Hers to Have and to Hold, page 28
They waved to those watching their progress and Eliza knew she would never forget this journey and old Dolly, who had delivered the milk to the doorstep without fail. They arrived at the church and, on the pavement, and in the grounds, stood well-wishers who cheered as bride and attendants descended from the cart. They stood in the church entrance and had a couple of photographs taken, and then in they went, but waited at the top of the aisle as the organist launched into Mendelssohn’s ‘Wedding March’. Tears filled Eliza’s eyes and she threw back her veil, but even then, she could only see Jack and his best man. As she arrived beside him, he reached out a hand and she grasped it. The organ stopped playing and they both gazed at the vicar, who was smiling at them. They smiled back and the service began.
‘Dearly beloved, we are gathered here to join this man and this woman in holy matrimony…’
This is reality, she thought, as she and Jack repeated the promises that made them husband and wife, and which finished with the words: ‘Let no man put asunder… And you can kiss the bride.’ Then they were signing the register and walking up the aisle, and to her surprise, outside there was an archway of policemen cheering them on and the photographer was there again taking photographs. She felt Alfie tugging her skirt and when she lifted him up, he noticed the shiny golden ring on her hand. She had removed Bryn’s ring a good while ago. Then after Jack took Alfie from her, she threw her bouquet into the crowd, and she never knew until years after the war ended who caught it. Then it was off to the church hall, where a good time was had by most, despite a few tears being shed.
When the cake had been cut and the bottom tier sliced, Eliza, Jack and Alfie went home to change. It was as they left the house that a jeep pulled up at the kerb and a man in uniform climbed out. ‘Is this where Eliza Griffiths lives?’ he asked.
‘No longer,’ said Jack. ‘Today she became my wife and is Mrs Molyneux. We’re just off on our honeymoon but can we help you before we go?’
‘I’m Josh Armstrong and I’m obviously late. I was to give my friend Joe Jackson’s apologies to Olive. Fresh orders meant he couldn’t make it and I got lost trying to find my way here. I went to the wrong park and then past the wrong football stadium.’
‘I didn’t see Olive,’ said Eliza. ‘But that doesn’t mean she wasn’t at the wedding, there was such a crowd. She might still be there.’
‘The church isn’t far away,’ said Jack and gave him directions.
They watched him drive off and then Jack put the suitcases in the boot, and Eliza climbed into the back with Alfie, who immediately fell asleep as she sang softly, ‘We’re off, we’re off, we’re off in a motor car. Sixty coppers are after us and we don’t know where we are.’
‘That’s daft,’ Jack said. ‘I wonder when it was first sung.’
‘Maybe it was during a Keystone Cops film.’
‘Perhaps, but I don’t really think so,’ said Jack. ‘Do you remember the rest of it?’
‘No, I just remember singing those words in a charabanc on the way to Blackpool with the other kids. We mustn’t forget to take Alfie there when the war’s over.’
They both fell silent and were soon through the Mersey tunnel and as far as Bebington, and then after passing a church, they reached the turn-off to Wales. At that time of the evening, the traffic wasn’t too bad, and Eliza dozed off. She was woken by Alfie pressing a sloppy kiss on her mouth and she opened her eyes, feeling she could not breathe. She tried to move him off from her lap, only he seized a strand of her hair. ‘Ouch!’ she cried.
‘You might as well stay awake now,’ said Jack. ‘You’ve missed us crossing the Menai Bridge. We’ll be at the hotel in about half an hour.’
‘I must have been more tired than I realised,’ she said, catching Alfie as he almost slipped from her lap.
‘You’ve had a busier day than I’ve had,’ he said. ‘Now, are we on the right road to the hotel?’
Eliza stared out of the window for a while and then said, ‘Just carry straight on. Eventually, we’ll pass Valley Junction. RAF Valley has a base there. If there’s trouble at sea, the coastguards get in touch with them or the lifeboat station at Treader Bay, where the hotel is. Depends on how serious it is.’
‘That’s good to know,’ said Jack. ‘At least it’s still light.’
