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silk; Mrs Broadstairs wouldn’t have minded betting that they’d probably cost more than the girl would earn in a whole month here. Still, there was a war on and everyone was having to make sacrifices, so why should this young woman be exempted?
    ‘For now you will both work on whichever floor you are needed on, on any particular day,’ the woman continued. ‘It could be that one day you may find yourselves in the shoe department and the next on lingerie or wherever. Sadly, many of our gentlemen employees have gone to join the war, so we have to do our best to keep the shop running efficiently whichever way we can. Working in different departments will also give you a wider knowledge of the way the store is run. As I have explained, for the first few weeks you will probably do the more menial jobs, but when the floor managers feel that your skills are sufficiently developed, you will be allowed to start to serve the customers.’
    Mrs Broadstairs was quick to note that Annabelle was looking gloomier by the minute, although Lucy appeared quite happy with the arrangement. ‘Come along then, girls,’ she told them. ‘Before you begin work I will give you a brief tour of the store and introduce you to the various floor managers. Follow me.’
    Patting her hair, which was so thick with setting lotion that it looked as if it wouldn’t budge even in a gale-force wind, the woman turned about, heading for the lift that ran from the ground floor to the very top of the store. The lift stopped at each floor and in no time at all both girls were wondering how they were ever going to find their way about. The shop was enormous and there was so much to remember. But eventually, Mrs Broadstairs stopped in the men’s department and told Lucy, ‘This is where you will be working for today. Mr O’Dell is the floor manager and I’ve no doubt he will find you plenty to do.’
    Lucy looked over to see an elderly man coming towards them with a broad smile on his face and she thought perhaps things wouldn’t be so bad, after all. He looked nice enough.
    ‘Hello, my dear,’ he greeted her. ‘Mrs Broadstairs informed me that I would be having a temporary new assistant today, and I must say I was glad of the fact. We are seriously short-staffed at present with all our young men disappearing. But there we are, we shall just have to make the best of things, won’t we, and pray that the war will soon be over.’
    Lucy warmed to him immediately. He looked like everyone’s favourite grandad although he was very smartly turned out in a dark grey suit, a crisp white shirt and a pale blue tie. He was slightly shorter than her and plump, with wispy grey hair and startlingly blue eyes.
    ‘So come along then,’ he said pleasantly.’ I’ll show you where everything is so that you can get your bearings. Over on this side are the suits, and over there are the shirts and ties . . .’
    Seeing that Lucy was now safely in her colleague’s capable hands, Mrs Broadstairs turned back towards the lift, abruptly telling Annabelle, ‘Right, we’ll go and get you settled now. You will be working in the lingerie department for the rest of this week.’
    Mrs Broadstairs was experienced enough to know that Annabelle would be perfectly suited to this department. Women who shopped there were usually looking to be a little extravagant and they liked to be surrounded by young attractive women, so Annabelle would certainly fit the bill.
    Once in the lingerie department they were met by Miss Williams who, along with Miss Norton, had that particular department running like clockwork. Tall and slim, she looked to be in her late thirties and was known for being fairly strict with her staff. As she was keen on telling them, ‘There is a place for everything and everything has its place.’
    She was exactly as Annabelle had imagined a spinster to be – tall and thin with a nose so sharp it could have cut butter, and she was impeccably dressed in a smart two-piece