A New Dawn
Chapter 13
The girls were sitting in the Long Bar with their Gin Slings. In fact, they had finished the jug they purchased while waiting for Edna and had just bought another as Dr Mason had joined them. The band again playing in the background and one of the RAPWI officers had asked her to dance and they were enjoying watching her tango round the room.
Finally, Edna turned up with a huge smile on her face, mind you theirs was no less full as they were now part way through their second jug of Gin Sling after not having partaken in alcohol since Blanche had last acquired that rather rough and salubrious hooch to celebrate the end of the war in Europe months ago.
She sat down in the vacant chair next to them still smiling and they could see her eyes looked glassy with tears. She helped herself to a Gin Sling and drank it quickly not that she was trying to catch up with the girls, but because she was just so happy for herself and them.
She put her hand out and stroked Molly's cheek a huge smile on her face
"You been at the Sherry before you got 'ere Edna" laughed Molly
"You cheeky girl" she smiled back trying to sound affronted
"Your home alright wasn't smashed up or nothing" asked Jacqui and Edna nodded still smiling broadly
"We went to see ours and we are going to have to move back sharpish" said Katie "Looks like someone is trying to pinch them, decorated it and furnished it" shaking her head "bloody cheek of them" As this point Edna could contain herself no longer and burst into peals of happy laughter.
"What's up Edna" asked Molly and out the corner of her eye she could see movement at the bar. Katie and Jacqui followed her look and they saw Lt Colonel Beck with Captain Hodgson collecting another jug of Gin Sling. Katie was out of her chair and racing across the room to Alex who only just managed to pass the glasses back to Beck before Katie threw herself at him. Jackie and Molly looked at each other and then back to Edna, who was nodding enthusiastically and smiling
"Yes dears, the men are back" and with that Jacqui and Molly got up and started scanning the room for Charles and Brian. They started walking out into the Foyer just to see them coming in through the front doors of Raffles hotel.
Jacqui almost screamed his name "BRIAN" and he looked across to them also with a wide and happy grin on his face as his wife ran across to him.
Molly stood frozen for a second or two, her eyes wide and with unshed tears as she saw Charles standing exactly how she remembered him when she walked into him at the docks more than four years ago. She was now running to him and threw herself into his arms, clinging to his neck as their lips crashed together.
Charles barely had time to drink in the look of her before she was in his arms and he was holding tight the woman who had stolen his heart and kept him going through the darkest of times. He had picked her up off the ground holding her tightly, kissing her with a passion he didn't know he was capable of displaying in public. It wasn't so long ago that people would have tutted if they had seen this, but times were changing and he could see people smiling at their happy reunion.
He let her slide down his body as he let her feet reach the ground and could tell just how much weight she had lost since he had last seen her. He put one hand on either cheek to brush away her happy tears before running his fingers through her short hair.
"Your beautiful hair" he whispered his own eyes glassy with unshed tears
"It will grow back Charlie" and she touched his cheek. Charlie again he thought, and it was the most beautiful sound he thought he had ever heard as he bent down to kiss her again.
They walked back into the Long Bar arm in arm unable to take their eyes off each other and back to the table where they had left Edna, who had now been joined by Roger Beck, Alex and Katie.
"Shall I go and get Brian and Jacqui" enquired Charles and Molly took his hand and she looked like she was about to cry again as Edna patted her on the arm.
"No, they need to talk" she hesitated "There's things she needs to tell him" and Alex, Roger and Charles noticed that all three women were now holding hands and looking terribly upset.
"They need to be alone tonight" said Molly looking deeply into Charles eyes.
"Well you can come to our bungalow then" said Katie "Seems it's these men here that have been doing the place up and we haven't got squatters" she laughed
"No" said Edna "We have that big rambling house, plenty of space, they can come back with us" Roger just nodded at his wife. They had already had a long chat today while wandering around their gardens and he knew how close his wife was to Molly and wasn't ready to let her go yet. Although to be fair from what he was seeing she seemed to be equally as close to his wife.
They decided to dine at Raffles tonight rather than eat at the house. They kept the conversations light, remembered the last time they were altogether and had a few more of Edna's favourite Gin Slings. Jacqui and Brian didn't come back to join them but slipped away for their own reunion and for Jacqui to tell him about Violet, the daughter he didn't know he had lost.
"Did you see me Dad at all" asked Molly pensively and Charles nodded smiling saying they had been together in the same camp
"I went to the docks and saw him off in Rangoon a couple of weeks ago, he should be home soon" he said
Alex said that they would head off back to their bungalow and took Katie's hand to help her stand. "We'll catch up sometime tomorrow"
"Yes" replied Beck "I think we should wrap this up now, it's been a very eventful day and I for one am looking forward to a goodnights sleep" which caused a bit of a titter from Molly and Katie who hugged each other as they said goodbye. This is the first time that they have gone their separate ways in years and they would miss each other.
