The Maitland family were seated round the table in the Great Hall finishing dinner.
‘So, did Jake say how Harry is?’ Edwin asked.
‘Recovering slowly,’ Robert said. ‘But it’s going to take a while.’
‘As soon as he’s fit to be moved, we’ll see what we can do about getting him brought to Lincoln,’ Edwin said. ‘If the RAF will agree, of course. He’ll still be their responsibility. But it would be so much easier for his family and friends. Poor Milly must feel her apartment has become a hotel.’
‘Don’t worry about Milly,’ Henrietta said. ‘I get the impression she’s loving it. Oh, not poor Harry being hurt, of course, but to feel she’s helping. She loves company and I expect she’ll persuade Peggy to stay for as long as she wants. Bess and Clara will look after Sam whilst she’s away.’
Edwin’s eyes twinkled as he regarded his wife. ‘And no doubt, Hetty, my love, you’ll be asking if there’s anything you can do to help.’
Henrietta smiled at him. ‘No doubt I will, Edwin.’
It was several weeks before the doctors deemed Harry fit enough to be moved north. He had had a steady stream of visitors. His mother went every day, often accompanied by Milly. Daisy, Luke, Johnny, Gill, Pips and even Mitch visited him whenever they could. But to everyone’s surprise there were no pretty girls queueing along the corridors of the Royal Berkshire to visit the handsome hero, nor any pink, perfumed letters arriving for him. There were only letters from home and one, twice a week, from Kitty. ‘A chap whose face is scarred for life and who can no longer take them wining, dining and dancing is not much of a catch,’ Harry said philosophically, but strangely there was no bitterness in his tone.
‘Kitty will never desert you.’
‘Ah yes. The ever-faithful little Kitty.’ He frowned lopsidedly. ‘Tell me, Mam, did I dream it or did she come to visit me? Those early days are all a bit hazy.’
‘She did. Mrs Maitland arranged for Jake to bring her and they stayed with Milly.’
‘Good old Aunty Milly. She’s a brick, isn’t she?’ There was a pause before he said, ‘Well, Mam, I have some news. Kitty will soon be able to visit me again. The doctors have said I can be moved to Lincoln hospital. They’ve been in touch with them and they have a bed there for me. I’ll be there in time for Christmas.’
The stitches had been taken out after two weeks and Harry had improved rapidly after that. After a month, at the end of October, he could lever himself out of bed and into a wheelchair. And now, six weeks later, even the bandages had been removed and the surgeon had agreed he was well enough to be moved nearer his family.
‘They will help in his recovery now, almost as much as nursing care,’ he’d remarked. And the RAF had agreed to his removal to Lincoln hospital; it was near where he was based anyway.
‘Oh Harry,’ Peggy said, tears of thankfulness glistening in her eyes. ‘That’s wonderful.’
‘Of course, I expect I’ll have to come back down here when my stump has healed well enough to have a leg fitted, but in the meantime, at least I’ll be nearer you all and then soon, I hope, they’ll let me come home, though I’ll be on crutches for a while.’
‘We’ll manage,’ Peggy said happily. ‘You’re alive and you’ll be out of the war.’
‘For a while – yes, but don’t forget I’m still officially in the RAF.’
Peggy’s face was a picture. ‘But – but surely you can’t fly again.’
Harry grinned, unable to stop himself teasing her. ‘Well, as everyone has been reminding me, look at Douglas Bader – and I’ve only lost one leg.’
Harry was back on home turf just before Christmas and much of the festivities for the Nuttall family took place in his ward in Lincoln hospital. Now, he had a steady stream of visitors, none more frequent than the faithful Kitty.
‘My four-leafed clover didn’t work, did it?’ she said dismally, when she visited on Boxing Day, Harry’s birthday.
‘’Course it did, Kitty. I’d’ve been a goner if it hadn’t been for that.’
But the girl didn’t seem convinced. He reached for her hand. ‘Don’t you ever think that, you silly goose. Now, tell me who’s coming in later?’
She smiled. ‘All of ’em. The Maitlands – though Miss Pips, Daisy and Luke couldn’t get home for Christmas this year, so they’re not here. All your family, of course, and even Mrs Dawson’s coming, though I don’t know about Mr Dawson. Sister will have a fit, but I don’t think she’ll say too much. Not to a hero.’
