picked at her dinner that evening, and went to bed with her stomach filled with the leaden lump of fear instead of Mr Greenberry’s homegrown vegetables and the rabbit he’d
brought from the farm.
Reg and Edna Corner had their worries too. They waited until Tim and Keith were in bed before discussing them. ‘I just don’t see how we’re to manage,’ Edna said. ‘You’re bound to get called up soon, and with a baby coming as well … ‘
‘I’m sure Mr Callaway will let you stop on in the cottage,’ Reg said. ‘I mean, he’s not going to get another worker, is he? He’ll get one or two of the older men — Simon Barrow, he’s still pretty spry, he’ll be glad to earn himself a bob or two. Or maybe he’ll get a Land Girl.’
‘And where’s she going to live?’ Edna demanded. ‘He’s already got young Brian billeted on him at the farmhouse. He’ll want this cottage, that’s what, and he’ll probably put up two or three more as well. No, the minute you’re called up he’ll have me out. I’ll have to go and stop with Mum.’
Reg gazed at her. It wasn’t what he wanted, starting a family this way, with him away in the Forces and Edna having to go back to her mother’s cramped little cottage. He looked round the little room. They’d got it so nice. Even though it wasn’t theirs, it was still their home for as long as he worked on the farm, and he’d expected that to be for a good few years, if not for life. What reason was there to move, if you were happy? And he and Edna had been happy, there was no doubt at all about that.
‘So what are we going to do about Tim and Keith?’ he asked.
Etna shrugged. ‘What can we do? You know how I feel about them, they’re smashing boys, I feel like they’re almost our own. But we can’t keep them here once the baby’s born. I don’t think I could manage it all, specially if you’re going to be away. And anyway —’
‘Mr Callaway won’t let you stop on,’ Reg finished for her. ‘Well, I daresay you’re right. I suppose we’d better let the billeting officer know.’
Edna looked miserable. ‘Not too soon, Reg. I don’t want to lose them yet.’
‘But it’s not fair on them, letting them settle in again and then get pushed on somewhere else. We ought to tell their mum and dad at least.’ He looked at her. He knew how fond of the two boys she had become. ‘Tell you what we’ll do, Edna. We’ll look out for somewhere for them ourselves. Somewhere we know they’ll be happy. And then we’ll tell Mrs Budd and the billeting officer.’ He put his arm round her and drew her close. ‘And now you’ve got to start thinking about
yourself and our own little one. I’m fond of the boys too, but you’re more important to me. You and our own baby. That’s what you’ve got to be thinking about.’
Edna smiled. But her heart was sore. Like Reg, she felt bitterly disappointed that things had turned out this way— that their first baby should be coming into such a world, with its father about to be sent off to war and their home taken from them.
It wasn’t fair. But the past year had taught everyone that you could no longer expect fairness.
Micky Baxter did not go to Bridge End. He had no wish to leave Portsmouth, and his mother Nancy didn’t bother to insist. She hardly looked on Micky as a child anyway; from an early age he had been allowed to fend for himself, running the streets, living by his fists, pinching the odd apple or orange from greengrocers’ displays, pocketing all sorts of oddments that it was best not to enquire about.
‘It was just left lyin’ about,’ he would explain. ‘There wasn’t no sense in just leavin’ it, was there?’
‘Funny,’ Nancy said, ‘last time I saw something like that it was lying on a counter in Woolies. You’d better watch yourself, Micky.’
‘Oh, leave the boy alone,’ Granny Kinch said. ‘All boys gets up to a bit o’ mischief. There ain’t no real harm in him.’
But
brought from the farm.
Reg and Edna Corner had their worries too. They waited until Tim and Keith were in bed before discussing them. ‘I just don’t see how we’re to manage,’ Edna said. ‘You’re bound to get called up soon, and with a baby coming as well … ‘
‘I’m sure Mr Callaway will let you stop on in the cottage,’ Reg said. ‘I mean, he’s not going to get another worker, is he? He’ll get one or two of the older men — Simon Barrow, he’s still pretty spry, he’ll be glad to earn himself a bob or two. Or maybe he’ll get a Land Girl.’
‘And where’s she going to live?’ Edna demanded. ‘He’s already got young Brian billeted on him at the farmhouse. He’ll want this cottage, that’s what, and he’ll probably put up two or three more as well. No, the minute you’re called up he’ll have me out. I’ll have to go and stop with Mum.’
Reg gazed at her. It wasn’t what he wanted, starting a family this way, with him away in the Forces and Edna having to go back to her mother’s cramped little cottage. He looked round the little room. They’d got it so nice. Even though it wasn’t theirs, it was still their home for as long as he worked on the farm, and he’d expected that to be for a good few years, if not for life. What reason was there to move, if you were happy? And he and Edna had been happy, there was no doubt at all about that.
‘So what are we going to do about Tim and Keith?’ he asked.
Etna shrugged. ‘What can we do? You know how I feel about them, they’re smashing boys, I feel like they’re almost our own. But we can’t keep them here once the baby’s born. I don’t think I could manage it all, specially if you’re going to be away. And anyway —’
‘Mr Callaway won’t let you stop on,’ Reg finished for her. ‘Well, I daresay you’re right. I suppose we’d better let the billeting officer know.’
Edna looked miserable. ‘Not too soon, Reg. I don’t want to lose them yet.’
‘But it’s not fair on them, letting them settle in again and then get pushed on somewhere else. We ought to tell their mum and dad at least.’ He looked at her. He knew how fond of the two boys she had become. ‘Tell you what we’ll do, Edna. We’ll look out for somewhere for them ourselves. Somewhere we know they’ll be happy. And then we’ll tell Mrs Budd and the billeting officer.’ He put his arm round her and drew her close. ‘And now you’ve got to start thinking about
yourself and our own little one. I’m fond of the boys too, but you’re more important to me. You and our own baby. That’s what you’ve got to be thinking about.’
Edna smiled. But her heart was sore. Like Reg, she felt bitterly disappointed that things had turned out this way— that their first baby should be coming into such a world, with its father about to be sent off to war and their home taken from them.
It wasn’t fair. But the past year had taught everyone that you could no longer expect fairness.
Micky Baxter did not go to Bridge End. He had no wish to leave Portsmouth, and his mother Nancy didn’t bother to insist. She hardly looked on Micky as a child anyway; from an early age he had been allowed to fend for himself, running the streets, living by his fists, pinching the odd apple or orange from greengrocers’ displays, pocketing all sorts of oddments that it was best not to enquire about.
‘It was just left lyin’ about,’ he would explain. ‘There wasn’t no sense in just leavin’ it, was there?’
‘Funny,’ Nancy said, ‘last time I saw something like that it was lying on a counter in Woolies. You’d better watch yourself, Micky.’
‘Oh, leave the boy alone,’ Granny Kinch said. ‘All boys gets up to a bit o’ mischief. There ain’t no real harm in him.’
But
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