Jane in the Land Army – 3

As I said, Jane didn’t have or want a boyfriend, but that didn’t mean that she didn’t have a social life. Every weekend, there was a village hop, as they called it, at the local community centre – not sure if that was the pub, village hall or what. I never asked. My dears, if you are lucky enough to have a living generation above you, think about questions you need to have answered! When you lose them, you’ll realise that no one knows the answers to them any more.

They had great fun, they danced and chatted and it was all, as far as Jane was concerned, very innocent, because she didn’t want anything more. She didn’t want to take risks and she wasn’t interested in a romantic relationship at that time. She, Bobby and anyone else at the farm went along on a Saturday night, had great fun and then walked home, chatting and singing. She remembered a particular occasion when the field had just been ploughed and they walked along, one foot on the ridge and one in the furrow, almost helpless with laughter.

A lasting regret, however, was one occasion, much later in the war once the US had joined. A young black soldier asked her to dance and she refused. She felt awfully embarrassed but she knew her reputation would be ruined – all the same, she knew she was wrong at the time and she never stopped regretting it. She wished she’d been braver, it was just a dance and there was nothing more to it.

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