Harry had the grace to blush. The previous week he had received the news that he had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal for saving the lives of his crew by flying his Lancaster until they had all bailed out safely and, in so doing, had risked his own life. And even then, he had continued to fly it until he found an open space in which to crash-land, rather than bail out and let it crash into houses. It had been a wonderful piece of news for Bess to impart proudly to the whole village and beyond.
‘Sister won’t mind,’ Harry said now. ‘All the chaps in this ward are walking wounded. We won’t be disturbing anyone who’s seriously ill. Besides, a lot of ’em whose families live a distance away won’t have visitors today. Those who could, came yesterday – so we’ll share mine out.’
Just as Harry had predicted, the four members of the Maitland family arrived mid-afternoon and, when they had greeted Harry and loaded his bed with presents, they moved around the ward to sit with the patients who had no visitors. Bess Cooper held court at his bedside with Norah alongside her.
‘So, Master Robert,’ Harry said, when Robert took his turn beside him. ‘What d’you think’s going to happen this year?’
‘I’m optimistic, Harry. It was in the papers on Christmas Eve that the American, General Eisenhower, has been appointed as Commander of the Allies. They’re planning to get ground troops back onto the mainland of Europe. Montgomery is to be his field commander. But it won’t happen for a few months. There’ll be an awful lot of preparations and, hopefully, without the enemy knowing where the invasion is going to be.’
‘I hope so,’ Harry said quietly. ‘But I should be there. I should be helping them and now I’m going to miss it all.’
‘You’re still in the RAF, so I expect once you’re fit and have an artificial leg, they’ll find you something to do.’
‘But it won’t be flying, will it?’
‘Perhaps not,’ Robert agreed. He was always truthful, even with his own seriously ill patients. ‘No doubt you could leave the RAF, if you wanted. I would give it some serious thought.’
‘I will. Thanks, Master Robert.’
Through the early months of 1944, there was a new feeling of optimism throughout the country and none more so than in Doddington. They read and listened to the news avidly.
‘Have you seen this?’ Robert said to Alice. ‘Hitler has mobilized all children over the age of ten. The man’s a monster.’
‘He certainly is if all the tales about what’s happening to the Jews are to be believed. It’s – it’s – well, to be honest, I can’t think of a word strong enough to describe him and his cohorts.’
‘The sooner we get him stopped, the better,’ Robert said grimly.
British and American troops invaded Italy and RAF bombers dropped thousands of tons of bombs on Berlin. The fightback had begun in earnest; Russia too had a momentous victory taking back Leningrad, which had been under siege for two years. But there was also the Japanese to contend with; an Allied campaign began to turn the tide in Burma.
‘Something’s going to happen before long. The Allies have to get back into Europe,’ Robert said.
Harry had come home in February when the doctors declared that the wound had healed really well. Henrietta was soon planning a celebration.
‘Last Christmas was a bit odd with so many of the families missing and Boxing Day spent with Harry in hospital. Let’s have our traditional party at Easter instead.’
‘I wouldn’t bank on the others being able to get home then either, Mother,’ Robert warned her against disappointment, but Henrietta waved away his worries.
‘We’ll make the most of whoever can come.’
The week before the planned party, Pips telephoned the hall. ‘Mother, would you mind if Mitch came to us for Easter? Johnny can’t get leave, so Mitch is going to be on his own.’
‘Of course, Philippa. He’ll be very welcome.’
Henrietta was smiling smugly as she replaced the receiver.
She had planned the party for lunchtime on Easter Sunday as if it were Boxing Day and had asked all the usual people.
‘They can all walk across when they come out of church,’ she said.
Daisy, Pips and Mitch arrived on the evening of Good Friday. Luke, like Johnny, could not get leave.
‘Pips, have you got a moment?’ Robert said the following morning.
‘Of course.’
‘Let’s go into my surgery. I want to talk to you about Harry.’
‘Oh, right. What is it?’ she asked as they sat down.
Robert frowned. ‘Conrad tells me his wound has now healed well enough for him to be fitted with an artificial leg, but nothing seems to be happening.’
‘Where will he have to go?’
‘Roehampton, I think.’
‘In London?’
Robert nodded. ‘I think the RAF will sort it all out, so I understand, but it seems that it is Harry himself who is putting it off.’
‘Ah,’ Pips said with feeling. Then, with a chuckle, she added, ‘Being too well looked after by his mother, I shouldn’t wonder. Right, I’ll see him before I go back, but after tomorrow’s party. I wouldn’t want to spoil that by getting a little – um – firm with him.’
Now it was Robert who chuckled.