‘Oh, stand by your bed. Lady Hamilton’s car has just pulled up outside,’ Miss May hissed to Holly as they stood behind the counter in the shop sorting out the glove drawer.
Minutes later the woman breezed in on a waft of expensive French perfume. ‘Ah, Miss May. First I must congratulate you on the gown you had delivered to me last week. It was a complete triumph and absolutely everyone commented on it when I wore it to the opera at the weekend.’
I bet they did, Miss May thought as she pictured the monstrosity. She could only imagine that the portly lady must have looked like a giant blancmange in the pink frothy concoction, but she kept her smile firmly in place. ‘I’m so happy you were pleased with it, Lady Hamilton,’ she simpered. ‘And what might I do for you today?’
‘As it happens, I’ve been invited to a ball in four weeks’ time. Now, I know that doesn’t give your seamstresses long to make it but I simply must have a new gown. Do you think they can manage it?’
‘Oh, I’m quite sure there’ll be no problem at all.’ Miss May hauled the pattern book from beneath the counter and soon both she and Lady Hamilton were poring over it.
‘I think this might be very flattering on you,’ Miss May suggested, pointing out quite a subtle style with plain, simple lines but Lady Hamilton shook her head.
‘Oh no, dear, that’s far too ordinary. I want something a little more … flamboyant! Ah, now this is more like it!’ She stabbed her finger at a particularly full-skirted affair that dripped with frills and it was all Miss May could do to stop herself shuddering as she tried to picture her customer in the end result. Even so, as she had drummed into Holly, the customer was always right so she merely nodded.
‘Then perhaps we should look at fabric now. Did you have a particular colour in mind?’
Lady Hamilton glanced along the shelves tapping her lip with a heavily ringed plump finger. ‘Oh, that one there is just divine,’ she sighed dramatically pointing to a roll of bright yellow satin.
Holly had to keep her eyes firmly on the job she was doing to stop herself from laughing aloud as she glimpsed the look of horror on Miss May’s face.
‘My, er … escort loves me in bright colours,’ she gushed, glancing surreptitiously towards the car parked outside where they could see a young man sitting in the back seat.
‘It is indeed a very fine fabric,’ Miss May agreed as Lady Hamilton stroked it. ‘And we still have all your measurements so there is no need for you to be measured again. Could you perhaps call in for your first fitting towards the end of next week? Shall we say Thursday afternoon about three o’clock?’
‘Perfect, my dear Miss May. Good day, ladies.’
They stood primly side by side as Lady Hamilton waddled from the shop and watched until the chauffeur pulled the car away from the kerb then, unable to hold it back any longer, Holly broke into a fit of the giggles. ‘Oh dear, she’s going to look like a big daffodil in that,’ she commented.
‘A giant dandelion more like,’ Miss May sighed. ‘And did you see the young man in the car? He was young enough to be her son at least!’ But then seeing the funny side of it she too started to laugh until the tears ran down her cheeks.
Holly told Ivy about the incident that evening when she got back from the office but Ivy was in no mood for light-heartedness. She hadn’t seen hide nor hair of Jeremy for almost a week now and she was missing him dreadfully.
‘Look, you know where he lives, why don’t you just go round there and see what’s going on?’ Holly suggested.
‘I suppose I could.’ Ivy pushed her food half-heartedly round her plate but then making a decision she suddenly scraped her chair back from the table and said, ‘In fact, I reckon I’ll go round there right now. There ain’t no time like the present, is there? An’ he’d better have a good excuse fer staying away an’ all, else he’ll feel the length o’ me tongue!’
Holly grinned as her friend hurried away to fetch her hat and coat. Ivy never failed to make her smile.
When Ivy arrived at the house where Jeremy lived she had to step past a gaggle of snotty-nosed children who were playing with some glass marbles in the dusty gutter. They were all painfully thin, their clothes little more than rags and Ivy’s heart went out to them. Fumbling in her purse she extracted some coins and tossed them onto the cobbles and there was a mad scramble to claim them. ‘Go and treat yourselves to some sweeties,’ she told them and smiled as they raced away, their faces glowing with anticipation at the treat ahead. Once she had reached the top of the house she tapped on Jeremy’s door but there was no reply. She was just about to tap again when another door opened further along the narrow passageway and a thin woman swathed in a threadbare shawl with a howling baby in her arms appeared.
