when a nearby shell exploded. The shrapnel had been deeply embedded in his bottom, and he’d had to suffer the indignity of the surgeon pulling out each piece as his mates looked on and fell about laughing.
He eyed them belligerently as the tears of laughter ran down their cheeks. ‘It wasn’t funny,’ he muttered. ‘I’ve still got some in me back, so I have. You wait until you get shrapnel up yer arse – then see how you like it.’
A fresh gale of laughter went round the table, the boys collapsing into giggles. ‘Ron,’ Peggy spluttered, holding her sides. ‘Mind your language.’
He grimaced, but couldn’t quite extinguish the mischievous glint in his eyes as he looked round the table. ‘If a simple word like “arse” makes you all laugh, then perhaps I should use it more often. To be sure, I haven’t heard this family so happy for a long while.’
Once the laughter had subsided, they settled down to enjoy the summer’s day. The sun was hot, the mood mellow as they relaxed and simply enjoyed one another’s company.
It was Harold who broke the small silence that had fallen between them as the alcohol, good food and heat began to take effect. He hitched Ernie to a more comfortable position on his lap. ‘Peggy, I have a proposition to make. You see, I didn’t just come here to see my kids, I came to take them to safety – and I wonder if you would allow me to do the same for your boys?’
‘But it’s all arranged, Harry.’ Jim shifted in his chair and lit a cigarette. ‘They’re off to Wales in the morning.’
‘I know, but I’m sure it can be unarranged.’ He looked round the table at the wide-eyed children and the curious adults. ‘I have an older sister, Violet, and she lives in Somerset. I managed to telephone her from London last night, and she’s happy to take them all.’
‘But she couldn’t possibly have known about my two,’ said Peggy with a frown. ‘Won’t it be a bit much?’
Harry grinned. ‘Not at all. Vi loves kids, and as I’d had a couple of letters from Sally, telling me all about you, I took the liberty of asking her if she’d take Bob and Charlie as well. She just laughed and said “the more the merrier”, and asked when we were planning to arrive so she could air the rooms and get them ready.’
‘That’s very generous of her,’ said Peggy, hesitantly.
‘I didn’t think you ever got my letters,’ said Sally. ‘Why didn’t you write back?’
His smile was warm, his eyes teasing as he patted her cheek. ‘It’s a bit difficult when I didn’t know where you were, Sal. You’d forgotten to put your address on them.’
‘But Mum knew it. I told her to tell you.’
‘I didn’t find that out until I came home on my last leave and found the letter you sent when you first got here.’ He must have seen the question in her eyes, for he quickly reassured her. ‘I only had forty-eight hours, so I didn’t have time to get down here. When I tried to telephone, I was told all the lines were down.’
He put his warm, rough hand over hers as it rested on the table. ‘Never mind, love, I’ve found you now, and I’ll never let you slip away again – either of you.’
‘Does your sister have children?’ asked Peggy.
‘Three daughters, but they’ve all married and left home.’ Harold carefully filled his pipe and passed the pouch to Ron. Soon, the sweet smell of good, rich tobacco drifted in the warm air. ‘Vi’s one of nature’s diamonds,’ he continued. ‘She was a nurse in the first war when she met her husband, and now, sadly, she’s a widow. But she runs that dairy farm as well as her husband ever did. There’s an elderly cowman still on the place, but she’s been allocated three land girls to help her now the young farm-workers have joined up. It’s a big place, with a rambling old farmhouse, and lots of barns and sheds. A perfect playground for three boys.’
‘Has she got chickens?’ piped up Charlie. ‘Will she let us feed them and collect the eggs?’
‘She’s got chickens, ducks and geese, and on the pond at the bottom of one of the paddocks, she’s even got a pair of swans and some moorhens.’ He smiled at Bob who was watching him thoughtfully. ‘There’s a wood, too, and behind the house there are hills just like