Cape Breton's Magazine

she knew that she was worried about some? one, but she said, "I think it is your hus? band." Frances said, "Yes." She said, "Well, you don't have to worry, he's trying to get word to you. He's within four walls." Shortly after that she got word that he was in a stalag. At the time I was going with a boy from Crathorne then. That same gypsy lady told me at that time, that we were going to break up. She said you're going to cross water, and you're going to take two children with you. I didn't even know Don existed then. Didn't I later cross water, and I brought two children with me. Wasn't that strange? She was so good at reading the cards and the crystal ball.... We had air-raid shelters all around, sirens would go off, but not too many went into them. They'd be too curious watching the dogfights in the air--the Germans and the English fighting. Then we had those big barrage balloons that were filled with gas: they were to catch the Germans when they came in. Great big ones. The planes would run into them and they'd explode. They were all over, those things up in the air. Mostly all around in England, it was the women that were on the guns; it wasn't the men that de? fended. The men were at war, except those who couldn't go. It was women on the ack-ack guns that brought them planes down. Real fighters, some of them, I'm telling you.... Leather Works by John C. Roberts Bags Buckets Visit Worlcshop and Store at • INDIAN BROOK • CAPE BRETON ISLAND BOC IHO On Cabot Trail between Baddecl< & Ingonish DAILY 9-5 SUNDAY 10-5 (May thru Oct]! Telephone (902) 929-2414 I wasn't to too many dances. We were in a club, a girls' club, and we used to take the army or air- force boys; they would have no place to go, and we'd take them to this club, and we'd have dances there. Everything was blacked out, there were no lights inside, but it was some place for them to go. I used to go to dances in Cra? thorne, all fox trots, quick steps, slow fox trots, and all modern-day dancing. They would have nice bands, with trumpets and everything else. We weren't going with any of them, they were just boys who were lost and didn't know what to do, so we'd take them to the club. Then we'd have tea and cookies, and then they'd go and we would go to our places. We kept them from being drunk in all those queer places because we never used to drink then; we weren't into that. Later on I met your Papa (Alma is telling Leonard about Donald Johnny Mur? dock MacDonald) at a dance in Hutton Rud- by, half cut. (Laughter.) Next time we met he didn't know who I was, whether I was Bessy or whether I was Alma. That's how I met him. We were all friends, the guys that were with him, and all the girls I was going around with. He learned to dance there, but he preferred the dancing over here in Cape Breton. We went out for a while, decided to get married, and we had a nice wedding at St. Mary's Catholic Chapel in Crathorne. We were married February 19, 1944. I turned Catholic, my family was Protestant. My sis? ter wouldn't speak to us for quite a while. (Laughter.) No, no, no. Wouldn't have any? thing to do with us. She got over that. How did my father put it--he said, "Well, lass, thou old enough to know your own mind. You mack your bed, and you lie in it." (Laugh? ter.) That was my father's reaction. My fa? ther said that he didn't like to see us go? ing (to Canada), but I had a good man, and two children. He loved Elizabeth and John. When the war was over, it wasn't until a few months later that I came over. Don was home by that time. We had to wait to get our passages from the government; then when you got that you had to move quick, you know. We went down to London, stayed ' Sail aboard the ' PUFFIN ./'. BOAT m l TOURS >HK CHOICE OF 2 CRUISES of one of th? most beautiful coastlines in Cape Breton: Historical St. Ann's HARBOUR CRUISE Bird Island ECO TOUR COAST GUARD CERTIFIED • FULL PASSENGER LIABILITY • BAR & CANTEEN • RESERVATIGNS'INFO (902) 929-2563 TOLL FREE 1-877-A-PUFFIN (1-877-278-3346) ?? Box 33, Englishtown, NS BOC IHO ?? PIPER'S TRAILER COURT Featuring: Fully Licensed Dining Room Laundromat Mini-Mart Ocean-Side Campsites Swimming Pool 929-2233 929-2067 Indian Brook on the Cabot Trail (Halfway between Baddeck and Ingonish) From either direction on the Cabot Trail, plan for comfort and welcome Piper's Old Manse GUEST HOUSE with Bed and Breakfast , OPEN YEAR ROUND , . St, Ann's Bay, the Gem of Victoria County!