Wartime with the Cornish Girls by Betty Walker

Author:Betty Walker [Walker, Betty]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2020-09-04T17:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY

Eva did not know when she had ever been so frightened. Never in her life, she decided. She wasn’t the type to frighten easily, as even her father would admit, and when that bomb fell, killing so many around her, there had been no time to feel fear. Now, though, there was time. Too much time, she realised, glancing up at the relentless ticking arm of the wall clock. What was she supposed to do? Who should she speak to first?

She gazed about the room, but everybody else had gone outside for their morning tea break. She would have joined them, having fallen in love with the tangy sea air and bright Cornish sunshine. But one of the noisy machines had started clacking and spitting out tape just as she was leaving. The young man who was usually on duty during tea breaks had gone pale earlier this morning, and abruptly thrown up, leaving Eva herself feeling a little sick too, just at the vile smell. The sergeant on duty outside had come in and helped him to his quarters, and nobody had been sent to replace him yet.

‘Some tummy bug going round,’ the sergeant had remarked cheerfully, touching his cap as she stepped out of the way. ‘Sorry about that, Miss.’

‘Where’s the duty orderly?’ Templeton had asked the man irritably, making a face at the smell. ‘That mess needs cleaning up.’

‘Orderly’s sick, sir.’

‘For God’s sake!’

‘Don’t you worry, sir. I’ll get the cleaners sent in, have that gone in a jiffy.’

‘See that you do, Sergeant.’

But the promised cleaners had not yet arrived, and the rank air in the underground tunnels had now grown almost unbearable. No wonder everyone had piled outside for a ciggy at break time, desperate for fresh air. Meanwhile, an important message had arrived, and Eva had been the only one there to intercept it.

Eva read the message again, still unsure what to do.

It was in code.

POLLY PUT THE KETTLE ON

The cryptic line was followed by a numerical sequence. Fear turned to sudden exhilaration as her brain began to work again. It was an identification number, which she was pretty certain must indicate a vessel in their fleet. There would be a code book somewhere, to check the number against. And though she had no idea what POLLY PUT THE KETTLE ON might mean, it had to be important, otherwise why send the message?

Closing her fist about the precious message tape, Eva dragged open the heavy listening room door, and then rushed down the dimly lit corridor to the outside world. But her passage was blocked by two figures ahead, silhouetted against the sunshine.

She blinked and stopped dead, startled by this unexpected sight.

As they came closer, Eva saw them more clearly. Two women in buff uniforms, each carrying a mop and a steaming bucket that stank of disinfectant.

‘Oh, thank God!’ she exclaimed, recognising one of the women as Hazel Baxter. She pivoted on her heel and pointed back down the corridor. ‘The mess is down there. It smells appalling.

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