“Of course we will,” I said as the three of us leaned in and gave her a hug.
“And you’ll come back and visit?” she asked. “Someday after all this nonsense is over. You can meet my boys when they come home.”
If they come home, hung in the air around us like a dark cloud. I knew we had been a distraction from her worries; now she would be alone with them once again.
“We would love that,” Dottie said.
“Definitely,” added Viv.
“Be back soon, Mrs. Tibbetts,” Jimmy said, tipping his hat to her.
“Please come by for tea, Jimmy,” she said, giving him a warm smile. “And as I’ve told you, you may call me Ginny.”
Jimmy started the Cheyenne, and we all settled in, Viv in the front, Dottie and I in the back. Vera was on my lap, and Barbara was on Dottie’s. We had given Barbara a few baths and a trim since Nelson had given her to us, but with her bulging black eyes and weird tongue, she would never be considered a good-looking dog.
As we drove down the road, we kept on waving good-bye to Mrs. Tibbetts until we could no longer see her.
“I don’t think I even knew that Mrs. Tibbetts’s first name was Ginny,” Viv said, giving Jimmy a sidelong glance. “I’m going to miss her. She’s so lovely, and very pretty, don’t you think so, Jimmy?”
“Aye, she’s a fine, fine lady,” Jimmy said. If he was still drinking, he wasn’t doing it around us anymore. And he looked better, healthier. His cheeks were ruddy, and his hair was always slicked back now. He looked ten years younger than when we had first met him. “Was thinkin’ she might like to go to the pub with me some night, when I’m back.”
Viv gave a quick look back at us through the little window and winked.
“And I was thinking that would be a terrific idea. Don’t you agree, girls?”
“Yes, great idea,” Dottie and I said, with way more enthusiasm than necessary.
Jimmy dropped us off at Red Cross headquarters a little after 9:00 a.m. An older woman was sitting at the front reception desk when we walked in, and she looked up our names.
“You three are part of the group headed to France,” she said, reaching into her drawer. With a flourish, she presented us all with circular patches with a red five in the center, our Zone V patches.
“These are to be worn on your left sleeve from now on,” she said. “A meeting is being held for you in a room at the end of the hall—second-to-last door on the right.”
Thanking her, we took the patches and headed toward our meeting. Smiling ear to ear, I felt a surge of pride and gave Dottie and Viv the thumbs-up. We had made it—we were going to the Continent.
We walked into the large lecture hall, greeting some girls we hadn’t seen since training because they had been stationed in other areas across the United Kingdom. I spotted ChiChi from the Dixie Queen, along with Doris and Rosie. Helen and Ruthie from North Dakota were also there and waved us over to a row of seats in front of them. Just as we sat down, Miss Chambers and Liz entered the room, and everyone stopped talking.
“Good morning, ladies,” Miss Chambers began. “Welcome back to London. You are the latest group of Clubmobiles to be heading to the Continent.”
“Your life changed when you joined the Red Cross,” she said. “Now that you are heading to France, it is about to dramatically change again. Here in England, you have lived as civilians in a civilian setting. While you’re familiar with the threat of air raids and buzz bombs, this is a friendly, unoccupied country.
“On the Continent, you’ll be living and working as part of a military unit in a combat zone, sometimes very close to the front lines,” she said. “You’ll spend much of your time on the road and camping out. K rations may become your most frequent meal, and running water will be a luxury. It’s going to be an adjustment, but you’re here because we think you’re up to the challenge.”
“She’s always such a ray of sunshine,” Viv whispered, and Dottie and I both shushed her.
“If for some reason you’re not up to the job, you will be pulled back,” Miss Chambers said. This time she was looking right at us, as if she’d heard Viv. “But I’ve only had to do that once so far. Now Miss Anderson is going to go over the logistics of what needs to get done before you leave this evening.”
Liz Anderson discussed converting our pounds and shillings to francs, and where in the building we would find our K rations, water tablets, and seasick bags. She also handed us little So Now You Are Going to France booklets with information about the language and customs.
