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“Mrs Hall, have you seen my…”
Siegfried Farnon’s voice trailed away as he took in the sight in front of him. A week earlier, Audrey Hall had been to a lecture with the WI where a man had come to talk to them about how they could help the war effort. He had spoken about the options open to them, and Audrey had very quickly signed up to be an Air Raid Warden.
Siegfried had bitten his tongue when she had told him. He had told her how proud he was of her for doing something so brave, which could well save lives. She had beamed at that, as though his praise meant the world, but inside his heart had been in turmoil. The idea of her being out there, at night, in mortal danger, trying to help others. He loved her for it, but it terrified him.
The thought of losing her was too much to bear. The thought of her being hurt, or worse, cut through him like a knife. If he’d found it hard to feign happiness, or at the very least apathy, towards her plan to leave him for Gerald and the Lakes last year, it was nothing compared to the difficulty he was having in maintaining his bright and cheerful front right now.
Right this moment, however, there was something else he was fighting with. It was an altogether more positive feeling, and it wasn’t in his brain, but rather in his heart and also somewhere a little further south. Because, right there in the kitchen of Skeldale House, stood Audrey in her Air Raid Warden uniform.
She looked breathtaking. He’d never seen her in trousers before, and the sight was alluring to say the least. The material clung to her curves like it had been designed specifically for her, and he found himself staring at her before he could stop himself. If this was what she looked like in uniform with trousers, what must she look like without…
“Have I seen your what?” she interrupted his thoughts, looking at him oddly as he stared, seemingly in a world of his own. “Mr Farnon?”
“Sorry, Mrs Hall… momentary… distraction,” he stuttered. “Err… what was I looking for? Oh, yes, that’s it, err… have you seen my pipe anywhere?”
“I thought you were going to give up again for Lent.”
“I think we all know I shouldn’t follow through on that,” Siegfried chuckled. “That uniform is very… fetching, Mrs Hall. I mean, you know… It suits you.”
“Thank you,” Audrey replied with a smile. “I’ll go and get your pipe.”
“I can get it if you tell me where it is,” he said, following her down the corridor and trying not to allow his eyes to focus on her rear end. “I am the very model of a modern major general, I’ve information vegetable, animal and mineral…”
“Haven’t heard you sing that one in a while,” she said, walking into his study and taking his pipe from under the lid of the piano. “There you go.”
“How on Earth did you know it was there?” Siegfried asked. “How could you possibly have known?”
“I have magic powers,” Audrey replied with a wink. “But now I must go out. Training session.”
“Ah, well, yes, then you must,” he nodded with faked enthusiasm. “You should be very proud of yourself. It’s a wonderful thing you’re doing.”
“Thank you,” she beamed. “It feels good to be doing summat useful.”
“Everything you do is useful, Mrs Hall. And more.”
For a moment, Audrey didn’t reply, then she giggled slightly, patted him on the arm, and walked away. As he stood in his study, newly located pipe in his hand, his heart screamed at him to follow her. To take her in his arms and tell her how he felt. But he couldn’t. Not yet. So much was happening right now, and his one constant was her. He couldn’t risk losing her in any way. And so for now he would hold his peace, and appreciate what he had.
X
Audrey’s training lasted for several sessions. On the whole it wasn’t a difficult job to learn, but there were certain procedures that had to be learned and then followed to the letter. Luckily, as a former WRN, and the person who kept the craziest household in Yorkshire running smoothly, procedures were something she was good at.
Some of the jobs, such as first aid and putting out fires, she already knew how to do from her former service. It was the more specific jobs that she had to learn, like the advice to give out to people, how to deal with incidents, and her least favourite thing, the paperwork for any such incident.
The trainer was good, if a little forceful and scaremongering at times. Audrey could see that his words created a little concern in the others, but she had been through the first war and figured she knew what to expect. The ‘worst case scenario’ had to be discussed, but it was just that. It may possibly happen, but it was a lot less likely out here in their little Yorkshire backwater than it would be in a town or city. All the same, should anything ever happen, her job would be fundamentally important. And in the interim, her patrols to ensure the blackouts were maintained would help to prevent anything untoward happening.
There were three of them who had signed up, and that meant that they would only need to patrol once every four nights. In a village the size of Darrowby there was no requirement for more than one warden to be patrolling at once unless something happened. They would, essentially, all be on duty at all times, but at least most nights she would be able to relax.
When the day of the start of their patrols came around, Audrey volunteered to take the first shift. As darkness fell, she changed into her uniform and made her way down the stairs to the kitchen, where she found Siegfried sitting at the kitchen table nursing a cup of tea.
“You alright?” she asked. “I thought you’d be in your study or in front of the fire.”
