‘Pips? Pips! Where are you?’
Alice’s voice was frantic. Pips finished the dressing on a soldier’s arm and turned to see Alice weaving her way between the stretchers on the ground, their occupants still awaiting attention. The unit was overwhelmed with casualties and soon there would be even more; Robert would do what he could in the trenches but he would send the casualties back to the unit as soon as possible.
‘Pips – come quickly. William has come back alone. Robert’s been hit – wounded. Shot by a sniper. We have to go back with William to get him. He couldn’t manage to carry him on his own and there are so many wounded out there . . .’ Alice’s voice faded away and she shook her head, unable to comprehend what was happening. It was all a terrible nightmare.
‘Oh no,’ Pips breathed. ‘Is it – is it bad?’
Alice bit her lip and nodded. ‘His arm – his right arm, Pips. William said it’s – it’s hanging off. That’s why he couldn’t pick him up and carry him on his back, else he would have done.’
Pips closed her eyes as her heart thudded painfully. For a moment, she felt she would faint but then she pulled in a deep breath. Robert! She must think of Robert. No time for the vapours. Her brother needed help.
‘We’ll go with William. Tell Leonore and – and Giles. He ought to know.’
As Pips sought her medical satchel and swiftly told Brigitta what had happened, Giles appeared. ‘I’ll go with Alice, Pips,’ he said. ‘You stay here.’
Pips shook her head. ‘No,’ she said hoarsely. ‘I need to go. Please – don’t try to stop me.’
‘Then we’ll all go. William can take Alice to attend to other wounded. We’ll bring Robert in.’
‘There isn’t another vehicle. They’re all ferrying the wounded back.’
‘Then we’ll take the car. You brought that back, didn’t you? We’ll manage something, but we must get him attended to as quickly as possible by the sounds of it. Come on, let’s go.’
In that moment, Pips believed she had never loved Giles more than when he was willing to go out into danger to save her beloved brother.
Alice climbed into the ambulance beside William, and Giles, driving Dr Maitland’s car, followed him with Pips.
The sound of shelling and gunfire grew louder as they neared the front line.
‘I didn’t realize it had started up again. It was all so quiet when I was here. Both sides were retrieving their wounded,’ William said.
Leaving the vehicles, the four of them entered the trench system, hurrying through the channels, twisting and turning until they reached the very front line.
‘Keep yer ’eads down,’ a soldier, appearing from a dugout, yelled at them. ‘God Almighty – it’s a couple of nurses. Wot you doin’ here?’
‘We’ve come to fetch a casualty,’ Pips said. ‘Dr Maitland. William . . .’ She turned back to him. ‘Where is he?’
‘Out there, Pips. Up this ladder and just the other side of the barbed wire. There’s a hole been cut. We can get through all right,’ William said.
‘You’re going nowhere, sunshine. Can’t you hear? There’s a war going on. My captain’d have my guts for garters if I let you go over the top.’
‘Sorry, sergeant,’ Pips said, catching sight of the grubby insignia on his arm, ‘but your captain isn’t my captain and he can’t stop us.’
‘Well, I think he could, but he probably won’t, seein’ as you’re rescuing our lads. I don’t give much for your chances out there, though, but just so long as you know what you’re doing, that’s all.’ He nodded grimly. ‘Good luck – you’re going to need it.’
William was first up the ladder leading the way. ‘Keep as low as you can. Crawl, if you have to. That way, you’re not such a target for snipers.’
One by one they climbed the ladder and, following in the steps of thousands of their countrymen, they went over the top of the trench side and crawled towards the barbed wire. Briefly, the shelling seemed to have stopped, but there was still the danger of snipers watching out for any movement that they could aim at. Now a pall of smoke drifted over the ground between the opposing trenches, hiding them briefly from the enemy.
‘Oh my God – that’s not gas, is it?’ Pips muttered.
‘Don’t think so,’ William panted, dragging a stretcher after him. ‘Keep going. We’re nearly there.’
Reaching the barbed wire, William parted the vicious fencing for them to pass through without getting torn to shreds. ‘About another ten yards and to the left of here. I left him in a shell hole.’
They stumbled in the direction William indicated, still keeping as low as they could. All around them they could hear the cries of wounded men, shouting for help. It tore at Pips’s heart.
After only a couple of minutes, William said, ‘This is it,’ and Pips slithered down the side of the hole and landed beside Robert. He was lying on his back, his eyes closed, his face deathly pale. For a moment, Pips thought they were too late, but, as Giles arrived on his other side, she saw Robert’s eyelids flicker.
‘Robert, old chap, we’re here,’ Giles said. Quickly, he assessed the situation. William had fastened a tourniquet near Robert’s shoulder, but his arm was hanging loosely beside him, scarcely still attached. It was clear that there was no saving the limb.
Giles loosened the tourniquet, allowing the blood to flow freely before reapplying it. ‘We need to get him out of here.’ But as he spoke a shell landed only a few feet away, scattering earth over them all.
‘Pips, take off your headgear and wave it above the side of the shell hole. Maybe – just maybe – they’ll respect it.’
‘They’ll think we’re surrendering, won’t they?’
Grimly, Giles said, ‘We are – for the moment.’
William, crouching in the bottom of the pit with Alice beside him, said, ‘They’re usually pretty good at respecting the stretcher bearers.’ He smiled wryly. ‘Else I doubt I’d still be here. We do the same for them when we know they’re picking up their wounded and dead.’
‘Right, I’ll give it a try,’ Pips said, putting her hands up to her head to remove her nurse’s cap. But before she could do so, Alice had whipped her own from her head and said, ‘Let me.’ And she began to scramble up the side of the hole.
‘Alice – Alice . . .’ The word was a whisper from Robert’s cracked lips, but the girl heard him and turned briefly, her eyes wide. ‘Be – be careful,’ he whispered, but then his eyes closed again and he lost consciousness. Pausing only a second, Alice stared at him, but then she scrabbled her way to the top and waved her white nurse’s cap.
After a moment, they heard a voice shout loudly in German and Alice ducked her head before sliding back down. ‘What’s he saying?’
Scarcely able to believe it, Pips murmured, ‘“Hold your fire”. That’s what he said.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘She’s right, Alice,’ William said.
His sister stared at him. ‘And when did you learn to speak German?’
‘Since I’ve been out here – the important bits, that is.’ Despite the seriousness of their situation, he grinned sheepishly, ‘Brigitta’s been teaching me.’
‘Right, let’s give it a try.’
It wasn’t easy getting the dead weight of the unconscious man out of the shell hole, across the brief stretch of ground, through the barbed wire and into their own trenches. It took the strength of all four of them to manage it. And even carrying him through the narrow passageways was difficult. How on earth did William do this? Pips was in awe not only of the young man’s courage, but at his tenacity in doing such a perilous task day after day. And, she marvelled, never a word of complaint passed his lips.
Once back at the vehicles, they manoeuvred Robert onto the back seat of his father’s car.
‘I’ll drive,’ Pips said, ‘you sit in the back with him, Giles.’
‘Alice, I need you to stay with me,’ William said. ‘There are no other stretcher bearers available and you’ve seen for yourself just how many wounded are still out there.’
‘But I . . .’ Alice began, but then bit her lip. Her gaze was still on Robert, but bravely she nodded and stepped back as Pips climbed behind the wheel. William started the engine for her and then, with a brief wave, Pips turned the car round and drove away, aware that Alice was standing very still watching them go.
As they left, the shelling began again.