The Crew Read Online Free Page B

the room in her direction and she turned back to her papers and picked up her pen.
    â€˜I’m afraid it’s been empty for some time, Mrs Banks. It’s rather damp.’ The estate agent stood aside to let Dorothy into the cottage and she stepped past him into the dark front room.
    She could smell the damp and see mildewy patches of it all along the bottom of the walls. Still, there was a nice fireplace with a good-sized grate, and if she could get a fire going and dry the place out, it would help. The few bits of furniture weren’t up to much, but a good clean could work wonders. She followed the man into the kitchen at the back of the cottage. The range was thick with rust, the cupboards lined with old and yellowed newspaper. In the lean-to scullery beyond, there was a stone sink containing several dead spiders, some dead woodlice and a bath full of logs. A narrow wooden staircase, hidden behind a latched door, led to two bedrooms upstairs, with iron bedsteads and rickety chests of drawers. They clumped downstairs again.
    â€˜I’m sorry it’s not in better order, Mrs Banks. I’d like to have been able to show you something more attractive, but it’s all we have to let on our books in that price range at the moment, and you said it had to be in this exact area.’
    He was looking at her in a worried sort of way, as though he hoped she wouldn’t take the cottage. Butshe could see that she could make something of the place, with a bit of work, and she wasn’t afraid of that. She moved over to the sitting-room window. The sill was littered with dead flies and bluebottles, the glass clouded with grime. She rubbed at it with her fingertips, clearing a patch.
    The bomber station lay on the other side of the road, and if it hadn’t been for the hedge she might have been able to see the runway. She could hear the sound of engines rumbling like distant thunder. The thunder grew louder and a big plane rose suddenly into view. As it climbed, she could see the black-painted underside of its body and wings. The window pane shook beneath her fingers. When the roar had died away, the estate agent apologized again.
    â€˜I’m afraid you’d get quite a lot of noise. Beningby is very close . . . the RAF bomber station.’
    â€˜Yes, I know,’ she said. ‘That’s why I wanted to be here.’
    â€˜Oh?’ He looked at her, puzzled.
    â€˜My son’s just been posted there. He’s a rear gunner. In the Lancasters.’
    He looked even more puzzled. ‘Forgive me for being personal, Mrs Banks, but you don’t seem nearly old enough.’
    â€˜I was only seventeen when he was born.’
    He smiled. ‘That explains it. Well, I’m sure he’ll be glad to have you near him.’
    â€˜He doesn’t know yet. I haven’t told him.’ She hesitated. ‘To tell the truth, I’m a bit worried he’ll think I’m fussing. That it might embarrass him with the others . . .’
    â€˜I wouldn’t worry too much, Mrs Banks. Anyone would understand. But won’t it make it rather hardfor you? To be so close? To see it all going on. Wouldn’t it be better to stay at home?’
    She shook her head. ‘I’d sooner be here and have more of a chance of seeing him . . . while I can. We live in Kent, you see. It’s a long way away.’
    â€˜How does your husband feel?’
    â€˜I’m a widow. He died a long time ago. Charlie was our only child. He’s all I’ve got.’
    He said gravely, ‘I know how you must feel. But are you quite sure you’re doing what’s best for
you
?’
    â€˜I don’t care about myself,’ she told him. ‘I only care about Charlie. And I’ll take the cottage.’
    Peter was waiting for her at the bar of The White Hind. Catherine threaded a way through the RAF uniforms, past the beer swillers and the