Home Front Girls

Joel replied as he looked at his new fiancée with pride.
    Dotty glanced affectionately at her husband. ‘Then I can only hope you’ll both be as happy as we are,’ she said quietly, and as Annabelle looked at her she couldn’t help but be impressed. Dotty’s hair, which had grown, was twisted into a gleaming chignon and she was dressed in an elegant navy-blue suit that showed off her slim figure to perfection. Her accessories were white and Annabelle thought she looked as if she had stepped straight from the pages of Vogue. Somewhere along the line, the two of them seemed to have changed places. But now that her ring had been admired it was time to view the new arrival, and Annabelle gently drew the shawl from the baby’s face.
    ‘Why Dotty, she’s just beautiful!’ she gasped. ‘What have you called her?’
    ‘Alice Louise,’ Dotty answered proudly, ‘for my mother. And Jeremy was named after my father. He’s quite besotted with his new baby sister, thankfully.’
    Mrs P had joined them by then, leaving Fred to keep a tipsy eye on Barry and Beryl, and she too dutifully cooed over the new arrival before commenting, ‘Crikey, lass. You look a million dollars! No one would believe you’d recently had a baby. How did you get your figure back so fast?’
    ‘I doubt it would have been difficult, seeing as she was never further through than a coat-hanger,’ Annabelle teased. The party was getting louder by now and someone was playing ‘Roll Out the Barrel’ on the piano.
    Miranda joined them too then and she hugged her daughter with delight as Annabelle proudly showed off her ring. She hoped that the couple would wait to get married until Annabelle’s father came home. Rations or no rations, Annabelle was her only daughter and she wanted the wedding to be a lavish affair. The Red Cross had informed her that Richard should be home within the next few months and after waiting so long, she was sure that they wouldn’t mind waiting just a little longer.
    ‘Well, we said we’d meet up after the war and here we are at last,’ Dotty said when everyone else started to drift away to join in the party. ‘There were times when I thought it was never going to happen, didn’t you?’
    ‘Hmm, but it’s a shame there’s one of us missing,’ Annabelle said sadly as she thought of Lucy.
    ‘I wouldn’t be too sure about that,’ Mrs P commented as she peered up the street. ‘’Cos if I ain’t very much mistaken, the Missin’ Link is on her way.’
    And sure enough, as they followed her eyes there was Lucy striding towards them with another woman at her side and a young girl.
    Without thinking, Dotty thrust Alice into Mrs P’s open arms and suddenly she and Annabelle were racing towards her.
    ‘Oh Lucy! You’ll never know how wonderful it is to see you!’ Dotty cried. ‘I can’t even begin to tell you how worried we’ve been about you – but you look marvellous.’
    ‘I’m so sorry for clearing off like that,’ Lucy apologised when they had all had a hug. ‘But I think I had to get away to find out who I really was, and thanks to Julie here, I believe I have now. I just love living in Mevagissy. Then when Joel wrote to tell me about the party, I felt it was time to come back for a visit.’ She smiled lovingly towards the woman at her side, then leaned down to fuss over Harry, who was like Mrs P’s shadow. His tail wagged furiously – he clearly hadn’t forgotten her.
    Lucy’s companion looked to be slightly older than Lucy and had a kind face, and they took to her instantly. She introduced her daughter as Tamsyn.
    ‘Come on, luvvie, Mrs P said bossily, taking charge. ‘You an’ the little ’un come along wi’ me, Julie. We’ll get some grub an’ a drink, eh, an’ leave these three to catch up, shall we?’ she suggested and after flashing a smile at the girls the woman followed her willingly with the little girl trotting happily along behind them, watching the other children playing boisterously in the street.
    ‘It seems like such a long time since we met, doesn’t it?’ Dotty said musingly as the three old friends stood hand in hand watching the celebrations.
    ‘Yes, and so much has happened to all of us since the night of the Blitz, hasn’t it?’ Annabelle replied. ‘I can still remember that night as if it was yesterday. There were so many stars in the sky that night, weren’t there? But what’s been happening to you, Lucy?’
    ‘Well, Julie took me in and gave me a