The Victory Garden: A Novel Read online

  “This will do nicely,” he said. “We don’t want to go too close into shore or we could get tangled up in those trees.” He threw the anchor out over the side. Emily started down the steps into the darkness of the cabin, holding on a little unsteadily as the cider was definitely now making her woozy. She unpinned her hat and then flung herself down on the bunk with a sigh of contentment. Robbie followed her and crawled on to the bunk beside her. She was horribly conscious of his closeness. Then he said, “Emily. I want you to know that you’re a grand girl, but I can’t ask you to marry me. You know that. I couldn’t do it to you. I won’t do it to you. I couldn’t take you away from all this.”

  “You haven’t tried asking me,” she replied. “I might say yes.”

  “But you wouldn’t know what you were getting into,” he said. “I told you when I met you that it’s no life for a woman where I come from. Especially a woman who is used to all this.” He shook his head firmly. “No. I won’t do it. We’ll have the memory of today.” He leaned towards her and kissed her tenderly. “But I want you to know that you are the most wonderful girl I’ve ever met. I do love you.”

  “And I love you, too,” she replied. She wanted to scream, “Don’t be so stupid! Ask me to marry you,” but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. A small voice whispered that perhaps he was only making excuses and he didn’t want her as his wife.

  He put his arm around her. She was conscious of his breathing. After a while, she realized he had fallen asleep. She closed her eyes and soon she drifted off, too.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  It was an ominous rumble that woke her. She had no idea where she was. She tried to sit up, bumping her head on the deck above and making her cry out in pain. Robbie murmured in his sleep but didn’t wake. The rumble came again. She eased herself off the bunk and made her way across the cabin and up the steps to the deck. This wasn’t easy, as it was somehow at a strange angle. When she reached the open air, she understood why. While they had slept, the tide had gone out, and the boat now lay tilting to one side in the mud of an almost-dry creek. The sky overhead was heavy with dark clouds, and a rumble of thunder came again in the distance.

  “Robbie!” she called as she hurried down the steps to him. “Wake up. We’re stranded here.”

  He also bumped his head as he tried to sit up, and let out a profanity. Then he saw her standing there and apologized.

  “Sorry about that. I forgot where I was. My word, I’ve got a headache. That cider must have been extra strong.” He saw her face. “What’s the matter?”

  “Come and look.” She directed him up on to the tiny deck.

  “Crikey!” he exclaimed. “Well, that’s a rum do, isn’t it? I didn’t think there would be tides this far up a river.”

  “What are we going to do?” she asked.

  “Nothing much we can do,” he replied. “We’ll just have to wait for the tide to come in again and float us free.”

  “But that could be hours. I have to be back by seven.”

  “Your boss lady will just have to understand, as will the people at my hospital. We didn’t mean to get stuck here.” He put a comforting arm around her shoulder. “Don’t worry, my love. We’re safe. All we have to do is wait it out.”

  The moment he uttered those words, the heavens opened, and they scrambled back to the shelter of the cabin before they were drenched. Hail bounced off the deck and thudded on the roof of the cabin. Lightning flashed, followed by a loud crack of thunder. The storm was rapidly approaching them. Then, without warning, there was a blinding flash and a crash of thunder at the same time. A tree on the bank nearby went up in a sheet of flame.

  “Stone the crows,” Robbie muttered. “We are sitting ducks out here.”

  “Don’t say that.” She grabbed on to him. She could feel herself trembling.

  “It’s all right, my darling,” he said softly, wrapping her in his arms and nuzzling at her hair. “I won’t let anything bad happen to you, I promise.”

  “How can you promise?” Emily found herself near to tears. “You can’t stop a storm, and if it’s going to . . .” Another huge clap of thunder exploded overhead. Emily gave a gasp of fear and buried her face in his chest. “Hold me tight, Robbie.”

  As she looked up at him, his mouth crushed down on to hers. Then he was half-carrying her across the cabin and on to the bunk. His hands were on her body and she felt herself responding, not knowing what was happening but wanting it to go on. She felt the weight of his body on hers, his lips pressing hungrily at her mouth. She was only vaguely aware that he was lifting her skirts.

