A New Day (11 page)

He showed his card and asked directions from a passing policeman, and they were soon inside the station. ‘Wait here, darling. I won’t be long.’

She watched him show his police identity card again, talking earnestly to the sergeant on the front desk. Then he was taken into another room.

‘Would you like a cup of tea while you wait?’ the sergeant on the front desk asked.

‘Thank you, that would be welcome. Do you know what’s going on?’

‘That I couldn’t say, Miss. Sugar in your tea?’

‘No, thank you.’ Of course he wouldn’t answer even if he knew, but she hadn’t been able to stop herself from asking.

The tea arrived, she drank it, and still Alan hadn’t appeared. She sat quietly, and waited, and waited. Patience was a quality she had in abundance, so the waiting didn’t worry her, but her curiosity was running riot. What on earth could this be about?

An hour later Alan came out of the room, and she had never seen such a grim expression on his face. ‘I’m sorry, darling, but I’ll have to take you home. I’ve got to report for duty at once.’

She stood up. ‘Can you tell me what’s happening?’

He just shook his head. ‘You’ll find out soon enough, but I can’t say anything at the moment.’

‘I understand, but how do you know you’ve got to report back at once?’

‘I phoned my station from here. Everyone is being recalled in case we’re needed.’

The journey back was mostly silent, neither of them wanting to talk much. When they reached her house he held her tightly for a moment, and then said, ‘I’m sorry our day out has ended like this. I’ll be in touch when I can.’

‘You take care,’ she told him.

‘I’m not in any danger.’ He grimaced. ‘Not like thousands and thousands of other poor devils. Tell Mrs Harcourt to do what her husband asked, and get the children out of London.’

With those last worrying words he turned and strode up the road, his stride long and urgent.

‘You’re back early, Hanna,’ Mrs Harcourt said as soon as she walked in. ‘I thought you were spending the day with Alan?’

‘He’s had to report back for duty at once.’ Hanna then told her what had happened, and the advice Alan had given. Jane Harcourt rushed to switch on the wireless.

‘Jack! Where the devil are you?’

A head covered in a navy-blue knitted hat appeared through a hatch. ‘I’m here, Frank.’

‘Quick, come on. The captain wants to talk to us.’

‘Do you know why?’ Jack scrambled back on deck.

‘Not a clue, but it must be something important. Careful now!’ Frank caught hold of Jack as the ship plunged and then rolled. ‘Damned Atlantic can be nasty at times.’

‘Where’s the meeting taking place?’ Jack shouted above the howling wind.

‘In the mess.’

When they got there it was crowded with all those not on duty, and they managed to squeeze in at the back.

Captain Stevenson nodded when they arrived, his expression grim. ‘There’s bad news. Belgium and France have capitulated, and our army is trapped on the beaches at Dunkirk.’

There were murmurs of dismay, and after a pause, the captain continued. ‘We don’t have any more details at the moment, but there’s bound to be attempts to rescue as many as possible. Unfortunately we’re only a day out of New York and unable to give any help. I’ll let you know as soon as we have any further news, but I’m sure you are all aware that with France as a base the Germans will have easy access to the Atlantic.’

‘Things are going to get very rough,’ one man muttered.

‘I’m afraid so.’ The captain looked at the men crowded round him. ‘But we’ve got to get the supplies through if our country is going to survive.’

There were grim faces all round when the captain left, and Jack was stunned as he struggled through the men to reach Bill. ‘How could this have happened? There will only be the Channel between the Germans and us. If we don’t find a way to get our troops off those beaches, then we could end up without much of an army as well. What’s going to happen now, Bill? Will Hitler now invade Britain?’

‘I really don’t know, lad, but that stretch of water won’t be easy for the enemy to cross. We’ve got the air force and the best navy in the world.’ Bill gave a grim smile. ‘We aren’t beaten yet.’

‘No, of course not.’ Jack nodded. ‘The Germans will face huge losses if they try to invade that way.’

‘Tea up!’ Frank called, and there was a stampede for the counter, everyone talking at once.

‘As long as we don’t run short of tea we’ll be all right,’ Bill joked, handing a mug to Jack. ‘You’re filthy, lad, what have you been doing?’

After wiping his hands on an equally dirty rag from his pocket, Jack took the mug. ‘Chief Harris has been showing me how they look after the engines.’

