Free The Bomb Girls by Daisy Styles

well, Em, he’s got the hots for you, that’s for sure,’ Lillian remarked as soon as they were alone.
    Emily blushed but there was no doubting the extra spark in her pretty blue eyes.
    ‘He was nice,’ she said, trying to brush aside Lillian’s comments.
    ‘
Nice!
’ exclaimed Lillian. ‘He’s bloody gorgeous – and he practically ate you up!’
    ‘And he knows it,’ said Alice. ‘He’s a born flirt.’
    She gave her friend a knowing look.
    ‘Don’t go getting distracted by sweet-talking Canadians – remember you’re engaged to Bill.’
    Emily bridled at her remark.
    ‘Of course I won’t! But anyway, considering Bill’s my fiancé, he’s taking me a bit too much for granted. He hardly writes these days!’
    Alice shook her head.
    ‘Emily, there’s a war on – thousands of letters are lost every day. Don’t go blaming Bill for that.’
    In a pig-headed mood, Emily pressed on, ‘He never came to see me when he was at Preston barracks just after Christmas.’
    Alice’s eyes flashed in irritation.
    ‘You’re being ridiculous!’ she cried. ‘How’s he supposed to breeze out of the barracks without permission?’
    ‘Well, his mum got to see him!’ Emily retorted.
    ‘And so could you if you hadn’t been working shifts,’ Alice reminded her.
    ‘Can you imagine how it feels to have your fiancé home, just down the road in Preston barracks, and he doesn’t even bother to come and see you?’ Emily snapped.
    Alice, who knew Bill well, shook her head.
    ‘There’s got to be an explanation,’ she insisted. ‘You should know Bill better than to think he wouldn’t bother. He’s as straight as a die, loyal and faithful. He’d be gutted if you started messing about.’
    Emily’s cheeks flared bright red.
    ‘Who says I’m messing about?’ she asked sulkily. ‘You’re all getting carried away. I just enjoyed a handsome man’s attention. I don’t see the harm in that.’
    ‘If I could squeeze a word in … ?’ Lillian said with a cheeky laugh. ‘What the eye doesn’t see the heart doesn’t grieve about.’
    Ignoring Lillian’s breezy attitude, Alice held her best friend’s gaze.
    ‘Please be careful, Emily,’ she implored.
    The girls were soon so busy and exhausted from factory work that the subject was put to one side. The one thing that kept them all going on those long shifts was the thought of the upcoming swing night at the Phoenix that Emily had taken it upon herself to organize. Lillian and Alice wasted no time in drawing Elsie and Agnes into their preparations.
    With Malc’s help, Lillian tracked down a local swing band, Emily and Agnes got to work organizing the refreshments, and Alice and Elsie were busy designing posters to pin up all over the factory, even in the small chapel that was regularly visited by girls who couldn’t make it to the church services in Pendle.
    Thankfully the days seemed to race by and the event they were all so looking forward to was suddenly upon them. Nobody was allowed time off – shifts ran as usual at the Phoenix – but Emily, Alice, Elsie, Lillian and Agnes were lucky as their shift on the Saturday of the dance was an early one so they had all afternoon to fuss about getting ready. No matter how reserved Agnes and Elsie were it was impossible not to get drawn into the excited
preparations going on in the old cowshed. There wasn’t enough water for a bath each so it was two to a bath, with the last person having to top up what was left with boiled water from the kettle. Lillian, in her element, took charge of everybody’s hair. As Joe Loss dance music blared out from the radio, the girls took it in turns to sit on an upright chair whilst she set their hair and applied make-up. Then they stood for the final finishing touch as, with an expert eye and steady hand, Lillian traced down their bare legs a black crayon line that looked, from a distance, exactly like the black seam on nylon stockings.
    With the catering on her mind, Emily set