‘I do hate it when these blasted committee meetings go on late.’ Fiona tied her scarf firmly around her neck as she and Gwen stepped out into the cool evening. ‘If everyone was disciplined about it, they could have got through the agenda in half the time.’ She shook her head. Wasting time and lack of discipline were two things she had little patience for. There was no avoiding the meetings, though. The nursing association was managed by the committee and so, as superintendent and deputy, Fiona and Gwen were accountable to them.
‘Too many people enjoying the sound of their own voices,’ Gwen agreed, hefting her shoulder bag into place, having retrieved her torch from it. She switched it on, making sure it was properly shielded to conform to the rules of the blackout. ‘Still, that’s that over and done with for a while.’
Fiona glanced up at her taller colleague. ‘There’s that to be thankful for at least, I suppose. Anyway they agreed to our main suggestions. That’s something.’ She was determined to look on the bright side, even though attending meetings was by far and away her least favourite part of the job. Now she was eager to get back to the nurses’ home for a warming drink, after which she would probably sit up into the early hours, catching up with the never-ending paperwork.
Gwen pursed her lips. The suggestions would mean changes and she never liked that. ‘Do you have any candidates in mind?’ she asked. ‘I’m assuming you do, or else you would never have mentioned the idea before the committee.’
Fiona nodded briskly. ‘Naturally. You have to go into these situations well prepared, you know that. While I’m sure all our nurses could teach first aid perfectly adequately, it strikes me that some are far more suitable than others.’
Gwen snorted. ‘We’ll need to make sure they are steady and sensible. To my mind that rules out a fair few.’
Fiona laughed. ‘Gwen, my dear, you’re far too hard on them.’
Gwen shook her head. ‘Not at all. Have you seen them this past couple of days? All this excitement about the new locum doctor. They’re running around as if they’ve quite lost their heads. It’s very unedifying.’
‘Not all of them,’ said Fiona. ‘There are several who have steady boyfriends, fiancés even, and I’m pleased to say they have carried on as if nothing has happened. I was thinking of asking Edith Gillespie for a start.’
‘Edith?’ Gwen asked dubiously. She had never quite forgiven her for breaking curfew so defiantly.
‘Yes, Gwen. She’s settled down a lot over the summer,’ Fiona stated. ‘Her young man has just enlisted, you know. Teaching first aid might be just the thing she needs to take her mind off that. I’ve seen her work, and she’s actually very good.’
‘You must do as you think best,’ said Gwen, unable to keep the doubt from her voice.
‘Exactly,’ said Fiona. ‘Also, we should ask Alice Lake, as she has a track record of teaching in the community. Her work with the school children made the difficult task of evacuating St Benedict’s that much easier. And of course she’s teaching Gladys to read in their spare time.’
‘Is she?’ Gwen came to a halt in surprise.
‘Oh yes. They probably think I don’t know about it. It’s all very low key. But I caught Gladys looking at an exercise book at the weekend, and they’ve been huddled together a few times. I think it’s excellent. I realise Gladys has kept her secret from everyone else, but this is the first time to my knowledge that she’s felt confident enough to do anything about it. I find that very encouraging.’
Gwen smiled faintly. It never ceased to amaze her how her friend found the good in every situation. Here they were, facing war and all manner of dangers, and she was excited about their maid learning to read. In the greater scheme of things it didn’t seem like much. Then she admonished herself for being mean-spirited. ‘Yes, you’d have thought the poor girl would be dog-tired at the end of a long day, she works so hard around the home,’ she acknowledged. ‘Where she gets the energy to study on top of that, I do not know.’
‘She has the incentive,’ Fiona declared. ‘We must find a way of rewarding that, when she’s had a chance to come on a bit. We’ll keep a weather eye.’ She bustled along, filled with renewed energy herself, and Gwen had to struggle to keep up.
