She was still in the uniform she’d worn all night.
They didn’t say hello to one another.
They didn’t again mention how tired the other must be.
They didn’t speak at all.
Iris simply went to him, and he reached out to her.
Looking into her eyes, he pulled her close, and, touching at last, she leant into him, resting her head for a moment against the beat of his pummelling heart.
Then she moved, raising her face to his, looking into his intent stare.
A light wind rustled, shivering through the trees.
High above, a formation of fighters soared, soundlessly.
From closer to earth came that goshawk’s call.
At the sound, she watched his expression move in recollection.
Get out of there this instant,Lord Heaton had shouted at them, almost a decade before, interrupting their almost kiss.
No one shouted now.
No one interrupted.
He dipped his head in the same moment that she reached up to him.
As their lips touched, the hawk called again.
But neither of them were listening.
Not any more.
They were too wrapped up in one another.
Not doing something stupid.
3 November 2018
A STRAINED START FOR THE BOMBER GIRLS
Doverley House has felt frustratingly reminiscent of Soviet Russia pre-glasnost this past week, with its iron gates heavily secured, and all cast and crew prohibited from giving unauthorised interviews. And – spoiler alert – no interviews have been authorised.
We atThe Screenknow that this kind of radio silence tends to mean someone’s trying to keep something from getting out, and we love nothing more than ferreting out what that something is. So, we’ve been doing lots of digging (you’re welcome), and can now disclose that Doverley has been proving almost as cursed for Emma Jameson as it was for ill-fated Clare Holmes, who Emma is playing. According to our new inside source – who wishes to remain anonymous – Emma has been down and out with severe food poisoning most of the week, causing massive scheduling headaches, and budget spikes. Without giving anything away to those of you who haven’t yet read the book (and again, who even are you?), Emma hasn’t been contracted for the same length of time that Claudia and her bomber boys have.
‘The original plan was to frontload Emma’s scenes, then free her up,’ our source said, ‘but that’s fallen by the wayside. It will be a major concern for the studio, who are already worried about the huge costs involved with this production. Ana (Ashley) didn’t want them panicking, so has been trying to keep it under wraps.’
Whoops!
Emma is at least on the mend now, as you can see from these aerial shots of her and Claudia Baxter out and about in uniform yesterday, accompanied by the dog who’s been cast as Piper. (A groodle. We’ll allow it.) They’ve reportedly put a whole stack of overtime in, playing catch-up, and their first scenes together have been shot without a hitch.
‘Ana’s got us all under the pump,’ said our source, ‘but the results are speaking for themselves. This thing is going to blow everyone away. I was sceptical about Nick (Turner) at first. His casting with Claudia felt like a publicity stunt. But he’s something else, and so’s Claudia. It’s a bit disturbing, watching her work. It’s as though she disappears.’
She’s apparently been disappearing plenty off-set, too, taking herself on long solitary walks in the woods.
‘They’re clearly not doing her any good,’ said our source. ‘She seems more fragile by the day. Like with one nudge, she’d shatter.’