They got back to the Becks house. Much of their possessions had remained and they were able to lend Molly a nightdress and Charles pyjamas. They took a slow walk up to the room that they had been shown by Edna.
Molly was grateful for a bath, after she changed to the nightdress Edna had given her and went back to their room as Charles stood. He cupped her chin and lifted her face to kiss her and said he wouldn't be long.
When he came back Molly was sitting on the end of the bed waiting for him and she smiled broadly at him as soon as she saw him. She could see that he had lost a lot of weight himself, had a gaunt look about him but his dark brown eyes still had the twinkle she always remembered. She thought after so long that it might feel a bit strange sleeping with him again and hoped she hadn't changed too much in the intervening years, she knew she was thin and her hair wasn't what it was and she still had some tropical sores.
He sat next to her at the bottom of the bed and picked up her hand stroking her knuckles before bringing it to his lips to kiss, he could feel the callouses from hard work as he looked at it and wondered just what she had been through. He was staring at her hand before looking up to meet her eyes.
"I still got me wedding ring" she whispered to him "Bit big at the minute but kept it on me all the time"
"I'm sorry Charlie" and her eyes filled with tears again "I sold me engagement ring"
"I'll buy you another" he said before kissing her hand again
"Nah! Don't want another" she said a couple of tears ran down her face "Jacqui lost her baby" she blurted out "I sold it for eggs, there wasn't enough food for the baby to grow properly" she clung to him as she cried and he felt a lump in his own throat at the thought and poor Brian only just finding out. What these women had been through too. He swept her up into his arms and there was no weight to her, god she was thin and took her to lie on their bed kissing her all the time on her face, her neck, and her throat. She arched herself towards him and his hands moved down her body and he could feel her ribs, her hip bone and he was suddenly aware that he might hurt her and tried to pull away. She clung to his neck her hands in his hair kissing him back with the same raw passion he felt.
"I need you Charlie" she whispered close to his ear sending shivers down his own back as he lifted himself up slightly onto his arms and put a hand on either cheek looking into her green eyes his own dark with need.
"I love you Molly"
-OG-
Molly woke early the next morning and feeling a slight stiffness in her thighs as she stretched out a small smile on her face. She looked across at the man next to her still sleeping on his front and his arm across her stomach. He looked so peaceful all the worry and sadness gone from his face.
She lifted herself up meaning to snuggle over to him when she saw his back for the first time. Her eyes filled with tears as her fingers gently ran over his scars. He stirred at her touch and opened his eyes.
"What did they do to you" she asked tearfully. He rolled over onto his back putting out his arm to pull her to him and she nuzzled her face into his neck as his arms closed around her.
"A particularly nasty beating, Beck has similar on his" his eyes closed at the memory "Your Dad and Brian were good, they bathed them got us some food, looked after us while we were getting better"
"Do you think we will be going home soon" she asked and she felt him shrug
"Don't know, obviously we will have to wait out for a cabin on a ship, but as a Captain I might have to stay a bit longer"
"Why" she wailed "I ain't leaving without you this time Charlie."
He smiled at her and kissed the top of her head, "you won't have to this time sweetheart" he kissed her again "This time we leave together but until we have given all our statements to SOE for War Crimes, we'll probably have to stay"
"How long" she asked tentatively
"Few weeks perhaps" he smiled "What shall we do today then, do you fancy a trip out and see what the Botanical Gardens look like now"
She smiled into his neck "Will they have a band playing" and he chuckled in response both remembering the first time they went out together.
"So, Mrs James, shall we get up and start the day"
"In a minute" as her hand wandered across his torso and she kissed his chin giggling
"I think we can do better than that" he laughed back before capturing her lips in a long and passionate kiss.
-OG-
Molly got up first and went downstairs after dressing to find Edna already in the dining room with a coffee and toast.
"Where's Roger" she asked and Edna laughed
"Wallowing in the bath"
She sat next to Edna and held her hand "Do you think Jacqui is alright, that she's told him"
"Charlie said we should go for a walk to the Gardens, do you think we should go round there" she looked at Edna with tears in her eyes.
"No dear, let them have a bit of time to themselves" she patted Molly's hand "Why not send a note over saying that if they want to come to Raffles for dinner we can meet them there"
"That's a good idea Edna" Molly said with a wide smile "We could ask Alex and Katie too"
"Yes" replied Edna "and we can check on Dr Mason and some of the other girls while we are at it"
Molly stood up, hugged Edna and kissed her on the cheek "Love you" and almost skipped out the room not noticing Edna staring at her back with tears in her eyes. Roger was standing smiling in the doorway as she left the room and his eyes drifted to the pained expression on his wife's face.
