‘Here, let me take that for you,’ Ronnie said and, in his enthusiasm to take the tray from her, their hands touched.
They stood for a moment, both tongue-tied. Sarah let Ronnie take the tray and they moved to the sink to stack the dishes. The afternoon passed very quickly and by the time Ronnie left, he had secured Anthony’s confidence by playing not only with the soldiers but with his building bricks. He read Anthony a story and could feel Sarah’s gentle presence as she washed up the dishes, humming quietly to herself.
‘You will come again next weekend, won’t you?’ she asked as he departed. ‘Anthony likes you. You have a gentle, quiet way with him.’
‘I hope you like me too,’ Ronnie replied.
Sarah blushed. ‘Of course, I do,’ she whispered.
‘Then, of course I will come again. If you would like me to.’
‘We would, wouldn’t we, Anthony?’ Sarah asked.
Anthony took his mother’s hand and nodded.
‘Then I will,’ Ronnie said.
‘Next Sunday, then?’
‘Yes, next Sunday.’
Ronnie came away feeling uplifted that everything was going so well. His feelings for Sarah were beginning to grow. In time, he hoped she would reveal more about her past. He sensed there was something there she found hard to talk about.
Chapter 8
November 1937
By the time winter closed in, Ronnie and Sarah were seeing each other almost every Sunday and, as the weather got colder, they spent most of that time huddled indoors. One afternoon, when Anthony was asleep, they settled down either side of the fire. Sarah put the kettle on. She went over to the window, paused for a while looking up and down the street, and then pulled the curtains against the gathering darkness. She stoked up the fire and brought their tray of tea from the kitchen.
They shared the tea and talked freely to one another about their childhood dreams and wishes.
‘Tell me a little more about when you were little. It must have been lovely growing up in the country. Being born in a Welsh mining village meant the land was carved up around us. We played on the slag heaps and Ma was always complaining that the washing was covered in smuts. So, you were in Micklewell until you were how old?’ Sarah asked.
‘We left when we were six, Tilly and I.’
‘Do you miss the village?’ Sarah asked.
‘I miss my family, but Tilly and I do go back frequently. What I remember most about my childhood is that I loved going to the forge, with my grandad,’ Ronnie said. ‘Sometimes he would let me operate the bellows. I was captivated by the way, with a few deft blows, he could shape a horseshoe to exactly the right size. I thought that one day I would like to be a blacksmith, but, as I grew older, I had ambitions to become an airline pilot. I would dearly love to fly a plane. Wouldn’t you? All that freedom up there in the clouds. However, my aunt and my guardian thought I should be a bit more realistic.’
‘So, was it their idea that you should be an apprentice at Saunders-Roe, then?’ Sarah asked.
‘I suppose it was, but I was always interested in taking things apart and putting them back together. Finding out how things worked. Engineering seemed to satisfy my love of machinery. As soon as I started there, I realised that it was made for me,’ Ronnie said.
‘I wish I had shown such promise at school, but being a girl I was expected to contribute to the family home as soon as I was old enough. My father worked down the pits and was away long hours. My ma was not a well woman and I took over a lot of the housekeeping duties,’ Sarah explained. ‘I didn’t have any brothers or sisters. Ma had a difficult time giving birth to me and they told her she shouldn’t have any more children. It was too dangerous for her.’
‘That must have been hard,’ Ronnie said.
‘It was, but at least now I have moved Anthony away from the pits. He will never have to go down underground. It’s a hard life and a dangerous job.’
Sarah’s expression changed and Ronnie could see something had troubled her about that thought. She turned the topic of conversation back to Ronnie.
‘So, have you given up all ideas of being a pilot, then?’ she asked.
‘Well, you never know,’ Ronnie replied.
Sarah smiled. ‘I admire your steadfastness, but how could that happen to a boy from a small village in the Hampshire countryside?’
‘Well, I’ve moved a bit closer to it happening,’ Ronnie replied. ‘Working in a place where they make seaplanes is the next best thing, isn’t it?’
