Page 147 of The Girl from the Tea Garden
‘If there isn’t, there should be.’ Prue sighed. ‘My parents aren’t at all keen on my engagement to an American; they think it’s all too quick. But I’d marry him tomorrow. What’s the point of looking into the future when there’s a war on? Take happiness where you can say I.’
They discussed staying on to do another tour. ‘I’m keen if you are,’ said Prue. ‘We might get sent further east if they ever retake Rangoon– then I’m more likely to see Stuey.’
‘Yes, I’ll stay,’ agreed Adela, ‘till the war ends.’
The next day she went back to the Khans’ flat, but Sam had gone. Sophie was still very emotional. ‘We sat up half the night just talking and talking. He wanted to know everything about our parents– not that I could tell him that much, but I told him about Auntie Amy in Edinburgh and how wonderful she had been to me as my guardian, and Great Uncle Daniel in Perth, who taught me to fish. And of course it means that he’s now second cousins with Tilly. He was overwhelmed by it all. I think that’s why he left. He said he had to get back to base, but I think he needs a bit of time to think it all over.’
‘Did he say when he might come back again?’ asked Adela.
‘No.’ Sophie gave a look of regret. ‘His squadron’s gearing up for something big I think. He wouldn’t say what.’ She sighed. ‘It’s so hard. I’ve just found my brother, and now he’s flying off and I’m going to worry about him all the time until I see him again.’
Adela felt her eyes prickle. Sophie’s look was sympathetic. ‘You’re feeling the same too, aren’t you, dear lassie?’
Adela couldn’t settle to anything. They were rehearsing new songs and dance routines for their next tour, this time to southern India and Ceylon. Tommy and Prue were growing exasperated with her lack of concentration.
‘For pity’s sake,’ cried Prue, ‘go and see that man before he flies off. If Stuey was based just a couple of hours away, I’d go like a shot.’
‘And say what?’
‘That you love him of course!’
That night Adela sat down and wrote Sam a long letter, pouring out her feelings for him and telling him about her illegitimate baby.
I won’t blame you if you never want to see me again, but I’ve come to realise that the worst thing is to have secrets from those you love. When this war ends– and please, God, it will one day soon– I will go back to England to find out what happened to my boy. There is no other man in my life– no one has ever come close to you in my heart– so I wanted you to know that it was my son that I meant when I spoke of loyalty to another.
Take good care of yourself please, Sam. You are dearer to me than the stars.
Love you forever,
Adela.
She didn’t post it. Instead she put on her ENSA uniform, persuaded Tommy to go with her, took a train to Jessore and hitched a lift in a Jeep going out to the airbase. They talked their way in, Tommy saying he’d come to arrange a performance on the base. They were shown into the officers’ mess.
‘Flight Lieutenant Jackman is on training ops,’ they were told.
‘We’ll wait,’ said Adela.
‘He won’t be back till after dark.’
‘Come on, girl,’ said Tommy, ‘we can’t stay. Leave your letter for him.’
As they were escorted back to the gates, planes flew in overhead.
‘They’re not Dakotas,’ Tommy said with a pitying look.
Back in Calcutta, Adela threw herself into rehearsals; hard work was her best remedy for a bruised heart. When she was on stage singing or dancing with The Toodle Pips, she blanked out everything else. In a week’s time they would be taking the train to Bangalore. While she had heard nothing from Sam, Sophie had received a long, affectionate letter telling her how pleased he was to have discovered a special sister and a whole new family of cousins through Tilly. One day he hoped to meet them all. Adela had read the letter with a mix of joy for Sophie and pain for herself. She was forced to accept that Sam no longer wanted her.
Late one evening she was drinking in the hotel bar with Tommy, Prue, Betsie and Mack after a long day of rehearsals. It was Tommy, sitting opposite, who made a soft whistle and said, ‘Brace yourself, Robson, for incoming fire.’
Adela glanced round to see a tall figure elbowing his way through the throng towards them. Her heart jolted. It was Sam. He was still in sweat-stained and creased pilot’s fatigues, as if he had rushed straight from the cockpit. He greeted the group with a distracted smile, but his eyes focused only on Adela.
‘I just got your letter. The sergeant mislaid it. I commandeered a car to get here.’
‘Can I get you a drink?’ asked Tommy. ‘Looks like you could do with one.’
‘Thanks. Maybe in a minute. First I want a moment alone with Adela.’
Adela got up quickly, ignoring Prue’s arching eyebrows. ‘Let’s go outside, Sam.’
