It was just another day in the East End for Betty and Joan . . .
BY HILARY SPIERS
WHEN the bomb fell, Betty and Joan were in the cave. It was dark in their den, their tented chenille kingdom, surrounded by four Victorian table legs.
They screamed but Ma was up the road for a loaf and no-one answered.
All they heard was the explosive thud, the buckle and crash of masonry, then the trickle of falling debris.
Then the voices out in the street, the screech of tyres, feet running in the distance.
They were both sensible girls, so after the initial fright they followed Ma’s instructions: stay put.
Betty poked a head out. Shattered furniture blocked their escape.
“Best wait for Ma, Joanie,” she said, aged eight and serious.
“Wait for Ma,” Joan echoed, aged four and lying on the lumpy mattress.
Betty checked her favourite doll for injuries, but Susie was intact. A bit grubby, but no harm done.
“I’m hungry,” Joan whined.
“Ma’ll be back soon,” Betty replied.
Joan started to whimper.
“My tummy hurts!”
Betty fished in her pinafore pocket and pulled out a precious sweet.
“We’ll have a sarnie when Ma gets back.”
Joan’s eyes widened, temper instantly restored.
“For me?”
Betty nodded reluctantly.
She’d swapped one of her best marbles for the humbug, but Ma had left strict instructions that she was to look after her sister.
She dropped the treasure into Joan’s waiting palm and in the blink of an eye it was in Joan’s mouth.
The smell of mint filled the air as Joan handed Betty the empty wrapper.
Suddenly, their mother’s voice, unhinged by fear, called out as she fought past the buckled front door, clawing over the wreckage.
“Girls?”
Betty shouted back.
“We’re all right, Ma, but we can’t get out.”
The girls could hear new voices, their mother calling the men over, desperate.
“My girls are trapped in there. They say they’re safe. There was no warning!” she cried, bewildered.
“They weren’t after us, duckie,” was the reply. “Just dropping their leftovers on their way home.
“Stay right where you are, love. We’ve got some live wires across the hall here. Stand still. George, I need a hand. Quick as you like!”
“Girls!” Ma shouted. “There’s some nice men here to help. They’ll have you out in a jiffy. Stay calm.”
“Stay calm,” Betty instructed her sister.
