Coming Home to Island House by Erica James

Author:Erica James [James, Erica]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Orion Publishing Group
Published: 2017-11-28T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty-Eight

December 1939

It was the day before Christmas Eve and the war was far from over. Five British ships and a number of foreign ones had recently been sunk by mines in the North Sea, and the pride of the German fleet, the Graf Spee, trapped by British warships in the South Atlantic near Uruguay, had scuttled herself on a direct order from Hitler. The ship’s captain had shot himself in the head, according to the newspapers. There had even been an attempt to assassinate Hitler.

But for all that, the way some people viewed it the war had hardly got going, and maybe never would, not properly. ‘It’s nothing but a phoney war,’ was what Florence regularly heard in the village.

It seemed the government was forever saying what people couldn’t do and what they couldn’t have – coal and petrol were rationed, and if you didn’t obey the blackout regulations you could go to prison, while old Bert Cox, the ARP warden, would love nothing better than to shoot on sight anyone who let so much as a chink of light show! Every day, as soon as it was dark, around the village he’d go, yelling, ‘Put that light out!’

But it didn’t seem like there was much reason for what they were doing, and to hear the way some folk grumbled, you’d think they were disappointed not to be bombed out of their homes or gunned down in the street. They should think themselves lucky that nothing was happening, in Florence’s opinion.

Many of the evacuees who’d come to the village in September had returned home, despite the government advising against it. Stanley’s mother, who hadn’t written to him once since his arrival, had not requested he should go home. Nor had the boy shown any desire to leave.

After just three months, he bore little resemblance to the lad he’d been when he’d first pitched up. Under Mrs Partridge’s vigilant eye he’d put on weight, got some colour in his cheeks and gained confidence. He was also doing well with his lessons, and every day when he came home from school, he’d sit at the kitchen table with his exercise book and stubby pencil doing the extra work Miss Flowerday set him so he could catch up with the others. Miss Flowerday had guessed that the reason for his reluctance to go to school was because he couldn’t read and write. Well he was getting there now. Florence helped him when she could, as did Miss Romily.

But the real reason for the change for the better in Stanley was down to Bobby, the dog Elijah had given him. They were inseparable and went everywhere together, apart from school, but the minute Stanley was due home in the afternoon, the dog was waiting for him at the end of the drive with his tail wagging. They were out together now, delivering Christmas cards for Miss Romily.

For Florence, Christmas had seemed like it would never come. She had literally been counting the days, willing the day to arrive when she would see Billy again.

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