Crawling under the narrow bed until her whole body was next to Mary’s, panic coursed through Audrey’s veins. Trying to steady her thoughts and control her fear, she wrapped herself around the little girl’s trembling body and spoke to her as calmly and softly as she could.

‘Mary?’ she said, gently. ‘We must get out from under the bed now. Do you know why?’

But Mary shook her head and kept her eyes firmly closed.

‘Because we need to go and get your rabbit from his hutch in the yard,’ she said. ‘If you’re feeling frightened, imagine how that bunny feels. Why don’t you hold onto my hands, nice and tight, and I’ll lead us downstairs and out the back door, where we can collect your rabbit and take him into the street to safety? You can cuddle him there and tell him that he’s going to be all right. How does that sound?’

After a moment, Mary nodded and opened one eye, a huge tear dripping down her cheek. Audrey’s heart broke for the girl, whose short life had been blighted by fear and trauma and tragedy.

‘Hold onto my hand and don’t let go,’ said Audrey. ‘I’m not going anywhere without you.’

Together they slid out from under the bed and the room was now thick with smoke. It was literally impossible to see or breathe, so holding her breath, Audrey felt her way through the darkness, all the while clutching on to Mary.

‘I think your rabbit is going to need a fresh carrot after all this,’ she said, desperately trying not to slip on the stairs.

Finally reaching the back door, she burst through it and into the yard, gulping in the fresh air. Rushing over to the rabbit cage, quick as a flash she unlocked the door and put the terrified creature into Mary’s waiting arms, then steered her by the shoulders to the street, where the AFS had arrived and were pumping water onto the fire at the front of the building, while others were throwing buckets of water or sand onto the flames.

‘Oh, gracious me!’ said Audrey, hand over her mouth in shock, as she staggered towards John, William and Lily, who was holding Joy. They were all trying to offer soothing words of comfort, but each was stunned and horror-struck by what was happening. As they stood on the road, fire officers battled to get the blaze under control, looking on in desolate helplessness as more of the ceiling collapsed, sending wood and bricks and plaster crashing to a heap on the shop, and spilling out through the broken window, into the street.

‘My bakery will be destroyed…’ Audrey stuttered. She could barely form a sentence. ‘I just can’t believe it’s happened…’

Sitting with Mary and the rabbit in her lap, on the pavement kerb, the group watched in stunned silence as the fire officers bravely battled to control the flames. Running her eyes over the damage, Audrey’s heart broke as she looked at the smashed front windows, the blackened walls, the usually pristine black and white tiled floor covered in rubble…

‘Mrs Barton?’ asked a fire officer, with black soot on his face. ‘Are you injured? This must be such a shock to you, my dear. I’m so sorry for you.’

Audrey shook her head, in a trance.

‘How will I get tomorrow’s bread delivery out?’ she whispered. ‘Was the bakehouse directly hit?’

‘No,’ he said. ‘Just the front of the house. Luckily a fire-watcher spotted the fire and reported it, so we were quickly on the scene. May I suggest you get to the rest centre, where they’ll treat you for shock and any minor injuries, and they’ll make you comfortable for the night?’

‘You may suggest that,’ said Audrey, standing up and dusting off her apron, gripping Mary by the hand. ‘But I’ll do no such thing. I have to get the bread out.’

‘But the building’s not safe, Mrs Barton,’ he said. ‘You can’t go back inside.’

‘Watch me,’ she said. ‘Mary, I’ll take you to stay with Pat, but then I must help John with the bread.’

‘I’m here, love,’ said John calmly, dabbing his forehead with his hanky. ‘There’ll be no bread tonight. I dampened down the ovens completely – I didn’t want to make it worse if the fire took hold. The loaves will all be ruined. We’re going to have to let folk down in the morning, but they’ll understand, Audrey. I’ll get word to Crowne’s, to expect some more customers than usual, and I’ll ask Albert to tell our delivery customers what’s happened. The best thing you can do, my girl, is get washed up, sort out Mary’s cuts and bruises and get some sleep.’

‘But what would Charlie say?’ asked Audrey, her eyes filling with tears. ‘He’s never not got the bread out on time for the customers. How will Mrs Cook, and Flo and Elizabeth and all my ladies manage? This will be the first time in years that the bakery has been closed.’

Audrey looked on helplessly at the half-destroyed bakery – their business literally up in flames. She felt all the fight drain out of her as she silently wept.

‘Charlie and all your customers will thank their lucky stars you are alive,’ John said, putting his arm over her shoulder. ‘You’ll come back from this, Audrey. Don’t you worry, my girl. Let’s get you to Pat’s, she’ll sort you out.’