  Afterwards, they lay together, holding each other tightly as if they each were the last safe object in a world turned crazy. Robbie was the first to speak. “I’m sorry,” he said, propping himself up on his elbow to look at her. “I’m so sorry, Emmy. I don’t know what came over me. I didn’t mean to. I promised myself that I wouldn’t let this go too far.”

  “It’s not your fault, Robbie,” she said shakily. “I didn’t exactly stop you, did I? I must have wanted it as much as you.”

  “Are you all right?” he asked.

  “Apart from being in a dangerously tilted boat, stuck in the mud in the middle of the thunderstorm, I’m just fine, thank you,” she said.

  He burst out laughing. “You’re such a great girl, Emily. And I’ve just realized something. I can’t live without you. I know that now. I’ve tried to make myself think that I could walk away and leave you to a good life here, but I can’t. I’ll stay here in England after the war if you tell me to. I’ll do whatever you want.”

  “You could ask me to marry you first,” she said, smiling at him now.

  He looked around. “I’m not exactly in a position to kneel,” he said, “and I don’t have a ring to give you, but will you marry me?”

  “Of course I will. And you don’t have to worry about staying in England. I’ll come with you to Australia. I’ll follow you wherever you want to go.”

  “You will? What about your parents, your family?”

  “My father just made it clear to me that if I stayed on as a land girl, I was no longer welcome at their house. So that makes me think I’m free to go where I want, and as long as I’m with you, I don’t care where it is. It will be a great big adventure.”

  “Too right,” he said, beaming at her. “A blooming great adventure.” He took her face in his hands and kissed her, tenderly this time. “Mrs Robbie Kerr, eh?”

  She nodded.

  “First thing I have to do is find you a ring. I don’t know how I’m going to do that when I have to ship out first thing tomorrow morning, but I’ll do it somehow. We’ll get married, and when I’m finally demobbed, I’ll go back to Australia first and make everything nice before I send for you.”

  “You don’t have to do that. I’ll come with you.”

  “No, you won’t. I’ll be going home on a troop ship with a thousand other blokes. You’ll come out on a proper P&O liner. And I’ll be waiting for you at Sydney Harbour. And we’ll have a honeymoon by the ocean.”

  “How wonderful,” she said. “I can’t believe this is happening.”

  “Me neither.” He looked out past her. “Oh look, the storm seems to have passed over. It’s no longer raining so hard. Now all we have to do is wait for that tide to come back in.”

  It wasn’t until after seven o’clock that the water had risen enough to float the boat off the mudbank. By then, the rain had stopped, and the setting sun flooded the scene with glowing light. Emily propped open the mirror in her compact and tried to make her hair look respectable again. She smoothed down the creases in her dress before joining Robbie at the controls.

  “Let’s hope it will start or we really are up the creek,” he said. They exchanged a grin when the motor started nicely. They hauled in the anchor and eased forwards.

  “Can you make it go faster?” Emily said.

  “I think this is it, I’m afraid.” He tried moving the throttle, but it responde
d only with a measured chug-chugging. And as they approached the mouth of the river, there were boats on moorings, making navigating around them a challenge. It wasn’t until nine that they pulled up at their original dock. It was almost dark. There was no sign of Dr Dawson, nor of anyone else.

  Emily helped Robbie tie up the boat securely, then they climbed the slippery steps. At the top, Emily stood, biting her bottom lip. “I’m not sure what to do now,” she said. “Even if I can still get a train back to Tavistock, I won’t be able to hitch a ride back to the farm tonight. And I certainly don’t want to spend the night on Tavistock Station.”

  “We’d better see if that guest house has room to put you up again,” he said.

  Emily hesitated. “Robbie, what about the expense?”