‘I thought you were off duty now?’

‘I am, but there’s so much to learn, and the crew are happy to show me how the ship works. They’re very good to spare the time to show me things.’

Bill shook his head in amazement. ‘You thinking of studying for your master’s certificate some time?’

‘Why not?’ Jack took a gulp of the hot tea, and then grinned at Bill. ‘This is what I want to do for the rest of my life, so I might as well aim high.’

‘You might as well.’ Bill slapped him on the back, drained his mug and put it back on the counter. ‘Duty calls. All watches have been doubled.’

They were diverted to Liverpool instead of London, and Jack watched the cargo being unloaded with Bill and Frank beside him.

‘Our convoy got through without losses this time,’ mused Frank, leaning on the rail. ‘But those bloody subs won’t have so far to come now and they’ll be after us.’

‘They’ll do whatever they can to cut off supplies to Britain.’ Bill turned to Jack. ‘You can still get off this ship, lad. We’ll all understand.’

‘Don’t start that again, Bill. I’m staying, and the threat of more danger isn’t going to make me change my mind. I know what the fall of France means to us.’ He straightened up and faced his two friends, determination written across his young face. ‘I’m not leaving!’

‘I didn’t think you would, but I had to make sure you understood how rough it could get now.’

‘I’ve seen ships go down, so I understand.’

‘All right.’ Bill nodded, respect showing clearly in his eyes. ‘The subject is closed. We’re in this together and that’s how it’s going to stay. Now, we’re only here for two days and that isn’t enough time to get to London and back, so let’s go ashore and see if we can catch a newsreel at the pictures. I want to find out what they’re doing to get our troops home.’

The gangway was in place and quite a few of the crew were making their way off the ship, all anxious for more detailed information.

Three weeks later Hanna was standing on the station platform with Alan’s parents, waving as the train pulled out. Thousands of troops had been rescued from Dunkirk, but Britain was now in a perilous position, and all the forces needed to be strengthened. The question on everyone’s mind was – would Hitler give us the chance to do so, or invade immediately? But no one knew.

Hanna dropped her arm as the train disappeared from sight. She was going to miss Alan so much, and now she had someone else to worry about. Jack hadn’t been home for some time, but the worst part was not knowing where he was.

‘Thank you for coming, Hanna.’

She had been so lost in thought that she jumped slightly, but turned and smiled at Alan’s parents. ‘I wanted to see Alan off, Mrs Rogers.’

‘And he wanted you here.’ Alan’s father took his wife’s arm. ‘Would you join us for a cup of tea at the café across the road, Hanna?’

‘I’d like that, thank you.’ She couldn’t rush away while Mr and Mrs Rogers looked so sad. She had only met them a couple of times, but knew they had been hoping their son would be able to stay in the police, and not have to go into the forces. That wasn’t Alan though, and she doubted he would have stayed out of the forces even if he’d been able to. He was a doer and not a watcher, so his going into the army had been inevitable.

‘We’ve never had a chance to talk to you,’ Mrs Rogers said, once they were settled at a table by the window. ‘Alan always whisked you away before we could say more than a couple of words. We know a little about you, of course, but Alan hasn’t said much. Would you tell us a little about yourself and your brother?’

Hanna talked mostly about her brother and her job of looking after the twins, avoiding going into detail about their years at the orphanage. Although those years were behind her now, she still didn’t talk about them easily.

‘It sounds as if your brother is happy being a sailor now,’ Mr Rogers said.

‘He is,’ she nodded. ‘It’s a shame the war had to come along and spoil everything, but he’s determined to stay in the merchant navy and make it his career.’

‘And what are you going to do now?’ Mrs Rogers asked. ‘Are you thinking of going into the forces as well?’

‘I’ve considered it, of course, but I would like to stay with Mrs Harcourt. I feel as if the Harcourt house is my home now and I don’t want to lose that, so I’ll just wait and see what happens.’ She sighed and shook her head. ‘Everything is changing so fast and I don’t even know what Mrs Harcourt’s plans are. She might not want to keep me now. I’m afraid everyone is facing tough decisions.’

They talked for another ten minutes, and after promising to visit Alan’s parents whenever she could, Hanna made her way back to the house.

