let’s see, who are you?’
‘Me,’ said Leah, and looked up at him, searching for a sign that he was as thrilled to see her as she was to see him. Edward, soon to be twenty, was tall, thin, earnest and matriculated. He was saved from being called a bookworm by his sense of humour. Like some of his relatives, he had the fine grey eyes inherited from his maternal grandfather, Corporal Daniel Adams, who had lost his life when soldiering against the Pathans on the North-West Frontier a few years before the outbreak of the ’14–18 war. In three weeks’ time Edward was due to begin a pilot’s training course, which he hoped would enable him to emulate his sister Annabelle’s husband, Nick Harrison, promoted some time ago from sergeant-pilot to pilot officer. Nick had incurred serious injuries following a dogfight over Malta, when he was forced to crash-land his crippled plane. Fully recovered, however, he was back on active service. Edward wondered how long it would take to join him.
‘What’s up?’ he asked, aware of Leah’s searching look. People ebbed and flowed around them, and the hopeful GI, disappointed, went on his way. ‘Have I come out in a rash?’
‘No, I’m just making sure it’s really you,’ said Leah, close to eighteen. She was home after spending years as an evacuee at a boarding school in Wiltshire. It was in Wiltshire that she and Edward had come to know each other, to like each other, and to gradually acquire deeper feelings than mere liking. Leah had to ask herself if she was in love and if she ought to be, since she was Jewish and he was Church of England. He had phoned her at her Brixton home last night to say that today he could stop off in London for the afternoon by breaking his journey from Tangmere in Kent to Cranwell in Lincs, where he was to attend lectures. Could Leah meet him in Hyde Park, say? Leah said yes, not half. So here they were, with the green of the park in front of them. ‘Well, I haven’t seen you for months,’ said Leah, ‘not since your week’s leave in February.’
‘That’s a coincidence, I haven’t seen you since then, either,’ said Edward.
‘That’s not a coincidence, that’s a joke,’ said Leah.
‘No joke considering what I’ve been missing, you angel,’ said Edward.
‘Me, I’m an angel?’ said Leah, laughing. ‘Becky doesn’t think so.’ Becky was Rebecca, her sister, now studying law at university. ‘Never mind, if you do, I won’t argue. One can overdo modesty, can’t one?’
Eyes met and held. Each felt oblivious of others. Edward frankly thought this Jewish girl stunning. Leah thought her pulse was jumping about.
‘Let’s walk and talk,’ said Edward, and she slipped her arm around his. They began to stroll amid the bright colours of the park, where shop girls, free for the lunch hour, were sitting with their GIs, or sauntering with them, or standing close to them. ‘What’s your daily grind, Leah?’
‘I’m working for your Uncle Sammy until I’m old enough to volunteer for the WAAF, I told you so,’ said Leah. ‘And didn’t he let me finish early this morning so’s I could meet you?’
‘Good old Uncle Sammy,’ said Edward, whose time so far in the RAF had been mainly concerned with wireless telegraphy. Useful enough, but not very exciting for a bloke who had finally decided he wanted to climb high into the clouds. ‘Remind me what kind of work you’re doing for him.’
‘Oh, typing, taking turns to answer the switchboard, making tea, stamping letters, posting them and filing the copies,’ said Leah. Sammy Adams liked girls of all work in the general office. ‘Your Uncle Sammy has lots of labour problems. Girls keep going off to volunteer for more exciting war work, and even his senior bookkeeper has gone off to live in the country and take a job with a firm of accountants in Leamington. Mama, who’s general manager, found someone to take his place. He’s a bit of an old buffer who’s come out of
‘Me,’ said Leah, and looked up at him, searching for a sign that he was as thrilled to see her as she was to see him. Edward, soon to be twenty, was tall, thin, earnest and matriculated. He was saved from being called a bookworm by his sense of humour. Like some of his relatives, he had the fine grey eyes inherited from his maternal grandfather, Corporal Daniel Adams, who had lost his life when soldiering against the Pathans on the North-West Frontier a few years before the outbreak of the ’14–18 war. In three weeks’ time Edward was due to begin a pilot’s training course, which he hoped would enable him to emulate his sister Annabelle’s husband, Nick Harrison, promoted some time ago from sergeant-pilot to pilot officer. Nick had incurred serious injuries following a dogfight over Malta, when he was forced to crash-land his crippled plane. Fully recovered, however, he was back on active service. Edward wondered how long it would take to join him.
‘What’s up?’ he asked, aware of Leah’s searching look. People ebbed and flowed around them, and the hopeful GI, disappointed, went on his way. ‘Have I come out in a rash?’
‘No, I’m just making sure it’s really you,’ said Leah, close to eighteen. She was home after spending years as an evacuee at a boarding school in Wiltshire. It was in Wiltshire that she and Edward had come to know each other, to like each other, and to gradually acquire deeper feelings than mere liking. Leah had to ask herself if she was in love and if she ought to be, since she was Jewish and he was Church of England. He had phoned her at her Brixton home last night to say that today he could stop off in London for the afternoon by breaking his journey from Tangmere in Kent to Cranwell in Lincs, where he was to attend lectures. Could Leah meet him in Hyde Park, say? Leah said yes, not half. So here they were, with the green of the park in front of them. ‘Well, I haven’t seen you for months,’ said Leah, ‘not since your week’s leave in February.’
‘That’s a coincidence, I haven’t seen you since then, either,’ said Edward.
‘That’s not a coincidence, that’s a joke,’ said Leah.
‘No joke considering what I’ve been missing, you angel,’ said Edward.
‘Me, I’m an angel?’ said Leah, laughing. ‘Becky doesn’t think so.’ Becky was Rebecca, her sister, now studying law at university. ‘Never mind, if you do, I won’t argue. One can overdo modesty, can’t one?’
Eyes met and held. Each felt oblivious of others. Edward frankly thought this Jewish girl stunning. Leah thought her pulse was jumping about.
‘Let’s walk and talk,’ said Edward, and she slipped her arm around his. They began to stroll amid the bright colours of the park, where shop girls, free for the lunch hour, were sitting with their GIs, or sauntering with them, or standing close to them. ‘What’s your daily grind, Leah?’
‘I’m working for your Uncle Sammy until I’m old enough to volunteer for the WAAF, I told you so,’ said Leah. ‘And didn’t he let me finish early this morning so’s I could meet you?’
‘Good old Uncle Sammy,’ said Edward, whose time so far in the RAF had been mainly concerned with wireless telegraphy. Useful enough, but not very exciting for a bloke who had finally decided he wanted to climb high into the clouds. ‘Remind me what kind of work you’re doing for him.’
‘Oh, typing, taking turns to answer the switchboard, making tea, stamping letters, posting them and filing the copies,’ said Leah. Sammy Adams liked girls of all work in the general office. ‘Your Uncle Sammy has lots of labour problems. Girls keep going off to volunteer for more exciting war work, and even his senior bookkeeper has gone off to live in the country and take a job with a firm of accountants in Leamington. Mama, who’s general manager, found someone to take his place. He’s a bit of an old buffer who’s come out of
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