They reached the front door of the home and Fiona swung it open. Her mind was on one thing only, and that was a nice cup of tea to warm her chilly hands on. ‘We’ll just get the kettle on …’ she began, when the peace of the hallway was shattered by the insistent ringing of the telephone.
Gwen jumped. Even though she was used to it ringing in the daytime, it was still relatively new and it was unusual for it to sound after dark. A deep sense of foreboding told her this could not be good. She moved to reach for the receiver but, as ever, Fiona had reacted more quickly and got there first.
‘Yes … yes, I see,’ she murmured, while reaching for a notebook and pen with her other hand. ‘Do you have any further details? That’s a priority, of course … yes, not far at all. That will be perfectly all right, we will send somebody right away. Thank you, goodbye.’ She put the receiver down again and sighed.
‘Looks as if my bedtime drink will have to wait,’ she said.
‘Bad news?’ Gwen asked. ‘Is it serious?’
Fiona pulled a face. ‘I don’t know, but it could be. Another one of these blasted accidents thanks to the blackout. Honestly, it’s causing more problems than leaving the lights on – I know I shouldn’t say it. A young woman and her baby hit by a car that came off the road. It’s Dr Patcham all over again, except this time pedestrians were involved. That was the ARP station, asking if we can get someone over there. It’s just back by the main road – we must have missed it by minutes. I’ll go.’
‘No, you need your tea after that meeting. I’ll go,’ Gwen insisted.
A voice spoke from the bottom of the stairs, which was in shadow.
‘I’ll go. I don’t mind. You’ve both just got in.’
‘Alice? Is that you?’ Fiona called into the gloom.
Alice stepped into the light cast by the bulb nearest the telephone. ‘Yes, and I heard what you just said. I’ve been in all evening and today’s rounds weren’t bad at all – I’m wide awake and won’t sleep if I go to bed now anyway. My bag’s all refilled. It won’t take me a moment.’ Without waiting for their reply she sped up the stairs to her room.
Fiona leant against the wall of the hallway, smooth from where scores of nurses had brushed by. ‘Do you know what, Gwen, I’m inclined to send her,’ she said reluctantly. ‘Now we’ve come in from the cold, I don’t mind admitting that it’s just hit me I’m in need of a wee rest. Then I simply must attend to the administration I should have finished before we left. I honestly think she’ll make a better job of it than either of us at this moment.’
Gwen nodded. ‘You may well be right, Fiona. If Nurse Lake feels alert still then it makes sense to send her, as it is in the patients’ best interests.’
Fiona nodded. ‘I know. There’s no room for false pride on an occasion such as this. We have to be confident that we send somebody who’s up to the task, and I’ve no doubt that Alice will be. Thank you, my dear,’ she said, standing up straight again as the young nurse reappeared, Gladstone bag in hand. ‘Make sure that you stay out of harm’s way and come back as soon as you can. I’ll be up, no matter what time it is, so come and report to me. You need to go to the main road, just by the big bakery – I’m sure you know where I mean.’
Alice shut her eyes for the briefest of moments. ‘Yes, I do. It’s by the junction of Jeeves Street.’
‘That’s the one,’ said Fiona briskly. ‘Right then, off you go.’
Kathleen had been hurrying along the pavement, trying to push the pram and hold her shielded torch steady at the same time. It was well nigh impossible, and she had to keep stopping to adjust her grip, which meant the journey took even longer than usual. As if sensing her anxiety, Brian began to grizzle, even though he was tucked up safe and warm against the evening’s chill.
‘Don’t worry, we’ll be home soon,’ she sang out, trying to reassure him, but he could pick up his mother’s real feeling behind the cheery words. He knew as well as she did that it was long past his bedtime and he wanted his cot and a feed.
Kathleen sighed as she swapped her torch from one hand to the other. She had never intended to stay out this late. She should have known better than to trust her mother. She hadn’t seen her for ages, though, and so when she got a message that she’d be visiting her old friend Pearl who lived off Balls Pond Road, Kathleen had decided to join them. It was so much easier than getting the bus on the pram all the way down to her mother’s unfriendly house.
