Writing for Fun
December 2016
Danger - High Voltage - Jeanette Rothwell
‘Aw, come on, Tommy. I don’t wanna play football today. We played all day yesterday and my Mum says my shoes won’t last much longer if I keep kicking that old ball.’
Tommy kicked the old ball which was somewhat deflated and asked, ‘Well, what do you want to do today? Mum says don’t go too far in case there is another air-raid.’
Freddy thought for a bit and then suggested, ‘There’s that bomb site in Merlin Street. It’s only a street away and we could play soldiers on that.’
Tommy agreed and off they went, passing a row of shops, many of the windows boarded up with signs roughly painted saying ‘Business as Usual, Mr Hitler’ or ‘Shattered but not shuttered’ or ‘We are carrying on, Hitler will not beat us’ etc. London was in the grips of the Blitz although for a couple of days the bombing had eased off and the sky had ceased to look red and angry from the many fires. The boys took very little notice of the general dust and acrid smells in the atmosphere. In their young lives the country at war was almost the norm. Their parents’ anxiety and care didn’t bother them as long as they could play during the day, didn’t have to go to school because the building had been bombed, still had a roof over their head, and enough to eat.
As they rounded the corner at the end of their street, a high pitched voice called them ‘Tommy, Freddy, can I come and play? Please, please, please.’
The boys groaned and turned round to see Mary Ann running towards them, coat flying behind her, anxious to catch them up. They knew that if they ignored her, she would tell her Mum and they would be in trouble from their Mums, so they reluctantly agreed to let her join them.
The bomb site they were aiming for was in the middle of a row of 7 terraced houses. The central house had been hit and completely wiped out. The houses on either side were still standing but badly damaged. Most of the debris had been removed but there was still enough left to make the area interesting to the boys and they immediately began an argument about who was going to be the General and who would be the private, etc. Mary-Ann wandered into what had been the back garden of the house and at the end of the overgrown path there was a high wall, somewhat battered, but the various damaged bricks offered footholds for her to climb it. Her curiosity led her to get to the top and peer over.
The next thing the boys heard was a scream and a sound of falling bricks. They rushed down the path and Tommy attempted to climb the wall. He could only peep over the top enough to see that the little girl was lying at the foot of the wall on the other side. He could hear her whimpering a little and then silence. Panic stricken he scrambled down and, just about regaining his breath, in a garbled sentence, he told Freddy that they would have to get help somehow.
They ran back down the street to find a grown up and spotted an Air Raid Warden wearily trudging along, probably dreaming of a cup of tea and his bed. They ran up to him and began to tell him about the little girl. He put up his hands in defence and told them to speak one at a time. Once he had grasped the gist of the problem he followed them back to the bomb site.
Climbing the offending wall, he could see the little girl lying in a crumpled heap against the foot of the wall. Much to his relief he could see that she was moving slightly and he called to her that he was coming down to get her. To his astonishment, he spied, about a yard away from Mary Ann, a dusty notice, mangled and almost unreadable, but he could make out the word ‘Danger’ and then ‘High Voltage’. He called to the girl to stay completely still and gingerly he made his way down the other side of the wall.
When he reached the girl, he could see that she appeared to be more frightened than hurt. He took off his thick coat, wrapped her in it and very carefully lifted her over his shoulder. It was quite an effort to take the weight and also climb back over the wall and he was breathless and weak when he reached the ground on the other side.
The girl stood up and although still crying, she appeared to be OK. He commanded the boys to show him where Mary Ann lived and they set off to deliver her to her parents’ home. He had to carry her for part of the way which was even more exhausting, but they reached her home and explained the adventure to her rather alarmed Mother.
The ARP Warden then went off to a nearby Police Station to warn them that the wall in the back garden of the bomb site was part of an electrical installation and could be dangerous.
The boys knew that their Mums would hear about the event and went home rather reluctantly to confess their sins. The next day, somewhat chastened, they met in their street and agreed to continue playing football with their rather spongy ball.
However, a large part of the playtime was spent in arguing about who would play the footballer Leslie Compton and who would be Tommy Lawton. They had seen these names in the odd newspaper their parents had been reading and adopted these footballers as their heroes.
When they had wearied of the game, they talked about yesterday’s adventure and thought that perhaps it would be a good thing to become an Air Raid Warden. The siren of an impending air raid put an end to their discussion and they dutifully climbed down into their parents’ shelter. It was damp and cold in there, but their Mum’s hot tea and buns passed the time until the ‘all clear’ sounded and they emerged safe and sound to another day’s adventure.