Summer of Fire (Seagrove & Raven #1)

Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

J ersey, Channel Islands, 1939

Lizzie Beaumont sat in her favourite window seat in the drawing room at Seagrove.

A book nestled on her lap as she gazed out over Portelet Bay, mesmerised. The orange sun had sunk low in the pink sky and the rippling incoming tide had already cut the Martello Tower off from the shore.

Foamy waves crashed on the rocks and consumed the beach until no more golden sand was visible. The beauty of it soothed Lizzie’s soul, and she lay her book to one side and let her eyes close for a few blissful minutes. As she drifted off to the sound of the waves through the open window, a loud thud roused her.

In the same room, Rose Beaumont, Lizzie’s mother, raised her head from the letter she was writing. A radiant smile curved her lips as her husband entered the room .

When she noticed the grave expression on his face, her smile faltered, and her gaze fell to the official-looking envelope he clutched in one hand.

The islanders had been dreading what would happen next, ever since Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain broke the news on the wireless that Hitler had refused to meet Britain’s demands to withdraw from Poland. They were now officially at war with Germany, and all attempts to avoid the conflict had floundered.

Rose joined her husband on the sofa; her legs crossed neatly beneath her tailored skirt.

‘What is that, Reg?’ she asked, pointing to the envelope.

Reginald reached for her hand and held it lightly. ‘I’m afraid it’s what we expected, my love. The War Office has summoned me. I leave by boat first thing in the morning.’

‘But it’s so sudden. Must you really go immediately?’

Lizzie unfurled herself from the window seat and walked over to her parents. ‘You mean you’re moving to London, Pa?’

He nodded. ‘I hate to leave you all, but yes, I must—at least for a while. The situation is much grimmer than any of us imagined. If things continue to deteriorate at this speed, you will all have to join me in London soon. I will get set up first and send for you if necessary. The letter says they have allocated us a house in Regent’s Park.’

‘I can’t believe we’re actually at war with Germany again,’ Rose said. ‘I really thought all that horror was behind us.’

Reginald grimaced. ‘We all did, but we can’t sit back and let Hitler and his thugs waltz through Europe. The Nazis will goose-step along The Mall and straight into Buckingham Palace if we’re not careful.’

‘But what about Jersey?’ Lizzie said.

‘What about it?’

‘Surely, the Nazis won’t bother us here. We can stay on the island, and you can come home as soon as the war is over.’

Reginald patted his daughter’s shoulder. The deep grooves on his forehead spoke louder than any words. ‘Let us hope that’s the case, my dear girl. We’ll have our work cut out convincing your grandparents to come with us to London, that’s for sure.’

‘I don’t think it will come to that,’ Rose said. She moved to the large bay window as day merged seamlessly into night. ‘Your parents stayed here during the Great War. There’s no reason it should be any different this time.’

‘I’d better go and break the news to them about my leaving tomorrow.’

‘Well, in the worst-case scenario, like you say, we’ll just have to move to London with you, like last time. It wasn’t all bad, remember? Archie and Juliet were born in London, after all. And Regent’s Park is rather nice, as I recall.’

‘Indeed. We need your optimism now more than ever, my love.’ He kissed his wife on the cheek before leaving Lizzie and Rose alone again.

‘I don’t understand why we would have to move to London too,’ Lizzie said.

Rose sighed. ‘We probably won’t. They say the Maginot Line will stop the Germans from invading France. I doubt the Nazis would have much use for the Channel Islands, but if your father has to stay in London for the foreseeable future, he will want us to join him. It would be lonely for him there without us.’

Lizzie frowned. ‘We don’t know anyone there. And what about Nan and Pops? We can’t just abandon them. Pa is right when he says they won’t want to come with us. You know what they’re like.’

‘No need to worry about it now, darling. Let’s see what happens in the next few weeks,’ Rose said with a cheerful air she didn’t feel.

‘I’m going to find the others,’ Lizzie said. ‘Archie can’t wait to sign up, so I don’t suppose he’ll mind leaving for London, but I doubt Juliet and Evie will be keen.’

The door swung closed behind Lizzie as she went to break the news to her sisters, all thoughts of finishing her book forgotten.

The next morning, the family bid farewell to Reginald at the harbour. He was stoic, but when Lizzie hugged him, she saw the deep sadness in his eyes.

A hurriedly packed small brown suitcase was all he was taking on the boat.

Lizzie’s heart shifted painfully. ‘Take care, Pa,’ she whispered, her face buried in his jacket. The tears welled in her eyes and rolled onto her cheeks.

He hugged her and stroked her hair. ‘Look after yourself, dear Lizzie. And please keep an eye on your mother.’

Rose’s eyes were wet as she waved goodbye to her husband long after the ship was merely a distant shape bobbing around like a toy on the Channel. None of them were in any rush to leave the harbour—going home without Pa made the war seem all too real.

‘It’ll be me leaving next,’ said Archie, his deep voice resolute.

Rose looked at her son, her face stricken no matter how she tried to hide her distress. ‘But you don’t have to go—not yet anyway. Pa said you won’t be conscripted as long as we’re in Jersey.’

‘All the more reason to stay then,’ Lizzie said.

The three sisters huddled in a circle, comforting one another.

Rose linked her arm through Archie’s, holding onto him as though she might physically stop him from leaving .

‘That may well be the case, but I’m of fighting age. I must volunteer, or I won’t be able to live with myself. My friends from Oxford have joined up, and some are already on their way to France.’

Lizzie watched her mother’s complexion turn ashen. Fear clutched at her as she thought of her family separated for the first time and her brother fighting in a brutal, bloody war. She still hoped it would all blow over and they could get back to normal life instead of hovering around the wireless, listening for the latest war reports every evening.

The morning sun was shrouded in cloud and gave off no heat. With Pa’s boat no longer in sight, Lizzie shivered as the chilly wind whipped off the sea. ‘Let’s go home now,’ she said.

Archie made for the driver’s seat, but Juliet claimed the spot with a triumphant squeal and fired up the engine. The others piled into the back and Juliet, who for a young woman had what Rose considered a most unhealthy fascination with cars, drove them back to Seagrove at breakneck speed.

Rose closed her eyes intermittently after Juliet refused to slow down and when Lizzie noticed how petrified her mother looked, it shattered her sombre mood and made her laugh.

‘It’s alright, Ma,’ she said and tucked her arm in hers.

Archie stared out to sea as they raced along the coastal road. He turned to face them and said, ‘Women are doing men’s jobs now on the mainland. It’s a shame none of you trained in the law or you could take over the family office. As it is, we’ll have to close it down when I leave. How will you manage, Ma?’

‘Your father says we can get by with the office closed for a while. But if things don’t resolve themselves soon, that will be another reason for us to join him in London.’

Lizzie slumped in the back of the car, her head resting on her mother’s shoulder. She adored her idyllic life in Jersey. In the summer months, she swam most days from the slip near Seagrove, and lay on the sand reading.

Images of her childhood school holidays, running on the beach with her sisters and French cousins swirled through her mind. They clambered over the rocks, playing hide and seek when the tide was out, drying off in the warm sunshine, and eating delicious picnics.

Lizzie was all grown up now, or so her mother kept telling her. She didn’t have a job like some of her friends, but there was never a dull moment.

Once a week, she cycled into St. Helier to do errands for the family, and the trip filled the best part of the day. Sometimes she would visit her father and brother at the office before cycling home.

Lizzie knew nothing of big city life. How on earth would an island girl fill her days in wartime London?