‘We’ll see the sunset then,’ she said. ‘We should have a walk by the shore after we’ve unpacked.’
He agreed.
It wasn’t long before they arrived at the hotel, signed the register and were shown to their room on the first floor. They changed and had a drink, and then left the hotel and within minutes had reached the seafront, where they could see the sun dipping to the horizon, as its light sent an orange path on the surface of the water. They both sighed contentedly.
After walking for a while with Alfie perched on Jack’s shoulders, Eliza said, ‘What about getting up earlier tomorrow and going to Love Island to catch the sunrise while the weather is fine?’
‘Let’s give it a couple of days,’ said Jack. ‘I’d rather sleep in and have breakfast in bed after our first night,’ he added.
‘I suppose you’re tired after the drive,’ she said.
‘Not too tired to make love to my beautiful wife,’ he retorted. ‘The sun could rise just as we’re going to sleep. Maybe around four o’clock.’
‘I wouldn’t be surprised,’ she said, a flush in her cheeks. ‘It is midsummer.’
‘We should be going back, anyway,’ said Jack, glancing at his watch. ‘It’s getting late and past time this young man was in his cot.’
She agreed, as she was ready for bed herself and, as there was a slight cool breeze off the sea, she needed warming up in Jack’s arms.
Their lovemaking was all that she had hoped it would be, and she felt so safe and satisfied as they lay in each other’s arms, their legs tangled up afterwards, that she was convinced that he was right, and they should not hurry to see the sun rise over Love Island that morning, which was a few miles away and had a proper Welsh name which she could not pronounce properly. They should linger and then take Alfie down to the nearest patch of sand and build a sandcastle and fetch water for a moat and paddle in the sea. The day passed pleasantly, and they decided over dinner that evening that they would take things easy for the next couple of days but make time to visit South Stack, near the lighthouse, and Holyhead, and go round the shops. South Stack was a high cliff where many seabirds nested, and Alfie could find them interesting. Eliza also thought about Holyhead being a port where the ferry left for Dublin and how odd it would be if they unexpectedly caught sight of Ada Jones having decided to return to Wales. She voiced her thoughts to Jack who said, ‘It’s far too early for her to do so.’
‘Do you think she might do so one day?’ she asked.
‘I suppose it’s possible but don’t let’s start thinking of that. I’m on my honeymoon and just want to think about making love.’ He kissed her slap-bang right outside a fish and chip shop, and they went in and bought some for their lunch. Then they sat on a bench overlooking the sea and frowned at the sound of a plane zooming along the coast.
‘One of ours,’ said Jack, his eyes following the flight of the plane.
‘They probably do watch for the enemy planes, ships and U-boats from the air, and warn Merseyside and Belfast defences, as well as Welsh ones,’ she said.
Suddenly, she was thinking of Grace Evans, whose husband Ben had rescued her and was now down south, coast-watching. She wondered if Jack knew this. She had not thought of asking him before, but now she did.
‘Jack, do you know that Grace Evans’s husband Ben has left the training camp in Wales?’
He looked thoughtful. ‘Is he now back home?’ They lived in Saxon Street, which was the street next to Milly and Jimmy’s.
‘Grace told me he’s been transferred down south, coast-watching. I wonder if he was near the coast then, training to spot enemy planes and shoot them down.’
‘Could be,’ said Jack, getting up. ‘But before then he was in the Civil Defence on rescue work as you know, repairing houses that weren’t too badly damaged as well.’ He paused. ‘Anyway, I sense Alfie’s falling asleep and is in danger of over-balancing and falling off my shoulders. Help me to stop him hitting the ground?’
She did so and carried him until they reached the car. Then they drove back to the hotel, went up to their bedroom and, after laying Alfie in his cot, they lay on their bed and dozed off curled up together.
That evening there was a dance at the hotel, so they attended it with Alfie, who was wide awake – and they even managed a couple of dances themselves when one of the receptionists offered to mind him where he could watch them.