They had got there just after teatime, so Pearl wouldn’t feel obliged to offer them anything to eat. All the same, it had been over an hour before she was asked if she wanted as much as a cup of tea. By then Kathleen had been parched, as Pearl kept the house warmer than anybody she’d ever known, on account of her arthritis, which Kathleen now felt she knew enough to write a book about. Then Pearl and her mother had got out the sherry, and soon there was little sense to be had from either of them. Kathleen had declined, pointing out that she was still feeding Brian and it wouldn’t be good for him.
‘Oh, that old wives’ tale,’ her mother had snorted dismissively. ‘It never done any of you any harm. That’s typical of you, that is. Can’t just have a bit of innocent fun, always got the long face to spoil the party.’
‘Ma, that’s not fair,’ Kathleen had protested. ‘I just like tea better than sherry.’
‘Hark at her,’ Pearl had said. ‘Ain’t that a shame, cos my Bertie got hold of a whole load of sherry and I’m nearly out of tea.’ She cackled as she topped herself up.
Kathleen remembered Bertie, a boy who’d been a year or two ahead of her at school, and who’d been known as a bit of a bully. Nowadays he had the reputation of someone who could get stuff off the back of lorries. Evidently that included sherry. She had glanced sadly at her mother, who looked like an older version of her but with thinning grey hair and a face set in lines of discontent. Kathleen always hoped they would get on better each time they met, but each time she was disappointed. She wondered why she bothered, and yet she couldn’t stop trying. She clung to the belief that one day they would make up and have the same cosy relationship her mother seemed to have with the rest of her family.
‘So how come you’re out in the dark on your own on a night like this?’ Pearl went on. ‘Where’s your Ray? Ain’t he going to stop by to walk you home?’
‘Oh, him. Wouldn’t have thought he’d show his face round here,’ her mother began, and so Kathleen cut her off before she could get stuck in to her favourite subject: how Ray was a waste of space and they never should have got married, but now they had it was up to Kathleen to cope with whatever disasters he brought upon them.
‘Actually, no. He’s in the Merchant Navy now,’ she announced. She’d received a rare letter from him that very morning, informing her that he’d been officially transferred from his old ship to a Merchant Navy vessel, and so he was pleased to say he’d be getting regular wages. It was as if there had never been a row between them and he was going to behave like any normal caring husband. Kathleen had read it with a mixture of longing, disbelief, and relief. Regular money but no Ray around the house – perhaps that was as good as she could ask for. Her heart still ached for the love and passion they had shared, but she couldn’t risk him coming near Brian.
Her mother had perked up at that. ‘Is he now? I never thought he had it in him, I don’t mind admitting.’ She turned to Pearl. ‘How about your Bertie? When’s he joining up, then?’
Pearl had bristled. ‘He’s in a valued job, he is. He’s working all the hours God sends down the docks.’
Kathleen had had to stop herself from laughing. She could guess very well exactly what it was that Bertie was doing down the docks – tracking all the lorries so he could unload goods off the back of them on the QT. She wasn’t surprised to hear he had no plan to enlist.
‘Fit lad like him, they’d snap him up for one of the services,’ her mother had gone on, deliberately needling her friend.
Kathleen could see that it was time to go. She didn’t want to be around when the two older women started arguing. There was nothing her mother liked better than a good argument and they always left Kathleen with a headache that took days to shift. ‘I’ll be off,’ she announced. ‘Got to get Brian to bed.’
‘All right then,’ her mother had said, as if it wasn’t ages since she’d seen her grandson. Kathleen supposed she had so many grandchildren it didn’t matter to her whether she saw much of him or not. She tried her best to hide her hurt.
With nothing more than the lukewarm cup of tea inside her, she turned the big pram back up the main road and headed for home. The autumn wind cut through her thin coat. As she hadn’t intended to be out this late, she hadn’t thought to put on an extra layer. Stupid, she chided herself. She should have known better. Too late now.
