what was even more confusing was how that bottle he had imbibed from, and two others, ended up under Connie’s sink.
Reluctantly he recalled that he had just swallowed the third glass and was looking for a fourth when Connie had said that if he would chum her across the landing and into her house she would fish out another bottle for him that was bunked behind the soap powder.
What happened next he was not sure about but what he did know was he had passed out and on awakening in the early hours of the morning, not only was he in Connie’s double bed, but so was she! Johnny gulped again as he admitted that it was not being in Connie’s bed that had unnerved him, because he knew he was so drunk he was incapable of doing anything. The real problem was that he remembered just how much he wanted to lie there and cuddle in like he used to do with Sandra. The bed felt so cosy and it smelled so fresh and as he looked over at Connie he began to see her in a different light … She really was quite lovely and, as her hair tumbled around her head, he had a desire to stroke it, to bury his nose in it, to allow the scent of her shampoo to intoxicate him. These desires were quickly extinguished when a sense of guilt and indecency overwhelmed him and he slunk out of the bed, picked up his trousers and shirt off the floor and fled back to his own home. He had just got safely back into his own house when he accepted that the deathbed promises he had made to Sandra were starting to …
Johnny was rudely brought back into the present when Kitty screamed. ‘Dad, Dad, listen, there’s the siren and I can hear the drone of the planes already. Quick, you grab Rosebud and I’ll follow you once I’ve filled the Thermos flask for you and made up a jam piece for her.’
Although dazed, Johnny began to organise things. Firstly he called out to Davy and Jack to follow him down the stairs. When he reached the bottom landing he banged on Mrs Dickson’s door before turning the key and entering the house. The old buddy, who was profoundly deaf, was sitting by the fire drinking tea, blissfully unaware of the drama unfolding outdoors. The boys, who knew the drill, assisted their dad in hauckling the old women out of her house and into one of the two Anderson shelters on the back green.
Connie had dashed back into the house to assist Kitty with preparing the air-raid picnic and as the two of them started to flee the house they could hear explosions reverberating all around the outside area. ‘That was close,’ Kitty mumbled.
‘Too bloody close,’ was Connie’s angry retort.
They had just arrived on the ground floor when Kitty turned to Connie and gasped. ‘Oh, Connie, that new woman who has just come to stay opposite Mrs Dickson – will she know where to take her two lassies and herself?’
‘Don’t know. But let’s knock her up.’
Kitty and Connie frantically banged on the door. Eventually they heard a chair being dragged along the hall and then slowly the lock turned and a wee voice cried, ‘My mummy isn’t well. She’s lying on the floor and she’s crying.’
Connie swallowed hard before saying, ‘What’s your name, little girl?’
‘Ina and my wee sister’s called Dolly.’
‘Right, Ina, climb down off the chair and pull it back from the door so that Kitty and I can come in and help your mummy.’
It seemed a long time before the chair was dragged along the floor again to allow Kitty and Connie access to the house.
They were running along the hallway when the sound of close overhead machine-gun fire startled them. Ina and Dolly immediately began to scream in unison. Connie grabbed hold of Ina and Kitty took Dolly, and they got them into the living room. Both women suddenly let go of the children and gasped when they were confronted by the children’s mother lying on the bare linoleum floor in obvious distress. Alarmed, Kitty looked at Connie in the hope that she would tell her what they needed to do.
Connie, who
Reluctantly he recalled that he had just swallowed the third glass and was looking for a fourth when Connie had said that if he would chum her across the landing and into her house she would fish out another bottle for him that was bunked behind the soap powder.
What happened next he was not sure about but what he did know was he had passed out and on awakening in the early hours of the morning, not only was he in Connie’s double bed, but so was she! Johnny gulped again as he admitted that it was not being in Connie’s bed that had unnerved him, because he knew he was so drunk he was incapable of doing anything. The real problem was that he remembered just how much he wanted to lie there and cuddle in like he used to do with Sandra. The bed felt so cosy and it smelled so fresh and as he looked over at Connie he began to see her in a different light … She really was quite lovely and, as her hair tumbled around her head, he had a desire to stroke it, to bury his nose in it, to allow the scent of her shampoo to intoxicate him. These desires were quickly extinguished when a sense of guilt and indecency overwhelmed him and he slunk out of the bed, picked up his trousers and shirt off the floor and fled back to his own home. He had just got safely back into his own house when he accepted that the deathbed promises he had made to Sandra were starting to …
Johnny was rudely brought back into the present when Kitty screamed. ‘Dad, Dad, listen, there’s the siren and I can hear the drone of the planes already. Quick, you grab Rosebud and I’ll follow you once I’ve filled the Thermos flask for you and made up a jam piece for her.’
Although dazed, Johnny began to organise things. Firstly he called out to Davy and Jack to follow him down the stairs. When he reached the bottom landing he banged on Mrs Dickson’s door before turning the key and entering the house. The old buddy, who was profoundly deaf, was sitting by the fire drinking tea, blissfully unaware of the drama unfolding outdoors. The boys, who knew the drill, assisted their dad in hauckling the old women out of her house and into one of the two Anderson shelters on the back green.
Connie had dashed back into the house to assist Kitty with preparing the air-raid picnic and as the two of them started to flee the house they could hear explosions reverberating all around the outside area. ‘That was close,’ Kitty mumbled.
‘Too bloody close,’ was Connie’s angry retort.
They had just arrived on the ground floor when Kitty turned to Connie and gasped. ‘Oh, Connie, that new woman who has just come to stay opposite Mrs Dickson – will she know where to take her two lassies and herself?’
‘Don’t know. But let’s knock her up.’
Kitty and Connie frantically banged on the door. Eventually they heard a chair being dragged along the hall and then slowly the lock turned and a wee voice cried, ‘My mummy isn’t well. She’s lying on the floor and she’s crying.’
Connie swallowed hard before saying, ‘What’s your name, little girl?’
‘Ina and my wee sister’s called Dolly.’
‘Right, Ina, climb down off the chair and pull it back from the door so that Kitty and I can come in and help your mummy.’
It seemed a long time before the chair was dragged along the floor again to allow Kitty and Connie access to the house.
They were running along the hallway when the sound of close overhead machine-gun fire startled them. Ina and Dolly immediately began to scream in unison. Connie grabbed hold of Ina and Kitty took Dolly, and they got them into the living room. Both women suddenly let go of the children and gasped when they were confronted by the children’s mother lying on the bare linoleum floor in obvious distress. Alarmed, Kitty looked at Connie in the hope that she would tell her what they needed to do.
Connie, who
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