Free The Bomb Girls by Daisy Styles Page B

the corner or Lillian, who was laughing raucously at the bar. Before she could make up her mind she felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around to face a tall, dark Canadian airman.
    ‘Henri Laurent at your service,’ he said, with a wide smile that showed off a set of perfectly even, white teeth.
    Alice checked the stripes on his uniform and smiled.
    ‘Pleased to meet you, Captain Laurent.’
    ‘May I dance with you?’ he asked formally.
    Alice nodded and as they moved into the centre of the ballroom, she said, ‘I hear the hint of a French accent … ?’
    ‘
Français québécois
,’ he replied, sliding a hand expertly around her waist and swooping her onto the dance floor as the band struck up ‘Deep Purple Haze’.
    Pressed against Henri, Alice abandoned herself to the music and the moment. In a mood of heightened excitement she forgot the misery of rationing, the months of hard work, the relentless worry, the fear of the unknown … It all faded away as she waltzed into a dream world where, for a sweet, brief time, she found romance and escapism. As the conductor waved his baton and the music changed to the Mills Brothers’ ‘You Always Hurt the One You Love’, Alice looked shyly into Henri’s face and smiled. As long as she danced, she was uplifted, drifting in a make-believe Hollywood world where nobody came home covered in yellow cordite powder.
    In her quiet corner Elsie was surprised at how much she was enjoying herself.
    ‘The Canadians look so different to our lads,’ she
observed. ‘They’ve got bonny teeth, like, all white and even,’ she said with a laugh. ‘And they’re better dressed too.’
    Agnes, ever the realist, shrugged. ‘They’re bound to look smarter; their uniforms are brand new whereas our lads have been wearing theirs for a good two years.’
    ‘Oh, aye, I never thought of that,’ said Elsie, then she froze as a tall, thin strip of a lad loomed up before them and nervously cleared his throat.
    ‘Care for’t dance?’ he said with a broad Lancashire accent.
    Thinking he was asking Agnes, Elsie shrank into the corner but a sharp kick from Agnes made her realize the question was addressed to her.
    Flushed and awkward, Elsie looked up into the open, honest face of a boy not much older than her.
    ‘Will ya?’ he said with an embarrassed grin.
    Agnes gaped in surprise as Elsie rose to her feet.
    ‘Aye, go on then,’ she replied.
    Smiling fondly, Agnes watched them stumble about on the dance floor. They’d both got two left feet but neither of them seemed concerned; they smiled as they talked and shuffled between the more accomplished dancers.
    God love them, thought Agnes as she slipped away, happy to return home alone where she had a letter to Esther to finish.
    When the band was in full swing and the dance floor was packed Emily finally emerged from the kitchen. Made-up and with her long hair tumbling around her shoulders, she was wearing a floral silk dress that emphasized her full breasts and long legs. As she scanned the room for her friends, her eyes sparkled with excitement
and her feet began to tap. Seeing Alice with a tall Canadian captain and Lillian in the arms of a handsome black lieutenant, Emily looked about for Elsie and Agnes. The strains of ‘In the Mood’ sent a shiver down her spine, which was heightened by a firm hand taking hold of hers.
    ‘Where’ve you been all night, gorgeous?’ Freddie whispered into her ear.
    Emily smiled shyly, but before she could reply Freddie spun her round, caught her smoothly in his arms then, holding her firmly around the waist, he boogied her onto the dance floor. Breathless and laughing, Emily responded instinctively to his expert dance moves. Losing herself to the music and trusting Freddie’s timing, she lost all remaining inhibition, threw back her head and laughed with joy. She might be on the dawn shift tomorrow but tonight she was going to dance till she dropped!

CHAPTER
10
One Little Spark
    In fact, Emily