She could just about make out the sign of the big bakery in the darkness, caught by the light of the moon coming out from behind a cloud. ‘Nearly home,’ she said to Brian, who gave a whimper. ‘Won’t be long, you’ll see.’ She was saying it as much for herself as for his benefit. She bent to tuck in a corner of blanket under his chin and didn’t notice a car approaching at speed behind her. She was vaguely aware of a figure walking around the corner by the bakery, and was about to glance up to see if she knew who it was when everything started going very wrong.
Billy had been striding along, hands shoved deep into his coat pockets, fuming at the unfairness of the world. Here he was, fit and able, and walking as well as anybody else. How dare they say he’d hold up his comrades if he was forced to march for a day? He would bet he could carry a heavy pack better than most of them. He spent most of his working life hauling huge crates around the docks and hard graft came naturally to him. So why had they turned him down?
He barely slowed as he rounded the corner by the bakery, although its sign, flapping in the wind, brought to mind the taste of fresh bagels, which he loved. For a moment he was distracted. Tomorrow he could have some for lunch, if he was keen enough to get up early and take some with him. Maybe he’d have one with cream cheese and another with herring.
Then his attention was caught by a pair of headlights, weaving erratically and at great speed towards him. ‘Silly bugger will get caught by the ARP,’ he muttered, but then the lights illuminated a small figure coming along the main road. ‘Oh my God, she’s got a kiddie with her,’ Billy breathed, as the approaching car veered wildly across the road, fortunately empty of other vehicles. ‘What does he think he’s doing, on a bleeding race track or something?’ His first instinct was to get out of the way, but he could tell the woman hadn’t yet realised what was going on just behind her. She had bent to attend to her child in the pram. He couldn’t let her get mown down by this idiot. His urge to protect her was too strong and he sprinted towards her, only realising who she was at the last minute.
‘Kath!’ he shouted, moving faster than ever now he knew it was her. ‘Get in—’
It was too late. The car’s headlights rushed towards them, as the driver completely lost control and mounted the kerb. Billy had just time enough to push Kathleen, the pram and himself into a shop doorway before the impact hit them. The car’s bonnet crumpled against the corner of the doorway. Billy had saved them from the full force of the blow, but he could see that the pram was dented and Kathleen was bleeding. It took him another moment before he realised his own leg was crumpled beneath him and he was in agony. ‘Kath …’ he gasped. ‘Get the baby away …’
‘Billy! Oh my God! Help me! Brian, come to Mummy, it’s all right.’ Kathleen, even through her injuries, was desperate to save the little boy, who was now wailing at the top of his voice, trapped in his ruined pram. Frantically she pushed back its hood, which wouldn’t retract all the way but now hung at a strange angle, and scrabbled to get the baby out. Her arms seemed to be working, although she could see blood was pouring from somewhere. His little blanket would be beyond salvation, but that didn’t matter now. She tugged at the corners of the thin mattress and managed to release his feet and then, after what felt like hours but was only a minute or two, she had Brian safe in her arms and she could get him away from the crashed car.
‘Billy!’ she called. ‘Can you come over here? Come on, it’s safe here.’ She reached out her spare hand while the other clutched Brian to her as tightly as she could.
Billy groaned. ‘It’s me leg, Kath. I can’t move me leg.’ He tried to drag himself over to her but screamed in agony. It was no good. Now the rush of adrenaline had gone he couldn’t propel himself any further. He hoped the car wouldn’t go up in flames or he’d be a goner. ‘You get further back, Kath!’ he shouted.