"You're very fond of the girl aren't you Edna" he said walking to his wife and putting his arm around her shoulders and kissing her on her cheek. She gave a little sniff
"Our daughter would only have been a bit older than her" she looked into his sad eyes and he nodded
"You know she has her own mother don't you"
"Yes! but perhaps she wouldn't mind sharing her from time to time" Roger smiled at his wife
"Well if the mother is anything like the daughter I'm sure she has a generous heart" and kissed her cheek again.
"Charles has a good military career ahead of him and I'm sure she will look to you for guidance"
"Won't Frances be able to do that, her husband being a General"
"I know you have known Frances since we married dear, but do you really think she will welcome Molly with open arms, that she will be pleased with Charles choice"
"Frances has always tried to fight for equal opportunities" she retorted "Always tried to stop women ending up in the workhouse"
"Yes, dear but her and Peter come from a background of wealth and privilege, are you sure they will welcome her into their home as Charles wife" he continued "I seem to remember that she had the daughter of one of her friends in mind for Charles when he came back from this tour"
Edna started to frown, unsure now what her friend would make of Molly, doubts creeping into her mind as she remembered odd conversations with Frances over the years.
"You have had the benefit of her company for over 3 years in very trying circumstances. She helped you, looked after you when you were ill and for that I will always be grateful to her. She will always be welcome but I am not sure that Peter and Frances will feel the same." He carried on "In the army I have met many men from all walks of life and many with Molly's background and they have invariably been good men whom I was proud to serve with…."
"But Peter does work with the veterans he would be sympathetic to his son's choice surely" Roger hugged his wife and shook his head in distress at how she wanted to look after and protect Molly. He would do everything he could to help her with that but he had doubts about both Charles parents, that maybe their charitable works were more to make them feel more important in their community rather than actually believing they were helping the people they were trying to save. Having known Peter since his school days he remembered what a bully he could be to the younger boys. He wasn't entirely sure that their marriage wasn't an arrangement to bring the families and their wealth together. He would keep his own counsel as Edna had become friends with Frances because of him.
-OG-
Charles had use of the Bedford MV and drove them both to the gardens. There was no band there today but that was hardly surprising with the chaos still in the city of locating civilians and soldiers to get them transported home. But it was every bit as peaceful as they remembered.
They took their usual route and ended up sitting by the lake, Molly's arm linked through Charles. "We could go for a cuppa in a bit couldn't we Charlie" she smiled up at him "It will be really nice to have a decent cup of tea"
"Do you think Katie and Alex will come out for dinner tonight?" she continued
"I expect so" laughed Charles "Don't you want to spend time with me"
"Course I do" and she squeezed his arm "It's just I've spent years in just their company and I guess I miss 'em a bit" He put his hand over hers and nodded without saying anything, it was going to be an adjustment for all of them.
"What happened to Lauren" he asked "Did you never see her again"
"Yes, we saw her" she answered looking down at his hand over hers "she's been sent back to Australia already, she got one of the first ships"
"Oh, I see"
"What do you see" she looked at him sharply
He blushed a little before saying "Being a bit friendly with the enemy, collaborating" continuing to look straight ahead of him. She placed her hand on his chin and turned him to look at her
"Nah they weren't Charlie" and her eyes wide and filled with tears "They saved the rest of us" he looked straight into her green eyes that looked so sad.
"There was one called Blanche, came from near Jacs and I, from Shoreditch" she started her voice low "She always got us some medicine if she could, some eggs or milk for the kids…even a jar of bloody Bovril" she stopped and looked down "One night I was sitting on the porch of our hut when a guard started touching me" and Charles hand tightened over hers "I screamed so he hit me really hard" and a few tears fell down her cheek "Blanche distracted him took him away, she saved me Charlie" she put her head on his shoulder and more tears fell "She got caught getting more medicine and they locked her in a small hut and she died"
He wrapped his arms around her and put his chin on her head, feeling her shaking at the memory he closed his eyes just thinking about what nearly happened to his Molly
"Please don't call em collaborators Charlie" she said tearfully and looked up at him "They saved the rest of us from being raped" she inhaled a deep breath "She was a lovely woman, very kind and she had an 'ard life….. There's no one I can tell when we get home what she did for us and how I'll miss her, that her life meant something"
"I know I will never meet her but I will always be grateful for what she did for you" and kissed her forehead "No I won't call them collaborators" he wiped away her tears and he put his arm round her shoulders pulling her close into his side as they stared out at the lake.
-OG-
They had sent a note across to the bungalows and to Brian, Jacqui, Alex and Katie and when they arrived that evening at Raffles for dinner they were already there. Molly ran to her friend and hugged her and they both looked glassy eyed as they nodded in acknowledgement that she had told Brian the devastating news.
