Cousins at War Read Free Page B

wrecked Mosely’s meeting at the
Castlegate. She was in a real state, she thought the Jerries had come.’
    ‘That Mosely!’ Gracie exclaimed. ‘Him and his blackshirts, they’re just din-raisers.’
    ‘Aye, you’re right there.’ Her husband was pleased that he had taken her mind off the cut in the rations. He had to put up with his customers moaning at him all day, and he
wanted peace and quiet to read the evening paper when he came home. He lifted his head and smiled when Patsy walked in, but his peace was shattered when Neil appeared minutes later.
    ‘I want to join up,’ Neil told him, ‘but I’ve to get your permission, Dad.’
    Joe’s eyes darkened. ‘Well, you’re not getting it.’
    Gracie, halting in the act of dishing up the supper, came over to the table with the serving spoon in her hand. ‘Neil, what are you thinking about? You can’t join up. You’ve
still to finish your apprenticeship.’
    ‘I could finish it in the army.’
    Joe thumped the table with his fist. ‘You’re not going in the army, and that’s final.’
    ‘I’ll be called up in a year or so, anyway,’ Neil pointed out, indignantly, ‘so what’s the difference?’
    ‘You’ve just said it,’ Joe thundered. ‘A year or two. The war could be over by that time and you wouldn’t need to go.’
    ‘I want to go!’ Neil roared.
    Putting her hand on her brother’s arm, Patsy said softly, ‘Calm down, Neil. You’ll never get anywhere shouting at Dad like that. Why don’t you finish your apprenticeship
first, then see how you feel about joining up?’
    He turned to her earnestly. ‘All my pals are in the forces already, the last one signed up today, and I want to do my bit too.’
    ‘I know how you must feel,’ Patsy sympathised, ‘but think of Mum and Dad.’
    ‘It’s them I was thinking of, them and all the other mums and dads. The army needs young men like me.’ He looked at his father again. ‘Once I’m eighteen, I
won’t need your permission.’
    The determination on his face made his mother’s heart turn over, and Joe muttered, ‘If you still feel the same way when November comes, I won’t try to talk you out of it, but
I’d like you to think it over carefully before that. The wartime army’s not a bed of roses, no matter how exciting you think it’ll be. Ask any old soldier from the last
time.’
    Aware that his father was meeting him halfway, Neil said, ‘I’m sorry I flew off the handle at you, and I promise to think it over, but I’m sure I’ll still feel the same
in November.’
    When she learned that Neil was intending to join up when he was eighteen, Olive made up her mind to put more pressure on him. She couldn’t let him get away without giving
her some guarantee that he’d come back to her. Once he was in the army, he’d be out of her control, and she wouldn’t know what he was getting up to. Surely she could make him fall
in love with her in six months? The problem was . . . how?

Chapter Two
     
     
     
    In June, the newspapers and wireless reported the evacuation of Dunkirk, the last British troops leaving from Cherbourg, as the
Press and Journal
stated on 1 July.
Most of the 51st Scottish Division, however, were left behind to fight a rearguard action and were taken prisoner. This was a bitter blow to Aberdeen, the home of the Gordon Highlanders. It was the
first real indication that the war was not running well for Britain. There had been several air raids in the city, of course, but the 612 Squadron from Dyce usually managed to divert the enemy
bombers before they reached the coast, and the Aberdonians had had a false sense of security. Now most families had or knew someone who had escaped from, or been lost at, Dunkirk or who was a
prisoner in the enemy’s hands and the war was affecting the citizens for the first time.
    Gracie Ferris was deeply thankful that Joe had refused to give his permission for their son to join up when he wanted to. ‘Neil could have