London Pride by Beryl Kingston

Author:Beryl Kingston [Kingston, Beryl]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Romance, Historical, General
ISBN: 9781448213948
Google: 2HofAgAAQBAJ
Barnesnoble:
Goodreads: 1730668
Publisher: Time Warner Books UK
Published: 1990-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 21

‘Aye. It’s serious,’ Mr MacFarlane said. ‘There’s no way oot of that.’

The morning’s copy of the Daily Herald lay on the counter before him. ‘Czechoslovakia crisis,’ it said. ‘Chamberlain flies to Germany. Hitler speaks.’

‘That’s all we ever hear,’ Megan complained. ‘Hitler speaks. Hitler speaks tomorrow. Hitler speaks Wednesday. Speech by Hitler. And where is this Sizzek place anyway? I can’t see why it’s so important.’

‘It’s important, lassie, because we might have to go to war to protect it.’

‘Well that’s daft if you ask me,’ Megan said. ‘What’s it got to do with us?’

‘Do you think we will, Mr MacFarlane?’ another girl asked. ‘Go to war I mean.’ There was no larking about this morning. The news was far too grave for that.

‘I dearrly hope not,’ Mr MacFarlane said. ‘Perhaps Mr Chamberlain will make them see a wee bit sense.’

‘Until all this started I’d never even heard of the place,’ Megan said. ‘It can’t be that important.’

‘It’s half past eight, Mr MacFarlane,’ Peggy pointed out. ‘Madame Aimee’ll be down any minute. Did we ought to open the doors?’ The conversation was upsetting her because she knew in her bones that this crisis was horribly important. It was the only one that had stayed on the front page of the newspapers day after day, and it had been going on all through the summer.

‘Oh aye,’ Mr MacFarlane agreed, looking round nervously for his wife. ‘Chop chop, girrls. And currrtesy and efficiency remember.’

It had been a glorious summer. Even now, in the middle of September and with the autumn approaching, the days were warm and easy. And yet London was a city preparing to be bombed. Every day brought changes and all of them alarming. Long ugly slit trenches were being dug in all the public parks, and brick sheds labelled ‘Air Raid Shelter’ were being erected on several street corners, while important buildings like banks had already been barricaded behind mounds of sandbags. And last week they’d all been issued with gasmasks, which looked and smelt quite terrifying and were the clearest and most unavoidable sign that the authorities thought that war was inevitable.

‘It is coming, ain’t it?’ Peggy said to Mr MacFarlane as Megan sped to open the doors.

‘Aye. I fear so, lassie. If our Prime Minister cannae prevail.’

‘It makes me feel helpless,’ Peggy said. ‘I wish there was something I could do.’

He looked at her thoughtfully, stroking his moustache with his forefinger. ‘Do you?’ he said.

‘Yes. I do.’

‘Even if it were dangerous?’

She thought about that for a while, then she said ‘Yes’ again.

‘You could join the ARP if you’d a mind,’ he said.

‘Would they have me?’ Peggy asked. She’d heard of the ARP, the organization to provide Air Raid Precautions. Who hadn’t in those jittery times? But it hadn’t occurred to her that she might be eligible to join them. Join the ARP. Now that was a good idea. And just the right sort of thing for a soldier’s daughter, born in the Tower.

‘I could introduce you,’ Mr MacFarlane offered, ‘if you’d a mind.

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