‘Aye, he’s here somewhere. I’ll fetch him.’ He disappeared into the crowd.
‘Oh, now look at you,’ Mary said in dismay, taking in Bobby’s mud-fouled clothes and the bleeding scratches on her leg that were showing through her torn slacks. ‘And you must be near dead with tiredness. You’ll come back to Moorside when you’ve spoken to the doctor and let me clean up that nasty cut.’
Dr Minchin, the doctor from Smeltham, appeared from out of the throng with her father. ‘You’re the young lady who was asking for me?’
She nodded. ‘Bobby Bancroft. I’ve come on ahead from the rescue party.’
‘And what’s the situation?’
‘There are two survivors from a Free Polish bomber crew. One is the rear gunner. The gun turret of their Wellington was blown clear in the crash. Two broken legs, no significant wounds visible, high fever and concussion. In and out of consciousness but delirious, and possible hypothermia,’ Bobby said, reeling off the information as quickly as she could so as not to waste precious time. ‘The other man we believe is the pilot. He’s in a bad way – near death. Only barely breathing, weak pulse and a nasty open wound full of bits of metal in his belly, plus one side of his face is badly burned. His arm is broken too. He hasn’t recovered consciousness.’
‘That’s for the best. He’d be in terrible pain if he did,’ the doctor said. ‘What’s been done for them so far?’
‘Charlie bound the broken limbs with splints and gave them aspirin for the fever. The pilot’s wounds were cleaned with iodine and dressed. That’s all.’ She grabbed his arm, feeling her head start to spin. ‘They’ll need morphine, Doctor, lots of it.’
‘They certainly will, and if the pilot has a stomach full of metal then he’ll need a surgeon as soon as possible. Where is the nearest telephone, please?’
‘My house,’ Reg said. ‘I can drive you. I reckon we’ll be back in good time for when the men get down.’ He glanced at Bobby. ‘They’ll be a fair bit behind you with the stretchers, I suppose?’
She nodded. ‘I doubt they’ll be here for at least an hour yet. I could make out their lights when I reached Troy’s field quarter of an hour ago. They couldn’t have been much beyond the shepherd’s hut.’
‘Our Charlie all right, is he?’
‘He’s fine.’ She summoned a weak smile. ‘You’d have been proud of him, Reg. There was a little battle up there that I’ll tell you all about some other time, but he took charge of the situation like a true brother of yours.’
‘Now will you let us take you home, Bobby?’ Mary said. ‘You’ve done all you can here and it’s nearly two in the morning. You need a bath, a bandage for your leg and some rest. Reg can drive us when he takes Dr Minchin.’
Bobby could feel herself sagging. Exhaustion was starting to catch up with her, now she was still. A hot bath and warm bed had never sounded more appealing. But she couldn’t let herself rest yet. There was still a lot of work to be done.
‘Later, Mary,’ she said. ‘I need to get to Sumner House and wait for the men. Topsy’s there, isn’t she?’
‘Aye, she drove over with some stretchers and bandages in case they might be needed, then said she’d go back to make up beds for any survivors.’
‘She’s going to need help.’ Bobby winced as she accidentally put her weight on her bad ankle. ‘I’ll stay with her until I’ve seen it through. I couldn’t rest now anyhow.’
‘Well if that’s the case, I’m coming with you,’ Mary announced in a tone that brooked no opposition.
‘There’s no need. Go home in the car with Reg. I can borrow a bicycle to get me there.’
‘I’d far rather make myself useful. If nurses are needed I’ve some experience, even if it is rather out of date. I was a VAD in the last war for a short time, you know, until our Nancy came along. Besides, you’re in no state to ride a bicycle.’ Bobby should have known Mary would instantly notice the limp she’d been trying to disguise.
‘What about the children?’
‘They’re fast asleep. Reg will be home before they wake,’ Mary said. ‘He can drive us to Sumner House after the doctor has made his telephone call, then he can come back here to act as ambulance.’
Mary insisted that she be allowed ten minutes while the doctor telephoned a surgeon friend in Skipton to fill a Thermos with coffee. Bobby was impatient to be off to Sumner House, anxious to be doing something useful, but she also knew it would be some time until the two airmen would arrive there so she tried not to fidget. Mary poured her out a cup as they rode to the hospital in Reg’s car and the reviving brew perked her up significantly. By the time Reg left them at the top of Sumner House’s drive, she felt ready to tackle the next part of her unexpected nocturnal adventure.
There was a large bell rope by the door, which Bobby pulled.
‘I wonder when the men will get here,’ she said to Mary while they waited for someone to answer. ‘I suppose it will be another half an hour at least before they reach the village, and then the doctor will want to give them emergency treatment before Reg brings them over.’
‘At least an hour, in that case,’ Mary said. ‘I’m very glad I made that coffee. Is Dr Minchin’s surgeon friend on the way?’
‘Yes, he told him to come here directly.’
The door opened, and Topsy peered out into the darkness.
‘Charlie said you’d come,’ she said, smiling with relief. ‘Thank the Lord. We’ve been like lost souls here, waiting for we don’t know what.’ She threw her arms around Bobby for a hug. ‘But oh, you’re filthy!’ Topsy held her friend back in horror when she realised the state she was in, then cast a worried glance down at her own nice things. ‘What on earth have you been doing, Birdy?’
