Ginny smiled. ‘Are you going to win the war for us then, Miss Bancroft?’
‘I’ll certainly do my best,’ Bobby said, laughing.
‘Just be sure to come back when tha’s won it,’ Andy said. ‘It’s here tha belongs. Remember that.’
‘I won’t forget.’
‘We’ll be flitting soon too,’ Ginny said soberly.
Bobby frowned. ‘You’re not moving away from Silverdale?’
‘In a manner o’ speaking. Only as far as my daughter’s in Smeltham, but we’ve to leave Newby Top. It’s not healthy for Andy now, and I must admit it’s getting into my old bones as well. We’re not young, Miss Bancroft. Cold, rattling farmhouses up in t’ fells are no place for folk our age.’
Andy sighed. ‘Never thought I’d see t’ day I’d leave the old place. I’d eight siblings born in front of that fireplace. Three bairns, five grandbabbies, four great-grandbabbies. I’ll noan get to see another generation.’
‘I am sorry,’ Bobby said quietly. ‘I know how attached you are to the place. But Mrs Jessop is right: you ought to think of your comfort.’
‘Aye, it’ll be summat to be warm and in walking distance o’ t’ pub,’ Andy said with a grin, earning him a nudge from his wife. ‘Sad to think my days of striding over them hills are done with, mind. Can’t even enjoy ’em with my een now they’ve packed in.’ He sighed. ‘All I can do is wait for t’ fell wind to blow my way so I can smell them.’
Bobby smiled. ‘I know that smell well enough. Blooming heather, burning peat and muck-spreading.’
‘Aye, that’s it.’ Andy put out his hand. ‘Well then, tha’d better say goodbye, eh? Here’s hoping it’s not last one.’
Bobby shook his hand, and then his wife’s.
‘I’ll write,’ she said.
‘Aye, be sure tha does, and Gin can read it me. I’ll miss thy bits in our paper,’ Andy said. ‘Ta-ra, Miss Bancroft. Fare thee well, wherever life takes thee.’
Bobby left them and approached Mary, who was standing near one of the food tables with Teddy, holding a small piece of wedding cake as if it was the most delicate bone china.
‘Bobby, will you please give your friend permission from both man and God to enjoy her cake?’ Teddy said. ‘I cannot persuade her to eat it.’
‘Royal icing,’ Mary breathed as she stared at the delicacy. ‘And marzipan! Not crushed haricot beans and almond essence, or any of the ersatz stuff we’ve been making do with – the real thing! Wherever did it come from, Teddy?’
‘It is our friend Flying Officer King we must thank,’ Teddy told her. ‘The Canadian rations are rather more generous than ours, it seems. Though he could not be with us, he kindly donated sugar, butter and fruit as his wedding gift so that Maimie might bake a fruitcake.’
Mary shook her head wonderingly. ‘There must be a week’s sugar ration just in this little piece. I know I’ll never be able to sleep if I eat it.’
‘Please, I insist. It is my wedding day, you know.’
Mary looked hesitant, but she broke off a little piece of icing and put it in her mouth. She closed her eyes as she sucked it.
‘Oh, that’s just wonderful,’ she said with a deep sigh.
She frowned when she opened her eyes to look at Bobby, who was watching the dancers absently. There were now eight or nine couples, whirling around to ‘Sweet Georgia Brown’. Topsy was dancing with Archie, laughing as he threw her about. The children present – left to grow wild in the absence of adult supervision – weaved between the dancers, giggling as they chased one another.
‘Is everything all right?’ Mary asked.
‘Hmm?’ Bobby roused herself. ‘Oh. Yes. I was just talking with Andy Jessop.’
‘How is he? In good health and spirits?’
‘I think so,’ Bobby said slowly. ‘Except that he and Ginny are leaving Newby Top. They’re moving in with her daughter in Smeltham.’
‘That’s for the best. I wonder they stood it as long as they did. My bones would be stiff as owt if I had to live in that old place, and I’m half Andy’s age.’
‘I know.’ Bobby sighed. ‘Everything seems to be changing though. I wish it wouldn’t.’
