A Different World by Mary Nichols Page A

film. ‘They will be something to look at during the long, boring days and nights,’ he said.
    ‘You expect to be bored?’
    ‘I don’t know, but you can’t be on the go the whole time, can you? Not even the air force would expect that. Then I will sit and look at my snaps and think of you.’
    ‘And I of you.’
    They found a quiet spot and sat down on Tony’s jacket. She opened her bag and took out a packet of tomato sandwiches and a bottle of lemonade made with crystals. Real lemons were a thing of the past.
    ‘It’s so peaceful here,’ she said, offering him a sandwich. ‘You would never believe there was a war on, that people are being killed and injured every day. And for what? One man’s thirst for power.’
    ‘Let’s not talk about it. Let’s talk about what we’ll do after the war.’
    ‘What do you want to do?’
    ‘I expect I’ll join Dad in the family business. I’ve no doubt there will be plenty of work for us to do. And I’ll build us a house.’
    ‘Like your father’s?’
    ‘Something like that. It will have all the latest mod cons and be big enough for a family.’
    ‘A family?’
    ‘Yes. Don’t you want a family?’
    ‘Of course I do.’
    ‘How many?’
    She laughed. ‘How many do you want?’
    ‘Four would be nice, two boys and two girls. But it’s up to you, of course.’
    ‘It’s up to both of us, surely?’ She giggled. ‘I can’t do it on my own.’
    He laughed and grabbed her shoulders pulling her down beside him to kiss her. When his hand strayed along her leg and up her thigh under her skirt, she knocked it away. ‘No, Tony.’
    ‘Sorry.’ He looked aggrieved. ‘I wasn’t … I mean …’
    ‘I know, but we mustn’t get carried away.’
    ‘Why not? We are engaged, after all, and who knows what the future holds.’
    ‘I don’t want to get pregnant. Not before …’
    ‘You won’t, I promise.’
    ‘All the same, I’d rather wait.’
    ‘If you say so.’ He sat up and opened the bottle of lemonade to take a swig.
    ‘Now you are angry with me.’
    ‘No, of course not, just disappointed that you don’t trust me.’
    ‘I do, oh Tony, I do, but I’m nervous. And that’s something that should only happen on your wedding night, isn’t it?’
    ‘Oh, my poor innocent.’ He was smiling now; the little spat was over. ‘Kiss me again. I’ll be good, I promise.’
    She kissed him. ‘I do love you, Tony, really I do, and sometimes I wonder what it will be like to, you know, be married and all that, but …’
    ‘But you aren’t ready to experiment.’
    ‘I suppose that’s it. It feels wrong.’
    ‘Point taken. Now, let’s go back. Jenny told me she is making us a special tea, seeing as we didn’t have an engagement party.’
    They walked back to the village and were met on the way by Tommy and Beattie. Unlike Tommy, who sometimes longed forhis Edgware home, the little girl was content in Cottlesham, spoilt by all the grown-ups around her. ‘Auntie Jenny sent us to find you,’ she said, taking Louise’s hand. ‘Tea is nearly ready and she has made a special cake. Is it your birthday?’
    ‘No, but it’s in honour of Uncle Tony. He is a qualified pilot now.’
    ‘You mean he’s going to shoot down Germans?’ Tommy said, holding out his arms in imitation of an aeroplane, running in circles and making a noise like a gun firing.
    ‘I don’t know about that, you bloodthirsty little monster,’ Tony said.
    Later that evening, they were listening to the news on the wireless in the bar parlour of the pub when they heard about the air raid on London that afternoon. Hundreds of German Heinkel, Dornier and Junkers bombers escorted by double the number of Messerschmitts had come out of a cloudless blue sky and subjected the capital to an all-out assault. The previous raids on places like Croydon, Wimbledon and Enfield became insignificant in comparison. The bombers concentrated on the docks and the Woolwich arsenal and oil storage tanks, causing huge