“Well, I wanted to… to see you off on your first night on the job,” he answered, an odd expression on his face that she couldn’t quite place.
“Oh, well thank you,” she replied with a smile that faltered slightly. “You sure you’re alright.”
“Yes, just… just be careful,” Siegfried told her.
“I’m only going round telling people off for having their lights on,” Audrey chuckled. “I’ll be fine.”
“I know, I just… just be careful.”
“I will, I promise,” she nodded. “Are you really that worried about me?”
“I know you’re perfectly capable of looking after yourself,” Siegfried sighed. “I’m sorry, I don’t want you to think I don’t. You’re a strong and capable woman, with a formidable glare that I’m sure will put anybody misbehaving in Darrowby into their place.”
“But?”
“But this is wartime and I hate it and I… I just worry, that’s all. You’re doing a wonderful job, a brave and very important job, and if it’s not too impertinent of me to say it, I’m very proud of you. But I reserve the right to continue to worry.”
“I think I can allow that,” Audrey chuckled. “I promise I’ll be careful. I don’t know how long I’ll be, so don’t worry about waiting up. I’d better get going.”
“I suppose so,” Siegfried agreed. “I hope it goes well.”
“I’m sure it will. Bye for now.”
Siegfried watched Audrey walk out of the back door, and then he walked through the house, to the shelf by the front door and picked up Audrey’s St Nick. It was the one she always put up for him when he was out, and he chided himself for not having bought one for her in the last week. Still, if this one had kept him safe all these years it was obviously good at its job, so he placed it up on the high shelf and then stood there and closed his eyes.
“Keep her safe,” he said quietly. “Please. I can’t lose her. So please do your job.”
X
When Audrey returned from her patrol it was late. She had come across a few people not behaving, and had told them off in a kindly but determined way. Only one had put up a bit of a fight, but her apparently renowned ‘glare’ had done the job. Something about getting one over on the grumpy old man had made her feel very pleased with herself, and she had continued on the rest of her patrol feeling like nothing in the world could touch her. If she could take on the people of Darrowby, the Nazis didn’t stand a chance.
When she walked in through the back door of the house, she noticed that there was a small light still on in the kitchen. Walking in quietly, she felt her heart swell a little at the sight that greeted her. Sitting in her rocker, fast asleep, St Nick clutched in his arms, was Siegfried. Just as she had often waited for him to get back from night calls, he had done the same for her, and it made her almost want to cry.
Taking off her coat, she hung it over a chair and then walked over and gently ran her fingers over his slightly dishevelled hair. He was a handsome man, and when the stresses of the day were forgotten in sleep, he looked ten years younger. Those were the times when she forgot all about everything and everybody else in the world.
“Mmm…” he mumbled. “Aud… Audrey…”
“Siegfried,” she said gently, a smile firmly on her face now. “Siegfried, wake up.”
“Mmm…” he moaned again as he opened his eyes and focused on her face. “Hi. You’re back.”
“I am,” Audrey nodded. “I can’t believe you fell asleep here hugging St Nick.”
“We were praying for your safe return,” he smiled tiredly. “How did it go?”
“Fine. My famous glare got an outing and won.”
“I never expected anything else,” he chuckled, taking her hand gently in his. “Mrs Hall…”
“Yes?” she replied.
“Nothing. I’m just glad you’re back safe.”
“Oh, well me too. Thank you.”
Getting to her feet, Audrey walked back to get her coat and hang it up, but as she did she felt Siegfried’s hand on her arm. When she turned she could see the love in his eyes, and the way his chest was heaving suggested that he was having some sort of strong emotional response to her.
“Something wrong?”
“Yes,” he nodded. “Me. I’m terrified.”
“Of what?” she asked, taking his hands in hers.
“Of losing you.”
“I told you, I’m fine,” Audrey said gently. “I can take care of meself, and I’m part of a team.”
“I know, but if I lost you…” Siegfried said, his voice breaking. “I couldn’t cope with it. I wouldn’t cope with it, I know I wouldn’t.”
“You’re not going to lose me,” she replied. “I will take every care… and I will always come home to you.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
The tears lining Siegfried’s eyes weren’t something she had ever seen before. His ability to hide his emotions from one and all were well known. Even when worried about Tristan all that had usually given him away was a slight break in his voice. But right now he looked close to tears, and before she knew it her hand was resting on his cheek. She felt him lean in to her hand, his eyes closing at her touch, and suddenly she understood. Brushing her thumb along his cheekbone, she leaned into his arms and rested her head against his. His arms wrapped around her, and he held her to him in the most gentle and careful way she had ever known.
“I promise I will always come home to you, Siegfried,” she whispered. “Always.”
“I’m going to hold you to that,” he replied, gently reaching up to cup her cheek. “I love you, Audrey.”
“I love you too.”