The Fleethaven Trilogy (82 page)

‘Oh, I’ll take Dave, then,’ Isobel said airily.

‘Keep off, Cartwright. He’s mine, and you too, Kate Hilton, with those green eyes of yours.’

‘Sounds like you’ve got the “green eye” over him yourself,’ Isobel drawled, and Kate said, ‘Oh, I get it! We get the pimply friends, do we? I’d sooner go with Sandy.’

‘Eh?’

‘You know, the navigator in T-Tommy.’

‘Oh yes, I know him. Sorry – he’s on leave, evidently.’

Kate pulled a face. ‘On second thoughts, then, I reckon I will give it a miss . . .’

‘Oh no you won’t, when I’ve spent the last couple of days running round like a headless chicken fixing it all up.’

‘Nobody asked you to,’ Isobel put in tartly, but Mavis ignored her.

‘There’s the three of them,’ she went on. ‘My Dave, Johnny and Brian. Johnny’s a bit of a lad, but Iso will handle him. And Brian’s nice. Besides, he’s – er – married.’

‘I see – I get lumbered with the nice safe ones, do I?’ Kate pretended huffiness.

‘Well, to be honest,’ Mavis wriggled her shoulders with embarrassment, not realizing, for once, that Kate was teasing her, ‘the way you talk – I thought you’d want it that way. I mean—’ she was floundering now. ‘The way you talk about this Danny, I thought he was your boyfriend – someone special.’

‘He’s very special,’ Kate said softly, ‘but he’s not my boyfriend.’

Mavis looked puzzled. ‘Oh. Then . . .?’

‘That’s enough questions for one night,’ Kate laughed, and linking arms, the friends ducked out into the night to dash across to the ablutions through the drizzle.

Kate was wishing heartily that she had not come. She had never learned to dance properly, and the local girls in their pretty dresses with their hair curled into the latest styles, made her think of Rosie. Thinking of Rosie made her think of home and, of course, thinking of Fleethaven Point made her think of Danny.

Brian – her blind date for the evening – proved to be not spotty and shy, but overweight, extremely loud and far too familiar for such a short acquaintance.

‘Oh Kate, do let yourself go a bit, for heaven’s sake,’ Mavis hissed, snuggling closer to Dave, who sat with one arm draped around her, leaving the other free for lifting his beer glass with frequent regularity.

‘You seem to be doing enough “letting go” for all of us,’ Kate snapped back.

‘Don’t be such a prude!’ the good-natured Mavis laughed. Morosely, Kate wondered if it was even possible to offend Mavis.

‘I quite agree with Kate,’ Isobel put in, crossing her legs and puffing elegantly on a cigarette which she had inserted into a long ebony holder. Her blonde hair was smoothed back into a neat pleat and, despite the uniform, she looked like a model off the front of a pre-war fashion magazine. She had taken an instant dislike to her date and had despatched him with icy politeness to try his luck elsewhere. Isobel looked so incongruous sitting there amidst the smoke and the spilled beer, coolly fending off any young man who dared to approach her with an invitation to dance, that watching her, Kate was suddenly overcome by a fit of the giggles.

‘That’s better.’ Mavis leaned forward and whispered in her ear, jerking her head in Isobel’s direction. ‘We can only cope with one killjoy at a time.’

To her surprise, Kate began to enjoy the evening. It was not the local girls in their pretty, feminine dresses who attracted the attentions of the young men but the girls in uniform, and, once she decided to join in, Kate found herself never without a partner. Without causing any offence, she skilfully managed to steer clear of Brian for most of the evening. Before long, her feet were aching and she was sure she had left a few bruised toes where she had trodden on her partners’ feet. It hardly mattered that she couldn’t dance well, because there was scarcely room to do so anyway. But the atmosphere was wonderful; she had never known anything like it before. Everyone seemed so happy, so carefree. It was hard to believe that some of those young men singing heartily, their arms draped casually around a couple of WAAFs, might be flying over enemy territory dropping bombs by this time tomorrow night.

And some would not be coming back.

Kate shuddered. Suddenly, amidst all the jollity, she felt lonely. It was all false, a forced gaiety to hide their fear, their terror of tomorrow. But what else could these brave young men do? Sit around moping, waiting for death in the morning? No, this was their way of being courageous; it was the only way they knew.

