Poppy in the Field by Mary Hooper

Author:Mary Hooper
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781408829837
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2015-03-20T10:08:14+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

Poppy closed her eyes in the back of the car going back to Boulogne, tried to breathe evenly and told herself sternly that she did not feel sick.

Going over the meeting with Freddie in her mind, she covered first the fainting (oh, how foolish!), then the snatching away of her hands (terribly childish), and finally the aloof farewell at the door, which was the only part of seeing him that, though she did not feel good about it, she was reasonably content to recall. Yes, she’d concentrate on that and forget about the other parts. And at least their first meeting after his wedding had happened now, so any subsequent occasions would be easier. Perhaps.

Dot and Tilly were in the front seat of the car and singing at the tops of their voices as they drove along, so for perhaps half a minute none of the girls noticed that the engine had cut out. The car went slower and slower, however, and finally, spluttering, came to a halt.

‘It’s quite all right,’ Dot said airily. ‘It just wants water in the radiator. I should have put it in before we left Pop.’ She got out, went into the boot and got a full can of water, then tried to undo the radiator cap. It was very hot to the touch, though, and she burned her hand and swore at it.

While this was going on, Poppy climbed out of the car and walked around it a few times to stretch her legs. No travel-sickness this time . . . maybe because she’d had her eyes shut. They must be about halfway home, she thought, and had ended up on a quiet stretch of road which was heavily wooded on both sides. Towards the east, sporadic bursts of shellfire could be seen and heard, each side trying to get in a final flurry of killing before sunset. The sky wasn’t yet dark, but it was gloomy under the trees. How far did German snipers venture? she wondered. Who might be in those woods waiting for unwary travellers?

The radiator cap cooled enough to be removed and Dot poured the water into the radiator then screwed the cap back on.

This little job done, Tilly rummaged around on the floor of the car then held up the starting handle. ‘Who’s going to do this? Where’s a Tommy when you want one?’

‘Give it here,’ Dot said, and she cranked the handle six or seven times without success.

Tilly tried, then Poppy, then Dot again.

Finally, Dot gave a squeal. ‘It’s the gas!’ she cried. ‘They told me I’d have enough to get to Pop and back, but we’ve run out!’

‘Petrol? Isn’t there a spare can of that in the boot, too?’ Poppy asked.

They searched, but there wasn’t.

Getting back in the car and sitting there in the gathering gloom, Poppy began to fear that they were all going to meet horrific ends: that a Zeppelin would come along and spot them, or a stray incendiary would burn up the woods all around them and they’d be trapped within walls of fire.

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