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The plane flew so low that Mabel could even see the pilot waving at them.
‘I imagine they’ve come from an RAF base in Lincoln or Scotland.’
The young man offered her a handkerchief. ‘Here. Let’s wipe away those tears.’
Mabel took the lovely white handkerchief and wiped her eyes. She then blew her nose, and held it out to give it back to him.
‘You keep it – what is your name?’
‘Mabel. Are you Scottish?’
‘I am.’
‘I like the sound of your voice.’
‘You like my accent?’
Mabel nodded. That wasn’t all she liked; she stared, mesmerised by his lovely eyes and kind, attractive face, and felt some-thing stir in her tummy – a tingly sensation she’d never felt before. She didn’t know why, but she dropped her gaze, embarrassed.
Later that evening, when she and her sister were tucked un-der their covers after the most stupendous meal of their lives, she made the mistake of confiding in her sister that she was in love. Marjorie had burst out laughing.
‘What’s so funny?’
‘You’re eight.’
‘Yes, I know that! Father says I’m pretty, and I’m going to grow up into a beautiful young woman.’
‘He did?’
‘Yes, because I asked him if I would.’
‘Mabel, you are so silly sometimes – all fathers say that about their daughters.’ She added, ‘You can’t fall in love at your age.’
‘Why not?’
‘Oh, Mabel. You don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re a child.’
‘I won’t be a child forever. When I grow up, I’m going to marry him.’
Chapter 28
Mabel sipped her tea and discovered it had gone cold.
‘You look lost in thought. Where were you?’ Marjorie asked.
‘Back in 1944.’
‘Pardon me?’
Mabel dropped her gaze from the bookshop and looked at her sister. She thought of the evacuees who had arrived on the day when she’d assumed the Luftwaffe had finally found Aldeburgh. The evacuees had nearly arrived to find no dinner waiting for them. She remembered that day vividly – not only because of her excitement over their impending arrival, but because she had met Douglas for the first time, and he had saved the day.
Mabel recalled what had happened next, after she’d calmed down. Before she’d run into him, trying to flee home, she’d dropped the bag of shopping. When she’d run back to find it, the bag with the meat, bread and vegetables, and what had been left of their weekly rations, was gone. She’d cried again until the young man had caught up with her and asked her what the matter was. When she’d told him some horrible person had picked up her bag and taken it, he’d stepped in to help. He’d gone to the butcher’s, and the greengrocer’s, and finally the baker’s, and had brought back the biggest cut of meat she’d ever seen, along with vegetables, and an apple pie the like of which she’d never eaten before – it had the most crumbly pastry she’d ever tasted, and so much sugar. She’d thought she wouldn’t sleep for a week from the excitement of what had happened that day.
Of course, Father had invited him to join them for dinner – how could he not, after Douglas had brought them so much food?
‘Would you like me to make another brew?’ asked Marjorie.
Mabel said, ‘What do you think happened to him?’