The boys were having their afternoon nap, so Hanna opened the sitting-room door and looked in. Mrs Harcourt was there alone. ‘Anything I can do for you, Mrs Harcourt?’

‘You can keep me company for a while.’ She smiled. ‘Alan’s on his way then?’

‘Yes, and his parents were a bit upset so I stayed and had a cup of tea with them. They wanted to talk, and I was happy to get to know them better.’

‘And I’m sure they appreciated your company.’ Jane Harcourt sighed. ‘I know my husband won’t be happy until he knows the boys are away from London. We have a small farm in Suffolk, and the main house is quite large so there’s plenty of room for all of us. Would you mind coming with us, Hanna? The boys would be very upset to lose you now, and so would I.’

‘Oh, I’d love to.’ Hanna sighed quietly with relief.

‘Thank you, Hanna, I’m glad that’s settled and you want to stay with us. We are leaving tomorrow, so there’s quite a bit of packing to do. I’ll inform everyone of our new address.’ She handed Hanna a paper with the Suffolk address on it. ‘You will need to let Jack and Alan know where you are. They will both be welcome at the farm whenever they come home on leave.’

‘Thank you, Mrs Harcourt. What are you going to do with this house? Close it up?’

‘No.’ She shook her head. ‘Mrs Potter will be staying here. She says that no one is going to move her out of London, so tell Jack he can still use his room here if he can’t get to Suffolk any time.’

‘He’ll be pleased about that, and it’s very kind of you.’

‘Not at all, my dear.’ Mrs Harcourt smiled sadly. ‘This is going to be a big upheaval for all of us, but the boys’ safety must come first. I fear that there are rough times ahead. All that separates us from the German army now is a small strip of water, but it won’t be easy to cross without huge losses, and we can only hope it will be our saviour.’

Hanna agreed. ‘Our army took a terrible beating in France, but we still have the air force and navy.’

The door burst open and in tumbled the twins, bright and full of energy after their sleep, and all talk of the war stopped.

‘Hanna! We’re going to the country.’ Andrew was bubbling with excitement. ‘Mummy said there’s sheep, pigs, cows, chickens and all sorts of animals. Won’t that be exciting!’

‘My goodness, I’ve never been on a farm before.’ She laughed at their excitement.

‘You’ll like it,’ David told her. ‘There are lots of fields and gardens as well.’

‘Really? It sounds a lovely place.’

David nodded. ‘Daddy told us we’ve been there but we were too young to remember. And we’re going on the train!’

Jane Harcourt stopped the boys chatting. ‘Come and sit down and have your drink of milk, and then we must all do our packing.’

Unable to sit still for more than a minute or two the twins finished their milk as fast as they could, then they were towing their mother and Hanna upstairs to decide what to take with them.

They weren’t interested in the clothes; their only concern was which toys to choose, and that was a serious business. They began to gather up all of their toys.

‘Remember we’re going on the train,’ their mother reminded them when she saw how much they wanted to take with them. ‘Only your favourites, please, boys. I shall be coming back here from time to time and I’ll collect a few of the others each time. You can only take a few tomorrow.’

This needed a great deal of thought and discussion, but eventually a small heap was put on one side. Hanna noticed that every toy their father and Jack had given them were the ones they didn’t want to be parted from. Hanna’s packing didn’t take any time at all because she still had little in the way of personal possessions. After years of being frugal she found it hard to spend money on herself, even though she was now in a position to do so. In a modest way, of course.

Later that evening Hanna wrote to Jack and Alan giving them the new address. She would post the letters in the morning when she popped round to see Alan’s parents to let them know she was leaving London. They weren’t catching a train until eleven o’clock in the morning, so she would have time to visit Mr and Mrs Rogers.

‘All ready?’ Jane Harcourt asked, when she came in to see if the twins were sleeping peacefully.

‘Yes, I’ve written my letter, and all I’ve got to do is see Alan’s parents in the morning.’

‘I wish we didn’t have to do this.’ Jane sat down, a worried expression on her face. ‘If our men get the chance of a short break they might not have time to come and see us. I don’t want to leave London, but Sam is insistent.’

‘He’s only concerned for your safety,’ Hanna said kindly. ‘No one knows what is going to happen now.’

‘You’re right, of course, and it’s hard to see family and friends leave, knowing they are in danger. I don’t think I told you that Bill Freeman is back in the navy, did I?’