Carols at Woolworths by Elaine Everest

Author:Elaine Everest
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pan Macmillan UK

Chapter 7

Freda carefully climbed onto the flat part of the Woolworths roof. In the distance she could see the beams of searchlights pinpointing the night sky. She listened intently but could no longer hear the drone of aircraft. The ack-ack guns had also fallen silent. Let’s hope the all-clear will sound soon, she thought to herself, as she edged towards the side of the building where she’d be able to see what was happening with the unexploded bomb. With luck it would be a huge mistake and they’d all be able to go home to their beds soon. It would be Christmas Eve in a few hours and one of the busiest days in the Woolworths shopping calendar. The war hadn’t stopped people shopping for bargains and Betty had done her utmost to stock the store with tempting goods as well as the basics no family could live without.

As she peered down into the dark street below, her eyes gradually became accustomed to the moving shapes, and she saw a covered lorry parked close to Woolies that hadn’t been there earlier when she was greeting the party guests at the front entrance of the store. Perhaps she could turn on her torch for a few seconds just to see what was happening? After all, it was in the interest of the people in the cellar below her that she knew what was occurring. It would be worth a telling-off from the ARP warden just to be a little nosy.

Reaching into the pocket of her coat, she knelt down by the low wall that edged the rooftop and turned on the dim beam of her pocket torch, cursing herself that the more powerful torch the staff usually carried when on fire watch had been left on the table in the staff canteen. A quick flash outlined soldiers carrying sandbags to the boundary of the tobacconist’s shop and stacking them to form a wall in front of the building.

Close to the lorry a makeshift table had been set up, and another soldier was brewing tea on a portable gas ring with a cigarette hanging from his lips. He looked up as he noticed the light from Freda’s torch. ‘Hello, darling, what are you doing up there?’

‘Hello yourself,’ Freda called back. ‘What’s going on?’

‘You’ve got yourself a rather nasty unexploded bomb in that there shop.’ He nodded towards it. ‘We’re here to save you, my love,’ he said, giving Freda a deep bow.

Freda bristled. ‘The way I see it, you’re the one more likely to be blown up. Perhaps I should come down and save you?’ She’d had her share of young men pulling her leg and she reckoned she was as good as them any day.

‘What are you doing up there?’ he asked again.

The man must be daft, Freda thought to herself. Surely he knew that workers who weren’t in the services were expected to pull their weight, and firewatching duty was one of the ways they all played their part to stop Hitler invading the country.

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.