---

Maggie, her spirits high, giggled as they headed towards the door of the bedroom as the air-raid siren wailed, noting the way her heels sank into the carpet, a touch of sherry and George’s lingering kisses on her lips. They continued to kiss one another as they went out into the hallway, when an almighty thunderous clap hit their ears and a blinding flash of light ripped through the darkness.

‘George!’ Maggie cried, as she grabbed hold of his hand and the couple were thrown to the floor, like rag dolls, and plunged into absolute darkness. With their fingers entwined, they lay there for a moment, before George leapt into action, scooping Maggie up from the floor and carrying her in his arms down the stairs, through the hotel’s front door and out into the street.

‘Oh my goodness, George!’ she coughed, blinking in shock as he set her down and the roof of the hotel half collapsed behind them.

They looked at one another in disbelief before being ushered into a nearby public shelter by an AFS warden, who explained that high-explosive bombs and incendiary bombs had been released across Bournemouth from a German plane, falling on both the hotel roof and the roof of the house next door.

‘What a way to begin married life,’ said Maggie, half-smiling, trying to lighten their shock as they huddled together in the dimly lit public shelter with dozens of local residents.

The couple held hands and gazed lovingly into each other’s eyes, both of them remembering the landlady’s words: ‘You must enjoy every moment together as if it were your last, my dears. Tomorrow is not guaranteed.’

---

‘I just heard about the bakery,’ said Elsie, rushing into Pat’s house, where Pat, Audrey, Lily and Joy, Mary and John were huddled at the kitchen table, Mary wrapped in a blanket. ‘How could this happen? I’d wring Hitler’s neck if I could get my hands on him! Apparently there was no warning. They just came out of the night, from nowhere. Someone said that they were dropping bombs they hadn’t used, like litter, on the way back from another raid on a different part of the country. Are you injured? Is Mary okay?’

Audrey smiled a small grateful smile and shook her head. She felt totally and utterly disorientated. A few hours earlier, she had been celebrating Maggie’s wedding and now this. She gently patted Mary’s hair. The little girl was asleep against Audrey’s chest, her forehead still smeared with dust. It was now 3 a.m. and though Mary and Joy slept, none of the adults thought they’d be able to get even a wink of sleep.

Pat’s kitchen was warm and welcoming, a pot of tea was on the table and she’d put a few biscuits out on a plate – even the milk had been poured into a jug (‘You’ll never catch me putting a milk bottle on the table,’ she’d said. ‘Even in a crisis.’) A little black vase decorated with a painting of a mallard duck was filled with lavender from the garden – and the scent was a welcome relief from the acrid stench that seemed to have permeated Audrey’s clothes.

‘It was a close thing,’ said Audrey quietly. ‘Mary froze, poor dear, but we got her out in the end.’

‘No wonder she’s so frightened,’ said Pat, pouring everyone more tea. ‘That poor child has lost everyone she loves. Thanks be to goodness she’s got you, Audrey. You’d make a fine mother and Charlie a fine father, wherever in the world my beloved son might be right now. I’m looking forward to you two making me a grandmother.’

Audrey smiled gratefully at her mother-in-law, who rarely gave out compliments. She considered explaining that, after six years of trying unsuccessfully, she didn’t think that she and Charlie would ever be able to have a child of their own – and that’s why last year she’d offered to adopt Lily’s baby girl Joy before Lily had decided she couldn’t part with the child – but now wasn’t the right time. She knew how much Pat wanted Charlie to have his own child.

‘What on earth would Charlie say if he knew about this?’ said Pat. ‘His heart would break, wouldn’t it? All those years of building up a business.’

The mention of Charlie brought tears to Audrey’s eyes. She’d become so used to working in a partnership with him – they were like a well-oiled machine running the bakery – the idea of telling him that the business was collapsing without him filled her with dread. She was convinced he would feel that she hadn’t looked after it properly.

‘Charlie will understand,’ said William. ‘He will have seen whole cities being devastated by war – he’ll know that in the face of a bomb, you have no chance.’

‘I’ll have to think about what I should do,’ Audrey said. ‘I need to get some sleep and think about how we can fix this as quickly as possible. I have cakes to make, orders to fulfil. The customers need their bread, what with the meat ration at almost nothing, and food becoming scarcer. You know, I had a letter from the Ministry of Food about the introduction of the National Loaf? In a few months’ time all the bakers might be having to bake the National Loaf with wheatmeal flour, to ensure the health of the nation, and there’ll be no choice about it. That’s why I have to find a way through this.’

‘I can’t imagine not having my white tin,’ said Pat despondently.

‘That’s the last of our worries just now,’ said John, yawning loudly and causing Mary to stir in Audrey’s lap.

‘Get that little mite into bed,’ said Pat. ‘I’ll find somewhere for you to sleep. You’ve all had an awful shock. Tomorrow we’ll think about the bread.’