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‘Maggie! Have you seen the Bulletin today?’ Gerry slipped in beside Meg, moved her mug aside and set the newspaper on the table. She stabbed her finger at an article. ‘My God, you were lucky not to be any nearer to that bomb. Look!’
‘Move your finger.’ Meg drew the paper closer and angled it towards the light. As she skimmed the article, her knees ached with remembered pain when she’d slammed into the ground as the bomber overflew them.
Pat rapped on the table. ‘Read it aloud please, Margaret. A few days ago, after the first raid, the paper reported that the enemy planes appeared to be some sort of long distance flying boat. Was this the same? Let’s hear what they have to say about your encounter.’
‘Okay. Let me see—seven bombs landed in Cleveland Bay . . .’ She skimmed further. ‘Oh, this bit refers to the bomb that hit near Oonoonba.’ Leaning an elbow on the table, she read:
The lesson of the Japanese bombing last week was that people must remain in their shelters while enemy aircraft are in the neighbourhood. The only “casualty” to be seen in the Townsville area, after three raids, is a lone coconut tree, which was struck by a flying bomb splinter. Some 14 feet up, the splinter struck the nine-inch diameter trunk a glancing blow, cutting its way through, and the top of the tree promptly toppled over. Near the ground can be seen two marks caused by splinter bits. Twenty yards from the bomb crater two posts in a wire fence, three inches in diameter, were cut off at ground level.
‘They lopped a coconut tree? That’s it?’ Mary shook her head.
‘A bomb splinter lopped the tree and two fence posts this thick—’ Pat held her hands three inches apart and peered through them then circled her fingers around Mary’s upper arm.
Meg stared at Pat’s demonstration. Bomb splinters had sliced through fence posts as thick as an arm. Cut them off at ground level. Near her. If she and Doc had pulled off only a little further down the road . . .
Bile rose in her throat.
‘A bomb splinter could lop off a man’s arm—’ If she and Doc had been closer to the bomb, she might not be here now, or she might be minus a limb or . . . ‘Excuse me.’
She barely made it to the lavatory before she threw up. When the heaving subsided, she sank onto her heels and rested her head in one hand. What was she thinking, remaining up here where flying boats dropped bombs like that? Where a splinter from a bomb could fell a tree as easily as a knife cut through butter.
What sort of mother put her baby in such danger?
‘Maggie?’ Gerry tapped on the door and a moment later, it creaked open and she popped her head around. ‘Are you okay?’ She took one look at Meg’s face and pushed the door wide, dropping onto the floor and grabbing Meg in a tight hug. ‘I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking about how that news story would make you feel. I’m an idiot, a horrible person, I’m—’
‘Not your fault, Gerry.’ Meg sucked in a breath that shuddered through her. ‘It was Pat’s demonstration of the size of the fence posts that made it hit home. We were so lucky to have left the meeting when we did. A few minutes later and we might have been hit like—’ Swallowing down a fresh surge of bile, she breathed through her mouth. ‘Like the palm tree. But we weren’t and I should be focused on that, not how close it could have been.’
She pushed herself up, and, with trembling fingers, wiped moisture from her eyes. ‘I need to rinse my mouth and splash water over my face.’
‘Of course. Will you come back to the mess? Can I get you a cuppa?’
‘I’m fine, honestly. But after that piece of—news—I do want to talk to Doc about how we’re protecting patients who can’t be moved from raids.’
‘And Eva? She’s really not coping.’
Meg just nodded. It was too much effort to explain what had already been decided. Besides, she owed it to Eva to tell her first. ‘I’ll see you on the ward.’
She tapped on the door of Doc’s office, wondering if she should have delayed speaking to him until she had planned her approach.
‘Come in.’ He sounded distracted and when she stopped in the doorway, an untidy pile of mail sat front and centre on his desk. ‘Sister, what can I do for you?’
‘Is this a bad time? I can come back later.’
