Darkest Before Dawn Episode 33
The sun broke through the clouds and, just as Tilly thought it was possible to forget about the war, she saw a row of concrete anti-tank cubes lined across a field.
No doubt their soldiers would be facing similar hurdles.
She shook her head to try to shake the thought away.
They continued on through leafy country lanes until Isobel stopped by a stile.
“We’ll leave our bikes here and walk the rest of the way to the farm,” Isobel said. “It’s not far.”
It was a struggle to lift the bikes over the stile, but they were soon hidden away out of sight.
“I’m going to take off my cardigan,” Tilly said. “That cycling made me hot.”
“Mind you don’t catch a chill,” Isobel said, sounding so much like her mother that Tilly laughed.
“Where are we going?”
“Wait and see,” Isobel replied as they set off down a shady footpath towards a wooded area.
“Are we allowed to be here?”
Tilly looked nervously towards a cluster of farm buildings in the distance and groups of people hard at work.
“Trust me, Tilly. You’re going to love it.”
“We could pick some wildflowers for Mum on our way back,” Tilly suggested. “They’re beautiful.”
“Weeds, Dad would call them if they had the cheek to grow on his allotment.” Isobel laughed. “But Mum will love them.”
They reached the trees and went a short distance through them before a clearing opened up with a stream rushing through.
“Isn’t this lovely?” Isobel cried. “Take off your shoes, Tilly! We’ll soak our feet.”
Tilly did as Isobel said, and when she put her feet in the water, it was so cold it snatched her breath away.
“It’s freezing!” she howled.
“It’s invigorating!” Isobel laughed.
Tilly took out a paper-wrapped parcel and untied the string.
“Boiled eggs!” she exclaimed. “What a treat.”
They began to pick the shells from the eggs.
“I think Mum did this on purpose,” Isobel grumbled, “to make sure we slowed down. She gives most of our eggs away, so we’re lucky to get these.”
Alf kept hens on his allotment, but Maud often gave eggs to friends, neighbours and anyone she thought might be in need.
“If everyone else has to manage with one egg a week, then it would be greedy of us to keep all ours to ourselves,” Maud had said.
So a boiled egg each was certainly a luxury.
They followed the egg with a fish paste sandwich and a piece of fruitcake.
“What are you going to do when this is over, Tilly?” Isobel asked. “The war, I mean.”
Tilly shrugged.
“I haven’t thought about it,” she replied.
“Yes, you have,” Isobel teased, and Tilly blushed.
“Well, I’d like to have more children. It would be nice for Peter to have brothers and sisters, and I know Eddie wants more.
“He’s missed so much of Peter growing up and he should have a chance to experience that.
“I would have loved to have grown up in a family, and I love being part of yours. What about you?”
It was Isobel’s turn to blush.
“I’m going to marry Stefan. He’ll come back for me when the war is over.”
“Will you have a family?” Tilly asked.
For a while, Isobel gazed at the water with a smile on her face, then she sighed.
“I do want children, Tilly,” she admitted. “It’s Peter that changed my mind.
“He’s so adorable and I love him so much. But not just that.”
She looked down at her hands.
“What else?”
“It’s meeting the right person, isn’t it? I never met anyone I wanted to raise a family with before I met Stefan. He’ll make a wonderful father.”
“And you’ll be a wonderful mother,” Tilly told her.
They both laughed and embraced.
Right now, in this perfect spot, it felt to Tilly as if everything was going to be all right after all.