Then there was a sound of running and a uniformed figure appeared. The ARP warden hurried towards them. ‘What’s happened here, then?’ he called, at which there was movement from the car. The passenger door slammed open and a figure emerged, tousled and shaky but apparently not badly hurt. ‘You come here and explain …’ the warden began, but the man pushed past him and began running away back down the main road before escaping by ducking down a side alley. The warden tutted but gathered himself to deal with the priorities. He took in the scene before him as best he could in the changing moonlight and the beam from the car’s one undamaged headlamp. Quickly the warden assessed the dangers, as he’d been trained to do, peering in to the vehicle and noting the driver was still in there, before he moved to reassure the wounded pedestrians. ‘Don’t you worry,’ he said in confident low tones that Kathleen found instantly comforting. ‘We’ll have you fixed up in no time.’
This was the scene Alice found when she arrived, breathless from pedalling as hard as she could into a headwind. For a moment she didn’t recognise the young woman in front of her, blood pouring from a wound to her brow, but then her voice caught in her throat as she gasped, ‘Kathleen?’
Kathleen turned her distraught face up to the nurse and cried aloud in relief. ‘Nurse Lake, Alice, oh, thank God it’s you. Will you check Brian, make sure he’s all right? He was in there …’ She pointed shakily to the crumpled pram.
Alice took a breath, knowing she must at all costs remain professional, although her immediate instinct was to reach for the baby. ‘Let me just see what’s what,’ she said, as the ARP warden approached her. Swiftly he filled her in.
‘My job’s to see to the driver,’ he said grimly.
‘Is he hurt?’ Alice asked.
‘Hurt?’ The ARP warden snorted. ‘He doesn’t seem to have anything major wrong with him. Not that he’d notice. He’s drunk, that’s what he is. Stinks of drink, he does.’
Alice’s heart sank. It was her job to tend to everyone, regardless of who they were or what they’d done, but she found it hard to treat somebody who’d deliberately brought their woes upon themselves. Now her conscience was clear – she could see to the other casualties.
Quickly she checked little Brian who, apart from being frightened and cold, seemed pretty well all right. ‘We’ll put some Dettol on his scratches when we can get him somewhere warm and light,’ she told Kathleen. ‘Now let’s see about you. That’s a nasty cut to your forehead … but don’t worry. They always appear much worse than they are, you know.’ Quickly she dealt with the gash which, although bleeding profusely, was not deep and mercifully wasn’t full of dirt or grit. ‘If you can just hold that pad against your head with one arm and Brian can go in the other … there we are.’
There was a stone ledge to one side of the bakery entrance and Kathleen sank down onto it, her head ringing where it had been struck but full of relief that, despite the scare, neither she nor Brian had come off too badly. ‘Now you got to see to Billy,’ she croaked. ‘He saved us, he did. We’d both have been goners without him, no doubt about it. Don’t let anything happen to him, he’s the last man who deserves that.’
Alice went across to the slumped figure who, now she came closer, she could tell was moaning softly. ‘Billy?’ she said steadily. ‘Can you sit up? It’s, Alice.’
The moans stopped as Billy half turned from where he had collapsed against the neighbouring shop, sitting up but with his legs out in front of him. One was at a strange angle and blood was forming a puddle on the paving slabs around him.
‘It’s me leg,’ he explained, but Alice could see that for herself.
‘Right, don’t try to move,’ she said. ‘This is going to hurt a bit, and I’m sorry, but I need to see where that blood is coming from. Would you mind holding my torch?’ The moonlight was too faint to see by, now they were in the shadow of the shop wall, and the one cracked headlight was pointing the other way. She retrieved her scissors from the Gladstone bag and neatly cut along the seam of his trouser leg, pulling back the material as gently as she could. ‘Ah, I see. Well, I’ll stem the bleeding, but you’ll need to go to hospital to have this seen to. Looks like a clean break, as far as I can tell, but they’ll sort you out. Just let me—’
‘Aaaargh, bloody hell.’ Billy couldn’t hold back his agony as she slipped something under his leg and tied it firmly over his thigh. ‘Sorry, Alice. Couldn’t stop meself. Don’t suppose you got a tot of rum on you? That’d help, I swear.’