Doc tunnelled his fingers through his hair, looked at the envelopes then at her. ‘No, now is fine. There’s never a good time in this man’s army.’
‘I have two items to discuss. The first is about Sister Smith. Apparently, she became hysterical during last night’s raid and—’
‘So I heard. I’ve just signed her transfer papers, effective immediately. Will you let her know she’s to be on the fourteen hundred train to Brisbane?’
‘Certainly, Doctor. So, the second item—’
Doc held up a hand and pinned her with a look she interpreted as resigned. ‘You want to know what I’ve decided about your—situation. By rights and all that’s sane and safe, I should have signed your papers and arranged for you to accompany Sister Smith to Brisbane. But I haven’t, and not because we’ll be short-staffed without you but—’
The pause was uncharacteristic for Doc. Self-assured and confident in his decisions, Meg was hard put to remember another time when he had faltered. But the fact he had gave her hope. ‘You aren’t sending me south with Sister Smith because . . .’
‘Because I’m a selfish bast—ahem, a selfish man. I know your situation, but even knowing that, I don’t want you to go. I like you, Margaret—a lot. You’re a damned good nurse too and I’m lucky to have you. I think we might be able to stretch out your time here another month or so. What do you think?’
Was he saying what she thought he was? Understanding that he wanted her to stay because of her nursing skills was one thing, but beyond that, his self-accusation and his ‘I like you a lot’ seemed weightier than the simple statements first appeared. They seemed to support Gerry’s theory that Doc liked her as more than a friend. In which case, wouldn’t it be better for her to leave now? That would be the sensible option, the safe option. She gripped her hands tightly together.
‘I’d be happy to stay for as long as I can do my job properly. As long as you’ll have me. Thank you, Doctor.’
Doc released a soft breath. Had he imagined she would leave before she had secured a seamless transition to Catherine?
He cleared his throat. ‘Good. Well, better get on with—’
‘Doctor, there is the second matter I wanted to raise with you.’
‘I thought your position here was it?’
Meg rolled her lips and shook her head. ‘No. After reading the Bulletin’s account of the raid over Oonoonba and the effect of bomb splinters on local fence posts and vegetation—’ Goodness, she sounded formal, but how else was she to describe it without the urge to throw up again.
‘Ah, the coconut tree, yes?’
‘I was thinking about how to shelter patients who cannot be moved during air raids.’
Doc’s gaze softened and held hers. ‘Of course you were. Margaret, I—’
A quick double tap on the door drew Meg’s attention. Eva stood there, her face pale, her eyes still shooting defiance at Meg.
‘Sister Smith, what is it?’ Doc’s expression morphed into his usual neutral mask. The change was swift and subtle, and Meg couldn’t explain it. It simply happened.
Eva stepped into the room and stood beside Meg. ‘I want to go home. I want to get out of this place—please.’
Doc tapped his fingers on the transfer papers. ‘Already arranged, Sister Smith. Sister Dorset was about to let you know the details. You can go and pack while I finish discussing hospital matters with her.’ Doc handed over the transfer papers and Eva grinned.
‘I’m going today? That’s great, that’s— Thank you.’ Her sullen aggression dropped away making her look younger than she had since her arrival. She all but skipped out of the office.
Meg watched her go. ‘One less task on today’s list, unless I need to arrange her transport to the train?’
Doc sat and pulled a paper from the top of a pile. ‘Already taken care of. But if you have a moment, we haven’t talked about your idea for sheltering patients, and—a heads up—I’ve heard that Currajong is to become 3 Medical Receiving Station. I’m waiting on further details, but it might not happen until after your departure.’
‘What do I need to do in preparation, Dr Ransom?’
‘When I know more, I’ll let you know. But tell me about your idea.’
‘We need to protect patients who can’t be moved to trenches or shelters from bomb splinters . . .’
