Page 14 of The Stranger in Room Six
For a second, Mabel thought she saw a tear glisten in her aunt’s eye as she started the engine, but it disappeared as quickly as it had arrived.
‘Now go to sleep. It’s a long way to Devon. And don’t sit so close. You stink from that awful place you’ve been sleeping in.’
The journey seemed never-ending; down roads that then led into such narrow lanes that they brushed hedges on both sides. Only Polly the doll gave Mabel comfort. It was almost like cuddling Annabel herself. She was so soft and warm. This made her cry all over again.
‘For goodness’ sake,’ snapped her aunt. ‘Stop it. How am I meant to concentrate with that racket?’
Mabel had never been to her aunt’s house before, even though it had been Mama’s childhood home too. As far as she could remember, such a journey had never been suggested and her aunt rarely visited them in London.
Then they turned a corner and Mabel gasped. ‘Is that the sea?’
Despite her grief, she was mesmerized by the light glinting on the waves below. Mama had talked of swimming here when she was young. The thought made Mabel tearful again.
‘I can’t cope with any more of this,’ said her aunt curtly. ‘Everyone’s upset but it’s time you pulled yourself together. You’ve got the household to meet – the ones who haven’t gone off to fight, that is.’
They were driving down yet another long narrow lane, lined by pretty cottages and a pub called the Seabeast’s Head. ‘Just as well there isn’t any other traffic on the roads,’ said Aunt Clarissa. ‘I was only allowed to buy the petrol because you were an emergency.’
She took a sharp left before stopping abruptly at somehigh wooden gates; the name The Old Rectory was carved into a stone pillar.
‘Climb out and open them, will you?’
Then she drove through, leaving Mabel to run after her towards a large flight of stone steps and the biggest front door she had ever seen, with a knocker in the shape of a lion.
A girl in a blue-and-white gingham pinafore came running down, followed by two black dogs.
Mabel shrank back.
‘Jasper and Bunty won’t hurt you,’ said her aunt. ‘Come on now. Let’s get you inside.’
Her voice seemed a bit softer now. Maybe she was tired and sad for Mama too. After all, they had been sisters.
‘Where’s the luggage, ma’am?’ asked the girl, who looked about her age.
‘Unfortunately,’ said her aunt, ‘there isn’t any.’
‘But …’
‘Stop asking questions, Frannie. Just get my niece into the house. I’ve put her in the Red Room.’
Then Aunt Clarissa took a small silver flask out of her jacket pocket and tipped the contents down her throat. ‘That’s better,’ she muttered to herself. ‘God knows, I need something to get through this.’
It seemed Aunt Clarissa was definitely upset, despite her tough words. Mabel’s own tears began to flow again as she followed Frannie upstairs.
‘Is it true that the Germans got your mam and your baby sister in the Blitz?’ asked the girl, turning round.
‘Yes,’ sobbed Mabel.
‘Why didn’t they get you too?’
‘Because I was in the shelter with our maid. I wanted them to come but they wouldn’t.’
‘What about your dad?’
‘He’s away fighting Hitler.’
‘Well, you’ll be all right here. Just as long as the Krauts don’t come over in boats.’
‘How can they do that?’
