tendrils around her face. The sailor bent to pick the comb up and at the same time spotted a newspaper photographer taking pictures.
‘Here you are, mate’ he called. ‘Two pretty girls and two good looking sailors. What more could you want for the front page?’
The photographer came over and the sailor planted a kiss on Connie’s cheek as the shutter came down. Connie wasn’t offended but she gave him a playful shove before he was tempted to take any more liberties. She didn’t want Emmett or her own mother to see a picture of her kissing someone else on the front page of the paper and despite the improbabilities, she found herself scouring the faces in the crowd.
‘Which paper are you from?’ laughed Eva as the four of them posed again.
‘Daily Sketch,’ said the photographer before moving on.
Connie heaved a sigh of relief. None of her family read the Daily Sketch and with a bit of luck, her great aunt (they called her Ga) had never even heard of it.
Their legs were getting cold so the four of them climbed out of the water and Connie gave the sailor his cap back. She and Eva only had handkerchiefs to dry their legs but they didn’t care. They held on to each other because in the surging crowd it was difficult to keep a balance on one leg while drying the other. Someone shouted a name, and waving, the two sailors merged back into the crowd.
‘You in the WAAFs as well?’ Connie asked Eva. It seemed very likely considering that her friend Barbara was in uniform.
Eva nodded. ‘And you?’
Connie nodded too.
‘Did you and Rene come on your own?’
‘Actually my boyfriend was meant to be here but he couldn’t come.’
‘Nothing wrong, I hope?’
Connie shook her head. ‘He’s got a sick mother.’
‘I hope it’s not too serious,’ Eva remarked.
Connie shook her head. It was funny that Mrs Gosling always seemed to be ill whenever she and Emmett had something planned but as soon as the thought went through her head, she scolded herself for being so churlish. Nobody could help being ill, could they?
‘No doubt my lot will all be back home and listening to the radio,’ Eva said. ‘My parents are at home and my brother is in the Royal Engineers. He’s still being kept quite busy, and will be for a long time, I’m afraid. He’s in the bomb squad.’
Connie frowned sympathetically. ‘That must be tough on you.’
‘I try not to think about it,’ Eva smiled. ‘What about you? Do you have brothers and sisters?’
‘A brother two years older than me,’ said Connie with a sigh, ‘and a little sister called Mandy. She’s just coming up for six.’
‘What about your brother? Is he in the army?’
Connie shook her head and willed her voice not to crack as she said matter-of-factly, ‘We lost touch.’
Eva stopped what she was doing and looked up. ‘I’m sorry.’
Connie looked away, embarrassed. It wasn’t bloody fair. Families should be together, especially at times like this. Her emotions were all over the place. After her scare of a few minutes ago, now she was fighting the urge to cry. She looked around. ‘Have you seen my other shoe?’
Eva shoved it towards her with the end of her foot.
‘Thanks,’ Connie smiled, glad that Eva hadn’t asked any more questions. She looked at her watch. It was still only 11.30 a.m. If they stayed here, they were in for a long wait and it wasn’t as if Churchill would be coming in person. He was only going to speak over the loudspeakers. Connie blew out her cheeks. She was bored. She wanted something more memorable to happen. Something she could tell her children and grandchildren about when she was old and grey.
‘Let’s go to Buckingham Palace,’ she said suddenly.
Barbara looked around helplessly. ‘Where will we get a bus?’
‘We can walk from here,’ said Eva. ‘It’s not that far.’
They pushed their way back through the crowd and when they finally reached the fringes, all four of them struck out for Buckingham Palace. Rene and Barbara linked arms and walked on ahead so Connie walked with Eva. With a lack of anything else to say, they shared their war experiences.
‘So, where do you come from?’ asked Eva dodging a drunk man staggering along the pavement in the opposite direction.
‘Worthing. It’s on the south coast, near Brighton.’
‘Really?’ Eva laughed. ‘How weird. My folks live near there.’
They could hear the sound of a mouth organ playing, ‘When the lights go on again, all over the world …’ and all at once, an American airman grabbed Eva around the waist and waltzed her into the middle of the road. His companion held out a bottle and leaned into Connie’s face. ‘Hey babe, want some beer?’
Laughing, she pushed him away and another serviceman, this time a jolly Jack Tar, danced Connie into the street next to Eva and the two of them spent a hilarious few minutes with their newfound dance partners. As suddenly as they’d grabbed them, the two men hurried off to join their companions, blowing kisses as they went.
‘Where’s Rene?’ said Eva as they came back together, laughing.
Connie shrugged. ‘No idea,’ she said. ‘I can’t see Barbara either.’
They stayed where they were for a few minutes but as there was no sign of either of their friends, Connie and Eva struck out on their own. All the way to the palace, they were craning their necks and calling out occasionally but it was hopeless. The crowd was every bit as big as it had been in Trafalgar Square but thankfully, because the area in The Mall was much bigger, they didn’t feel quite so much like sardines. After a while Connie said, ‘This is stupid. We haven’t a hope of finding them.’
‘I think you’re right,’ said Eva, linking her arm through Connie’s. ‘It’s time to give up and enjoy ourselves.’
‘I second that,’ Connie laughed. She suddenly liked this girl. ‘It’s a pity we never got stationed together. I’ve been in Hendon for a while, after I was re-mustered from Blackpool. Were you ever there?’
‘I was stationed along the south coast mostly,’ said Eva shaking her head. ‘Poling, Ford and Rye. That’s where I met Barbara.’
‘I was hoping to be posted to those places,’ said Connie wistfully.
Eva looked sympathetic. ‘Why? Did you have it bad where you were?’
Connie shrugged. ‘Not really.’ It wasn’t that. ‘It was closer to home, that’s all.’
‘We didn’t have too many bombs,’ said Eva, ‘but we were on the front line for the invasion. They were bombed in Poling just before I got there.’
‘I
