Author's Note: Apologies if this chapter sounds a bit sexist in parts, it's set back in 1939!
***Chapter 23***
***Rose***
It was Davey who came up with the solution to his friend's dilemma.
Jimmy had had long chats with his wife and still hadn't reached a decision although the merciless clock was ticking away. Accepting the Maddocks' offer of the important posting in London would mean him playing a major part in shortening, perhaps even averting, the impending war, as well as repaying his employers' generosity. But Rose and the children loved Whistedown and, besides, how could he risk them being in what would probaby be the most dangerous city to live in if war broke out? Of course, he knew the Maddocks would do their utmost to keep them all safe, but who knew what might go on in wartime? Yet what was the alternative? If he stayed in Whistledown until such time came - as indeed it would, so promised those who had lived through the terrible Great War - every man was called upon to don uniform and fight for his country he would have let Arthur and Prudence down and achieved nothing. Perhaps the answer was for Jimmy to go alone to London, but then again how could he leave his family in Whistledown? When countries were at war, transport and communications often broke down and he might not hear from them in months, perhaps even years.
Rose wept a little and then, mindful that the children would soon be home from school, quickly dabbed her eyes when Jimmy first told her that Follyfoot Farm was to be closed, and of the London job offer. She loved their homely cottage and pottering in the large garden with its blackberry bush, apple tree and pear tree and where they grew too many of their own vegetables. Other women might want careers in this fast-moving, modern world, she often remarked, and good for them, women SHOULD be lawyers and politicians and company directors if they so desired. But as for herself, SHE was quite content and at her very happiest being a homemaker. But she understood how much the Maddocks were depending on her husband to help in their top secret war work though Jimmy was not at liberty to tell even his wife of exactly what it involved. If it meant living in London, she said, drawing a shaky, tearful breath, so be it.
Rose Turner was a quiet, old-fashioned soul. She had come to Whisteldown to live with her widowed great-aunt Maud, her last living relative, when she was nine. Maud Prole, who always smelled of lavender and wore her silver hair in a tight bun, was a very stern but kind old lady, if a trifle eccentric. With an eye to helping her great-niece overcome her shyness, or so she thought, she would every Monday send Rose to Whistledown Junior School with slices of home-baked pie filled with cherry, apple or rhubarb (sometimes all three) to share among her schoolmates.
Poor Rose came to dread Mondays when she and Aunt Maud would walk to the gates carrying a full basket each, for the very moment her aunt left, the hitherto polite little children who had greeted her with a cheery "Good day, Mrs Prole. I trust you is well?" would turn suddenly into ravenous beasts as they surrounded Rose and snatched the thickest pieces they could find, leaving many more of their companions angry at being left without and Rose blushing furiously. Now this unfortunately earned Rose the nickname "Rosy Red, The Pie Girl" and made her even more timid and reluctant to make friends than ever before.
One particular morning, when the swarming crowd pushed her so far back against the wall that Rose burst into terrified tears, Jimmy, who, I'm afraid until then had been as rough and greedy as the rest, took pity and loudly demanded - and amazingly GOT his request to the great amusement of Miss Thompson, who had come to investigate the commotion - that the urchins immediately form an orderly queue.
After that, things settled down a great deal. Miss Thompson, now that she was aware of the reason for the regular Monday hubbub in the junior playground and why many of the pupils didn't eat their packed lunches, thanked Mrs Prole for her kind gesture, diplomatically suggested that she cut the slices of pie much thinner and wrap them in paper napkins, then appointed Jimmy "Pie Monitor" to help Rose dole out the sugary snacks - AFTER lessons only. Their friendship blossomed and in time Rose outgrew her shyness. It was almost inevitable that in later years they would fall in love and marry.
If only there was family to help out, Jimmy thought, sighing heavily as he worked with Davey securing windows and doors (for much of Follyfoot was to remain unused for the foreseeable future) the London decision would not have been so difficult. But there was no one at all.
Maud died soon after they married and Jimmy was the only one left now of his own family: his father and two eldest brothers had been killed in the Great War; two sisters died of dysentery when they were very young and his poor mother, who survived them all, was long since passed away from both exhaustion and grief. If only there was someone he could trust to care for Rose, Peggy and Johnjo. Rose was of course perfectly capable, but looking after a home and two young children as well as growing fruit and vegetables and working at the laundry would leave her spent. And what of the heavier jobs, if a tree needed chopping or a fence fixing or a window replacing? Of course they had friends but friends had their own families who needed such help even more now that many of the men were joining up and blood was thicker than water.
And then Davey made his suggestion. "You know, Jim," he said thoughtfully, totally unaware it was a course Jimmy and Rose had already been considering. "If Rosie and the bairns were to stay in Whistledown while yer went to the smoke, I could keep an eye on 'em, me and Beth both, while I'm a-caretakin' Follyfoot. What could be better? The Maddocks is keepin' an emergency telephone line in the manor 'ouse so yers could each pass messages through me and if the enemy gets clever and brings down the lines, I'll find meself a Black Bess and ride all the way to London!"
It was the perfect answer. Davey was like a son and the children adored him. He was far from being the brightest button in the box but he had the biggest heart and Jimmy trusted him more than he trusted anyone else. Emotionally, he jumped up and hugged him.
"Steady now, mate!" Davey grinned good-naturedly, staggering backwards at the force of the hug and slightly embarrassed, for this was a time when men thought such gestures unmanly. "And, mind, not too much lovey-dovey stuff in your messages back and forth, I wouldn't feel right sayin' such things to another man's wife."
Thus it was settled. The night before he told the Maddocks, Jimmy and Rose sat talking, weeping, kissing and hugging deep into the night, with gallons of scalding tea consumed and biscuits dunked, with the hint of winter whistling down from the hills and the cosy glow of the firelight.
Jimmy would go to London alone.
And if I break your heart in the next chapters with what I have to tell you, well then, it happened so what can I do I but break your heart?