##
Eva’s departure changed the mood at the nurses’ table and, over dinner, conversation flowed more freely. Meg noted the change and promised herself that on any future wards she took charge of, she would pay closer attention to how nurses worked together.
Catherine seemed a little more relaxed, and Lesley and Janet, who had shared the hut with her and Eva in the months since their transfers in, conversed softly. They looked at Meg, but it was Lesley who asked, ‘Are we getting another nurse to take Eva’s place?’
Meg stirred a little sugar into her tea and set the spoon on the table. ‘Perhaps. I believe there may be changes coming, but no, I don’t have firm information yet. For the time being, you three can spread out and enjoy a little more space.’
‘I wonder if Eva felt any regrets at leaving her Supply Sergeant?’ Trust Gerry to bring up other people’s love lives.
Catherine shook her head. ‘I don’t think so. She gave him a sound telling off for ratting her out. Something about him not supporting her story about their jeep breaking down?’
Gerry leaned across the table. ‘And how do you know that, Sister I-never-listen-to-other-people’s-conversations?’
A frown creased Catherine’s usually serene expression. ‘I wish I hadn’t heard her. I was doing the stock take when she made a call on the extension outside the supply room. Once she started telling him off, I felt I couldn’t make my presence known.’
‘Too right. She’d have had a go at you for eavesdropping, the silly girl.’ Pam tossed off her cup of tea and banged the mug on the table. ‘I don’t think anyone here will really miss her.’
Catherine’s expression looked uncertain. ‘That’s not really fair. I’m sure she had her good points.’
Gerry tut-tutted and shook her head. ‘You’re way too nice, Catherine. If Eva had any, she hid them well. And I won’t miss her trying to go through my belongings.’ Gerry had never warmed to Eva and it seemed to Meg that Eva had been more of a thorn in the side of her nursing mates than she’d known.
‘How do you know that?’
Gerry heaved a sigh. ‘I caught her red-handed one day. She was pawing my red dress and my locker was wide open. When I challenged her about it, she said you’d sent her to our hut to pick up something and she’d opened the wrong locker. As if she couldn’t read our names!’
Janet nodded. ‘Same with me. She said she pulled open my locker by mistake for hers.’
Meg’s thoughts raced through the letters she’d written to Seamus and his, to her. Had she locked them away after every reading? Could Eva have read their loving words and excitement about the baby?
But no, Eva wouldn’t have kept something like that to herself. She’d have found a way to use the information to somehow make life easier for herself. Not for the first time, Meg wondered why Eva had become a nurse. A calling to serve others hadn’t been a hallmark of her time at Currajong, so what had attracted her to nursing?
Shaking her head, Meg could only be grateful that Gerry had caught Eva before she’d caused any mischief. ‘Ladies, if tomorrow proves to be a quiet day, I thought those of us who are off duty might go for a picnic on The Strand. Who’s in?’
##
For a winter day, the weather was warm and inviting, and while Meg didn’t plan on swimming, the thought of paddling in the sea lifted her spirits. Doc had readily agreed to authorise the use of a jeep. ‘An excellent suggestion to keep morale up, Sister. Such a shame I can’t join all of you.’ But his eyes stayed on her face a moment too long. She wondered if his answer would have been the same if she’d invited him to join her alone.
Gerry begged to drive. ‘I’m an excellent driver, Maggie, and I know the shortest way there, and the best spots for swimming.’
Happy to simply be a passenger and enjoy the moment of freedom from duty and responsibility, Meg agreed. In her absence Catherine was in charge. While there was nothing major scheduled, it would be an opportunity for Doc to watch and assess her in the role.
She removed her hat, leaned back, as much as one could in a jeep, and tipped her face to the sky. The air was balmy and pleasantly cool on her skin. Squished into the back seat, Lesley and Janet, and Ria, a nurse from hut three, sang, their voices growing louder as the jeep approached the southern end of Castle Hill. Driving past a truck of Aussie soldiers, they waved at the men.
