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

sure yer take note of Ma. She allus puts me first, like. That’s the only way ter keep yer man ’appy.’

Ronnie politely smiled back but Fred had already turned his attention to Dora. This time Ronnie noticed it was more than a quick glance.

‘Bring Ronnie back agin,’ Dolly said as she kissed Dora’s cheek. ‘We like ’er, don’t we, Moi-chap?’ Her plump face grinned up at Fred.

‘She’s a good’un,’ he said to his wife, at the same time pumping Ronnie’s hand. ‘She’ll make some geezer ’appy, no doubts about that.’

Fred’s words floated through Ronnie’s mind as she was drifting off to sleep. That rule of keeping your man happy might well suit him and possibly Dolly too, but it wouldn’t suit her. Ronnie’s lips curved into a wry smile. But what sort of a marriage would suit her? Try as she might, she couldn’t envision being anyone’s wife. For one thing, no one would want to put up with all the animals she’d decided she would shelter when she finally left home and had a place of her own. Briefly, she wondered what sort of Christmas Michael was having. And the other girls in the pub. Well, she wouldn’t have swapped this evening for all the tea in Dolly’s enormous teapot.

Chapter Thirty

New Year’s Eve 1943

‘We best go over a few things,’ Dora said, when they arrived in Coventry. ‘I warn yous, it in’t no picnic carryin’ coal. But it’s vital for the factories to keep goin’ – the ones that have survived the bleedin’ Jerry – so far, that is.’

Ronnie felt a rush of excitement. This was what they’d been preparing for – actually seeing something worthwhile for their efforts. This was how Pathé News had enticed her to become a boatwoman. Then she realised the implication of what Dora was saying.

‘Coventry was bombed heavily at the beginning of the war, wasn’t it?’ Ronnie said.

‘Yes.’ Dora concentrated on lighting her pipe in the wind. ‘That were a bad night. I weren’t too far away when it happened. The sky were that red and yer could hear them bombs all night. Whole town smashed up. Shops, factories, homes … and their cathedral.’ She shook her head. ‘That were a great shame. Not that I ever went inside, mind. But I went ter have a gawp the followin’ day and it weren’t a pretty sight.’

Ronnie noticed Dora’s face had paled as she took some furious puffs of her pipe.

‘Will we have the opportunity of going into the city after they finish loading up the coal, Miss Dummitt?’ Sally asked.

Dora stared at her. ‘If yer really interested, the bus goes in quite frequent from where we’re loadin’. Best thing about Coventry for yous, I reckon, is to go in and have a bath. For me, I don’t care if I never see the place again s’long as I live. The main thing is we’ll be loadin’ up the boats first.’ Her sharp eyes landed on Ronnie and the others, one by one. ‘Before we get there yer need to carry out my instructions to the letter. If yer don’t – and even if yer do’ – she grinned at them, showing the gaps in her teeth – ‘the coal dust – well, it’s grit – will get everywhere. In yer hair, up yer nose, in yer throat, and yer won’t help swallowin’ some of it. It’ll be in yer clothes, yer underwear so you’ll be itchin’ and scratchin’. It’ll be on every surface in the cabin … so yer have to prepare. Before they load, yer need ter pick up the floorboards and stack them at the fore end so’s to keep them clean and dry. And mind how you do it – they’re bleedin’ heavy – and be careful of the underneath side – it’ll be slick with all the oil and water. Then bolt the cabin and engine doors and pull the hatch cover over so’s the dust don’t fly while the coal comes through the chute. Got that?’

‘Yes, Miss Dummitt,’ Ronnie joined in the chorus.

‘And you, miss?’ Dora’s glare went straight to Angela.

‘Yes, of course, Miss Dummit,’ Angela answered with a sniff.

‘Then make sure yer say so next time.’

Somehow the thought of all this preparation didn’t worry Ronnie in the least. She’d always loved a challenge. Jessica was not so sanguine.

‘We need to wrap our hair up in a scarf,’ she said. ‘Have you brought one with you, Ronnie?’

‘No, but I’ve got my woolly hat.’

‘I brought two scarves,’ Jessica said, ‘so you’re welcome to borrow the other.’

‘Thanks, Jess. I’ll see how I go.’

‘What do you think about a trip into the city?’

‘I’m in two minds.’

‘I’m definitely going to have a look round. It’ll be something to tell my grandchildren one day.’

‘Don’t you have to have children first for that to happen?’ Ronnie teased.

‘It would seem so,’ Jessica said, and Ronnie wished she hadn’t made such a remark when she noticed a sadness in her friend’s attempt at a smile.

When Dora and her two teams arrived at the Newdigate collieries loading bay, the wind had got up nearly to gale force.

‘I should never have washed my hair,’ Jessica grumbled, trying to tighten her scarf for the dozenth time. ‘It’s too slippery to keep this damned scarf on, but I wanted it to be clean for when we go into into Coventry.’

‘The way Dora was talking, you’ll have to wash it all over again anyway,’ Ronnie said with a grin, pulling her woolly hat further over her forehead.

‘Miss Dummitt to you, miss,’ Dora said as she jumped into the engine room to do her inspection. Without bothering to wait for a reply she said, ‘Right, get them floorboards up.’

Ronnie heard Jess grumble under her breath as the two of them bent down to begin lifting the boards. Dora had lifted several on her own by the time Ronnie and Jessica had struggled with the first one.

‘Slide ’em on their sides to the fore end and careful when you go under