NELLIE STROLLED THROUGH Palmerston Park. She could see circles of snowdrops under the trees and the first tips of spring crocuses were beginning to push through the ground. As a child she had always considered this park an escape from home, a place where, undetected, she could climb trees and make secret hideouts and play games away from the watchful gaze of Mother and her nanny.
‘That’s where we used to play Robin Hood,’ a voice interrupted her thoughts. ‘And you made a bow and arrow.’
She turned around, recognizing the voice of Harry Johnson, her childhood friend. His parents lived close by and he and his brothers and sisters had always been regular visitors to their home.
‘And this was our Sherwood Forest,’ she laughed. ‘Though it looks a bit small now.’
‘Nellie, how are you?’ He smiled as he joined her. ‘I haven’t seen you for an age. I heard you were working down the country.’
‘I was, but for the past year I’ve been back in Dublin, doing some work for the union in Liberty Hall.’
‘Larkin’s lot!’ She caught a look of puzzlement passing over his open, freckled face.
‘I teach cookery and, believe it or not, recently I’ve started to give dance lessons to the union members.’
‘I could do with them,’ he admitted sheepishly. ‘I’m not much of a dancer.’
‘What about you?’
‘I’ve just finished working in the old man’s insurance company and am shipping out with my regiment on Monday.’
‘Oh Harry – don’t tell me you’ve joined up!’ Nellie could not hide her dismay.
‘I’m with the Dublin Fusiliers along with three pals from my rowing club,’ he said proudly. ‘We are all in it together.’
‘Where are they sending you?’
‘Salisbury for training and then on to France, but my friend George thinks it’s likely we’ll be sent straight to the front line as they are desperately short of men.’
Nellie studied the flowerbeds, not trusting herself to speak.
‘Why did you enlist?’
‘Duty, I suppose … It seemed the right thing to do,’ he answered softly. ‘I’m not much good to anyone just sitting at a desk in an office working out quotes and rates. Robert is already out there in Belgium and Father thought it might be a good idea for me to join up too for a few mm-months.’
She noticed his very slight stammer. When he was younger Harry had been plagued with it, teased by his schoolfriends and, worse still, by some of his siblings. She remembered one time Mother had invited him and his sister and brother to a party in the house and one of the other neighbours’ boys had started to taunt him as they played out in the garden.
‘H-Haarry, Hhh-harry …’
She could still see his face and that sad look in his eyes, and she remembered feeling outrage and turning on the other boy, chasing him and punching him for being mean. Harry had shyly thanked her at the end of the party when he was leaving.
‘Harry, promise me that you will take care of yourself over there,’ she blurted out.
‘Of course I will, Nellie.’ He shrugged, embarrassed. ‘I’ll be like Houdini and get out of anything!’
‘I just wish that you weren’t going …’
‘I’ll be home before anyone misses me.’ He gave a hollow laugh.
‘I’ll miss you,’ she said, realizing that she meant it. She had always liked him. She found Harry easy to converse with, with his unassuming manner and tall, gangly frame and sandy-coloured hair and freckles. Any time she met him it was as if the years fell away and the friendship between them remained.
‘Nellie, would it be all right if I wrote to you sometimes?’ he asked shyly. ‘All the fellows have someone to write to and I …’
His mother, Georgina, had died of tuberculosis three years ago and his father had always been a rather gruff, distant type of man.
‘Of course, and I promise to write back to you with news too.’
‘Perhaps we can have tea or go for ddd-dinner when I return?’ he suggested, suddenly nervous.
‘I’ll look forward to it,’ she smiled as they shook hands and parted. Harry walked briskly out of the park to the tram stop.
Walking back home, Nellie realized that she was looking forward to sharing a meal with him, rekindling their friendship. She wished that she had not been so stupidly formal and had at least given Harry a hug to wish him well …