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“And why didn’t you tell me anything?” Gladys threw her my pillow. “You and your secrets.”
Doris caught it. “I applied this morning, as soon as I read the news inThe Times. And I want to join because…” She fiddled with her hands. “I want to make myself useful. Do something meaningful for other people.”
“You volunteer at the dementia home.” Gladys swatted her shoulder.
Doris scowled. “Stop saying that like I’m doing something stupid.”
“She’s right.” I swatted Gladys’s shoulder in turn.
Doris gazed at the floor. “My father left us. My betrothed left me, and I—”
“You don’t have anything to prove.” I took her hand.
Her bottom lip quivered. “Yes, I have. I have to show them what they’re missing.”
“You’re so brave.” I hugged her, hoping that she would never need to be called into action. If only the Ministry of Defence took a step further and let us do our job, we could avoid a new war. That darn lump grew again, and I swallowed hard past it.
“So, a war, huh?” Gladys put the box of bonbons aside. “My mother and grandmother still talk about the hardships they went through years ago. I would have never guessed I’d see a war.”
Silence stretched. The word war echoed out loudly.
“Now”, Gladys slid off the bed and wrapped her arms around Doris’s and my shoulders, “we have to promise each other something.” Seriousness rang in her voice. “Whatever happens, if another war is truly coming because of bloody Shitler, we’ll take care of each other.”
“Of course.” Doris frowned. “As always.”
“No, I mean it.” Gladys’s fingers dug into my shoulders. “A war is different. The last time my mother saw my father was at the train station when he left for London to be deployed somewhere. She didn’t hear anything from him until a military dispatch informed her that he was dead.” Her eyes shone with unshed tears. “I barely remember him. Then my mother left me because she was mad with grief. She disappeared for years while I lived with my grandmother, and no one knew where Mum was. Then one day, she reappeared as if nothing had happened.” She shook her head. “I love my grandmother, but my mother left me. She didn’t think I needed her to overcome the pain of losing my father. We’ll be together. Until the end.”
Tears burned my eyes and streamed down my cheeks. I couldn’t stop the sobs this time as the three of us held each other, as if it could be the last time.
