A Sister's War by Molly Green (the reading strategies book txt) 📕

hadn’t told Jess she would go with her. It was only that she’d felt so sorry when Jess had confided in her about that horrible boyfriend. She’d felt the least she could do was support her friend and keep her company.

She turned her feet this way and that, feeling like Cinderella. Who would have thought Dora, of all people, would have come up with such a pair of shoes? But then Dora had that lacy brassiere tucked in her drawer. But how surprising they had exactly the same shoe size.

May followed Ronnie’s glance.

‘I know what you’re thinking, Ron,’ she said gleefully. ‘I’d just love to know the story behind Dora’s shoes.’

‘We all would,’ Jessica said, ‘but she’ll never spill the beans.’

‘They were obviously for a very special occasion,’ Ronnie said, feeling a little mean that they were having a joke at Dora’s expense.

Jessica tucked a stray curl behind Ronnie’s ear. ‘At least she’s allowed us to tie up here so we can go, so she can’t be all bad.’

The only pity was that Ronnie had to put one of her old jumpers over the dress and top it off with her now weather-beaten raincoat. And, of course, the Wellington boots. The shoes were safely in the same drawstring bag Dora had delivered them in.

Don’t forget the bag … don’t forget the bag, Ronnie said to herself over and over, like a mantra. The image of dancing with someone in her pretty dress, complete with Wellington boots, made her want to break out into hysterical laughter. She sobered up when Jess shrugged on a beautiful camel coat with a tightly curled black collar. How she’d managed to pack something so bulky, Ronnie couldn’t imagine. But standing next to her, Ronnie suddenly felt like the poor relation.

‘Are you ready?’ Jessica asked, picking up a large and expensive-looking leather shoulder bag.

‘About as ready as I’ll ever be,’ Ronnie said ruefully.

‘Got your bag with Dora’s shoes?’

‘Yes.’

‘Have a wonderful time,’ May called after them. ‘I’ll be thinking of you and I’ll want to hear all the details.’

It was a difficult walk along the towpath, although thankfully it was no longer icy. But the rough ground wasn’t easy to negotiate in the dark and Ronnie was thankful when they were able to leave it for a proper tarmac road. The cold already seeping through her raincoat to the one jumper she’d allowed herself, she was relieved they only had to wait a few minutes for the bus to take them into Leamington Spa.

This was it, Ronnie thought as she swung up on the platform behind Jess and grabbed the handrail to steady herself. No going back now.

‘Hold tight.’

‘Let’s go upstairs,’ Jessica said as she twisted her head round to Ronnie. She started up the narrow winding steps and darted to one of the few vacant seats at the very front.

A mother and her three children were crammed together on the other seat across the aisle, and as the driver pulled away the baby on the mother’s lap started to howl.

‘I wouldn’t have sat here if I’d known the kid was going to make that row,’ Jessica muttered under her breath.

‘There wasn’t much choice,’ Ronnie said. ‘It’s pretty full.’ She tried to peer through the smeared window. ‘If only we could see out. They say Leamington Spa is a beautiful town but in the blackout it’s impossible to see anything.’

‘We’ll have plenty of light inside the dance hall to pick out the best-looking partners,’ Jessica said, chuckling.

Ronnie was relieved Jess didn’t try to make any more conversation – almost impossible with the baby still sobbing. A feeling of dread lodged in the pit of her stomach. Why had she said she would go? Raine and Suzy would have been so excited to go to a dance and listen to jazz and get up on the dance floor, but to her the thought was terrifying. Those few classes at school dancing with other girls who never stopped giggling wouldn’t be any use at all this evening. She jutted her chin. Well, it was too late to change her mind now.

At that moment there was a screeching of brakes and the bus jerked forward, then stopped. Jessica shot out her right arm in front of Ronnie to stop her falling against the front window, but to Ronnie’s horror she saw the mother and baby being flung forward. The baby’s head met the glass with a horrifying bang. For some seconds there was a heart-stopping silence. Then the baby screamed.

‘Everyone all right up there?’ the conductor called from below.

‘No!’ Ronnie shouted down the stairwell. ‘There’s been an accident. Can you come up?’

The conductor was there in a few swift steps.

‘My Tommy’s head’s bleedin’,’ the mother told him. ‘And I don’t know what to do.’

By this time her two other children were crying.

‘That looks a nasty graze so we’ll have to get you straight to hospital.’ He turned to the passengers. ‘I’m afraid the driver’s had a bit of a fright. Some woman ran out in front of him. She was bloody lucky – excuse my French – not to get run over. So everyone off the bus. We’ve got to get this lady and her baby to the hospital.’

Jessica grabbed Ronnie’s arm and they scrambled down the steep steps with the other passengers, some of them muttering and grumbling, as they were turned out on the pavement.

‘Are we anywhere near the Palais de Danse?’ Jessica called to the conductor.

‘Two hundred yards in front of you,’ he called back as he rang the bell. The bus moved off.

Oh, no! Ronnie suddenly ran alongside the moving bus, waving her arms and shouting. But the bus platform was empty. The conductor must have gone upstairs again to tend to the lady and her baby.

‘STOP! Please stop!’ But her cry was lost in the crowds and she could no longer see the bus in the dark. Panting, she slowed, tears of frustration falling down her cheeks.

Footsteps ran up behind her. ‘What is it, Ronnie?’

Ronnie