When the meeting was finished and we got up to leave, I was not surprised to hear Miss Chambers behind us saying, “Fiona, Dottie, and Viviana, could you come here, please?”
We walked over to where she was standing at the front of the room.
“As you know, I wasn’t sure I’d ever be sending you three to the Continent,” she said. She was so tall, she always seemed to be looking down at you. In our case, I was pretty sure she always was.
“Oh yes, we’re well aware,” Viv said in a tone I thought was perhaps a bit too salty, so I gave her a little kick. No need to mess up our plans now.
“My original plan was to keep you in Leicester with the remaining troops, but a few things changed my mind,” she said. “One was that I received letters from the officers there about what a commendable job you were doing. The other thing was how highly Liz Anderson speaks of you. She wants you three with her on the Continent. Liz and these officers have clearly seen a side of you that I haven’t witnessed.”
She paused for a second. “And finally, there is the now-legendary tale of Dottie Sousa’s singing debut at the secret Glenn Miller concert. That is one heck of a way to come out of your shell, Miss Sousa. I had no idea you had it in you.”
“Me neither to be honest,” Dottie said, blushing deeply. “Thank you.”
“One more thing: Fiona, I wanted you to know that, after Liz told me, I did write the IRC on your behalf about your missing fiancé,” Miss Chambers said. I was surprised and touched that she had taken the time. “Nothing back from them yet, but I’ll try to get word to you if I hear anything.”
“Wow,” I said, not able to hide my surprise. “Thank you.”
“Of course, dear,” Miss Chambers said. “I know I’m tough on you three, but I do have a heart.” She gave us a small smile. “That said, safe travels and please prove yourselves worthy of Liz’s recommendation. Do not let her down.”
The three of us all promised we wouldn’t, and after more thank-yous and farewells, we sprinted out of the hall, still worried that she might change her mind at the last minute.
That afternoon we headed to Wimbledon Park to rendezvous with the group going to Southampton. Liz came over to us as soon as we arrived, looking worried and frazzled, which was very unlike her. And then the air raid sirens started.
“That’s a sound I haven’t missed,” Dottie said. We had been lucky in the Midlands not to have any close calls with buzz bombs the entire time we were there.
“Helmets on. Jimmy, you too. Word is there’s a large number of V-1s incoming,” Liz said, looking around, silently counting heads. “I think we’ve got everyone, so we’ll be getting on the road to Southampton any minute. I want to get out of here before the brass change their minds and tell us we have to take shelter and wait. That will screw up our crossing; it will screw up everything.”
With our helmets on, and the sound of explosions in the distance, we drove out of the city in an enormous caravan of eight Clubmobiles, four supply trucks, five Hillmans, twenty jeeps, and twelve trailers. Escorted by motorcycles, we made a grand exit out of London, waving good-bye to everyone we passed.
The trip took longer than we expected because, despite the impressive look of the caravan, a number of things went wrong as soon as we left the city. Two of the trucks’ batteries died, a few vehicles ended up with flat tires, and the Clubmobile Dixie Queen ran out of petrol.
We pulled into the staging area in Southampton later that evening and awaited word from Liz as to whether we would be shipping out or would have to camp overnight. Jimmy had been particularly quiet on the trip.
“Jimmy, you okay?” I said, as we all got out to stretch our legs, eat our K rations, and socialize.
“Better than I’ve been in a long time.” He looked at me and smiled. “Just sad to be sayin’ good-bye.”
“Now?” I said. “You’re not going to drive us to the docks?” I felt panicked as it occurred to me that I was going to be our driver from this moment on.
“It ain’t that far,” Jimmy said with a laugh. “You’ll be all right. Last time you’ll have to drive on the left side for a long time.”
“But how are you getting back?” Dottie asked. She was holding her helmet on her hip, and Barbara was curled up in it, fast asleep.