Heartwarming and emotional story of one girl's courage in WW2 Fenella Miller (best books for 8th graders txt) 📖

beside the copper in the scullery a necessary evil. He was used to indoor plumbing, central heating and being able to have a shower whenever he wanted. It had been a bit of a shock adjusting to life in backward Britain.

*

‘You look lovely, Ellie love, you should dress up more often. You don’t make the most of yourself,’ Dad said fondly.

‘You don’t look so bad yourself. But we’re both far too brown for evening dress. We’ll look like a couple of gypsies compared to the other guests.’ She attempted to pull up the front of her low-cut gown without success. She wasn’t comfortable exposing so much of her bosom. An unwelcome flush engulfed her as she remembered that she’d shown Jack Reynolds her knickers earlier today.

‘How many are coming, Dad? There’s enough food and drink to feed a small army.’

‘No idea, love, I leave that sort of thing to your mum. I reckon there’ll be a hundred or so if the number of chairs and tables she borrowed from the church are anything to go by.’

They heard her mother calling from the marquee and both of them turned tail and dashed off in opposite directions. She stumbled, the unfamiliar heeled evening shoes unbalancing her. If she’d had her way she would have worn flat shoes – she was quite tall enough already. Mum had insisted she wear the footwear purchased to complement the frock so she’d had no choice if she didn’t want a major row.

She’d already received a long lecture about not having long hair which could be put up into something more elegant. To stop the criticism Ellie had agreed to apply a small amount of lipstick, something she never used.

The home paddock was to be used for car parking. Lanterns had been put up on the trees so people wouldn’t break their necks when they returned to their cars. It did look rather pretty and would look even better when it got dark.

She spied George lurking in the shrubbery and hurried over to join him. He was nearest to her in age, being three years her senior, but he was more like her mother in temperament so they’d never really been close. She thought he regretted the fact Mum was estranged from her posh family. He was the only one of the siblings that had enjoyed boarding school and mixing with the children of grand folks.

‘Are you hiding too?’

‘I certainly am. I can’t imagine why our mother wanted to do something so elaborate. I hardly think that getting my wings is a cause for such a grand party.’

‘She’s been desperate to entertain on a lavish scale and this might well be her last chance. You know better than I do that whatever people think there’s going to be a war sooner rather than later. When that starts there’ll be no more outside parties.’

‘There’s a hell of a lot of pilots and aircraft being produced if the government doesn’t anticipate a war. It’s going to be down to us bods in the RAF to keep that bastard Hitler out of the country. From what I’ve heard the Luftwaffe is twice the size of us and their pilots are better trained too.’

This was hardly a cheerful conversation. She shivered in her thin, silk gown, even though the sun was still up. ‘I don’t want to think about it tonight. Let’s talk about something else.’ She pointed to her outfit. ‘Will I pass muster? You’re so lucky you can just wear your uniform and don’t have to put on a dickie bow like all the other men.’

‘You look remarkably pretty – in fact quite lovely. Whoever picked that gown out for you knew what they were doing. Green is your colour and matches your eyes.’

Her mouth dropped open. ‘Good God! When did you become so sophisticated? I didn’t even know you were aware what colour my eyes are.’

His laugh attracted the attention of their mother who had been searching for them.

‘People will be arriving at any moment. This party is in your honour, George, so you must be there to greet them as they arrive.’ Her mouth thinned and she pointed at Ellie’s shoes. ‘Look at that – you’ve already got mud over the heels. Go inside and clean them up and do try and stay tidy. I don’t want you to embarrass me in front of my friends.’

Ellie’s pleasure in the evening was squashed by this remark. She picked up her skirt and made her way, as quickly as she could without breaking her neck, towards the house to do as she was told. Nobody would notice if she stayed in her room – she was the least important member of the family. A constant disappointment to her mother who had wanted a daughter like herself.

From the vantage point of her bedroom window she watched the procession of smart cars arriving. From these vehicles emerged exactly the sort of people she wasn’t comfortable with. They were all dressed to the nines; the women in diamonds and floor-length gowns and the men in dinner jackets and bow ties.

Soon the noise of the revellers drowned out the sound of the blackbirds. The evening was full of plummy voices and clinking glasses. There weren’t many young people and only three others that she’d seen in uniform – all of them wearing the distinctive grey-blue of the RAF. She leaned out of the open window to see if George had recognised any of them.

She wouldn’t go down until Jack arrived unless she was sent for. The marquee was on the huge lawn at the back, facing towards the house and she could see into it. Some of the guests she recognised from her bi-annual visits to church but a lot of them were strangers to her.

She was about withdraw from her position when someone spoke from just under the window. ‘Are you coming down to join me or do I have to come up and get you? I didn’t put on this