Girl with Secrets: a coming of age war story and family saga full of romance, mystery and danger in London’s East End. by Carol Rivers

Author:Carol Rivers
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Carol Rivers Publications
Published: 2021-02-22T22:00:00+00:00

Daisy was helping to gather the fruit that had fallen from the garden trees. ‘The fly has got into our apples ,’ said Mother sadly, depositing several brown and mouldy cores in her basket. ‘But needs must.’ Cocking her head to one side, she stopped still. ‘What’s that noise?’

‘It’s the sound of aircraft.’ Daisy pointed to a vast black shadow on the horizon. ‘They aren’t our Spitfires,’ she gasped, ‘like the ones Bobby watches for.’ No sooner had she spoken than the wail of the warning siren lifted eerily into the air.

‘Quickly,’ ordered Mother. ‘Into the shelter!’ They sped across the lawn and stumbled down the steps that led to the Anderson.

The door protested with a loud screech but once inside, Mother gave it a hefty tug. ‘I shan’t draw the lock. There’s still time for your brother to come.’

The wail of the siren was soon broken by the loudest roar Daisy had ever heard. The explosion pitched them forward and into the darkness. Mother caught her hand. ‘Are you hurt?’ she gasped.

’N … no, I don’t think so.’ Daisy felt sick with fright. ‘Are we going to be killed?’

‘Of course not.’

Wave after wave of bombers flew over, causing the dust and earth to fall from the corrugated ceiling. Daisy thought it was like being buried alive. All around them was an ear-splitting clattering and shattering of glass.

When a brief lull came, it was brief. Louder and even more determined than before, the German bombers droned overhead, dropping their deadly cargo on London. Daisy thought about Berlin and how terrified the people must have felt as they too sheltered from the bombs.

‘We’re safe enough,’ whispered Mother as they sat on the edge of the bunk but Daisy doubted that the wrinkled iron roof above them would prove any protection at all.

Eventually they lay, exhausted, Mother on the chair and Daisy on the uncomfortable slats of the bunk. All through the night, the attacks continued.

‘Oh Bobby,’ breathed Mother into the darkness, ‘where can you be?’

‘He must have found safety or else he’d be home.’

‘Yes … yes, he’s a sensible boy.’

’I’m awfully thirsty.’

Mother sighed. ‘How foolish it was of me not to store some provisions in here. But there’s a little lemonade left in the basket, if I can find where I dropped it.’

To Daisy’s relief, a torch was found, the basket retrieved and the lemonade drunk. Above them, the planes criss-crossed the city, droning like angry bees.

‘I want to wee,’ Daisy confessed in the middle of the night.

‘A pail,’ Mother said, ‘is under your bunk.’

But when Daisy managed to find it, a huge bang sent her flying.

‘I’ve wet myself,’ she sobbed. ‘I hate those planes. I hate them!’

‘Hush now, Daisy,’ soothed Mother. ‘Knickers can be replaced, but broken bones can’t.’

And by the end of the night, Daisy had decided she agreed with Mother. Damp knickers were very unimportant in the scheme of things.

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