‘Oi, where are you off to, luv?’
‘The beach!’ Ria yelled back, and Janet let out a loud ‘Wheeeeee!’ that lasted all the way around the dogleg corner on Sturt Road. Ahead of them, Castle Hill loomed redly, its bulk too often blocking cooling sea breezes from Currajong.
St James Cathedral passed on their right as they crested a hill and suddenly, there it was—a vista of sea and palm trees. Across the water rose the bulk of Magnetic Island. Sunlight tipped small waves in diamond bursts of light, and nearer in, dotted amongst the green, it reflected off tin roofs.
‘I wouldn’t mind living in one of these houses,’ Ria said, turning to keep a beautiful wood and stone building in her sight before Gerry turned onto a road that ran along the beach.
‘You seem to know where you’re going, Gerry.’ Meg appreciated the brief reprieve from making decisions. For a few hours, she could forget the war and just have fun in the sun.
‘The supply sergeant told me we should stay at this end of The Strand so we’re out of the way. There’s a rock pool big enough to sit in, he said, but we shouldn’t go further north than Rowes Bay.’
Janet piped in. ‘Aren’t there gun emplacements up at Pallarenda? I shouldn’t think it would be very nice that far up. Bet they’ve got barbed wire and barriers in place. Let’s stay near the rock pool.’
Gerry pulled off the road beneath the shade of a huge Moreton Bay fig tree. She looked at Meg who raised an eyebrow and climbed out. ‘What? The water’s not far and the shade will keep the car and our food cool.’
Meg raised both hands in surrender. ‘Good thinking. You’re in charge of the jeep. Choice of parking is yours to make.’ Grinning, she lifted her arms high and turned a full circle. ‘What a glorious day. Look at the colour of that water, and the red of Castle Hill and the island. It’s shimmering under the sun.’
Gerry stopped beside her, a towel slung around her neck. ‘Yeah, the colours are intense. If I was an artist, I’d like to capture the day on canvas, but seeing all I’ve got is this—’ From behind her back, Gerry produced a Box Brownie camera. ‘I’m going to record our outing for posterity. Sit on that bit of fence all of you and look at me.’
Four nurses perched side by side on the round wooden railing. Janet and Ria put an arm around each other’s neck, and Meg rested both hands beside her.
‘Smile, ladies.’ Gerry peered down into the viewing screen, taking her time. Meg’s cheeks ached with holding a smile, but finally Gerry announced, ‘Got it! One more.’
‘You should be in the next one, Gerry.’ Meg pushed off the fence and held out her hand for the camera. ‘I know what to do. Go take my place.’
Gerry scurried over to the others and leaned in, her arm sliding around Janet’s shoulder before she raised her other arm. ‘Smile, everyone!’
As soon as Meg clicked the shutter, Ria jumped to her feet and set off running, down the slope and across to the sand. She stopped long enough to pull off her shoes and drop them next to her bag then headed for the water, Janet and Lesley close behind. Meg handed the camera to Gerry who stowed it safely in her bag. Together they sauntered in the direction of the untidy pile of bags dropped by the others.
‘I’m not swimming, but I might paddle for a bit. Feel free to join the others.’
‘Are you sure?’ Gerry eyed her thoughtfully. ‘Why come to the beach if you’re not swimming?’
‘Wrong time of the month.’ The lie slipped out, glib and far too easy. It didn’t sit well with Meg, but the truth wasn’t for sharing. Not yet.
Gerry set her bag down and glanced in the direction of the other nurses. All three were thigh deep and engaged in splashing each other. She turned back and met Meg’s eyes. ‘Don’t take this the wrong way but I haven’t seen you collecting your allotment of disposable pads.’
‘What?’ Her breath caught, hooked by the lie she had told. The lie she had to hold onto so she could stay in Townsville a little longer. ‘What is there to take the wrong way about that?’
