Holly didn’t see Angela again until the following afternoon in the mess. She had been fast asleep when Angela had got up that morning and she had stayed that way for most of the day.
‘Ah, so here you are,’ Angela greeted her as she carried her tray to Holly’s table. ‘How was it working in the other hospital?’
Holly averted her eyes and crossed her fingers under the table. ‘Much the same as in this one … but it’s good to be back with people I know.’
‘It’s good to have you back,’ Angela answered. ‘And guess what? There’s going to be a dance in the village hall this Saturday and me and some of the other nurses are going. You’ll come, won’t you?’
‘I’ll see a bit nearer the time,’ Holly replied. Going to a dance was the last thing she fancied after what she’d done that week.
Angela frowned. ‘Now come on, you know what they say? All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy! It’ll be lovely to wear our own clothes again, even if it’s only for a few hours. There might be some handsome Frenchmen there, not that Harry would let one near you. He’s been none too pleased about you not being here I can tell you! Oh, please say you’ll come!’
Holly sighed. She would have to tell Harry that there could be no future for them, and soon. And regarding the dance, Angela could be very persuasive when she had the bit between her teeth.
‘I think all the Frenchmen you’d be interested in will be away fighting the war,’ she pointed out. ‘But all right, yes, I’ll come if it makes you happy. Providing I’m not on duty that is.’
Angela grinned from ear to ear. She could hardly wait. ‘And did you see much of that dishy Dr Parkin while you were working away with him?’ she asked.
Holly lowered her eyes to flick an imaginary speck of dust from her apron, ‘Not really,’ she said nonchalantly. ‘But now, tell me what’s been happening here.’ And thankfully the conversation turned to another topic, for the time being at least. The next person she saw was Harry when he strode into the mess looking none too pleased, as Angela had warned her.
‘So you’re back then, are you,’ he said peevishly. ‘I had to hear from Sister Flynn that you’d been transferred. You could have told me.’
‘I didn’t get a chance to,’ Holly answered coolly. ‘You were in theatre when I was told that I was going and I had no way of getting word to you.’
He looked slightly repentant and offered a guilty smile. ‘In that case, I apologise. I was just worried about you, that’s all.’
‘I don’t see why you should have been. It was no more dangerous at that hospital than it is at this one and I could hardly refuse an order.’
‘Of course you couldn’t.’ He sat down and reached for her hand across the table as Angela giggled.
‘Ooh, that’s my cue to go! I don’t want to be a gooseberry. See you later, Holly.’
Once she was gone Holly pulled her hand from his and bit her lip. This had gone on for quite long enough and she knew that it wasn’t fair to give Harry false hope any longer.
‘Harry …’ she began tentatively. ‘I’m really sorry because I’m very fond of you … but the thing is … I don’t love you and I think you deserve a girl that does. I admit for a time I thought we might make a go of things but I realise now it wouldn’t be fair on you, I’m so sorry.’
His face hardened. ‘And what’s brought this about all of a sudden? Things were fine between us before you went. Is it Richard? I’m no fool and I’ve seen the way you look at him.’
‘No, it’s nothing to do with Richard,’ she denied. ‘But there was never anything official between us and I just don’t think you and I have a future together. I … I’m so sorry.’
‘So am I,’ he said as he slammed his chair away from the table so quickly that it almost overturned. ‘You’ve been stringing me along and I don’t appreciate that. But never mind, there are plenty of nurses to choose from who hopefully won’t be as cold as you are.’ And with that he was gone, leaving her feeling bereft. Harry was a good man but she knew more than ever now that he could never take Richard’s place in her heart. No one could, so it looked as if there was a very empty future ahead of her.
There was great excitement in the nurses’ quarters on the following Saturday as those of them who were off duty prepared for the dance. Unknown to Angela, Holly had actually volunteered to work the night shift.
‘Oh, I wish you were coming,’ Angela groaned as she applied a layer of lipstick in the mirror above the fire. She was all done up in the only civilian dress she had brought with her and after weeks of wearing her uniform she felt like a different girl.
