into the water. John has shrapnel wounds to his back and face, his leg is broken in two places and his shoulder was dislocated. He was one of the lucky ones and got picked up within minutes of the Little Nell going down.’
She fell silent, her expressive face mournful. ‘His father and one of his cousins were never found,’ she said quietly. ‘The other boy and his uncle escaped with just a few bruises and scratches, and will be sent home today.’
Sally stared at her in horror. ‘Does John know about his father?’
Peggy shook her head. ‘He’s heavily sedated, but he’ll be told once he comes round enough to fully understand.’ Peggy took out her handkerchief and blew her nose. ‘Poor Betty is beside herself. She and Stan were childhood sweethearts, you know, and her sister’s boy was only fifteen. I can’t imagine what they must be going through.’
‘Can I go and visit John?’
‘No, my dear, only Betty is allowed to travel to Dover. You’ll just have to wait until he comes home.’
‘But he will make a full recovery?’
‘So Betty tells me.’
‘That’s enough chit-chat,’ boomed Simmons. ‘You’re not even supposed to be here, madam, and you’re keeping Miss Turner from her work.’
Peggy had the light of battle in her eyes as she faced Simmons. ‘You really are the most obnoxious little man, aren’t you?’ she said in her most scathing tone. ‘Don’t for one minute think you can bully me, Simmons. I’ll leave when I’m ready – and not before.’ She held his gaze, and he was the first to look away.
There was a smattering of applause and a few whistles of encouragement from the surrounding women. Simmons went scarlet. ‘Get out of my factory,’ he hissed.
Peggy raised her eyebrows. ‘It’s not your factory,’ she retorted, ‘and I’ll be having a word with Mr Goldman before I leave. I can’t imagine what he was thinking when he hired you.’ With that, she jammed her handbag under arm, hitched the gas-mask box over her shoulder and strode away, head high, seemingly unaware of the admiring looks from the other women and their low murmurs of approval.
She hadn’t quite reached the door to the office when Simmons caught up with her and barred the way.
Sally and the others watched and silently cheered her on as Simmons made what was clearly a grovelling apology, escorting her away from the office and off the premises.
‘Blimey,’ breathed Pearl. ‘Who’d have thought sweet, kind, lovely little Peggy could be such a tartar?’
‘I suspect she has more in common with her sister than she cares to admit,’ laughed Sally. ‘If you want to witness a real harridan at work, you should meet Doris. When she’s in full flow, she’s enough to scare even Hitler.’
‘Perhaps we should send her, and others like her, across the Channel as our secret weapons,’ said Brenda, lighting a cigarette. ‘There’s nothing like a woman on her high horse to scare the living daylights out of bullies.’
Sally sat down that evening and, with Anne’s help, wrote a letter to John. Her spelling was improving, as was her handwriting, but she still had difficulty with the thin nib that splattered ink everywhere and left far too many blots on the paper. The finished article looked as if a spider had crawled across the page.
She deliberately kept the letter short, for she didn’t really know how to express her deep feelings for him, and if someone had to read it to him, she didn’t want him to be embarrassed. Instead of telling him how much she loved him, she sent her condolences for his terrible loss, and told him of her relief and joy that he would soon be well enough to come home. Finishing with a brief regret that she couldn’t visit him, she signed it ‘with love from Sally’ and added two kisses at the bottom.
Sealing the envelope, she dropped it in the letterbox at the bottom of the street. All she could do now was wait for his reply and hope he’d recover quickly so they could be together again.
There was still no reply from him three weeks later, and as there was no way of finding out how he was, Sally had to tamp down on the frustration and get on with things in the firm belief that he would write when he could. But at night she fretted, her thoughts and dreams jumbled and disturbing, leaving her emotionally drained.
As Anne’s wedding day dawned with the promise of sunshine, Sally knew