‘Since I arrived you haven’t once brought pads into the hut or stuffed them into your toiletry bag. Are you just really irregular or are you—’ Gerry’s gaze flicked to Meg’s waist. ‘Pregnant?’
The lie wouldn’t come. Sunlight became blinding. A buzzing in her ears blocked every other sound—her nurses frolicking in the water, trucks rumbling past; the cawing of seagulls overhead. Meg stared at Gerry as everything slipped from her grasp. Around her the day blurred.
Gerry grabbed Meg’s wrists as she sank onto the warm sand and squatted in front of her. ‘It’s okay. Breathe, Maggie. Don’t worry, I’m not going to tell anyone if you are.’
Meg shook her head, unable to meet Gerry’s searching gaze. She’d been so careful about everything else. Not changing in front of the others, blousing her top over her skirt to disguise the undone button, the slow increase in her waist. Missed periods had seemed one of the few positives among the changes in her body, but now they were to be her undoing. ‘I guess I should be grateful Eagle-eyes Eva wasn’t sharing our hut.’
‘So it’s true?’
She nodded. ‘I had hoped to see Seamus before he shipped out, but I missed him. I think it happened around the end of March, while we were in Adelaide River.’
‘Didn’t you want to go home when you found out? Maggie—what on earth are you doing staying in a war zone?’
‘I’ve asked myself that a dozen times since the Oonoonba raid, and I know I’m probably crazy, but Gerry, I love my work. I love the responsibility and learning so many new things. I don’t want to lose all that.’
‘But you will, no matter how long you wait here before someone finds out. Someone else I mean. At some point, and I reckon you’ll be lucky to last another month before that happens, you’ll have to tell Doc and then you’ll be sent south.’
‘I know.’ Even now, she held back sharing that Doc already knew. While nobody else knew that he knew, he couldn’t get into trouble for her choices, her decisions. For the choice he had knowingly made in allowing her to stay. ‘Please don’t tell anyone. It’s difficult enough that Seamus and I weren’t married before he left, but—I want to find someone in Brisbane to look after the baby so I can return and keep nursing.’
Gerry sat with a thump. ‘Are you really going to give up your baby to keep nursing?’
‘I didn’t mean I’m giving my baby away!’ The thought of never knowing her and Seamus’s child chilled her to the bone. ‘I want a temporary mother for my child, just until Seamus returns and we can be married. When he comes home, we’ll marry and be a family and maybe then I can help out at a local hospital. Maybe that will be enough.’
‘And if it isn’t?’ Gerry’s voice was soft, but the question had played on Meg’s mind before now. ‘What if being a wife and mother isn’t enough for you?’
‘It will have to be. Unless the laws change to allow married women to keep working.’
‘What a lousy choice we women have.’
Meg shrugged. ‘Home and children, or single and a career. It’s a man’s world all right. I can’t see it changing any time soon, even though the army has just changed the rules so married nurses can keep working.’
‘And yet, Maggie, here we are in this man’s army, and women back home are doing jobs men used to do while they’re away fighting. Maybe that should give us hope that things can change because they have to change.’ Gerry gripped Meg’s hand between hers. ‘As to your choice about returning to work after your baby is born—I know a nun. We were friends at school; now we’re both sisters.’ She grinned at her quip. ‘The thing is, she lives at Magdalen House in Wooloowin. They look after unmarried mums and bubs there. I could write to her and ask if she knows of someone who can help. If you like?’
‘Thank you, Gerry. Yes, I’d love for you to write and ask. It will be such a relief to know it’s all sorted before I have my baby.’
Squeals of pleasure erupted from the trio in the water, and Ria waved at them. ‘Come on in, you two. The water is wonderful.’
‘Go on, Gerry. Get in and enjoy your swim. I’ll walk up that way.’ She pointed towards a rocky section. ‘Maybe I’ll dip my toes in a rock pool.’
‘If you’re sure you don’t mind?’
