The Soldier's Daughter Read Free Page A

hair that shone as black as a raven’s wing. Ruth had always been envious of Briony’s looks, not that it had affected their friendship. Briony often thought Ruth didn’t have a nasty streak in her whole body and she wasn’t far wrong. Ruth had a heart of pure gold and would have done anything for anyone, and Briony wondered how she was going to break it to her that Ernie was joining the RAF. Ruth had never made a secret of the fact that she adored Ernie and when they were younger she had followed him about like a puppy, which had complicated things when Briony suddenly realised that she had feelings for Ernie too.
    They were almost at the top of Haunchwood Road when Briony plucked up the courage to say bluntly, ‘I heard that Ernie had enlisted too last night.’ There didn’t seem to be any easy way to say it so she decided to just get it over and done with.
    Ruth stopped walking, and the ready smile she normally wore slid from her face as she asked hoarsely, ‘You
are
kiddin’, ain’t yer?’
    She looked so distraught that Briony felt a pang of guilt stab through her as she shook her head.
    ‘Bloody hell!’ The colour had drained out of Ruth’s plump cheeks and Briony hugged her.
    ‘I dare say he would have done it after his birthday anyway,’ she said consolingly. ‘He’s just brought things forward a bit, that’s all. But try not to worry; I’m sure he’ll be fine. Before he left, my dad reckoned this war would be over before we knew it.’
    Ruth swallowed deeply and nodded. ‘Yes . . . course it will be,’ she said, trying to be optimistic. Then: ‘So when is he goin’?’
    ‘In a couple of weeks, from what I could gather, but he’ll have to complete his training before they send him off anywhere.’
    They walked on into Tomkinson Road through the thick freezing fog, and for the rest of the way Ruth was very quiet.
    The day passed slowly. In the accounts department, Briony was kept busy preparing everyone’s wage packets and Ruth was almost rushed off her feet down on the shop floor. On the way home after work, Briony called into the corner shop in Cross Street and bought some vegetables before going on to the butcher’s in Church Road, where she purchased some lamb chops. She doubted her mother would have bothered to cook for the children and had resigned herself to going home and cooking them a meal herself. The fog had lifted late that morning and now the frost was beginning to sparkle on the pavements again as she hurried through Stockingford. Everyone had closed the blackout curtains against the freezing night and Briony felt as if she were walking through a ghost town. Even the lamp-posts were no longer turned on now, and the odd car that crawled through the streets had its headlights dimmed. Ruth’s mood hadn’t lightened as the day progressed and now Briony just wished that this day could be over. It would be the first evening without her father’s fond smile to welcome her after a long day at work, and she wasn’t looking forward to it at all. Her spirits plunged even deeper once she stepped into their small terraced home to see Lois curled up in the chair at the side of a low fire still in her dressing gown. She clearly hadn’t bothered to get dressed all day and her eyes were dull and swollen from weeping.
    Sarah ran to meet her with a look of relief on her small face, saying, ‘Mam hasn’t stopped crying all day, Briony, but I got some coal in – look.’
    ‘Good girl.’ Briony stroked her sister’s hair affectionately before she took her coat off and hung it on a nail at the back of the door. ‘And have you and Alfie had any dinner?’
    Sarah solemnly shook her head. ‘Not yet, but I waited for Alfie after school and brought him home like you asked and I gave him some milk and a biscuit.’
    ‘Then we’ll have a nice warm cuppa, eh? And then I’ll get the dinner started. While I’m doing that, you could help Alfie get into his pyjamas for me. I’ll give him his