t like that. Has he ever tried anything on with you, Ness?’
‘I told you he hadn’t. I can deal with him if ever he gets fresh. So what say we sit in the garden? I missed the garden over the weekend. I think that no matter where I go I’ll remember it, and Dickon’s Wood and the smell of flowers.’
‘Well, now you’ve got the smell of hens to add to your memories!’
‘They don’t smell; not if you clean them out regularly. Goff Leaman said that hen droppings make good manure and he’d clean our ark out every week if you’d give him the hen muck. I told him I’d ask you about it.’
‘He’s welcome, tell him and – oooh! The phone!’ She was across the room and down the stairs to snatch up the receiver with a breathless, ‘Hullo? William?’
Ness closed the bedroom door, glad for Lorna yet hoping William would say nothing to upset her. Lorna was trying to convince herself she had got the measure of her husband, and that from now on she would stand up to his demands and sulks. But the speed at which she had taken the stairs showed how pathetically eager she was to speak to him.
‘Everything all right?’ she smiled when a pink-cheeked Lorna opened the door.
‘Fine – if you’re meaning did he bring up the matter of Ness Nightingale again. He didn’t, so I took that as an apology for leaving in a huff like he did. Said he’d had a nice leave, though, and that he was busy getting his kit ready for the move tomorrow. I think he’ll be all right now he’s got a permanent posting. Said he’d let me have the address as soon as he got there. So do you still