The days passed too fast and almost before they realised it, the day they were to return home arrived and they hadn’t visited Love Island, so they rose early, made love, had breakfast, paid the balance of their bill, and departed, intending to visit Love Island on the way home. The sun had risen, and it was a lovely morning, with streaks of apricot and yellow in the sky. They were surprised to find a few cars, as well as motorbikes, in the car park at Newborough Warren and they quickly collected what they considered necessary for a dip in the sea, sandcastle making and a walk on the island.
They decided to take the path through the woods, where it was very pleasant, and they saw a fox. It was not until they came out onto the beach that they realised that the tide was in, and they would have to put their cossies on, and wade to the island, which was only cut off from the mainland when the tide was in. As it was so early, the water was cold, but they still managed to reach the island safely and read the information board, which told them the island was called Ynys Llanddwyn. Not pausing to remove their wet garments, they raced along until they arrived at the chapel. They entered stealthily and changed in a corner where two walls met.
‘Should we be doing this in a holy place?’ said Eliza, rubbing herself with a towel, having already seen to Alfie.
‘You’re not rubbing hard enough,’ said Jack, taking her towel and rubbing her vigorously until her skin glowed. Then he helped her dress and, when dry, he accepted his clothes as she passed them to him.
‘I thought I heard someone coming,’ she said.
‘You’re imagining it, and anyway we’re married,’ he said. ‘Tied in holy wedlock.’ He lifted Alfie from a block of stone that he had scrambled onto, and said, ‘But now we’re here we could repeat our vows before heading home.’
She nodded. ‘I’d like that.’
So, they repeated their vows. ‘I’m glad we made it here eventually and the saint blessed us,’ she said.
‘I’m not sure about the blessing,’ said Jack as the sky darkened. ‘We’d best move before it rains.’ So, they left and were soaked through by the time they reached the car and tumbled inside on the back seat in a heap.
‘I suppose it was a daft idea,’ said Eliza. ‘We must look like drowned rats.’
‘Speak for yourself,’ said Jack. ‘How often will we behave the way we just did?’
‘I suppose never again,’ she said. ‘Now we’d best get home.’
‘I’ll get one of the suitcases and you can take out some dry clothes,’ said Jack. ‘We can’t travel all the way home soaking wet.’
Within moments Eliza was rooting through the suitcase, which fortunately was a jumble of mixed clothing, as she had packed in a hurry, so there were dry garments for each of them. It was not easy changing in the car and there were parts of them that felt damp even after they had on dry clothes. The wet ones were stuffed in a bag to deal with tomorrow at home. Then off they went and after they had left Anglesey behind, they caught each other’s eyes in the mirror and started to laugh. ‘We’ll never have such a time again,’ said Eliza.
‘It was a honeymoon never to be forgotten,’ Jack said.
‘Do you think Alfie will remember it?’ she asked, a hand to her mouth.
‘I should think he’s too young,’ said Jack. ‘But he could think he remembers when we return and make sandcastles in the future after showing him some photographs.’
The future, thought Eliza, wondering what lay ahead and when the war would end.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
The pavements were gleaming wet in Liverpool when they arrived back and Eliza, who had been hoping for warm, dry weather to get their sodden clothes washed and dried, worried about using the coal they bought in summer and generally hoarded for the cold winter days.
Amelia was glad to have them safely back and handed her a letter from Olive, who apologised for not catching her at the wedding but had needed to hurry away. Eliza had expected to be told something about the American, but there was nothing.
Within days she had settled into a new routine, which included not seeing her husband at regular hours, for he could be called out on a case at odd hours. Still, he had told her that sometime after the war they would be given a new police house. But the war went on, and in September she and Alfie went to Colwyn Bay to spend a week with his grandmother, Glyn, Gwen, Mairi and the new baby, who was a boy and named after Glyn’s father, Daffyd Glyn. Eliza was asked to be a godmother and the baptism took place while she was there. A happy event that, naturally; Mairi’s mother attended, but there was no mention of Glenys and Ada from her – only of their mother, who had left the neighbourhood and gone to live with her son’s family.
