World's Apart

Into War

It was now May. Spring had bloomed in England and the flowers and trees were bright and lively. Weeks had passed since the wedding and Ali and James had found themselves spending more time in Weymouth than planned. James had offered to work at the local hospital as more men arrived back from France. The two of them had temporarily moved into the big house. Ali missed working in the city but she was glad to be close to home and closer to her mother again. Everybody knew about the baby by now and Ali was just starting to get over the googling eyes of the villagers. James was true to his word and proudly shared the news of the upcoming arrival and so far everybody, including her mother and Katie, believed the tale that the baby was his.

Today started off like any other day. James left for work early and Ali found herself wandering around the big house. It was quiet now, no parties were held and his parents had gone away for a few weeks. As she wandered the large open hallway upstairs, Ali stretched her arm out and her fingers gracefully traced the detailed wall patterns as she walked. She idly turns into the large airy room at the front of the house. The room is mostly empty, there are several pieces of expensive furniture draped with white linen and there is a thin layer of dust covering the mantle piece and windowsills. She and James had talked about creating a nursery here at the big house as well as their home back in London. James liked the room at the back of the house best but Ali preferred this one. As she moved towards the window, her eyes fixed on the sea way out into the distance. She liked that the room was bright and sunny and it made her smile to imagine the child standing at the window with the sun on their face watching the world go by. As she watched the expanse of water in the far distance, Ali could make out the small shapes of the boats leaving and returning to the docks. 

Her heart sank.

Every day news came in about the many men stranded on Dunkirk beach and every day she thanked God that no word of Jack had been heard. She took that as a positive sign, no news was good news. She had not seen or heard from him for two months, not since that day back at Uxbridge Base when she had seem him with her. Ali had tried to erase him from her thoughts but with the horrors occurring over the Channel and the baby growing in her stomach, her longing to see his face grew stronger by the minute. She didn't even know where to start, she didn't know where he was or how to reach him but the thought had been gnawing away at her for a while now. She had to see him again...she had to.

Before she knew it she was hurrying down the wide staircase and sliding into the front seat of the car. James had been teaching her to drive these past weeks and she had grown quite adept in the skill, even if she was poor at parking and reversing. Ali started the engine and stepped her foot on the pedal, lurching the car forward with a sudden jolt. The car juttered a few times before settling down and creeping slowly down the lane. 

The drive seemed to take forever, Ali spent the entire journey pressed close to the steering wheel, her eyes fixed un-moving on the road ahead of her. Finally she had arrived and with a loud bump onto the pavement and the scraping of tyres, she parked the car and hurried to the dock front.

As she stepped down onto the wooden dock the strong ocean breeze whipped at her cream knee length dress. Over the top of her dress she was wearing a red woollen cardigan that she hugged to her as she made her way to the end of the boardwalk. From the corner of her eye she recognised Jim Dawson and his son Peter unloading items from their boat Moonstone. 

"Morning Ali," Peter chirped as he stepped off the boat carrying a stack of dinner plates.

"Peter," Ali smiled back "What's going on?"

 "Navy's requisitioned her. There's some men across the Channel, at Dunkirk, need taking off," he says then points to the dock "They've told us to strip her and load those life jackets,"

Ali's eyes widen as she looks up and down along the dock at the pile of hundreds of life jackets before her "Some men?"

Peter smiles sadly "Navy'll be back in an hour, but dad wants to be ready before then," 

Ali nods before bending down and gathering an armful of orange life jackets.

"You don't have to do that," Peter says alarmed "In your condition I mean," he adds sympathetically.

Ali rolls her eyes "I'm pregnant Peter, not an invalid," she moves past him and steps up onto the Moonstone before heading below deck to stow the life jackets away.

Ali, Peter and Mr Dawson move quickly to strip the boat bare and stock up on as many life jackets and blankets as possible. Mr Dawson digs out his old maps and lies them on the table, browsing them quickly before his eyes dart towards the front window. The navy are back and naval officers and sailors are being assigned boats to sail over to France. Mr Dawson rolls the map away as he pushes hastily past Ali.

"Ready on the stern line!" he calls. 

Ali steps off the boat and begins to untie the stern line. She wraps it around her hands before looking back down the dock then back to Mr Dawson "Aren't you waiting for the navy?"

Mr Dawson starts the boat engine and with a low roar the Moonstone comes to life.

"They've asked for the Moonstone, they'll have her. With her captain," Mr Dawson announces.

"And his son!" Peter jumps down onto the deck clutching the bow line.

Ali watches as the boat slowly starts to pull away from the dock. Her eyes flit between the boat and the approaching naval officers, she bites her lip deep in thought.

"Thanks for the help, Ali," Peter says.

At that moment Ali leaps from the dock and jumps down onto the boat deck. Peter's eyes widen in surprise "What? What are you doing? You do know where we're going?" 

Ali perches herself on the boats edge and looks up at Peter who is staring down at her in disbelief "France," she nods back.

"Into war, Ali!" Mr Dawson exclaims "It's no place for a woman, a pregnant one at that!"

Ali looks back at the dock as the boat slowly moves away. The naval officers watch surprised as the boat leaves without them. Ali turns back to face Mr Dawson and clears her throat "I'll be useful sir," 

Mr Dawson hesitates for a few quick moments before heading back inside and pushing the throttle forward. The engine hums louder and they motor out of the harbour and into the English Channel...

A/N: Sorry for the slow update I know where I'm taking this story but I needed several filler chapters to finally get to the good stuff. So much drama ahead!! Finally feel like I'm getting there!! Thank you for all of your reads 4.5k now, wooo!! I love all your vote ups and comments, they keep me going, thank you!!!!!                 R.