Free Cousins at War by Doris Davidson Page B

a hand. I’ll take you back in the afternoon.’
    Thankful for the respite from having to make conversation when they had gone, Gracie moved into a more comfortable chair and lay back with her eyes closed. She would have to get something ready
for Joe’s dinner, but there was plenty time. She’d hardly had a wink of sleep last night, and she deserved a wee rest.
    Only fifteen minutes later, she was dragged out of a deep sleep by someone shaking her shoulder. ‘Gracie, it’s me.’
    Her brain was still a little foggy, but she sat up to find her eldest sister leaning over her. ‘Ellie?’
    ‘I got your letter first post and I was so upset I had to come to see poor Queenie.’
    Having heard Gracie’s explanation of the girl’s absence, Ellie sat down. ‘I couldn’t stop thinking about Donnie when I was driving up. He was the last of our three
brothers . . . though wee James died when he was just an infant. Father was so proud when Charlie and Donnie started working with him in the shop in the Gallowgate. He got a new sign put up above
the window, remember? Albert Ogilvie and Sons, it said, then the war came and they both went into the army.’
    Gracie wiped her eyes. ‘I remember how angry Mother was at Father for being proud of them enlisting. I don’t think she ever got over it properly.’
    ‘Charlie was her favourite, of course . . .’
    ‘And you were Father’s.’ This fact had never rankled with Gracie. She had grown up with it, and had known that it was none of Ellie’s doing.
    ‘At least we know Donnie never regretted settling down in South Norwood,’ Ellie observed. ‘When they were in Aberdeen for Father’s funeral, we could all see how happy he
was with Helene, and now . . . they’re both gone, too.’
    The two sisters had a weep together, then went on to talk about their childhood, each remembering incidents which the other had forgotten, and they were both astonished when Joe came in just
after one, Gracie jumping up in agitation. ‘Oh, is it that time already? I haven’t made any dinner yet.’
    ‘It doesn’t matter,’ he assured her. ‘A sandwich’ll do, if you’ve anything to put in it.’
    ‘There’s a bit of corned mutton left from yesterday.’
    ‘That’ll do fine.’
    ‘That’ll do me, too,’ Ellie said, rising to help just as Patsy appeared.
    Hetty brought Queenie back in the middle of the afternoon. The girl was still very pale and Gracie’s heart contracted at the sight of the large, blue eyes so deeply filled with pain.
Thankfully, at four o’clock, when Hetty said that she would have to go, Ellie also stood up. ‘I’d like to take a look at some of the shops before I go back.’
    Gracie saw them downstairs, assuring Hetty that there was nothing else she could do, and when she went back to her own kitchen, she knelt down beside Queenie to put her arms round her.
‘You’ve been through an awful lot this past two days, lass, and you must be feeling lost, but Joe and me’ll always be here for you. Remember that.’
    The girl nestled her head on her shoulder. ‘I know, Auntie Gracie. You’ve been ever so kind, and I don’t know what I’d have done without Patsy, but I wish Mum and Dad
hadn’t sent me away. I wish I’d been killed along with them.’
    ‘Oh, lassie, don’t say things like that. You’ve your whole life in front of you, and they didn’t send you away. They didn’t want to get rid of you, don’t ever
think that. They loved you. They wanted to keep you safe.’
    ‘I know they loved me, but . . . oh, Auntie Gracie, I’ll never see them again.’
    Holding the weeping girl tightly, Gracie felt angry at her sister-in-law for not listening to reason. Helene could have persuaded Donnie to give up the shop and come to Aberdeen if she had
wanted to. They shouldn’t have left their daughter to become an orphan, for they knew the danger they faced if they stayed in South Norwood. In the next instant, however, she was overcome
with grief at