‘Don’t worry about me, just go and enjoy yourself.’ Holly was fastening her cap ready to go on duty. ‘I’ve no doubt looking like that you’ll have a queue of men wanting to dance with you.’
Angela preened as she studied her reflection in the mirror again and pouted. ‘Do you really think so? Just so long as one of them is Dr Parkin.’
Holly’s stomach did a little somersault as she thought of Angela in Richard’s arms but she didn’t say anything.
She was just entering the ward when Sister Flynn waylaid her with a smile on her face. ‘Good news, Nurse Farthing. You have been granted leave from the first of February for two weeks. We’ve arranged for you to return home on one of the hospital ships that will be sailing that morning and I’ve no doubt you won’t mind tending the patients on the crossing?’
‘Of course not,’ Holly answered with a smile. She was ready for a rest. She went to check on Sam first, who was improving by the day. Of course no one knew that it had been she and Richard who had looked after him before he had been admitted so she had to be very professional when speaking to him.
‘How are you today, Mr Wickes?’ she asked as she lifted the notes from the end of his bed and scanned through them. Heart rate normal, pulse normal. He really was on the mend.
‘Fine and dandy, thank you, nurse. In fact I’m being shipped home on the morning of the first of February.’
Holly’s head snapped up and he gave her a crafty wink. No wonder the sister had said she could help with the patients on the crossing. She would be travelling back to England with Sam.
‘I’m very pleased for you,’ she answered, her eyes twinkling and she went on her way with a little spring in her step.
Angela was somewhat the worse for wear the next morning after partaking of rather too much home-made French wine but she’d clearly had a wonderful evening.
‘You were right,’ she told Holly as she got into bed and Angela got out. ‘There were hardly any Frenchmen there, well, not young ones anyway, but there were loads of very handsome soldiers and I got to dance three dances with Dr Parkin an’ all.’
‘Sounds wonderful,’ Holly said in a clipped voice as she felt tears pricking her eyes. ‘But now I must get some sleep. It was really busy on the ward last night. We lost two of the patients, unfortunately. You can tell me all about the dance this evening. I’ll meet you in the mess when you’ve done your shift.’ With that she snuggled down under the blankets and stayed there until Angela had left, torturing herself as she imagined Angela in Richard’s arms.
As she was waiting for Angela to join her in the mess that evening she saw Richard for the first time since they had got back from the Le’Fetes and to her surprise he joined her at the table.
‘You missed a good night last night. I thought you’d be there.’
She shrugged. ‘I had to work but Angela told me you both had a good time.’ She silently cursed herself. That must have sounded like she cared and of course she didn’t!
Seeing her discomfort he grinned. ‘As luck would have it she’s a very good dancer,’ he replied and just at that moment the person they were discussing appeared.
‘Hello, Dr Parkin,’ she said cheerily. ‘Can I get you anything? Tea? Coffee?’
He rose hastily from his seat. ‘No, thank you, nurse, I must be off now. It looks like it’s going to be another busy night in theatre after the influx of wounded we’ve had in today.’
‘Oh bugger!’ Angela pouted as he disappeared. ‘I thought he’d come to have dinner with me.’
Holly said nothing as Angela went off to the counter to fetch her meal but she couldn’t stay the little worm of jealousy that was wriggling in her stomach. How would she bear it if Richard and Angela did become a couple? She would just have to wait and see.
‘Lucky thing,’ Angela grumbled as Holly prepared to leave for home. ‘If I’d known getting transferred to another hospital would get me two weeks leave I’d have volunteered for it.’
Holly smiled as she crammed the last of her things into her small bag. ‘I’ll be back before you know it. Just don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,’ she teased with a wink as she headed for the flap in the tent that served as a door.
‘I should be so lucky,’ Angela retaliated but she grinned and came to give her a hug. ‘Have a safe journey and I’ll see you in two weeks.’
Holly sprinted away to climb aboard the military vehicle that would take her and the patients that were going home to the hospital ship and soon the field hospital was far behind them. On the journey it was heart-breaking to pass through the once quaint little villages, all flattened and bombed by the enemy and Holly couldn’t help but think of the poor people who had once lived in them and loved them.
