Page 13 of Whispers At Dawn
‘I’m off now,’ she said.
Lizzie stood quickly and followed Evie out of the breakfast room and into the hallway. ‘What are you playing at? You promised you would stop that nonsense,’ she scolded.
‘So find me a job I can get my teeth into, Liz. If I have to sew another bloody button on another bloody blouse, I’m going to go round the twist.’
‘Don’t let Ma hear you talking like that.’
‘Oh, for goodness sake, there’s a war on. Who cares if I say bloody? Bloody, bloody, bloody,’ she repeated, fixing Lizzie with an impudent glare.
‘Oh, do stop being such a child. I was just thinking how you’ve grown into a mature woman, but I see now I was quite wrong about that. How can I recommend you to the FANYs when you’re so silly?’
‘Nooo,’ Evie shrieked. ‘Please Lizzie. I’ll behave myself; I promise. Please, please, recommend me. I’m going out of my mind with boredom in this house.’
Lizzie relented. ‘All right, I’ll see what I can do. In the meantime, behave yourself and not another word about you know who. I’m leaving today so I won’t see you for a while. You’ll have to wait, I’m afraid, but I’ll see what I can do upon my return.’
Evie turned from the mirror where she was rearranging her hat and admiring her reflection. ‘Oh, I forgot you are leaving today. Sorry, Liz. Have a safe journey and please send us a postcard like last time.’
Lizzie promised she would, and they hugged before Evie left for her shift at the infamously dull sewing circle.
The thought flitted through Lizzie’s mind that there was a possibility she would never see her baby sister again.
Don’t think like that, she reprimanded herself. All the same, she would ask Val if she could find a role to keep Evie out ofmischief whilst she was away. Preferably nowhere near Baker Street.
Pa appeared. ‘I must leave for the office. I’ll say goodbye now, darling girl.’
Lizzie hugged her father, and he squeezed her so tightly, he took her breath away. His eyes were moist, and his voice cracked as he asked her what time she was leaving.
Rose followed Reginald out. ‘What on earth has got into you? She’s only going to Oxford. It’s not dangerous.’ She hesitated as she studied her daughter’s face. ‘Is it, Lizzie?’ Fear flashed in her eyes as she looked from her daughter to her husband.
‘No, no of course not. No more dangerous than living in London, anyway,’ Lizzie assured her.
Lizzie walked her father to the door, and he spoke near her ear, ‘Come home to us, Lizzie darling. Please take good care of yourself.’
After one final tight hug, they parted, and Lizzie waved him off from the doorstep. Her eyes were also moist, and she dried them with her sleeve.
Lizzie said goodbye to Juliet and then ran upstairs to pack a small case, as if she were really going to Oxford for an indefinite period. Her mother tapped on the bedroom door and entered. ‘May I help you, darling? Have you everything you need?’
Lizzie nodded. ‘I’m just about done, Ma. I’ll be down in a minute for a cup of tea and then my car should be here.’
‘Is the handsome captain picking you up, by any chance?’ Rose asked.
Lizzie smiled at her mother. ‘No, I don’t think so, Ma. Just one of the FANY drivers.’
‘That’s a shame. I should like to see him again. After your return, invite him to tea, please.’
Lizzie promised she would, thinking if they made it back safely, they would certainly deserve a piece of her mother’sdelicious apple cake. She lifted her case and cast a final glance around her bedroom. It would never be her childhood home, that was at Seagrove in Jersey, but it was the next best thing. Packing in her bedroom for the next mission always awakened mixed emotions in Lizzie. She still felt like a young girl leaving the protection of her family, but the minute she crossed the threshold and moved into the next stage, she was a fully grown woman and a trained agent.
Lizzie checked her watch repeatedly as her mother chattered about how measly rations were this week, and when a horn sounded, she jumped up from her chair in the front room, pushed back the curtain and peered out the window.
‘They’re here for me. It’s time, Ma.’ She was relieved the pretence was over and she could be on her way.
Rose stood on the doorstep waving and Lizzie waved back all the way down the road until the army truck turned the corner and she relaxed against the seat and exhaled.
The first stage of mission preparation was complete.
CHAPTER 7
Just the two of them would fly into France that night. After a day of final preparations, Lizzie passed the evening alone, dozing for a few hours at a safe house after going for a drink with Val in a nearby pub.