  “Don’t worry about that. I have plenty of back pay coming to me. Three months in a hospital and I’ve hardly touched a penny. Besides, money is one thing you won’t have to worry about in the future. My family is quite well heeled, you know. Wool is a prosperous commodity. You won’t lack for anything. And if I buy that aeroplane I’ve been talking about, then I’ll fly you to the nearest ocean whenever you want.”

  Emily laughed. “Oh Robbie. It all sounds like a lovely dream, doesn’t it?” Then her smile faded. “But for the present, I think I’m going to be in big trouble. You, too.”

  “Nonsense. They’ll understand I had trouble with the boat. I’ve been a good boy the rest of the time. Haven’t tried to sneak out like some of them.” He slipped his hand around her waist. “And your old battleaxe will understand, I’m sure. It wasn’t our fault. We didn’t know about tides and mudbanks.”

  Emily nodded. She wished she could be sure. They walked together to the Seaview, where the landlady had a good laugh about their predicament. “Mercy me,” she chuckled. “Did you not know that the tide leaves those upper reaches dry? Did you not ask yourself why there were no other boats up there?”

  “Robbie’s from a place that’s hundreds of miles inland,” Emily said. “He’s never driven a boat before. And I’ve certainly never been up this river.”

  “Well, no harm done, is there, apart from missing your train home,” the old woman said. “And as it happens, your room is still vacant. What time do you want breakfast in the morning?”

  “Oh, I’m afraid I must leave long before breakfast,” Emily said. “I must catch the first train out or I’ll be in even bigger trouble.”

  “Then I won’t charge you for breakfast,” the woman said. She looked fondly from Emily to Robbie. “In fact, you know what? I won’t charge you at all. And if the young man had a mind to stay the night as well . . . I might not even notice.”

  They laughed uneasily, but Robbie said, “Kind of you, missus, but I’m overdue back at the hospital. Just take good care of my fiancée, will you?”

  “Fiancée, is it now?” she asked.

  “It is. We’re getting married as soon as the war’s over.”

  “Let’s pray that it’s very soon,” the old woman said quietly. “Too many young lives have been wasted in this stupidity. God bless you, my dears.”

  Emily walked with Robbie a little way down the street. “I can’t bear to say goodbye,” she said. “Please take care of yourself. No heroics. Don’t take on any dangerous missions you don’t have to. And write to me.”

  “I will, whenever I get a chance, I promise. You take care of yourself, too. And I’ll send you that ring as soon as I can. Maybe they make good rings in France.” He looked at her tenderly, then tilted the brim of her hat back and kissed her.

  “Goodbye, my darling,” he said.

  Emily blinked back tears as she watched him vanish into the night.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Miss Foster-Blake eyed her coldly as she came towards the farmhouse. “And what do you have to say for yourself, young woman? I thought I could trust you, or I would not have let you go in the first place. A fine example you are setting for those girls who are not of your class.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Emily said. “We went out on a boat, you see. And we didn’t know that rivers are tidal. We got stuck in the mud for hours in an awful thunderstorm, and by the time we made it back to Plymouth, I realized I would have no way of getting a ride to the farm.”

  “A good excuse for spending the night with a young man.” Miss Foster-Blake was still glaring at her.

  “No, absolutely not,” Emily replied. “He put me up at a guest house and he went back to the hospital where he is being treated. He was also really worried that he’d be in trouble.”

  “I see.” Her expression had softened a little. “Well, I suppose you can’t be expected to know about tides.”

  “The doctor who owns the boat was supposed to be coming with us,” Emily said, “but he had a last-minute emergency. Otherwise, there would have been . . .” She broke off in mid-sentence. Otherwise, Robbie would not have made love to her and asked her to marry him. One small thing and her whole world had changed. She tried to keep the repentant look on her face and not to smile.

  “I don’t expect you’ve had breakfast,” Miss Foster-Blake said. “Well, go and grab some bread and jam, and then get into your work clothes while I find a way to ferry you out to your colleagues.”

  Alone in the bedroom, Emily changed out of her crumpled clothes and put on her uniform. Robbie would already be heading to Dover and across the Channel. She managed to put on a cheerful face as a van deposited her at the potato field. Her fellow land girls broke off their work as she appeared.

