The Chateau Bartou in Elne was a hive of activity. Walls needed new plaster, pleas for hospital beds to arrive on time went unheeded, extra linen and equipment had to be found from somewhere and the whole place was still covered in dust. No one was spared in the rush to open the doors of the maternity hospital. Elisabeth Eidenbenz had set aside a bright and sunny room as a special labour suite. There was a bathroom and laundry store. Mothers were still arriving daily from the camps and they would need de-lousing and fresh clothes.
There was no time for Flora to think of Kit, except at night when she tried to reason with herself and mull over what might have been. On the day of Maudie’s departure, they said a tearful goodbye on the platform, and Flora gave her chum letters for her father and Vera, wondering all the time if it was sensible to stay on. Maudie made things worse by humming an old song through the carriage window:
I’m no awa’ to bide awa’…
I’m no awa’ tae leave you.
I’m no awa’ to bide awa’,
I’ll aye came back tae see you…
At last, the day came for the big move into the shiny new premises. It was exciting to see it filled with babies and mothers. Perhaps when the New Year came around, Flora herself would depart, leaving the bitterness she still felt behind her.
Sometimes, when they took aid to camps further out in the countryside, it was hard not to look around for Kit. She hated herself for such weakness but a bit of her heart was desperate for an explanation from him. She could collar Frankie Menkel when she saw her, but pride stopped her. In any case, Frankie wasn’t around, busy at the transport department where they were beginning to be short-staffed.
New midwives from Switzerland arrived, leaving volunteers to go out further afield to pick up expectant mothers and bring them back for care. As they feared, most of them were coming from the north, not the south, from Holland and Belgium and elsewhere in Europe, with terrible tales to tell of new laws, requisitions of property and valuables and assaults in the streets. Most wanted to get into Spain and Portugal and onto ships to America. Once again, Pa wrote to Flora begging her to leave, in case the borders closed, and she promised to make suitable arrangements.
One morning in February, when she was collecting yet another group of women from the makeshift medical post, she bumped into Frankie who was hurrying past her, but Flora grabbed her arm. ‘You must come and see the new maternity hospital.’
‘Sorry, been busy.’ Frankie was not meeting her eye.
‘Have I done something wrong?’ Flora was puzzled. Frankie was usually chatty and friendly, but not today. ‘It’s been ages since we met. I thought you might have left.’
‘Americans are neutral and safe here for the moment. It’s you who should be packing up.’
‘All in hand,’ Flora replied, sensing the name Kit hung between them, unspoken. Taking a deep breath she said, ‘Have you seen Kit lately… I mean Chris?’
Frankie looked away. ‘Not recently, he’s been convalescing in the hills and back with the O’ Keeffes now.’
‘Convalescing?’ Flora picked on this word. ‘From what?’
‘Oh, didn’t you know? A bad lung infection. He was in hospital for weeks and up in the hills for fresh air.’
‘When was this?’ Flora felt her heart pounding at this news.
‘About the time war broke out in September.’
‘That’s months ago. Why did no one tell me?’
‘He was too ill for visitors and not up to recriminations. He needs peace and quiet.’
‘I’m a nurse, Frankie, I know what a patient needs; someone could at least have sent me a note,’ she snapped.
‘It’s up to Chris who he contacts and not my business to intervene.’
Flora sensed Frankie was holding something back.
‘A friend would let everyone know about his condition, surely?’ Was this girl anxious to keep her away from Kit? ‘Where is this O’Keeffe place? I must visit him to see things for myself.’
‘In the hills, not easy to find, but I must dash… Better to leave things as they are. I hear you’re leaving soon.’
So that’s your game, Flora thought. ‘So you can have him all to yourself? You could have told me, but you chose not to, am I right?’
‘Think what you like, Mrs Lamont. He’s not been the same since you arrived on the scene. You’re not good for his health…’
‘That’s for me to judge for myself, don’t you think?’
Frankie did not reply, but scurried off leaving Flora shaking. All this time she had imagined he was indifferent to their meeting again, but he’d been seriously ill, thinking it was she who didn’t care. How could she find time to visit him? You always make time for what is important to you, she heard Aunt Mima whisper in her ear.
There was one young man who might just help her but how to find him? He could be anywhere in the area. She could not settle until he was found. Kit had to know she had not ignored his sickness. What if he had died and they’d had no time to make their peace? Nothing and no one was going to stop her from seeing him, face to face, once more.