“Yes, on my bicycle!” he laughed, knowing full well that Maggie loved to ride on the back as he zoomed down the lane much faster than Iris.
Late in the afternoon, Maggie accompanied her parents to Foxden Orchard. A stocky man with a grey beard and wearing a flat cap and braces over his shirt came over to them. He had an air of dependability about him as he puffed on his pipe.
“Albert, good to see you again,” said William, extending his hand to greet the man.
“William, likewise,” said Albert, as the friendly handshake continued.
“Mrs Harris, you’re looking well,” said Albert, tilting his cap to Iris. “And who is this little lady?” He bent down towards Maggie.
“I’m very well Mr Dunn, thank you,” said Iris. “Maggie, this is Mr Dunn. He has been coming to Kent ever since he was a boy and now he brings his family.”
“Pleased to meet you young lady, you were just knee high to a grasshopper last year and too young to remember us I would imagine, but you had fun playing with all the children from London. I’m sure you’ll catch up with them in the next few days, there’s my Tommy and Vivien for a start.”
“Settled in alright, Albert?” asked William. “Anything more you all need for tonight?”
“We’ll be snug as a bug in a rug, William. The strange thing will be the silence would you believe, but we’ll all be out like a light in no time at all, it’s been a long day. It will make a very pleasant change sleeping out under the stars and not in a packed out underground station. Well, I know you’ve your rounds to do, so I bid you goodnight and see you at six in the morning.”
“Goodnight Albert, I’ll catch up with all the family tomorrow.”
The next month went by quickly, with the village adjusting to the hustle and bustle of the newcomers. The villagers had been horrified to hear the dreadful stories about the Blitz and the devastation that was happening only forty miles away. Sadly, there was always someone who knew of someone who had been killed either in the bombings or loved ones who had been killed serving in action.
Adults and children renewed friendships and everyone participated in the harvest of the hop vines. The weather continued to be excellent enhancing the crops with bushels aplenty and except for a few night air raids, as time went on, the war was almost forgotten.
Maggie and her parents became firm friends with the Dunn family and Maggie soon realised that Mr Dunn, like her father, was a master storyteller. Albert Dunn was a retired dockworker and he told stories of faraway places and people who travelled on impressive vessels. One day, Maggie heard him speaking about ships that came from Australia and the next day she excitedly showed him her Australian stamp. He was mighty impressed.
During a morning break, when adults and children alike were sitting having a drink and bite to eat, Albert decided to tell a story about one of the ships that docked.
“It was late in the afternoon and people were coming and going offloading their cargo…” he began. “Just then...” he stopped and looked around, engaging everyone’s undivided attention, “there was a strange noise.” He lowered his tone, as if to tell a secret. All hush surrounded the group who waited until he spoke again. “There was a thump, thump, thump noise,” he said, banging his fist on an upturned apple log. “Everyone around me on dockside stood still and we all looked at each other as puzzled as you could ever be. We hadn’t heard anything like it in our lives and we listened and listened some more. Suddenly, it became louder and louder and an echo carried the noise that seemed to surround us completely. There was nowhere for us to go and this noise was becoming more scary.” Albert stopped speaking and slowly lit his pipe, fully aware that his audience were hooked and awaiting his next word.
“Mr Dunn, what happened?” demanded Maggie, eyes wide with anticipation. He looked around the group and saw people nodding their heads, agreeing with her. He stood up and placed his pipe on the apple log, and without saying another word he walked slowly around the outside of the circle. All eyes were on him. In a split second, he swept Maggie up into his arms as she let out a playful scream. “And out came this big kangaroo,” he cried, “who bounced around the ship.” He bounced up and down like a kangaroo holding Maggie who was now giggling loudly. The rest of the group began to laugh as well and the young children applauded.
“Your stories get wilder all the time, Alby,” said Mrs Dunn laughing. “I don’t know where you get them from, husband of mine, I really don’t, just when I think I’ve heard them all, you come up with this.”
“Just a piece of fun me ’ol treacle, no harm done,” he said, placing Maggie back on the ground. “Right me china’s, back to work for the oldies and you young ’uns can clear the tea things away.”
Chapter Nine
At the end of the hopping season, the Londoners returned home. For the first few weeks the village seemed empty but then, over time, everyone reverted to their usual routine and with the exception of a few air-raid warnings, life in the village settled down to business as usual.
It was time for Maggie to start school and despite knowing all of the village children she was quite nervous about her first day. William and Iris took some time off from work to accompany her. She insisted on carrying her own lunch, her reading book and her gas mask.
“I do want to go to school but I also want to stay and help in the orchard,” she explained, as they walked towards the village.
“You will be fine, young Maggie,” said William “you are growing up fast and it will be good to learn new things and you can still play with your friends at play time.”
“I suppose,” said Maggie. “But what if I don’t like it?” She looked at her father in alarm. “Will I have to go back tomorrow?”
“Of course, you will like it,” said Iris briskly. “You need to get good learning to get on in the world. Off you go.”
“Look,” said William. “There’s Sally Vinter over there. How about you go and talk to her because she’s new to the village, it will be harder for her. Go and make friends and everything will be alright. You can tell us all about your day later.”
“Alright, Dad,” said Maggie, as she hugged her parents and trotted off in Sally’s direction.
As Iris and William were walking back towards home William said, “Not sure where those five years went, are you?”
“No, they went by very quickly,” said Iris, secretly she thought that the five years hadn’t gone quick enough. But now that Maggie was at school, she would have a whole six hours a day that were Maggie-free.
“She’ll be fine,” said William, mistaking Iris’s quiet mood for concern about their daughter. “She makes new friends easily enough and she’ll have the class teacher eating out of her hand in no time,” he said laughing, “she has a way about her, she will be fine whatever she does in life.
“Iris, if you don’t mind, I’ll leave you here as I’ll pop into Foxden Orchard to check on a few things before I head back to the workshop. See you later, love.” He pecked Iris on the cheek as he ventured off towards Foxden.
Iris joyfully made her way back home in readiness for peace and quiet and having the house to herself. She had no intention of going back to work today. She had only been home around twenty minutes when something caught her eye by the kitchen window. She looked closely towards the vegetable patch and noticed that every now and then, the tall potato plants seemed to shudder. There was no breeze so she wasn’t sure what was causing them to move like that. Perhaps there was a stray cat about or… Iris quickly looked towards the chicken coop wondering if the chickens had escaped. She could see that the gate was still latched. She wiped her hands dry on her apron and ventured out towards the vegetable patch, clutching a shovel, just in case. As she got closer to the potato plants she could hear loud sniffing sounds. Just as Iris reached out to part the leaves, Maggie sprung up like a jack-in-a-box and stormed towards