Free Far From Home by Ellie Dean

blasted water main, and heard the sharp bells of ambulances and fire engines.
    Men were working furiously to clear rubble from the roads and trolley-bus tracks, and make buildings safe, while firemen were battling to keep their powerful hoses concentrated on a large fire that was consuming a public house on the far corner.
    Polly could taste the dust and soot, could feel the grime and grit of it in her hair and on her skin. They were minor irritations and could be washed away, but she knew that the images of that day would remain with her forever.
    And then she smiled, a bubble of mild hysteria and amusement growing as she watched a man in a bowler hat delicately pick his way through the rubble. Complete with furled umbrella, briefcase and three-piece suit, he was clearly off to work, and his determined expression told Polly that the aftermath of a bombing raid was the last thing to stop him.
    Heartened by the sight, Polly picked up her heavy bags and staggered on to the concourse to find the train that would finally take her to Cliffehaven.
    No one had had much sleep and they’d all emerged from the Anderson shelter bleary-eyed and yawning, the long day ahead stretching before them. The dawn was grey with the plumes of smoke rising from a distant bomb crater, and the usual smell of charred wood and buckled, overheated metal hung in the air where ash and soot floated in the early breeze.
    Danuta and the three nurses hurried to get washed and dressed for work, and Anne and Mrs Finch prepared a hasty breakfast while Peggy went down the street making sure everyone was all right, and that there had been no serious injuries or further bomb damage to the houses.
    She helped to make tea in kitchens where the fire had gone out and everything was covered in dust. Sat for a few minutes to ease tears and give a bit of sympathy, and helped one old chap clean his bedroom where the ceiling had collapsed. Armed with a shopping list and ration book from Mrs Cole two doors down who couldn’t walk far, she wearily headed back to Beach View Boarding House.
    She caught sight of Danuta hurrying down the road in her usual drab skirt and cardigan, and wasn’t surprised she’d left the house early. The poor little thing was clearly devastated about not being allowed to nurse, and probably didn’t want to add to her humiliation by accompanying the other girls to the hospital. They were a close bunch, those three, but Peggy was determined to find some way of encouraging them to let Danuta join in. The poor girl could do with a bit of fun, and it must be horrible for her to be so far from home.
    ‘Oh dear,’ she sighed as she picked up the milk bottles from the doorstep. ‘I forgot to warn her about Nurse Brown.’ She stood there for a moment, deep in thought. Perhaps having another girl to share her room would ease Danuta’s loneliness? She had no idea how old Staff Nurse Brown was, or anything about her family circumstances, so she mustn’t jump to conclusions. But that didn’t stop her hoping she might become Danuta’s friend.
    Peggy emerged from her thoughts and slowly made her way through the front door and into the hall where dust motes danced in the early sunlight. The night had been long and tiring, and there was still no sign of Cissy, Jim or Ron. Her previous anger had dwindled throughout the night, and she’d come to the conclusion that she would carry on as usual. It might seem as if she was being weak and woolly-minded, but Jim was her husband and, despite everything, she still loved him and couldn’t imagine life without him.
    She had closed her ears to her mother’s warnings all those years ago and married him anyway, and she’d invested too much in this partnership to falter now. She had made her bed, now she must lie in it, and although some women might have seen her capitulation as weakness, Peggy knew it would take a great deal more strength to keep her marriage together than to walk away from it.
    The thought of the