Keep Smiling Through Read Free Page B

the rafters – which was the way she liked it.
    Cliffehaven was changing and growing rapidly as the war progressed, but despite the influx of foreign servicemen, and the barbed wire and gun emplacements on the seafront, it still felt like home to Peggy. There were numerous new factories being built on what had once been wasteland to the northeast of the town, the airfield to the north had become a strategically important centre for the RAF, and the grand hotels on the seafront had become billets to allied servicemen from all over the world. A vast Canadian camp had been built in a distant valley to the west, close to the permanent American airbase which had been there since the last war. Although the Americans had yet to join in the hostilities, they could often be seen about the town helping to fix things, and using their jeeps and heavy machinery to good advantage when called to do so.
    Peggy rather liked the Americans; they were so terribly polite, calling her ‘ma’am’ all the time and offering to carry her shopping. But she wasn’t daft enough to be taken in, for she knew only too well that their real interest was in her youngest daughter Cissy and the girl from London who was billeted with her.
    She smiled as she packed away the last of the blankets and locked them in a cupboard. She’d been in the boarding house business long enough to have a sharp eye for shenanigans, and she kept to the strict rule of no men in the house – unless they were lodgers, or too old to cause trouble.
    Peggy eased her back and yawned. She had just finished her afternoon stint at the WVS centre which was now based at the Town Hall, and although she was tired and there was a great deal still to do at home before she could put a meal on the table, she was determined to visit Rita. This would be her second visit in the ten days since Jack had left, and she wanted to make sure the girl was still coping.
    The old bike had seen better days, but her father-in-law, Ron, had fitted new tyres and chain, given it a lick of black paint, and managed to find a lovely new basket which he’d tied to the handlebars with thick leather straps. Peggy dumped her handbag, gas mask and parcels in the basket and wheeled the bike out of the Town Hall, down the steps between the great wall of sandbags and out into the road.
    It was a steep climb to the station, taking her up the High Street, away from the shops, the cinema and the seafront, and over the hump-backed bridge to the north of the town. She decided it might be better to push the bike most of the way, for gone were the days when she could have cycled up this hill with ease – gone too were the days when she used to drive up here to get her dear old car serviced.
    Her journey was made longer by friends stopping her for a chat, and although she liked a good gossip, and was desperate to share the news of Anne’s impending wedding, she didn’t really have time to stand about. Beach View Boarding House was full of people waiting to be fed, not least of all her husband, Jim, who would no doubt be filching anything he could find in her woefully understocked larder to ward off his imaginary starvation.
    With that thought in mind, she pushed harder and crossed the railway bridge. It was much flatter on this side of the line, and the wheels hummed nicely as she rode through the narrow back streets of crowded terraces and headed for Barrow Lane. It was still early June, and the day had been pleasant, but now the sun was dipping behind the hills she felt chilled by the light breeze she stirred as she raced along.
    Barrow Lane looked more forlorn than ever now most of the children had been evacuated, and Peggy despaired for the families who had to live in those damp, dark little houses. The council should have done something about this whole area years ago, and the mayor – who was the landlord – should be ashamed of himself for letting things deteriorate so badly.
    The brakes screeched as she came to a