They had eaten their dinner and coffee was being served with the band still playing in the background. Half the room must have been refugees from the camps all waiting on transport home and the rest RAPWI trying to place them on ships and get them back to where they needed to be. It was nice to see people get up and dance, they spotted Dr Mason doing a rather fetching tango with one of the Officers.
"Well" said Alex raising his glass "We have some good news" and he turned to Katie who had hold of his hand and couldn't stop smiling "We have passage on a ship day after tomorrow, we're finally heading home"
There was a moments silence while the group took it in. A group that had met in this place at their respective weddings, then been together through many an unimaginable hardship over the last three and a half years, was now finally breaking up and going back to their normal lives.
Jackie, Molly and Edna all hugged Katie pleased that she was finally with her husband and going home, but all knew they would miss her humour and happy disposition. The men in turn raised their glasses to Alex and wished him well.
"We'll come and wave you off" said Molly to Katie
"What will you do when you get back" asked Charles "Stay in the Army or leave?"
"Stay in for a bit" he sighed "There is going to be lots of work to do with the demob when we get back. Statements to take for War Crimes" he paused and looked at Charles "But I think things are going to change now and I'm not entirely sure that this whole area isn't going to be tinder box so not sure if I want to be sent out here again"
Charles nodded "Certainly French Indochina didn't look stable as we left"
"I don't think the Malayans are going to be that keen to go back to how it was before either" he said looking at Charles. Beck nodded in agreement too.
"Yes, I think there will be problems in this entire area in the coming years"
"What would you do if you left" Beck asked and Alex threw his head back in raucous laughter
"Believe it or not my family are sheep farmers, I'm the only one that joined the army" he grinned at Charles "Maybe I'll go back to farming, a nice healthy lifestyle" he laughed "I'll give you our address and we can write, perhaps one day you could come out and visit us"
"Actually" beamed Katie "Why don't we have a reunion" they all turned to look at her "Meet here in Raffles in five years"
Molly and Jacqui hugged her hard "Well if we start saving now we should have the money to get here in 5 years" laughed Jacqui "yeah we can meet here in five years" and they linked little fingers "pinkie promise" they all said
"Come on Edna, you'll come too won't you" laughed Molly and pulled Edna across to join in their promise "Yeah" laughed Katie "We can't have our Edna missing out on a Gin Sling" causing more laughter "Better than that bloody hooch Blanche got us" causing all four women to laugh hysterically and the men to wonder just what went on sometimes in that camp.
They went to the docks to see them off, the ship was packed and it was difficult to spot Katie and Alex. Charles stood behind Molly his arms around her shoulders, he could feel her breath hitching and knew she was shedding a tear for the loss of her friend, who would now be living thousands of miles away. He held her a little bit tighter and could feel her relax into him knowing he was giving her comfort.
-OG-
The three remaining women remained close while they were here, both Jacqui and Molly seeking Edna for advice and comfort.
While lying in bed Roger holding his wife of many years he told her that they now had passage and they were all going home at the end of the week.
He felt his wife hitch a breath and felt the tear on his shoulder so he held her tighter. After all these years he still loved his wife the same if not more than the day he married her. He would always want her to be happy and if he could he would see to it she would be. They had met when he was 15 and sent to a boarding school where her father was the headmaster. She was the same age and from the second his teenage hormonal eyes saw her he knew he would always love her. The way she laughed and seemed to have a bohemian lust for life, when she looked at him with her almost violet blue eyes that always seemed to be smiling he knew he would try and win her love and her hand. He had won it and they had been married since they were 18 and nothing had changed, whatever life had thrown at them they had never stopped loving each other.
"You know we will be home for Christmas don't you" he said and felt her nod.
"I assume we will have our customary invite to the James household in Bath" again she nodded
"So, you will be there to help her adjust"
"Do you really think that Frances and Peter won't like her?" he sighed and thought about what he wanted to say. He had got friendly with Peter at the same school, although they went there as older teenagers they were the new boys so stuck together, and the friendship lasted the test of time and the first war and while he noticed all the not so nice qualities of his friend they had none the less developed a bond over time with school and the army.
"I think that Molly is what kept Charles going through those dark days" he stopped for a moment to kiss his wife's forehead "I think he might be put in a position of having to choose"
Edna raised herself up to look at her husband "His mother or his wife" and Roger nodded
"Would you want to meet her family?"
"After 3 and a half years with Molly, Jacqui, Katie and Blanche, yes I would" she said emphatically "Wherever they live it will be a home filled with love" and he hugged her tighter and gave a small smile
"Well then we will be there for them if they need us" and he kissed her soft lips knowing he would always stand beside this woman.