she didn’t have long to dwell on it because Danny started firing questions at him again.
‘Have yer killed anyone yet?’
‘No, Danny, I haven’t. And I sincerely hope I never have to.’ Uncle David was solemn again now. ‘I’ve been doing my training. And in answer to your earlier questions, no, I won’t be here for Christmas, unfortunately. They’ve just allowed me a couple of days’ leave before they ship me out.’
Danny’s face fell a foot. ‘Where will they be sending you to?’
David sipped at his tea before answering. ‘I don’t know. None of us do. We just have to go wherever they send us, but I have an idea they’ll be taking us over to France.’
Lizzie noted that all colour had now drained from their mother’s face. She didn’t like the sound of their uncle being sent to France. Wasn’t that where all the fighting was going on? She’d seen newsreels of the soldiers there, and it didn’t look very nice at all.
All the time they were talking, Lucy was clinging onto the edges of a chair, but suddenly she let go, and on very unsteady feet she took her first two steps.
Everyone’s mouths fell open with amazement as Lucy beamed at them, as if aware of what a great milestone she had just passed. Uncle David swooped towards her and snatched her up just as she was about to fall forward, and everyone laughed as the tense mood was broken.
‘Well, I’ll be!’ Uncle David’s eyes were moist as he kissed the downy hair, so like his own and his twin brother’s. ‘No matter where they send me now I’ll have this to remember.’ He and Maggie exchanged a funny look, which didn’t go unnoticed by the twins, but before they could say anything, the back door suddenly flew open and Grandma Sharp burst in carrying a large dish covered with a crisp white tea-towel.
‘Why, David lad - I didn’t know you were back. How long are yer home for? My, it’s good to see yer all safe an’ sound.’
Dropping the dish onto the table she caught David to her in a great hug and the twins giggled as he blushed a deep crimson.
They chatted for a few moments until Grandma said to Maggie: ‘Pop that in the oven to keep warm, love. I queued up an’ got a load of mince today so I thought I’d do you all a cottage pie while I were makin’ ours. No sense in it goin’ to waste, is there?’
‘Thanks, Mam. That’ll go down a treat.’ When Maggie glanced nervously at the wooden clock on the mantelpiece and then back at David, an unspoken message passed between them and he hastily rose from his seat and started to shrug his long arms into a khaki-coloured overcoat.
‘It’s time I were off,’ he stated. ‘Sam will be home from work in a minute an’ he won’t take kindly to findin’ me here delayin’ your dinners.’
‘Aw, do yer have to go, Uncle David?’ Lizzie’s eyes filled with tears as he strode towards the door. He stopped to tousle her shining ringlets and tweak her ribbons.
‘’Fraid so, Lizzie. Your other grandma will have my guts for garters if I’m late for my tea. But I’ll tell you what - I’ll go sniffin’ round to see if I can’t find you a Christmas tree tomorrow, an’ if I do I’ll drop it in when you get in from school. How would that do?’
‘Ooh, yes, please.’ Happy again, Lizzie watched him leave, closing the door behind him.
His footsteps had barely finished echoing in the entry when Grandma Sharp sighed and glanced meaningfully at Maggie. ‘Bloody shame if you were to ask me,’ she said.
Maggie flushed and hissed, ‘That’s enough o’ that, Mam. Especially in front of the children.’
Danny raised his eyebrows at Lizzie in exasperation. Sometimes grown-ups were very hard to understand.
Later that evening, as the children sat at the kitchen table doing a jigsaw, Danny suddenly remembered the treats his uncle had brought them.
‘Can we have a few of the sweets Uncle brought us, Mam?’ he asked innocently.
His father, who was reading the newspaper
Heidi Hunter, Bad Boy Team