While We're Apart by Ellie Dean Read Free Book Online Page B

pleasant, even on a bicycle, and yet it would be worth it just to see Jack again before he was snatched away from her.
    Mary was warmed by the thought as she repaired the puncture and fitted the tyre back on the front wheel. Jack would look very handsome in his uniform, she just knew it, and his surprise at her turning up would make the trip worthwhile. His parents might be there to see him off, but that didn’t matter, for they knew how things were between Jack and Mary, and approved. And if they were there, then they’d surely offer to put her bike in the back of their farm truck and give her a lift home, which would be marvellous.
    She glanced up at the clock. It was after four, but if she could have supper ready on the dot of six, then . . .
    The telephone rang in the hall and she heard her father sigh before he tramped across the scarred parquet floor to answer it. Mary hoped it wasn’t something that would take him out on such a filthy day. He was already tired after a late night with the grieving Mrs Burton, who had just learnt that her husband had been killed at El Alamein.
    She wheeled the bike back outside. Covering it quickly with a sheet of old tarpaulin, she returned to the relative warmth of the kitchen. Her father was still on the telephone, and she fervently hoped it wasn’t the Bishop, for he was a pedantic, hectoring man who expected far too much from his overworked vicar, and made Gideon nervous and depressed.
    Mary checked the large saucepan of vegetable soup she’d made the day before, and decided there was just enough left for three small helpings. She then began to peel the potatoes to go with the evening meal of liver and onions, glad to have the kitchen to herself for a while. Emmaline was still in bed with a hot-water bottle in an attempt to ease the awful pains in her joints, and although Mary felt genuinely sorry that she was so unwell, it didn’t alter the fact that she felt far more comfortable without her.
    â€˜That was Dr Haywood,’ said Gideon as he came into the kitchen some minutes later. ‘Old Mrs Perry is failing fast and not expected to last the night.’ He wearily scrubbed his face with his hands and gave her a wan smile. ‘I must go to her, Mary, she’s been asking for me.’
    â€˜Oh, Dad,’ she sighed as she put a consoling hand on his arm. ‘You’re already exhausted after last night.’
    â€˜I know, my dear, but Mrs Perry has been a parishioner here for over eighty years, and needs the comfort of prayer before she goes to God. I cannot fail her now.’ He cleared his throat. ‘And neither can you,’ he added regretfully. ‘I’m sorry, Mary, but I will need you to come with me to look after Gladys.’
    Mary glanced anxiously at the clock, and then was deeply ashamed of her selfishness. Gladys was almost fifty, but had the mind and manner of an eight-year-old. She would be confused and frightened about what was happening to her mother, and Mary was mortified that she’d been thinking only of herself, and not what Mrs Perry’s death would mean to her daughter. ‘Of course I’ll come,’ she said as she reached for their coats. ‘Has anyone told Mrs Perry’s sister?’
    â€˜The doctor said he’d drive over and tell her. I’ve never met her, but from what I’ve heard she’s almost as elderly as Mrs Perry, so I doubt she’ll want to turn out on such a night even though her sister’s dying.’ Gideon pulled on his coat and laced his brogues. ‘I’ll just go up and tell your mother where we’re going,’ he muttered.
    Mary’s hopes of seeing Jack were doomed, and she wondered if it was God’s way of punishing her for plotting and planning behind her parents’ back. Perhaps her mother had been right all along about her sinful nature, for she was guilty of being devious.
    She yanked on her wellingtons and shrugged into