The music seemed to grow louder, the laughter became strident; Brian’s arm around her was suddenly too tight, the smoky atmosphere oppressive, cloying and stifling. She wanted to push her way through the crowd and escape into the fresh air. A sudden longing for the peace and tranquillity of the end of the Spit overwhelmed her. The desire would not be wholly denied. Kate gave a little sob and thrust herself away from Brian’s clutch.

‘Hey, what did I do?’ he asked, bemused.

‘Nothing, nothing,’ she mouthed above the noise. She put a hand to her head. ‘I must get some – air.’

He grinned stupidly at her, misinterpreting her reasons. Lurching towards her, he grabbed her arm again. ‘What a good idea,’ he leered.

Kate twisted herself from his grasp. ‘No!’ She pulled away from him, knocking against the couple dancing nearby. The whole dance-floor was crowded now, there was scarcely room to move.

‘Aw, now don’t be a spoilsport . . .’ he began. Blindly, Kate turned away, but found her face pressed against another blue uniform, the buttons digging into her cheek. Two arms were around her holding her tightly. She gave a cry and began to struggle.

‘Kate – it’s me . . .’

With a gasp of surprise, she pulled her head back to find herself looking directly into a pair of laughing brown eyes.

‘Danny, oh Danny!’ And she flung her arms around him.

Behind her, her former dance partner shrugged philosophically. ‘Oh well, I know when I’m beaten. Hope you have better luck than I did, mate.’

Danny pushed his way through the throng, with Kate in his wake. When they reached the edge of the floor, he said, ‘Come on, let’s get out of here,’ and together they almost burst through the doors of the hall and out into the open air.

‘Whew! I don’t think I could have stood another minute!’ Danny took great gulps of air. ‘It’s worse than being in the belly of a Manchester!’

‘What are you doing here? How did you know where to find me? How did you get here?’

‘Rescuing you, in answer to your first question. And not a moment too soon, by the look of it. As for your second question, you told me in your letter. Forgotten already?’ he teased gently. ‘And your last question – by truck, like you, I expect.’

‘But I thought you were miles away.’

His grin broadened. ‘My squadron’s just been moved to East Markham.’ In the darkness she could not see his face, but she could hear the excitement in his voice. He made no effort to conceal it.

‘East Markham! Why, that’s only a few miles from Suddaby.’

‘I know.’ He put his arm casually around her shoulders as they walked along the street. The pavements were wet now with a fine drizzle. ‘We’d best get out of this, else we’ll end up soaked. There’s a pub over there. It might not be too crowded. Let’s try it.’

Pushing open the door to the bar, they were met by that unmistakable pub smell, a mixture of beer and smoke. Four old men sat in one corner playing dominoes and the barmaid leaned against the bar examining her long painted nails in close detail. She straightened up as Danny approached the bar, and smiled.

‘I was beginning to think I’d ’ave to close up an’ go home. All our regulars is at the dance.’ She pulled a face and it was obvious the girl wished she were there too. ‘What’ll it be, love?’

Danny ordered a beer for himself and a shandy for Kate. As he carried them across to her and placed them on a small round table, he jerked his head towards the opposite corner. ‘Reminds you of me dad and old Tom Willoughby playing dominoes in their usual corner in the Seagull, dun’t it?’

The barmaid had gone back to leaning against the bar and had resumed her nail examination.

Kate smiled as she sipped her drink. ‘And you – given half a chance.’

He grinned and then sighed. ‘What I’d give sometimes to be safely back at Fleethaven Point playing dominoes with the old ’uns! I had a game with ’em last time I was home.’

‘Have – you flown any missions yet?’

He twisted the glass round and round as it stood on the table, staring at it but not really seeing it. The frothy beer slopped from side to side in the glass. ‘Yup,’ he answered shortly.

‘Is it very bad?’

There was silence for a moment. ‘Varies.’

She leaned forward. ‘Danny. It’s me – Kate. You can talk to me about it.’

He sighed deeply. ‘It’s not that, Katie, you know I’d tell you. But – well – we all like to try to forget about it for a while when we’re out. Y’know.’

‘Oh, I see,’ she said, but her tone indicated the opposite. He was leading a different life now, a life in which she had no part and he was reluctant to tell her about it. She felt resentful.

Sensing her mood, he grinned. ‘Come on, Katie. Let’s go for a walk up the hill, eh? It’s stopped raining.’

Mollified a little, she agreed.

They climbed Steep Hill, their arms linked casually, talking when they felt like it, or just in companionable silence.

