Mabs tossed her head. ‘Huh. He canaskall he wants.’
‘Now don’t be haughty, young miss,’ Ginny told her sternly. ‘Gil’s paying you a compliment and the least you could do is be gracious. One day you’ll learn to look past what’s outside to what’s in.’
‘Listen to thy step-nana,’ Andy said, nodding. ‘Yon post office lad’s worth ten of the ones tha meks a fool of thyself running after.’
Mabs ignored them.
‘Is Ernie inside?’ she asked Bobby.
‘No, he couldn’t get leave.’
‘What about Sandy?’
‘Yes, I think so.’
‘I’ll give him a dance if he asks then. Gil Capstick can go whistle.’
She left them to go in, head held high.
Ginny shook her head as Bobby took Mabs’s place at Andy’s side, threading her arm through his so he could lean against her. ‘That lass gets more wayward every day.’
‘Poor Gil,’ Bobby said. ‘It’s hard for the local lads to compete with the Canadians. They must seem very exciting and exotic to someone Mabs’s age.’
‘Always it’s uniforms and foreigners wi’ that girl. I despair of her ever settling, I really do. Lord knows what the forces will make of her if she’s called on to go.’
‘Army could be t’ mekkin on her,’ Andy said. Bobby realised she was walking a little too quickly for him as he shuffled along, and slowed her steps to match.
‘Or it could be t’ ruining of her,’ Ginny muttered. ‘I’m sure my girls were never so wilful.’
Andy grinned at her. ‘Nay, but tha was, eh, Gin? Don’t think I’m too old to have forgotten.’
Ginny smiled and nudged him. ‘Now you’ve no right to hold them days against me, Andy Jessop. I was nobbut a bairn then.’
‘Well, no more is our Mabs. She’s noan long turned nineteen. She’ll be reet, lass, don’t tha worry. Just has to learn her lessons her own way, same as we all did.’
‘Be careful, Mr Jessop,’ Bobby said. ‘Here’s a step.’
Between them, she and Ginny helped the old man inside and guided him to a seat at one of the tables. Ginny sat beside him, but Bobby remained standing. Andy smiled up at her, squinting to make her out with what was left of his sight.
‘And how’s our lass from t’ paper?’ he asked.
Bobby sighed. ‘Soon to be the lass from somewhere else entirely. I feel like I’m here to say goodbye as much as to celebrate Topsy’s wedding.’
‘Is it soon tha goes to t’ Air Force?’
‘Yes, it’s this Monday.’
‘What’ll they give thee to do there?’
‘Administration, the lady who interviewed me said.’
‘Administration?’ Andy said, frowning. ‘That typing and such, is it?’
‘Yes, like a secretary does.’
He shook his head. ‘Nay, that’s not for thee. Waste o’ that good brain of thine.’
‘Well, perhaps not,’ Bobby said, thinking about what Archie had said. ‘There might be other work for me, if I impress them.’