Back in Liverpool, Eliza often met up with Grace and asked after her husband Ben, coast-watching in the south. The war news was hopeful: British troops under General Montgomery had a resounding victory over German troops at El Alamein and the enemy had retreated further into Tunisia, away from the border with Egypt. Eliza recalled that the Suez Canal was in Egypt and that it was vital to Allied ships taking a safer route to Asia rather than round the coast of Africa. During the following days, the prime minister, Churchill, issued a bulletin from the mayor of London’s mansion house during a banquet, stating that the victory at El Alamein was not the end of the war. It was not even the beginning of the end, but it was the end of the beginning. It took Eliza a few minutes to get her head around what he meant, but his words gave her hope, and she realised that this Christmas was going to be a lot happier than the last one after the Japanese attacked various British bases in Asia, as well as making a surprise attack on the American base at Pearl Harbour.
There were more goods available that Christmas and 1943 was welcomed in with a real hope that this might be the year that the war ended. But although during January there was news of German troops withdrawing from parts of Russia, the struggle went on. In Libya, British troops launched an offensive to capture Tripoli, while in Asia the Americans and Australians retook part of New Guinea, and there was an uprising in the Warsaw Ghetto in Poland by the Jews. The enemy continued the fight but as spring approached, there came news of victories. Tripoli was taken by British troops; the Germans surrendered at Stalingrad to the Russians; and the Japanese retreated further in New Guinea, and some of the Solomon Islands were freed by the Allies.
As summer approached, there was news that the Allies were taking the offence into Germany, with long-range bombers attacking ports, industrial sites, Berlin, and other sites of importance. But despite all their efforts, the U-boats still caused havoc to ships in the centre of the Atlantic, so long-range bombers took on the task of destroying them, and the Battle of the Atlantic soon ended in victory for the Allies.
This meant that Simon, Grace’s stepson, was appointed to another ship which, as it happened, was a troopship that was sailing within a couple of days, destination unknown.
Eliza met him the evening after she heard the news and he had a note for her, which he handed to her, saying, ‘I’m meeting Barbara outside the Paramount to see the second showing of the film The Adventures of Tartu. It’s a spy film. She’s coming straight from the hospital. A few weeks ago, we saw Tarzan Triumphs at the Trocadero. It’s a great cinema but it’s expensive. The film was fun, though – I’m a great fan of Johnny Weissmuller. He’s a brilliant swimmer and makes a smashing Tarzan.’
Eliza said, ‘I hope you enjoy it, but I’ve just heard your news and I want to say I’ll be thinking of you and praying for you every day.’ She kissed his cheek and squeezed his hand, and returned to the house, blinking back tears. She had become fond of Simon in the short time she had known him because he was often at Angus’s mother’s house, where Barbara lodged with her widowed mother.
The following week she went to visit Grace and decided to leave the pushchair behind, so Alfie could get more practice walking, but she carried him across the road.
When they arrived at Grace’s, and she had taken out some toys and placed them on the rag rug for the children to play with while the mothers had a cup of tea, Eliza was surprised that Irene wouldn’t play with Alfie but wanted to sit on her mother’s knee.
‘Is Irene sickening for something?’ asked Eliza.
Grace shook her head. ‘She’s missing Simon now, as well as her daddy. I think she’s scared I’ll be the next to go.’
‘The poor love,’ said Eliza.
‘She’ll probably get used to him not dropping in, but I know how she feels. I miss him already, myself,’ said Grace huskily. ‘I wish this blinking war would be over.’
‘It can’t be much longer,’ said Eliza.
‘A week is too long for me,’ Grace said. ‘It was bad enough when he and Ben were out during the Blitz, with buildings collapsing. Simon was caught by flying debris once on his bike. He took messages to various groups.’
‘An unsung hero,’ said Eliza.
‘Not by me,’ said Grace. ‘I love him as if he was my own son. You know what his being on a troopship means – he’ll be heading for a danger zone: Italy or Asia.’
‘Most likely Italy,’ said Eliza. ‘The British and the Americans have taken Italian prisoners, as well as some Germans during the Desert War. Jack reckons the Italians don’t have the heart for this war. I’d bet Simon’s troopship will be bringing back prisoners of war.’