‘Tell me how things are at home. Have you managed any leave recently?’ he asked her.

‘No – not since you were there. It was difficult – after the air-raid.’ She was silent for a moment, thinking about Rosie, seeing in her mind’s eye the girl in the shadows of the pillbox with a soldier.

‘You were right about Rosie,’ she murmured.

She felt his arm stiffen under hers. ‘Rosie? What about Rosie?’

She couldn’t see his face in the blackness, but there was a strange note in his tone, almost like a defensiveness.

Kate was silent. She was remembering now Rosie begging her not to tell Danny. Of all people, she didn’t want Danny to know. Kate felt guilty, wishing she had kept quiet. She’d had a little too much to drink, that was the trouble; her mouth was apt to say what it liked.

‘Kate?’ he prompted. He was not going to let it rest there.

‘Oh, it’s nothing. She just flirts about a bit. You know.’

He stopped and turned to face her, taking hold of her shoulders, peering at her through the darkness. ‘No, I don’t know. You tell me.’

I – I caught her in that pillbox the army has built at the Point – with one of the soldiers.’

For a moment, his fingers dug into her arms. Then he let go.

‘Well, I’m not having that. Next time I go home, I’ll sort her out – an’ him, if need be.’

‘Oh Danny, don’t be stupid. I wish I hadn’t told you.’

‘I’m glad you did. I wouldn’t want to see young Rosiè getting ’ersen into trouble.’

‘And how are we going to stop her? We’re not there.’

‘I’ll think of something,’ Danny muttered.

They walked along in silence, Kate wishing she hadn’t let her unruly tongue run away with itself.

‘We’d better be getting back to the dance hall. It must be getting late.’

They turned and walked back down the hill, their footsteps echoing hollowly on the cobbles.

When they arrived back at the hall, the caretakers were clearing up. There was no sign of any of their friends.

And worse still – all the transport trucks had disappeared.

‘O
h heck! Now what are we going to do?’ Danny muttered, while Kate stared in horror at the spot where the trucks had been parked. There was not a vehicle of any sort to be seen.

‘Come on,’ Danny said. ‘We’ll start walking and see if we can hitch a lift.’

‘Not likely,’ she argued, finding her voice. ‘I’ve tried that once before. I’m not walking all that way . . .’

‘What do you mean, you’ve done it before?’ he asked, a belligerent note in his voice. ‘When?’

‘When I ran away from school – remember? I walked for miles, got soaking wet – and lost! There’ll be nothing come along at this time of night to give us a lift. Shouldn’t think that carrier of mine’s out at this hour – even if he’s still around.’

‘Don’t be daft, Kate. That’s years ago. It’s a fine night – no rain. You’re not a fourteen-year-old kid any more, and besides . . .’

She could hear the amusement in his voice and although she couldn’t actually see it, knew he was smiling. ‘What?’

‘You’ve got
me
with you this time!’

‘Ah well,’ she said, laughing and linking her arm through his again. ‘That makes all the difference!’

‘I don’t know what we’re laughing for, ’cos there’s going to be hell to pay when we get back – it’ll be jankers at the very least for both of us.’

‘Oh, I’ll be all right,’ Kate said confidently. ‘I’m the CO’s pet driver.’

You wouldn’t think so, Kate was thinking to herself the next morning as she faced a livid Philip Trent across his desk, or that I’d saved his life – twice!

She was standing to attention, so rigidly that her back began to ache. It was like waiting for sentence to be passed. In this mood he was going to throw the book at her and, most likely, at her section commander too. She and Danny had walked up Steep Hill and out on to the Wragby Road. They’d only had to walk a couple of miles before they had hitched a lift to within two miles of Suddaby camp. Danny left her at the gate and disappeared into the night to get back to his own station. She wondered how he was faring now, up before his own CO!

Kate had reported to the guardroom, praying that it was Isobel’s friend on duty. But her luck had run out; the man was a stranger to her and one who obviously stuck rigidly to the rule book.

She had been reported to Chiefy for being half an hour late.

‘Oh Kate,’ Martin moaned at her, running his hand across his bald pate. ‘You would make life difficult. I can hardly confine you to barracks for a couple of days when you’re the CO’s driver.’ He’d sighed and fiddled with his pen on the desk. ‘Look, I’ll let it go this time. But we’ll have to hope the CO doesn’t hear about it, or we’re both in trouble.’

And now she was standing facing Group Captain Trent and wondering how on earth he had heard about her escapade.