A Wartime Christmas by Carol Rivers Read Free Book Online

not us?’
    Kay gently touched her friend’s arm. ‘No one knows the answer to that, Babs. Fate, destiny, a higher power – who can say? But I’m just thankful I still have you all in
one piece.’
    Babs nodded, trying to smile with her eyes. Kay knew that whatever she said couldn’t dismiss the horror that had brought them here today. Both Eddie and Babs had been spared, and their
children Tim and Gill had been safely evacuated to Essex at the time the bomb had fallen on their house. Kay knew it was a blessing they would be fully grateful for as time passed.
    Just then a man in a grey suit hurriedly walked in through a side door and stood in front of them. He gave the Suttons’ names and ages, then said they would be sadly missed by their
friends and neighbours. After handing them each a hymn book, they all sang ‘Abide With Me’.
    Then Alan, Tom Edwards, Bert Tyler, Paul Butt and Eddie Chapman, together with the undertaker, lifted the wooden boxes one by one and carried them outside to a waiting van. Kay had to stop her
mind from thinking of what was in them. But at least each had their own small space to rest in.
    Everyone remained seated in the chapel, as if hoping for something to happen which would restore everything to normal again.
    Babs blew her nose. ‘We just have to get on with it and do our best,’ she sniffed. ‘We’re all lucky to be sitting here after that terrible night.’
    A sentiment with which Kay knew everyone agreed.
    Kay hadn’t intended to host a wake, but as they stood outside the chapel she looked around at the small group of mourners and knew that she couldn’t let the day end
like this. She asked the assembled back to the house for tea and Alan told her he would join them after he’d reported back to his unit’s headquarters in Poplar. Paul Butt and his dad
had come in Paul’s car and they offered Hazel and Thelma Press a ride in the back seat. The others joined Kay at the bus stop.
    ‘Me and Eddie can’t stay long as we have to get back to the hostel at Aldgate,’ Babs said.
    ‘How are the kids?’ Kay asked as the bus came along and they climbed aboard.
    ‘I miss them, but I was glad they were away when me and Eddie saw our house. Honest, Kay, it was the biggest shock of my life. And of course our cat, Fluffy, was killed. The kids will be
really upset over that.’
    ‘What are you going to do now?’
    ‘Dunno.’
    ‘Do you think you’ll evacuate?’
    ‘We’ll have to,’ replied Babs, glancing across at her husband who had taken a seat next to Bert Tyler. ‘Though even after what happened to our house and the Suttons, I
can’t imagine living anywhere else.’ She gave a shudder, hunching her shoulders. ‘Me and Eddie have always lived in or around the East End. We moved to Slater Street just after
Gill was born. Eddie’s job in the docks’ offices has been a godsend, what with so many blokes being unemployed. But most of all, I don’t want to leave my best friend.’ She
smiled tearfully at Kay.
    ‘But you might get a nice place somewhere else. Eddie could even find a better job,’ interrupted Jenny Edwards, who leaned forward from the seat behind. Kay smiled at Jenny who, in
her mid-forties, had a permanently worried expression on her pale face.
    ‘Yes, there’s always a chance, Jenny,’ said Babs. ‘And when you’re issued with a billet, you have to accept it, even if it’s miles away from London. The kids
don’t even like being in Essex. They can’t wait to come home. If Eddie could find us somewhere to live round here, even if it was run down, I’d grab it.’
    ‘But what about the kids if the raids start again?’ asked Kay.
    ‘They’d have to go back to Essex.’ Babs frowned. ‘And you, Kay? Would you bring Alfie home if you could?’
    Without hesitation, Kay nodded. Then she added cautiously, ‘But I’m not sure Alan would agree with me.’
    ‘Men don’t run on emotion like women,’ Babs agreed. ‘They’re too