1940
I wrote to Violet’s children the next day, sitting in the staffroom at work watching out of the window as porters put new beds into the huts they’d built in the grounds of the hospital.
‘Your mother was worried you’d wonder why she wasn’t writing, so I wanted to let you know she is all right. I’ll write again when I know where she is and you can send her all your news,’ I wrote.
I checked my watch. I had a while before my shift began; I’d come to work early in an attempt to avoid Jackson. I didn’t want to be rude to him, but I didn’t want to see him either.
I put the letter into an envelope and sealed it, then I wrote the address on the front, checking it carefully to make sure I’d not spelled the unfamiliar Welsh words wrong. I intended to post it on my way home, so I put it into my locker for now. Then, still with time to kill, I wandered over to the window, watching the activity below. The new huts would give us another two wards,judging by the size of them. I wondered if we’d get more nurses to cover them, or if we’d all be spread even thinner.
‘They’re for soldiers,’ said a voice behind me. I turned to see Nelly, her cheeks flushed.
‘Where have you been, Nell?’ I’d not seen her since yesterday. I gave her a good-natured shove. ‘I was worried.’
‘Were you?’ She clutched her chest dramatically. ‘Sure that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.’
I made a face. ‘Well, maybe not worried. Interested.’
Nelly stuck her tongue out at me. And I laughed, pretending to think. ‘Actually, interested is a bit strong. Mildly distracted maybe.’
‘So you don’t want to know where I was?’
I feigned indifference for about three seconds, then caved. ‘Well of course I do,’ I said, clutching her arm. ‘Were you with Dr Barnet?’
‘I was,’ she said. ‘He’s a dream.’
‘He’s a rat.’
‘I’m not marrying the fella. He’s just a bit of fun.’
‘Really?’ I said doubtfully, because the look in her eyes told me otherwise.
‘He says he’s never met anyone like me before.’
‘Since the last girl.’
She prodded me. ‘Ah stop it, will you? He’s a good man.’
‘With a terrible reputation.’
Nelly rolled her eyes. ‘He gave me a book.’
‘A book?’
‘Of poems.’ She looked triumphant. ‘Love poems.’
‘Bleurgh.’
‘You have a heart of stone, Elsie Watson.’
‘Is he coming to the dance?’
‘He’s swapped his shift,’ she said in triumph. ‘Because of me.’
I was a bit disappointed because I wanted to have fun with Nelly at the dance, not spend the whole night feeling like a gooseberry, but I didn’t say anything because movement down belowcaught my eye. ‘Look,’ I said. ‘They’re taking in the bedclothes. The patients must be arriving soon.’
‘Already? Can you see them? Are they soldiers?’
I laughed at her eager expression. ‘Aren’t you supposed to be swooning over Dr Barnet?’
