The Hope She Found: An unforgettable family saga of hope and resilience during World War Two (The Watson Family Saga Book 3) by LK Wilde

Author:LK Wilde [Wilde, LK]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2024-03-12T00:00:00+00:00

PART TWO

1943-1944

Chapter 40

August, 1943

“Blast,” said Sally. “Whoever can that be? You’re not expecting anyone, are you, Marnie?”

“No, perhaps it’s Kitty. I’ll see.”

“Would you mind? Only if I put this down now, I’ll lose track of where I am in the pattern and will have to unpick this entire row.”

“It’s looking good,” said Marnie, glancing at the pile of knitting in Sally’s lap before heading to the door.

Marnie opened the door and screamed. “Is it really you?”

Jimmy dropped his bag to the ground and caught Marnie as she threw herself into his arms. “What a lovely welcome,” he said, holding her to him just like he’d done when she was a baby.

“Is everything alright, Marnie?”

“Everything’s fine, Sally,” Marnie called, grinning at Jimmy. “We’ve had a special delivery. I’ll bring it through to you.”

“It?” whispered Jimmy.

“Come on,” said Marnie, taking her brother’s hand. “Let’s surprise Sally.”

When Marnie walked into the kitchen empty-handed, Sally sighed. “I thought you said we’d had a delivery? And what was all that shrieking about?”

“Surprise,” said Jimmy, walking into the kitchen with a big grin spread across his face.

Sally dropped her knitting to the ground, her hands holding her cheeks as she stared at Jimmy. “Did you know about this, Marnie?”

“No,” said Marnie, “why do you think I screamed? Jimmy was the last person I expected to turn up on the doorstep.”

“Apologies,” said Jimmy. “I should have written, but my return was so last-minute and I didn’t want to raise your hopes only for something to go wrong.”

“So, why are you back?”

“I was asked to come back due to the number of children who’ve returned to the village. They need to be in school, and it made sense for me to come back and teach them rather than send one of the female teachers back down here.”

“I don’t understand why they’re bringing kiddies back,” said Sally.

“Some have had an awful time away,” said Jimmy. “Not all the host families have been kind, and not all the evacuees have been well behaved. Some placements have broken down because of the evacuees becoming unmanageable, whether that’s because of bad behaviour or homesickness. I’m sure Marnie will testify that the evacuation process isn’t an easy one for the child or their parents.”

“I’m more worried Annie won’t want to come home,” said Marnie. She laughed to hide the truth in her words.

“Of course she will,” said Jimmy. “And although she’ll miss Richard and Helen, it’s not as if she’ll never see them again.”

Marnie swallowed. How could she let Annie maintain a relationship with Richard and Helen without having to see Grace? It wouldn’t be fair for Helen or Grace to have Marnie frequently popping up.

“How’s that lovely Clara?” asked Sally.

“Very well, thank you, Sally. We could see a fair bit of each other while I was up north, which was lovely. It’s given me a lot of food for thought…”

Marnie waited for Jimmy to expand but he stared out of the window, lost in his thoughts.

“Roy will be very pleased to see you,” said Sally.

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