Ginny, who’d been feeling tired of late, went for a lie-down and it was left to the sisters to make a fresh pot of tea for their dad, and to clear up.
‘I’m sorry I was a bite, Connie,’ Evelyn said breaking the silence as she measured the tea. ‘You’re a little trusting when it comes to the real world that’s all, and I don’t want you to get hurt. It doesn’t pay to fall too hard for any of the soldiers gadding about town.’
Constance was reminded of an actress’s line she’d once heard in a film. She was also irked by her sister’s condescending tone. Trusting indeed!
Evelyn, however, wasn’t finished. ‘There’s a lot of smooth operators in uniform around. Soldiers who know how to woo and sweet talk a girl and how to break her heart good and proper.’
It was only when Evelyn had left to catch the bus back to Norris Castle Farm that Constance forgot her irritation with her sister as the penny dropped. Evie had been talking about herself. Some cad had given her the runaround. Her heart went out to her sister then, and she wished she could catch her up and give her a hug, but the bus would be halfway to the farm now. The seeds had been sewn though, and as each day tumbled into the next, she’d begun to wonder if she was just one of many girls Henry took a turn-about with. Was she as Evelyn had suggested a silly, and naïve girl who fell head over heels the first time a man showed interest in her? Now, at the sight of him, all those traitorous thoughts picked up their hems and marched out the sturdy oak doors. He was here, and that was all she needed in the way of reassurance.
She spied Doris Cosby arranging herself at the piano, and her stomach lurched as she was reminded as to why she was here. ‘I feel sick Henry. I don’t think I can do this,’ Constance’s voice came out in a broken rasp. How she was supposed to sing when she could hardly speak was beyond her.
Henry took her hand. ‘Hey, of course, you can Connie. Look around you. These poor guys deserve a little cheering up, doncha think?’
Constance’s eyes settled on a soldier with a bandaged head His arm was in a sling, and his leg in a cast was stretched out in front of him. She felt a tug at her heart.
‘Take it from someone who knows, you girls singing tonight will be the only bright spot in these fella’s lives at the moment. They’re missing their sweethearts, their families and you can help take their minds off all that for an hour or so. Is it so hard?’
He was right, she thought. It was such a small thing she had to do compared to what these boys had had to do and had gone through in the name of the war.
‘When you sing, pretend it’s just you and me.’ He gave her hand a gentle squeeze.
‘Connie come on!’ Lil tugged at her arm, there was no time for introductions, and so Constance gave Henry one last smile before following her friend through the crowded space to where the cluster of girls from the shipyard were gathered in front of the tiled open fireplace, the mantle providing a frame behind where they stood. It was down to Sybil MacKay, as the eldest of the group, to step forward and say a few words before Doris began to play the opening notes of “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” with gusto.
While they weren’t The Andrews Sisters, the girls held their own and hats off to Doris, the songs she’d insisted they play were going down a treat. They were foot tapping and fun, and Constance smiled spying two of the nurses jitterbugging together down the back of the room. Even the po-faced matron was swaying along to the rhythm. The fast-paced set finished, and it was Constance’s turn to step forward. She took a deep breath and looked around the room at all the poor battered men, determined to do them proud before her eyes sought Henry. His gaze never faltered from hers, and her voice seemed to take on a life of its own, dipping and soaring over the notes of the Vera Lyn melody. She felt like she was soaring over the white cliffs of Dover and when the song came to a close, she saw one or two of the nurses wipe their eyes. The applause was thunderous, and she grinned as Henry gave her a thumbs up before returning to her spot next to Lil. ‘You were fantastic,’ Lil managed to whisper before Doris began pummelling the piano keys once more.
The show was over far too soon, and that it had been a success was evident in the whistles and shouts for more that had seen them perform one last number. They’d opened on The Andrews Sisters, and they closed with the trio’s “Rum and Cola.” Constance looked at her workmate's faces; they were flushed with the success of the evening. She too was on a high. It was true; she thought turning her attention to the audience that music had the power to move people. The atmosphere had been heavy and spoke of pain and suffering when they’d first arrived. Now, she thought listening to the buzz of conversation as memories of bygone dances were relieved, the mood had lifted.
‘Are you coming with us?’ Lil