Sam Wickes was following in an ambulance and she wondered how he would cope when he was fully recovered from his amputation. His flying days were well and truly over now but she supposed he was lucky to be alive and knowing Sam, she was sure he would find a job he could do with one leg. In fact he would probably return home a hero and as he was still a very attractive man she had no doubt he would never be short of female admirers. He was already talking about getting a prosthesis made and she was glad that she had helped to save his life, although Richard had done far more for him than she had.
By lunchtime they were all aboard the ship and Holly helped the other nurses settle the patients for the voyage. Most of the men would go into one of the army hospitals dotted along the coast and stay there until they were fully recovered. It was dark when they docked and from there it was up to Holly to find her own way home, but first she wanted to say a final goodbye to Sam. It was highly unlikely she would ever see him again. She found him about to be stretchered out to a waiting ambulance and hurried over to him.
‘Goodbye, Sam, take good care of yourself,’ she said, and he caught her hand.
‘You too, Holly … and thanks. If it weren’t for you …’ His voice trailed away but there was no need for words, they both knew what he meant.
‘Goodbye, Holly, have a good life. I’ll never forget what you and Dr Parkin did for me.’
Holly felt a lump in her throat as he was carried away. She could only hope for the very best for Sam and she silently said a prayer for him as he was swallowed up by the crowds on the dockside.
As soon as she had composed herself she hurried towards the train station, praying that she was not too late for the last train, and was delighted to discover that there was one due any minute. She hastily paid for her ticket and climbed aboard and soon found herself surrounded by men in uniform, many of them like herself going home on a short leave before heading back to the fray.
As she looked around at the haggard, haunted faces she couldn’t help but compare how the men looked now to the day she had watched the young men from her home town climb aboard the train at Nuneaton, eager to start their training. They had discovered all too soon that rather than being the adventure they had envisaged, it was instead a living nightmare. They had been forced to live in muddy, filthy trenches, seen their fellow men gunned down in front of their very eyes and been forced to kill to save their own skins. It was no wonder that some of them would never be the same again. They had seen sights that no one should ever see and it showed in their stance as they sat staring numbly ahead, poor things. But these were the lucky ones, for at least they were going home, she thought.
It was very late at night when the train pulled into the station and Holly was almost dropping with exhaustion. Still not far to go now and I shall be home, she thought, forcing herself to put one foot in front of another. And then there it was, her home, thankfully with a light still shining dully from the drawing room window.
She tapped at the door, which was opened by Ivy who was in her dressing robe with her hair loose about her shoulders.
‘Holly!’ she cried as she flung her arms about her and almost dragged her over the threshold. ‘Oh, I can’t believe you’re really here. Why didn’t you let us know you were coming? We could have come to meet you off the train.’
‘I didn’t know I was coming myself till a short while ago and with how irregular the post is at the moment I doubted a letter would get here in time.’
‘What’s all the noise about?’ A gruff voice sounded from the stairs and her grandfather appeared, looking stunned and delighted.
‘Why, my dear girl, thank God you are safe,’ he said in a choked voice.
‘He’s upset, well we all are. There has been so much bad news in the town and just the other week a German Zeppelin crossed the Norfolk coast during the night and rained bombs on Great Yarmouth and King’s Lynn. Over twenty people are dead and ever so many more injured apparently.’
‘That’s awful,’ Holly said as her grandfather gave her a rare hug.
But then Ivy saw the dark shadows beneath her friend’s eyes and the droop of her shoulders and she dragged her off towards the kitchen saying, ‘It’s a cup of tea and bed for you, my girl. You look done in. But how long are you home for?’
‘Two weeks.’ Holly raised her hand to cover a yawn. ‘And I might just spend the whole of it in bed.’
Ivy would have loved nothing more than to sit up all night and catch up on what each of them had been doing but it would have to wait till morning. She could see that Holly was ready to drop and for now just knowing that she was home and under the same roof was enough.