Queen of the Mersey by Maureen Lee Read Free Book Online

Vera, who’d offered to look after Hester while Laura was at work. It was all settled and the future looked very hard, not just for her, but for the entire population.
    She wondered idly how the War Office, or whoever it was who sent out call-up papers, had known where Roddy lived? How had he been tracked down to this address? They’d had no contact with officialdom since they’d come to live in Glover Street.
    In the middle of her reverie, Hester came in sulking, having quarrelled over something trivial with Mary. The two girls had become inseparable, but Laura had a feeling they didn’t like each other much. Hester considered Mary too boisterous, whereas Mary thought Hester not boisterous enough. They teased each other mercilessly over their wildly differing accents, and Hester’s exquisite table manners were mocked, while Mary’s lack of them derided.
    ‘What’s happened now?’ Laura asked with a sigh.
    ‘Mary won’t let me have a go on the swing.’ Hester sniffed. The swing was merely a rope slung over a lamppost.
    ‘She will when she’s had a turn herself.’
    ‘She’s been on it for ages.’
    Laura suggested she play with the bat and ball she’d recently bought – the hard sponge ball was attached to the bat by a piece of elastic. She quite enjoyed playing with it herself.
    ‘The elastic’s snapped.’
    ‘I can easily mend it.’
    The idea seemed to appeal and Hester returned outside with the bat and ball.
    Laura watched through the window. Her socks were grubby, her frock had a little tear in the sleeve, and her sandals were badly scuffed. Yet she looked happy.
    Much happier than Laura had been at the same age. Little girls had to be brought to the vicarage for her to play with, or she was taken to their houses. She’d never been allowed to set foot outside on her own until she was in her teens. At boarding school, a mistress had accompanied the fifth-form girls on their weekly outings to Tunbridge Wells, although being carefully chaperoned hadn’t stopped her from meeting Roddy, she remembered with a smile.
    She saw a little boy come hurtling along the pavement on a home-made scooter.
    Bigger boys, Caradoc Monaghan amongst them, were kicking a football against the grain silo wall. A hopscotch grid had been drawn outside her window. Laura fancied having a go on that, too.
    Mary had stopped swinging and was watching Hester thoughtfully. Seconds later, she ran into her own house and came out with her bat and ball. Unlike Hester, who still hadn’t quite got the hang of it, Mary could hit the ball in every direction, and began to slam it upwards, sideways, downwards. She was showing off, and the regular thump, thump, thump could be heard inside the house. Hester dropped her bat and made for the swing and the two girls glared at each other, which they seemed to do an awful lot.
    Laura sighed and returned to the sofa. Out of habit, she picked up her sewing, but continued to stare at the mantelpiece, at the letter that was about to completely change the course of their lives.
    As she had guessed, the envelope contained Roddy’s call-up papers. He would be joining the Army and had been assigned to the King’s Own Regiment. He was commanded to present himself at the Territorial Army Headquarters in Park Road, Bootle, at 8 a.m. on Monday, prepared for immediate departure.
    ‘Immediate departure to where?’ Laura cried.
    ‘A training camp, I suppose.’ He looked remarkably composed, but men were like that, never revealing their emotions. Inside, he would be as upset as she was.
    ‘Not that I’ll need much training. I was in the Cadet Force at St Jude’s. The adjutant was a teacher who’d been a captain in the regular Army, so I’ve already been fully drilled in the basics.’
    ‘Monday’s only four days away.’ They’d never been apart for a single night before. She wasn’t sure if she could bear it.
    ‘I know, darling.’ He held out his arms. ‘Come here!’
    She snuggled on to his knee, determined not to cry, which would only make