On 10 July, the ‘Battle of Britain’ – a major air battle fought in the skies above southern England – began, marking a new and terrifying era in the war. Göring’s Luftwaffe were relentless in their mission to attack British coastal targets, and the skies above the south coast raged with Hurricanes and Spitfires defending Britain. Though throughout those July weeks the lilies in the Bournemouth Garden pools blossomed profusely and the sun continued to blaze upon the pine-scented promenades, making the sea sparkle as if with fallen stars, the Victorian piers had been partially blown up, the gaily coloured deckchairs outside the beach huts removed and kite-flying banned. No person was allowed on the seashore between dusk and dawn and the drone of aircraft was a horrifyingly familiar sound.

At Elsie and Lily’s bedroom window in the bakery, Elsie stood, arms folded defiantly, watching a dogfight play out high up in the distant skies above the Channel. Dressed in her Beales uniform, she tried to imagine what was going on in the minds of the pilots in the cockpits of those RAF fighter planes, tearing through the clouds leaving curly white contrails like signatures in the sky, each new flight potentially their last. It made Elsie think of and miss William dreadfully. He was in her thoughts hundreds, no thousands, of times a day. At night, her dreams took her to a dark lawless place, where William was in pain and suffering terribly. Every morning she felt a sense of relief when, at 5 a.m., the noise of the bakery dragged her from those nightmares, as Audrey joined Charlie in the bakehouse and set about greasing the tins, the clatter of metal resounding through the house.

Now, in her hand she held a letter that had arrived from William that morning. A neighbour had brought it to Barton’s Bakery when the postwoman had tried to deliver it to Elsie’s former home. Frowning, she ran her tired eyes over his words, for the umpteenth time.

My dear Elsie, it read, I’m sorry but due to circumstances beyond my control I could not return for the wedding. Forgive me, for I do not wish to hurt you, William.

Her heart ached with longing to know more. It was William’s handwriting and the sentences complete, but the letter seemed full of holes. The tone was bizarrely formal and the letter incredibly short, offering no real explanation for his actions. She knew the government encouraged soldiers and citizens alike not to disclose confidential information in any letters, but this was taking careful wording to another level. The more she read it, the less sense it made and the more devastated she became. The words knocked about in her mind, clashing with one another, taking on new shapes and meanings.

‘What if he’s met another girl?’ she said to Lily. ‘Perhaps he’s met a girl in the Auxiliary Territorial Service who had been billeted to France, or a nurse in the Military Nursing Service who is really “doing her bit” and not working in a department store like me.’

Elsie’s panicked eyes darted around the room, settling on Lily, who was pulling on her dress, which was now snug around her tummy.

Lily shook her head. ‘From what I know and remember of William, he’s not the sort of person to treat you like that,’ she said. ‘When he was a boy he was kind and loyal and thoughtful. I saw a different side to him only once, when he lost his temper after he thought the memory of his father was being abused—’

‘What happened?’ Elsie asked, moving over to Lily’s bed and sitting on it next to her. ‘He never told me about that.’

Lily started to pull on her stockings, shaking her head. ‘Oh I shouldn’t have mentioned anything,’ she said. ‘I don’t even know what the details are but—’

Elsie grabbed Lily’s forearm, suddenly desperate for any information about the man she loved, even if from his past. Maybe it would give her a clue to what was happening now. ‘Come on, Lily,’ said Elsie. ‘Please. I just want to hear about him.’

Lily sighed and shrugged, tutting at her own indiscretion. ‘It’s only that the reason he and Audrey left home so suddenly was because William lashed out at Daphne, his mother, my stepmother,’ she explained. ‘It was odd, because he was normally so mild-mannered and then one evening they all had this big argument. I think it was about his father, Don. Something to do with William wanting to defend the memory of him. I was in bed, so I crept down the stairs and I saw Daphne strike William, then he struck back, hard. My father went ballistic and William struck him too. He was told to leave and never come back. Audrey went with him out of loyalty I suppose. I don’t know any more details…’

Elsie listened to the story without making any comment. William had never mentioned any of this. She struggled to imagine William being aggressive and wondered why he hadn’t shared this piece of history with her. Whenever she’d asked him about his parents, he said his father, Don, was dead and that his mother, Daphne, lived in London with her new husband. Why would he not explain what had happened to make him leave?

‘I suppose he’s ashamed about it,’ said Lily, reading Elsie’s mind. ‘He’s a gentle person. There must be good reason for him not coming back for the wedding. It’ll be to do with his war duties and he wouldn’t have been able to write about them in a letter.’

‘You’re right,’ said Elsie. ‘I have to trust in the thought that he will get in touch properly when he can. Besides, I’ve got so much to think about right now, I should focus on other matters. The house needs rebuilding, my mother’s condition needs attention and my sisters’ lives need to be kept as normal as possible. I need to find more work too as my job in the shop doesn’t pay enough.’

Elsie ran through her options. Needing to earn more, she also wanted to be doing something useful to help the war effort, like join the land girls, or go to work in the munitions factory. But with the twins and her mother to look after, she couldn’t go too far from home. She needed to sort out more permanent accommodation too. The house had been almost completely destroyed in the raid and though Elsie had applied to the Assistance Board for funds and the Local Authority was due to do repairs, she had no idea when that would happen. She barely had two pennies to rub together and didn’t want to take advantage of Audrey’s generosity in the longer term. Talking of taking advantage, Elsie suffered a twinge of guilt for not telling Audrey about Maggie borrowing that sugar, but she had sworn she would put it back. Shaking the thought from her head, she concentrated on how she could take control of her own life. If it meant doing different work or having two jobs and working twice as hard, then she’d do it.

‘Is there anything in the Situations Vacant pages?’ said Elsie, pointing towards the Bournemouth Echo that Lily had been reading. Lily picked up the Echo and scanned the jobs pages, reading out jobs as she went through.

‘Girl needed for domestic duties,’ she read. ‘Girl needed for domestic duties. Girl needed for…’

‘Domestic duties?’ said Elsie, raising her eyebrows. ‘Anything else a bit more exciting? Spitfire pilot?’

Lily ran her finger down the adverts, until she turned the page and pointed a finger three times on a specific ad. ‘How about this?’ she said, her expression animated, turning the newspaper around for Elsie to see the ad from Dorset and Hants Transport Office. ‘Bus conductorettes to work on the buses? Fit, energetic women to fill the shoes of the men who have gone to fight. That would suit you. So would that uniform – it’s green. And the pay is £4 a week.’

‘Let’s have a look,’ Elsie said, reaching for the paper and running her eyes down the person specification and job description. She tried to envisage herself working on the buses, punching holes in tickets and taking fares. It was a job traditionally done by men, but she thought she’d be good at it.

Tearing out the advert, she pushed it into her pocket and felt a fire ignite in her belly. Everything might feel like it was upside down, but there was no point moping about. She was going to make it better by getting on with her life. She would concentrate on her family, get herself another job so she could take care of the twins and pay for her mother to visit her papa. Now, it was time for her to be as brave as those fighter pilots weaving through the clouds in the sky, every flight possibly their last.