‘Nope.’
The sisters were silent for a moment, each occupied with her own thoughts, none of which were very profound. They watched Archie balance the boneshaker on the plank, holding pose perfectly, then dip and shoot down on to the ground and, with a whoop, swerve round to face Angus.
‘Voilà!’ he shouted. ‘What do you think of that, prune-face?’
‘Not bad,’ said Angus, grudgingly.
‘Not bad! It was brilliant,’ Archie said.
‘Okay,’ said Angus, ‘now it’s my turn.’
‘Be my guest,’ said Archie, and handed the bicycle over the fence.
The girls, and Davy, had gone quiet.
They were lying on their tummies on the grass, peering at some small insect that had had the temerity to crawl out from among the buttercup roots. Davy had his bum in the air and April had an arm about his waist.
‘Make the most of it,’ Babs said. ‘It won’t last.’
‘Nuh-no,’ said Rosie. ‘It never does, does it?’ just as the gang among the buttercups broke into shrieks and howls and fled from the threat of the invisible bug and Angus, poised on the bicycle on the plank, held out both arms and shouted, ‘Mum, Mum, look at me, Mum,’ and nose-dived into the grass.
About the Author
Born in Glasgow, Jessica Stirling is the author of more than twenty heartwarming novels, many with Scottish backgrounds.
WIVES AT WAR. Copyright © 2003 by Jessica Stirling. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.stmartins.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Stirling, Jessica.
Wives at war / Jessica Stirling
p. cm.
ISBN 0-312-34024-9
EAN 978-0312-34024-7
1. World War, 1939–1945—Scotland—Glasgow—Fiction. 2. Married women—Fiction. 3. Sisters—Fiction. 4. Glasgow (Scotland)—Fiction.
PR6069.T497 W57 2005
823'.914—dc22
2004060016
First U.S. Edition: April 2005
eISBN 9781466861527
First eBook edition: December 2013