‘With your kind offer and this balmy day, I can relax now. And to be honest, I’ll love a little solitude.’
Gerry smiled then ran across the sand and joined the others.
Meg kicked off her shoes, had a drink from her water bottle then set off towards the rocks. Sand squished up between her toes and the wind tossed loose hair across her eyes. She clambered onto the rocks, shaded her eyes and looked across the water. Magnetic Island seemed to doze in midday heat hot enough even in winter to create a light haze. She knew there were gun emplacements at strategic points, but from here, without a pair of binoculars, they were invisible.
Probably even if I had a pair, I wouldn’t see them.
But she could imagine them. Davis had described the emplacements built into the hill up Pallarenda way. Hidden beneath flat concrete roofs, he’d spotted one when he was out bird watching on a rare half day off. He’d described his find in a quiet moment one day on the ward. Meg and one of their patients, another bird-watcher, had been so involved in Davis’s poetic descriptions of bird life on the Town Common, they hadn’t noticed Doc’s approach until he tapped her on the shoulder and requested ‘a moment of your time, Sister’.
A seagull glided down onto the rocks not far from her and sat at the edge of a small pool of water, its beady black eyes searching for food. Here on the sun-soaked rocks, the warmth of midday had drawn a line of sweat along Meg’s upper lip. She lifted her hair off her neck and looked around. Sun glinted off water in a bigger rock pool than the seagull had claimed.
Meg climbed carefully down to the big pool, examined the sandy bottom for other life then stepped into the water. If she’d brought a bathing suit, she could have fully submersed herself. As it was, she tucked her skirt up and waded, even scooping water over her arms. A sea breeze cooled her wet skin, enough that she no longer felt envious of the others frolicking in the shallows.
Spying a pretty purple-tinged shell, she plunged her arm into the water and drew it out. Shaking the water off she held it between two fingers and examined it. As the shell dried its colour dimmed, but it gave her an idea. Collecting shells was as good a disguise as any for not swimming and the bonus was, she could show them to her patient in bed four. When he’d learned she was heading off to the beach, Rollings had cheekily asked her to bring him something.
She pocketed the shell and splashed her arms again. Feeling cool and fresh, she set one foot on a small ledge to climb out. Recently she had been feeling off balance so she pushed off the bottom with extra vigour. Next thing she knew, she was completely wet. ‘Damn it.’ Spluttering and surprised by the exclamation that slipped out, a word she never used, Meg stood. Both hands pushed hair out of her eyes. So much for not wearing shorts and keeping her clothes dry. She was the wettest of them all now.
Taking extra care, she climbed out of the rock pool and dripped her way off the rocks onto the sand. At least now I’ll stay cool.
Since she was already wet, she waded in the shallows, her gaze drifting from searching for shells to looking at the island. Her toe nudged something hard and she looked down. A small group of sea snail shells rolled with the ebb and flow of water. Tiny fish darted about her ankles, bright flashes of colour as they moved out of her shadow. She moved closer to the lacy froth of sea spume marking the place where sea met land. Tiny holes pocked the sand and endless bubbles rose around the edges.
She squatted and watched, still and quiet. Soon, an army of little white crabs with grey camouflage spots, crabs no bigger than the length of her thumb, scurried over the muddy sand.
Engrossed in watching them, she didn’t hear Gerry calling her to lunch until her friend stepped in front of her.
‘I see you decided to bathe in private after all. One tip: might be a better idea to take some clothes off first.’
Meg rose, a small selection of empty shells in hand. ‘I’ll try to remember that next time I’m falling into a rock pool.’
Gerry frowned. ‘Are you okay? I mean, you didn’t hurt yourself?’
‘I’m fine. Just not as sure-footed as I used to be. Can’t think why.’
‘Try to take it easy, Maggie. A fall could harm you and—you know what I mean.’
‘Don’t mollycoddle me, Gerry. Truly, I’m okay. Now let’s eat and enjoy this moment of peace.’