Alice shook her head but smiled, guessing that if he could make a joke of it then there was hope for him. ‘Against regulations, I’m afraid,’ she told him. ‘Worst thing you can do if you’re in shock, as well, despite what you might have been told.’
‘Shame.’ Billy tried to smile. ‘Is Kath all right? And the little ’un?’
‘They’re going to be just fine,’ Alice assured him. She looked up at the rumble of an engine. ‘This must be the ambulance. Stay as still as you can until they come to you with the stretcher – I must report to them on the state of your injuries right away.’
The ambulance driver pulled up behind the wreck of the car and he and his colleague swiftly got out. Alice gave them a quick summary, and they hastened to get Billy onto a stretcher while causing him as little pain as possible. ‘And you’d better come with us too, ma’am,’ said the driver, taking a good look at Kathleen’s forehead. ‘Can’t be too careful with a bang on the head like that. Just to get you checked properly,’ he added, seeing her look of dismay.
‘But my boy,’ Kathleen cried. ‘He needs me, he wants feeding and it’s way past his bedtime. I can’t go, I’ll be all right, it’s just a scratch.’
‘Ma’am, I really would advise—’ the driver began, but Alice interrupted.
‘I’ll take him,’ she said. ‘I’ll bring him round to Mattie and Flo – they’re just around the corner. He’ll be safe there.’
Kathleen brightened. ‘Would you, Alice? They’re the only ones I’d trust him with, they’re good as gold. They know what he likes to eat …’ She started to sob as all the events of the evening began to catch up with her. She was so glad her baby was safe, and if she was honest her head did hurt very badly.
The ARP warden stepped away from the car and back towards them. ‘Did you say Mattie and Flo? Mrs Banham, you mean?’
‘Well, yes,’ said Alice.
‘Stan Banham’s on his way now,’ the warden said. ‘He’s on duty tonight and has been called as backup. We didn’t know what we’d find here. But I can deal with this young idiot. He’s in no state to make a fuss, and the police can throw him in a cell for the night to sober him up. Then he can take his punishment.’ His jaw set in anger, knowing the whole incident could have had a very different ending if the man whose leg had been broken hadn’t been so brave. The young mother and baby would have been crushed and most probably killed.
It was only a few moments later that Stan arrived, his big presence instantly reassuring. ‘My, my. What have we here. Kathleen, what have you been doing to yourself? And Alice too. Glad to see you here, though I dare say you’d rather be back in that nice nurses’ home drinking cocoa.’ His eyes sparkled with warmth in the intermittent moonlight.
‘Fat chance of that,’ Alice said wryly. She quickly told him what had happened, as the ambulance was ready to go.
‘Coming, ma’am?’ the driver called, holding open the back door. ‘You come and sit in here in the warmth and keep your friend company. He could do with a familiar face.’
Even now Kathleen hesitated. ‘But my baby …’
Stan stepped forward. ‘Don’t you worry about young Brian,’ he said at once. ‘He’ll be safe with me. I’ll even pop him inside my coat, then he’ll be toasty as can be. Mattie will see to him, you know she will. I’ll drop him off at home and then get back on my rounds. Sure you don’t need me any more, Ted?’
The ARP warden shook his head. ‘No, you get that child home. I got three of my own, I know what it’s like,’ he said kindly. ‘Then this young lady can get back home too.’
Kathleen got unsteadily to her feet. She was shaking a little with the cold and the shock but thanked everyone heartily, watching as Stan buttoned Brian inside his big standard-issue warden’s coat. ‘I’ll be off then,’ she finished. At least she knew Brian would be well looked after, and in truth warmer and better fed than he would have been at home. Flo’s kitchen was an oasis of comfort.
As she went towards the open back of the ambulance, she glanced at the wrecked car and the driver, still passed out drunk inside it. She gasped in sudden recognition. She hadn’t seen him for ages but he’d been brought to mind earlier today. The drink-addled driver who had nearly killed all three of them was none other than Pearl’s precious son, Bertie.