Until We Meet Again by Margaret Thornton

existence and hasn’t had very much to do with young men. There’s no knowing who she might meet when she gets out into the world. Dominic is her first boyfriend.’
    ‘So what?’ smiled Maddy. ‘Didn’t you marry the first man you fell in love with?’
    ‘Yes, so I did.’ Jessie smiled back at her. ‘Although I did go to secretarial college and I worked for a while before I got married. Our Tilly is still at school. But you are right; Arthur is the only man I’ve ever been in love with. He was my one and only boyfriend.’ Jessie had met Arthur Newsome at the local cycling club where a shared interest had drawn them together.
    Maddy smiled ruefully. ‘I can’t say that, can I?Freddie wasn’t the first for me… But I’m really glad that he was the one I married.’ Her thoughts flew, momentarily, to Daniel, the first young man she had loved – and then lost to the more persuasive powers of his religion. She seldom thought of him now, so contented and fulfilled had she been in her marriage to Freddie.
    ‘You must be feeling relieved, Jessie,’ she went on, changing the subject, ‘finding out that Arthur doesn’t have to go.’
    ‘I have mixed feelings about it,’ replied Jessie. ‘Of course I’m pleased, in a way, but I’m trying to see it through Arthur’s eyes. He feels that he’s been rejected, that he’s not good enough, and he’s finding it hard to come to terms with at the moment. “Flat feet!” he keeps moaning. “Fancy being turned down because I’ve got flat feet.” I must admit I didn’t understand it at first, until he explained to me that if you have flat feet it means you can’t march, and so you’re not much use in the army.’
    ‘That wasn’t the only reason, though, was it?’
    ‘No,’ said Jessie. ‘It was his eyesight, and I suppose that was the real reason he failed the medical. He’s very short-sighted, you know, and he’s worn spectacles since he was a small boy to cure his astigmatism.’
    ‘Patrick is champing at the bit, too,’ saidMaddy. ‘But Father says he can’t be spared from the business, especially as Joe Black has already volunteered and is waiting to go. It’s not the sort of job that anyone can do without training. They’ve taken on a young lad recently, though, who’s not left school very long. He seems to be taking to it quite well. Our Patrick’s been in the business since he left school, of course. He was only thirteen, but he’s never had any qualms about being an undertaker.’
    ‘Mmm…’ Jessie shuddered a little and changed the subject. ‘So…how long do you think it will be before Freddie’s battalion are sent overseas? I suppose that will happen eventually, won’t it?’
    ‘Yes; that’s what they’re training for. I don’t think they know how long it will be; a month or two, I suppose. No doubt he’ll be given leave to come home before that happens. He’s missing us all, of course, and his home comforts – that goes without saying – but he seems quite contented, if his letters are anything to go by. The training is tough, he says, but he seems to be standing up to the strain pretty well. He’s quite a lot older than a lot of them, you see. There’s a group of lads from Bradford; not more than seventeen years old, he says, and some, he suspects, might have lied about their age to get in.’
    ‘Yes…the foolish young lads,’ said Jessie, ‘butno doubt they’re seeing it as a great adventure. Excitement, you know; the chance to go abroad and the glamour of wearing a uniform. And there’s been a good deal of talk about patriotism and serving King and Country. I don’t suppose life is terribly exciting for a lot of those young men in Bradford, working long hours in the mills for what must be a very low wage. And not everyone is fortunate enough to have a nice home like we have, are they, Maddy?’
    ‘That’s true,’ agreed Maddy. ‘I know you and I have a lot to be thankful for, and we should remember to