  “Here she is at last,” Maureen called out. “The sinner returneth! Staying out all night? And I thought you were pure as the driven snow.”

  Emily felt herself blushing. “If you really want to know, we were out in a boat in a thunderstorm and we got stuck in the mud,” she said. “By the time we made it back to the harbour, it was too late to catch a train, so my young man put me up in a guest house—”

  “Sure he did.” Maureen nudged Ruby who was standing next to her. “They spent the night in a hotel. You hear that, Ruby?”

  “It wasn’t like that at all,” Emily said, her face bright red now. “He took me to the guest house and then he went back to the hospital. And today he’s on a train heading back to France.”

  She swallowed hard, worried that she might cry.

  “Watch your tongue, Maureen,” Alice said sharply. “Can’t you see the poor girl is upset? Her bloke’s going back to the front. Never you mind, love.” She put an arm around Emily’s shoulders. “Come on. We’ve got plenty of lovely taters to take your mind off him!”

  Emily looked at her and grinned. “You’re wicked,” she said.

  “But at least I made you smile,” Alice retorted. “So you had a lovely time, did you?”

  “Absolutely perfect.” She took a deep breath. “And what’s more, he asked me to marry him.”

  “You’re engaged?” Daisy asked excitedly.

  Emily nodded.

  “Hearty congratulations, Emily,” Mrs Anson said. “I am so pleased for you.”

  “But don’t he come from Australia?” Alice asked.

  “He does. And we’ll be going back there after the war.”

  “All the way to Australia?” Ruby looked terrified. “My, but that’s so far. And all them kangaroos and things.”

  “It doesn’t matter. I’ll be with him,” Emily said. “Not long now, so Robbie told me. He gets the latest news from the navy. That German offensive—it was just a desperate last attempt to stop the Allies’ advance. He reckons it will all be over before Christmas.”

  “Saints be praised for that,” Maureen said. “Four years of our lives wasted.”

  “So many men’s lives wasted,” Mrs Anson said quietly.

  “Here comes old Crosspatch,” Daisy warned. “We’d better be working or else.”

  They returned to their harvesting. The rain had made the red soil even heavier, and they had to take turns digging out the plants with the big fork.

  “I never th
ought I’d want to milk cows or look after pigs, but after this, it seems like a piece of cake,” Daisy commented as she lifted a plant free and the rest of the girls squatted to pick the tiny tubers.

  “Cows have to be milked at five in the morning,” Alice pointed out.

  “Ah, but I’m used to that,” Daisy responded. “Always up at five in the big house.” She moved closer to Emily. “So where do you think your wedding will be? At your home here in Devon?”

  The full memory of the quarrel with her parents came back to her. Her mother would never agree to her marrying Robbie—that was obvious. “No, I don’t think so. I’ve no idea. We’ll take that one step at a time.”

  “Did he give you a ring?” Maureen called.

  “It was all rather sudden,” Emily said. “He hadn’t intended to propose to me. He didn’t think I’d want his life in Australia. But then he said he couldn’t live without me. So he didn’t have a ring ready. He’s going to try and send me one, but I don’t know how that will be possible at the front. We’ll just have to wait until he comes back. But that’s fine.”

  However, two days later, a small package arrived. It was waiting with the rest of the post on the hall table when they came in from the fields. The rest of the women crowded around Emily. “Go on. Open it!” voices urged. Emily would rather have opened it in private, but she could not disappoint them. Inside was a letter.

  My own darling girl,

  We stopped in Dover between the train and the boat. Some of the blokes took the chance to pop to the nearest shops for cigarettes. I didn’t have time to go to a proper jewellers’, but I saw this in a pawn shop window, and I thought it would do until we can choose a real ring together.

  Emily opened the small box. It was a small gold band with a row of tiny inset rubies. Emily’s fingers trembled as she took it out and put it on. The women gave sighs of happiness.

  “Isn’t it pretty?” Emily held it up to show them.