Bobby's War by Shirley Mann

Author:Shirley Mann
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bonnier Publishing Fiction

Chapter 23

It was Bobby’s last day in France and for the first time she understood the term ‘de-mob happy.’ She would soon be home, able to carry on with her wonderful job, see her family, who were improving in her estimation by the minute and see Ed . . . Gus . . . she stopped, stumbling over the name Gus. She realised she had hardly thought about him since she had watched his Anson fly into the distance. She tried to remember his face but the one that had popped into her mind was Edward’s. She sat back on her heels on the cold concrete floor in surprise.

‘Now, where did he come from?’ she said out loud.

‘Qui?’ Elizé said.

‘Les hommes,’ Bobby replied. ‘I’ve just got too much time to think, ma petite.’

Elizé gave the knowing smile of an eight-year-old, which warmed Bobby’s heart. Pulling the blanket around her on the mattress, while Elizé drew on her paper at the bottom of it, Bobby took stock of how much she had started to look forward to the evenings with Michel, Raoul and Claudette.

The last week had opened up a different side to the war and while it had been fraught with danger and tension, it had also been a very special time for a girl who had never had a cosy home life. Bobby had luxuriated in the evenings spent round a tiny fire with a bottle of wine and the comfortable chatter of Raoul and Michel, Claudette fussing round them. Elizé, too, would sit sleepily on a small stool next to Bobby, waiting for bedtime. Putting her hand affectionately on the child’s head, Bobby often wondered whether the walls of this house were having the same effect on Elizé as they had had on her, creating a haven that seemed sacrosanct. Once Elizé was in bed, Bobby curled up in the armchair, ready to hear Raoul waxing lyrically about the charming life in a small French town before the war and the horrific reality of how that idyll had been smashed to smithereens by the arrival of the Germans.

But, with the evening when they could escape their confinement still several hours away, Bobby shivered and decided it was time to do her exercise routine on the cold cement floor. She started to hum to herself and knelt down on the space in front of her. Elizé looked over with a puzzled expression. Sometimes, these English people were very strange.

‘Come and do some press-ups with me, it’ll warm you up,’ Bobby called over.

Elizé wandered slowly over and, copying Bobby, knelt next to her. She did not even flinch at the coldness of the floor on her bare knees and started to do what Bobby did.

They pumped up and down but then Bobby fell down onto her elbows, exhausted. Elizé fell on top of her and they both started to giggle. Once they started, neither of them could stop. To hear the child’s tinkling laughter was such a joyous sound that Bobby started to cry.

‘What is the matter?’ Elizé asked her, catching herself mid-laugh.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.