Safe Harbour Read Online Free Page B

Jessie almost flung herself on it and immediately reached into her handbag, got out a packet of cigarettes and lit up, puffing the smoke into the air.
    ‘Ah! That’s better!’ she joked, running her free hand through her shoulder-length bob of curling brown hair. ‘Sophie! Tell me how you’ve been, and my little man, Hugh? I got such a scare when I heard what happened!’
    ‘We’re staying at the centre on Bury Road. The old church hall.’
    ‘I know,’ said Aunt Jessie. ‘I spoke to a Mrs Stokes on the phone. Listen, Sophie, something has got to be sorted out for you and Hugh. They want to evacuate you to somewhere safe, and I can’t say I blame them. I haven’t seen London since I came to stay with you last Christmas. The whole place is in bits, falling apart – shops, buildings, offices, homes, just gone – honestly, I could have cried when I got off the train today. Anyway, it’s no place for a pair of kids, whatever about those that have to stay and work in the city.’
    ‘I won’t leave Mum!’ shouted Sophie, making the two old ladies beside them turn and stare. ‘I’m not leaving Mum!’ she muttered obstinately.
    Her aunt puffed long and slow on the cigarette.
    ‘You saw your Mum today, Sophie! It’s doctors and nurses she needs most at the moment, they’re the ones who’ll get her better. Soon she’ll start to worry about the two of you. Libby is a worrier, you know that, and she’ll worry and make herself even more ill. She called Hugh’s name twice in her sleep. You know what she’s like, Sophie!’
    Sophie nodded. Her aunt was right. ‘Couldn’t we go and live with you, please?’ she pleaded.
    ‘You know, darling, that I’d love to have you, but I have no house or place of my own. I gave up the flat I shared with Helen and Rose when my office transferred out of the city. I just couldn’t afford to keep on paying the rent for Museum Square. You won’t believe it, but at the moment we’ve been released from desk duties and are all working as “landgirls”.’
    Sophie laughed. Anyone more unlike a ‘landgirl’ was hard to imagine.
    ‘I know!’ her aunt blushed and sipped her tea. ‘You should see me in my overalls and wellies, up to my knees in mud and heaven knows what else!’
    ‘We were evacuated before, you know, with Mum,’ Sophie reminded her. ‘Remember, we went to stay with that ghastly Mrs Monks outside Oxford. She starved us almost and wouldn’t let Mum have any hot water to wash in. Even the walls of the bedroom were damp. It was disgusting, and when Dad saw it he took us back home immediately.’
    ‘That was different, Soph! Things had got quiet then and Neil thought it was safe for you again in London. But now things are a whole lot worse. Libby should have sent you away earlier. I don’t know what she was thinking of!’
    ‘I don’t want to be evacuated! I don’t want to leave London!’ As soon as she said it, an image of old Mrs Abercorn flashed across Sophie’s mind.
    ‘The Luftwaffe are stepping things up, Sophie. Hitler is pushing as hard as he can and the whole of Europe, as we know it, is falling into his hands. He intends to destroy London, and every man, woman or child that stands in his way. That’s what everyone says. Please, Sophie, we’ve all got to think about what’s best.’
    Sophie knew in her heart of hearts that her aunt was right. Aunt Jessie was never serious, but now Sophie realised that there was no budging her. Thousands of children were being evacuated – why should they be any different?
    ‘I’ve written to Neil, and I wrote to your grandfather, andalso telephoned him.’
    ‘Grandfather? ‘Sophie almost choked on her tea.
    ‘Yes, your grandfather in Ireland. I told him about Libby’s condition and he has agreed to take yourself and Hugh.’
    Grandfather, how are you! To Sophie all he was was someone who sent a Christmas card with a pound note in it every year. His letters were few and far between. Her father refused