A Daughter’s Courage: A powerful, gritty new saga from the Sunday Times bestseller

‘I’m not feeling all that clever,’ he lied. ‘My stomach is churning something rotten. I think it would be best if I drop you back home and then get myself off to bed. I’m sorry, sweetheart, I’ll make it up to you next week.’

‘Is that why you suddenly dragged me out? It wasn’t because I didn’t want to do it in there?’

‘Yes, it just suddenly came over me and I felt all hot and sweaty. I bet it was that ham I had earlier. I thought it smelt a bit iffy.’ Robbie couldn’t believe how easy this girl was to manipulate. She didn’t seem too upset, which made his life much easier.

They sat in silence holding hands on the bus ride home, but Robbie could feel his jaw clenching as he mulled over his plans for later. He was like a wound-up coil and decided that, once Dottie was safely deposited back at home, he would call in to see Cynthia. She was quite a bit older than Robbie, but always made him very welcome. Cynthia wasn’t much to look at, but she was good with her hands and he knew he would get a tantalising all-over massage. Just the ticket, Robbie thought, and afterwards he’d make his way over to Knightsbridge. He’d decided that if he waited until well after midnight there’d be fewer people about. He’d never attempted a burglary before and had to admit to himself that he was more than a little nervous about the whole thing. From what he’d heard, though, it was going be straightforward enough, and boy, did he need the money.

Of course he could have put off paying Adrian back, but the loan sharks were after him for what he owed and it wouldn’t be long before his excuses wore thin with them. He didn’t want to end up taking a pasting, so stealing what he hoped would be at least two hundred pounds would easily sort out all his debts. If there was more in the safe he might even be able to buy a decent second-hand car. A nice motor would impress the birds too, and Dottie would more than likely be up for a bit of fun on the back seat.

Robbie’s jaw relaxed as he thought about what else he would spend his stolen money on. Any fears he had about the prospect of getting caught and ending up behind bars in a stinking prison were quickly pushed to the back of his mind.

Alice sat quietly in the dim living room listening to The Archers on the radio. It was the omnibus edition and Alice was looking forward to the rare hour of relaxation. With Bill being the way he was and sitting in silence, the characters on the radio were all she really had for company on a Saturday night.

She heard a key turn in the front door and was surprised to see Dorothy walk into the front room. She hadn’t been expecting her home for a while yet.

‘Hello, love, you’re early. Did you have a nice time with Robbie?’

‘Not really. He wasn’t feeling too well. No official proposal tonight but he did talk about doing some extra work to buy me a nice ring.’

‘Oh, well, that’ll be something nice to look forward to then. There’s some warm milk on the stove if you fancy a hot mug of cocoa. You can come and sit with me and listen to my programme if you like?’

Dorothy smiled. ‘Thanks, Mum, but I think I’ll pass on that and finish off hemming the dress I’m making.’

With that, Dorothy left the room like a whirlwind. Alice wished she had the same energy as her daughter, but years of toiling over the kitchen sink had left her spine bent and the constant pain had been really wearing her down lately. Oh, well, she thought, trying to be positive, it wouldn’t be much longer until Bill recovered and then things would be back to where they were before the war. Alice reached across to pat the back of Bill’s hand. She just hoped he would be well enough to see his daughter get married.

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