‘’Tain’t no use you knockin’, luvvie,’ she told her. ‘Ain’t seen ’im fer the last few days.’
‘Oh, I see … thank you,’ Ivy stuttered as colour flooded into her cheeks, and turning about she made a hasty exit down the stairs. So where could he be? she asked herself as she stepped across a large pile of dog faeces. Perhaps he was away working on a story and hadn’t had the chance to get word to her? It was the only thing she could think of and knowing there was no more she could do she made her way home, swallowing back tears.
At that moment, could Ivy have known it, Jeremy Pilkington-Hughes was reclining on a velvet chaise longue feeding grapes into the mouth of his latest lover.
‘So do you think you could see your way clear to lending me a few shillings, Lavinia darling?’ he purred encouragingly.
She turned towards him and the heavy perfume she was wearing was so overpowering that it made his eyes water.
‘Now, Jeremy, don’t be so naughty,’ she scolded with a girlish giggle. ‘I only gave you some pocket money two days ago. Whatever have you spent it on?’
He tried to keep the revulsion he felt at the sight of her heaving breasts from showing on his face as he ran a finger tenderly down her plump cheek. ‘I had a few bills that were outstanding.’
‘Oh, well perhaps if you were to be ever so nice to me I might manage to give you a little bit more,’ she said suggestively.
He knew exactly what she meant and his hand instantly strayed to her breast which was constrained by heavy corsets. ‘That would be my pleasure entirely,’ he answered with a sickly smile as he grappled with the buttons on her dress, although his stomach revolted at the thought of what she wanted. This wasn’t going at all as he had hoped it would, he thought to himself. Oh, Lavinia was generous with gifts admittedly but nowhere near generous enough with her cash. At this rate he would have to ask Ivy for another loan, not that she’d ever see a penny of it back. He turned his attention to the task at hand then, eager to get it over with as Lavinia lay back ready to enjoy him.
The next day found Holly working on the women’s geriatric ward, never her favourite place to work. She had already checked on the new influx of Red Cross nurses and reported back to the matron and now the ward sister told her, ‘Best sit with old Mrs Green, Nurse Farthing. She was admitted last night, poor old thing. The neighbours hadn’t seen her about for some time so they broke into her room and found her in a rare old state. Goodness knows how long it had been since she’d eaten anything. The doctor will be round to check on her presently but I doubt there will be much he can do for her. Still, at least we can make sure her final days or hours are as comfortable as we can make them. According to the neighbours she has no family to call on.’
Holly nodded and after flicking aside the curtains the sister had pointed to, she approached the bed. A very old lady lay there, her wispy grey hair spread out across the pillow. She was so painfully thin that her body hardly showed beneath the sheets and the hands that lay on the bedspread were knotted and gnarled.
Thinking that she was asleep, Holly quietly sat down only to find that the old lady had opened her eyes and was staring at her silently. One of her hands snaked out then and she clasped Holly’s as a smile spread across her face.
‘Oh, Dotty, me darlin’, I knew you’d come an’ not desert yer old mam,’ she said in a voice little above a whisper.
Before Holly could answer the curtains parted again and Dr Parkin joined her.
‘How is she?’
‘She seems to think I’m someone called Dotty,’ Holly whispered gently.
‘Ah, apparently Dotty was her daughter. She died of scarlet fever many years ago according to the neighbours and her husband died last year. Since then she’s been living like a recluse, barely venturing out of her rented room, the poor old soul.’
Tears sprang to Holly’s eyes at the sad tale and she gently squeezed the old woman’s hand. ‘Then if it gives her comfort I shall be Dotty,’ she told him solemnly and he stared at her for a moment thinking what a truly compassionate young woman she was. She was pretty too, which was another thing that attracted him to her.
He leaned over her and checked the old woman’s pulse before shaking his head and telling her in a low voice, ‘I don’t think she’s long for this world now.’
