‘Because they were unaccompanied.’

Lena pulled a face.

‘Well, you mustn’t run the risk of poor weak-willed women getting themselves into trouble,’ Milly said in a voice laden with sarcasm.

‘Angel drove an ambulance,’ Lena said. ‘That’s how she first saw Pa.’

‘I thought you said they met at the Findon Fair.’

‘They did, but the first time they clapped eyes on each other, Angel was driving the ambulance that was taking Pa’s best friend to ’ospital.’

Milly’s eyes grew large. ‘What happened to him?’

Lena shrugged. ‘I never asked.’

Milly nodded. There was so much about her own family she didn’t know. ‘I don’t think my mother did anything much,’ she said. She turned her head, feeling slightly embarrassed. ‘Apart from a bit of fundraising, maybe.’

‘And now she wants you to get married,’ said Lena.

‘She says “it’s a woman’s duty to marry well”,’ Milly said, quoting her mother’s favourite saying, ‘but I’m not ready for that, for goodness’ sake.’

Lena giggled. ‘You sound like me. I want the chance to live a bit of life first.’

Milly pulled her shoes off and wriggled her toes. ‘Does Rainbow George have anyone in mind for you?’

‘Seebold Flowers.’

Milly blinked. ‘Seebold!’ She paused, aware that it might have sounded rude. ‘He seems nice enough, and I’m certainly very grateful to him, but how does he feel about that?’

Lena shrugged again. ‘Same as me, I suppose.’ She sighed. ‘He’s all right, but I don’t love him and he certainly doesn’t love me. Anyway, I’ve got plans.’

It looked as if she was about to tell Milly what those were, but then they heard voices. Rainbow George was coming in and they heard Big Alice say, ‘Go and wash up first and then you can go into the sitting room.’

Milly smiled to herself. Rainbow George might be cock of the walk outside on the field, but it was clear that here in the caravan, everybody danced to Big Alice’s tune.

A few minutes later, Lena’s guardian lumbered wearily towards his chair. ‘How was your stint on the hoopla, little missy?’ he asked Milly.

‘I enjoyed it,’ she replied.

‘We made a mort of money,’ said Lena. ‘More than at Hurstpierpoint and West Hoathly put together.

Rainbow George was impressed. ‘Did you indeed?’ he chortled. ‘Looks like we’ll make a showgirl of you yet.’

They all jumped as somebody knocked on the window and called out, ‘Anyone at home?’

Lena jumped to her feet. ‘That’s my pa,’ she cried and, racing to the kitchen door, she called, ‘Pa, Pa.’

‘Come on in, lovey,’ said Big Alice as Charles came up the steps. ‘Yer just in time fer tea.’

As her father came along the corridor, Milly leaned towards Rainbow George. ‘Please don’t tell my father about that awful man,’ she whispered earnestly. ‘He might stop me from coming to see Lena again.’

Rainbow George’s eyes twinkled as he tapped the side of his nose. ‘Mum’s the word, little missy.’

Charles came into the room with Lena hanging onto his arm and chattering away nineteen to the dozen. Milly stood to give her father a hug, then they all spent a relaxed few minutes together drinking tea and swapping pleasantries. Charles was very apologetic that he was so late in coming. ‘I had a little business that couldn’t wait, I’m afraid,’ he told them.

Milly couldn’t help noticing that he looked a little pale, and when he started coughing, she felt a wave of anxiety.

But George came to the rescue. ‘I got just the thing fer that cough,’ he said, going to the cabinet and pouring a honey-coloured liquid into a small glass. He handed it to Charles. ‘’Ere, get that down yer neck.’

Her father held the glass aloft, as if giving a toast, then downed it in one go before another coughing fit overcame him. ‘Good God,’ he choked as he regained his breath. ‘What the hell was that?’

Rainbow George grinned. ‘My ol’ granny’s recipe.’

‘It’s got quite a kick,’ said Charles.

Rainbow George grinned. ‘But I bet yer throat feels better.’

Charles paused before giving him a nod. ‘Either that, or it’s taken all the bloody skin off.’

The two men laughed, and Milly could see there was a strong mutual respect between them. She was curious to know how her father had met these people. After all, Lena’s mother and her father had clearly been poles apart when it came to their social standing.

The men began talking about the funfair and some of the new regulations the government was putting into place regarding public safety, while the girls spoke of more interesting things like the Hitchcock film The 39 Steps.

‘Is it based on a true story, do you think?’ Lena wanted to know.

Milly shrugged. ‘I know there’s a book of the same name. It was written by John Buchan.’

‘I remember reading about him in a magazine when I was a young girl,’ said Big Alice with a dreamy expression. ‘All-Story Weekly.’

‘I saw the film in Bournemouth,’ said Milly. ‘Mrs Tice took us.’

‘I like Robert Donat,’ Lena sighed. ‘He’s so good-looking.’

After a while, Charles made his apologies and said that he and Milly had to go back home immediately.

‘Nothing wrong, I hope,’ said Big Alice.

‘No, no,’ Charles said as they stood once more. ‘My wife and Pearl have returned from London and Milly has a social engagement this evening. I’m sorry it has to be this way, but I promise we’ll come back another time.’ He kissed Big Alice on both cheeks, shook Rainbow George’s hand then hugged Lena.

‘Why did you say that?’ Milly asked her father as they walked away. ‘I don’t have any social engagements.’

‘I’m afraid you do,’ he said, deliberately not looking at her. ‘Your mother wants you to go to a country house ball tonight.’

Chapter 12

Lena watched her father and half-sister go with a deep sense of longing. From the moment her mother had died, Pa had given her what she had wished for. She’d had an education and then, when she’d left school, he’d allowed her to return to the fairground and its people, but she always felt torn. It was as if she didn’t really belong anywhere. She respected Rainbow George, but being part of his patriarchal family structure was like living in a straitjacket and she wasn’t allowed to step beyond boundaries which had been laid down in the year dot. She couldn’t go out without an escort; she could work on the amusements but not have her own, and she would have to agree to a marriage before she was eighteen. Rainbow George didn’t seem to realise that they lived in the twentieth century now.

When Angel died, Lena discovered she had been given her jewellery and a little money. It wasn’t much, but twenty pounds gave her a small chance for independence. Pa had offered her some advice but, apart from insisting that she put the money into a bank account for safe-keeping, he had left her to choose for herself what she wanted to do with it. She’d kept quiet about it so nobody else knew about her inheritance. Good job too. She would have been coerced into a marriage pretty quickly had would-be suitors realised she had a bit of money. Lena had toyed with various ideas but, in the end, the twenty pounds had remained where it was . . . until last year. Having decided that she wanted something more permanent, something nobody could take from her and something that would give her a decent return, she’d asked Pa to help her buy a piece of land.