A Girl in Wartime by Maggie Ford Read Free Book Online Page A

Road, too excited to return to work today even if it meant she got into trouble, she recalled that smile he’d given her after studying her drawing, even more than those words he’d spoken almost to himself. ‘Uncanny, quite uncanny, the expression you’ve caught. Could only have been there a second yet you’ve captured it and held on to it.’ But the more she thought of his smile, the more her heart began to race all over again.
    â€˜I’ve an idea,’ he’d said, his smile fading, suddenly becoming serious. ‘But first I need to ask you: how long does an expression stay in your head?’
    The question had surprised her. ‘It stays with me,’ she’d said. It felt quite normal to her that it would, so why had he needed to ask such an odd question? Surely something seen lingered in everyone’s mind, didn’t it?
    It was then he’d mentioned that he might try and put an idea of his to the powers-that-be, as he termed it. It had sounded very mysterious and when she asked he’d answered with a lovely smile and ‘We’ll just have to see.’ He’d not expanded on it and now here she was, still blank as to what he’d had in mind – if he’d had anything at all, though it did, she was sure, have something to do with her being asked to sketch that Mr Whatever-His-Name-Was. He had promised to notify her one way or other, though it would take a little time and he had asked her to be patient.
    As he’d remarked with a wry grin, committee meetings seldom settle anything quickly and even then a proposition can be thrown out. But he would put his idea forward and see what would come of it.
    â€˜If not …’ He’d shrugged. ‘It’ll be my loss. I’m good at facing up to loss.’ He’d ended with a look that made him strike Connie as someone who had faced some tragedy in his life. But she could still remember that whimsical smile he’d given.
    The question was, how long would she have to wait for a decision? Should she stay in her present job or carry on looking for another one where she’d be of more use to the war effort? Her mind on this, she finally turned into her street. There was no point going back to work now. She’d tell them tomorrow that she hadn’t been feeling very well.
    Her mum answered the door to her knock, and the first words to come spilling from her mouth were, ‘What you doing home? Are you poorly?’
    â€˜I went looking for a job,’ she said as she passed her in the tiny hallway. ‘Like Dad suggested.’
    â€˜Did you find anything?’
    Hanging her hat, scarf and coat on a hook, glad of the warmth of the house, she said, ‘I don’t have enough schooling. The man interviewing me said he might have something else in mind but not to count on it. So I shall wait. I don’t know how long for. Could be a waste of time and it was too wet to go looking for anything else. Maybe tomorrow.’
    â€˜You’ll have to go to work tomorrow or you’ll lose the job you’ve got. And you don’t want that. Anyway, I’ve made dinner, so you might as well sit and have it with me.’
    Mum always cooked dinner at midday, eating hers then and reheating the others for when the rest of the family came home from work. Bringing in the meals, she went to the stairs and called out, ‘George, dinner’s ready.’
    â€˜Be down in a minute,’ came the faint reply.
    As her mother came back into the room, she said, ‘He’s bin out.’
    â€˜Looking for work or signing up?’ Connie asked tartly as she sat down to eat. Her mum gave half a sigh, torn between love for her son and loyalty to Dad.
    Her dad had made no secret of his feelings towards George: a mixture of anger, disgust, contempt and not a little embarrassment. She understood how he felt, but like Mum, she loved all her brothers and sisters. Though she was closer