Holly smiled up at him. ‘I’ll stay with her,’ she assured him and as he slipped away he had a picture of Holly’s face fixed firmly in his mind.
The old woman slept for the next half an hour and Holly sat on through her break, reluctant to leave her. What the doctor had told her had touched her deeply. No one deserved to die alone and she intended to be there for the poor lady. Eventually the old woman’s eyes fluttered open again and instantly found Holly’s who stood up to lean over her and smooth the thinning hair from her forehead.
‘How are you feeling?’
‘Better now you’re here, me darlin’,’ the old woman croaked, her every breath laboured. ‘But I wish yer dad would come. He’s late home from work this evenin’ an’ his dinner will be ruined.’
‘Don’t worry, he’ll be here soon,’ Holly comforted her. ‘And his dinner is keeping warm. It will be fine.’ Again the old woman drifted off to sleep and Holly sat on feeling stiff and uncomfortable on the hard chair. But nothing would have induced her to move. She had promised she would stay and she would do just that even if it meant sitting there all night.
The afternoon wore on and eventually the sister appeared to tell her that her shift had ended but Holly shook her head. ‘It’s all right. She’s holding my hand and I don’t want to disturb her by moving it,’ she whispered. ‘I’ll stay.’
‘But she could hang on all night,’ the sister pointed out.
‘Then I’ll stay all night if need be,’ Holly answered and when the sister moved back onto the ward she was smiling. If only all her nurses were as loving and caring as Nurse Farthing her job would be so much easier.
As the light faded from the day, Holly had to blink to stay awake while poor Mrs Green slept on. At one point the night sister, who had just come on duty, brought her a sandwich and a cup of tea. Holly was concerned that Ivy would worry where she was but she was still determined to stay and was just yawning when the curtain twitched aside and Dr Parkin appeared again.
He looked surprised to see her. ‘Surely you should have gone home hours ago?’
She grinned. ‘Yes, I should but I don’t like to leave her. She hasn’t let go of my hand once. And I could say the same for you!’
He again took the old lady’s pulse and listened to her heart before frowning and saying sadly, ‘I don’t think it will be long now. Her heart rate is very erratic.’
At that very moment the old lady’s eyes blinked open and her grip on Holly’s hand tightened.
‘Dotty, is that you? Are you still here,’ she wheezed.
‘Yes, I’m here,’ Holly said, leaning over her to stroke her brow tenderly.
‘An’ is yer dad still not home from work?’ Before Holly could answer the old woman stared towards the end of the bed and suddenly a beautiful smile lit her face. ‘Ah, there you are, Bertie,’ she croaked, holding her hand out towards some unseen person. ‘I knew you’d come eventually. That’s it, luv, hold me hand now nice an’ tight, eh?’
And then with a contented sigh she became still, looking so peaceful that it brought tears to Holly’s eyes.
Dr Parkin leaned over her and took her pulse again before saying sadly, ‘She’s gone, I’m afraid.’
Holly nodded as she closed the woman’s eyes and gently kissed her brow before drawing the sheet up over her face. ‘Sleep tight, Mrs Green,’ she whispered as a tear slid down her face.
‘Come on, I reckon we both need a good strong cup of sweet tea,’ Dr Parkin said softly, deeply touched by what he had just seen. Holly really was a special girl. ‘I’ll get the night nurse to come and lay her out.’
Holly wearily followed him to the canteen. She should really be getting home but she was too tired to argue.
Minutes later she was sipping at a steaming cup of tea as the young doctor sat opposite her.
‘You were wonderful with that old lady,’ he said approvingly.
Holly shrugged. ‘No more than she deserved,’ she answered quietly. ‘No one deserves to die all alone.’
‘Even so, most nurses would have been off like a shot when their shift was over.’
‘Well, I’m not most nurses,’ Holly told him with a little smile.
‘No, you’re most definitely not,’ he agreed and in that moment he began to fall a little in love with her. ‘Now drink your tea and then I’m going to see you home. You must be worn out.’
Holly knew that she should refuse but she quite liked the idea so she simply smiled and nodded.