For one reason or another, Pike didn't see as much of Ivy after their meeting in Hastings. She seemed to want to keep away from him, and he didn't really know what to say to her. So he returned to the other newsagents, which was slowly starting to rebuild its stock, even if they were operating out of a building shored up with sandbags. At the moment, the danger of tripping on fallen bricks and treading on smashed glass was more comfortable to him than trying to talk to Ivy.
His mother had been disappointed in that. She still seemed to like Ivy, and constantly said what a nice girl she was. And she was, but she was more complicated than Pike knew how to deal with, and things had certainly strayed into territory that they shouldn't have done – for various reasons. It still hurt though, when on his 19th birthday, Ivy wasn't there to watch them win their cricket match against the wardens, although to be honest, wearing Mr Mainwaring's trousers would probably have been even more awkward with her there than it already was. At least the ladies weren't in the platoon anymore.
She hadn't even sent him a card, and she'd known – Pike tended to tell anyone who would listen when his birthday was, in the hope of getting more presents. It had been an odd sort of feeling with his birthday anyway – the cricket had been fun, in a way, but turning 19 meant that call-up papers would be due in about six months' time, certainly by the end of the year. He decided he wasn't going to think about that though, and instead found himself involved in a new series of various misadventures as part of the platoon.
He'd had the glory of a temporary promotion, and there'd been all the fuss at home about Uncle Arthur possibly moving to Eastgate, and then nearly being killed with the bomb on his new bank. It was Pike's own near-death experience though, that got Ivy talking to him again. She'd heard about the men of the platoon being trapped in the pumping station, and when she found out he was one of them, Ivy had spent the rest of the day in shock. That evening, she almost didn't notice the small, repeated traces of her nail scissors scratching at the skin just below her shoulder, which was usually covered by her sleeve.
His possible death was something she still worried about, even if they weren't speaking to each other. It was a confusing feeling – on one hand, Ivy was still proud of him for defending the town, but she knew what he could face as a real soldier probably better than Pike did himself. Would there be floating bodies on French beaches by the time he went, too? And then he was almost killed by rising floodwater right here.
Before she had the courage to speak to him again though, Ivy took Mrs Garsteng's advice. The elderly lady thought Ivy would feel a lot better for getting her hair done, and before long, Ivy's dark curls were bleached with peroxide, and she decided to let it grow out slightly, maybe like Veronica Lake? That was the plan, anyway, even though she'd probably have to plait it up in some way.
And of course, unbeknown to her, blonde hair helped when trying to catch Pike's attention again. She still hoped he'd change his mind, and there were more nights she'd cried about it, and more marks where they wouldn't be seen. The accident was the reason she needed, and her new hair gave her hope that he wouldn't just ignore her – not that he had, as such. They just hadn't really spoken until now.
As it happened, Pike didn't immediately recognise Ivy, on his way to Hodges' Greengrocers. He hated going in there, but Mum had promised to make crumble if he chose what he wanted. His Mum didn't seem to like Mr Hodges much either, at least not some of the time. Pike just didn't like him at all, but apparently, there were blackberries.
'Hello?' Ivy began. They were trapped in a queue that trailed past a couple of shops already.
'Ivy?' It took a few moments to recognise her with different hair. It looked nice, and suddenly made Pike wonder if he'd been wrong about not being in love with her. It would have been better if it was her natural colour, of course, but any doubts were being ignored just now, thanks to the autumn sun on her golden curls.
'I heard about what happened – with the raid? On the pumping station?' It wasn't the best opening for a conversation, but it was the best she had.
'Oh…yeah,' he began, bringing his mind back to something other than her suddenly being blonde and the instant regret that she hadn't been in Hastings. 'The room was caved in, and we couldn't get out, but in the end, there was this manhole cover and we all squeezed out of there, and…'
'I'm glad you're safe.' The statement was quiet, intense. She hesitated. 'I – thought of you, being in there. 'You would have died, if it wasn't there – the manhole, I mean.'
'Did you?' This was getting a bit awkward. She still thought about him? Ivy must have felt it too, because she didn't say anything else, and just nodded.
'Well, yeah, we're all right.' If he'd been more prepared, Pike would have made the rescue sound a lot more heroic than it was. She looked up though, and smiled. A rather shy smile, compared with some of them he'd seen, on the evenings when her eyes had sparkled, and her arms had wrapped around him. It hadn't happened often, they'd only been out a few times before it all went wrong, but he remembered. Still remembered. Quite often – and that was confusing too.
'Good.' That was all she seemed willing to say at the moment though, and again, events took over. The incident with the pigeons, almost being blown up in a barn, and another short-lived promotion thanks to 'Captain Frazer', but Pike didn't feel comfortable enough to mention Mr Mainwaring's party. It would have been nice to invite her, after all, Walker brought Shirley, but the events of the evening did take a rather unexpected turn, and while he and Ivy were speaking again, being around her was still embarrassing. Especially now meeting her had reminded him of what nearly happened. But, as Ivy told herself, he hadn't wanted her, he didn't love her…but sometimes, it looked like he did.
As autumn ended, the harvest had been brought in, there was the missing money for the Serviceman's Canteen, fire engines and petrol dumps, and interfering with an experimental new weapon. There wasn't much time for anything else, but not long before a German pilot baled out on the town hall clock, there was a raid.
It was the day Ivy turned 19, too.