‘Three times, there were two of them the second time, remember?’
On the final push, Dot let out a huge sigh of relief and collapsed back on the bed. She listened out for the baby’s cry and when she heard nothing, asked with desperation in her voice, ‘Is the baby all right?’
For a few moments a wave of panic swept over her. The sweat streamed into her eyes and mingled with her tears. Tears of joy or of sorrow? She hoped of joy.
She asked a second time, while there was rapid activity at the end of the bed. Finally, after four excruciating minutes, Dot heard the gentle cries of the tiny life that had just come into being. Mary gave the scissors to Kate, who cut the cord, thinking all the time of the children she had given birth to. She was so happy for Dot, that she had a healthy baby after all she had been through.
Mary wrapped the tiny form in a white cloth and placed the baby on Dot’s chest. Dot pulled back the cloth and gazed for thefirst time at the wonderful little being that she and William had created.
‘Meet your baby girl,’ Mary said.
Dot was overcome with joy. She cried and laughed and cried again. Such a flood of emotions. ‘You gave me a hard time, little girl,’ she said. ‘I hope that’s not a sign of things to come.’
‘Well, I’m sure that she’ll do her best to keep you on your toes.’ Kate smiled. ‘They all do.’
‘But I will love her whatever she does.’ Dot sighed, playing with her tiny fingers.
Dot couldn’t take her eyes off the little bundle in her arms. The baby’s eyes opened and she look up at Dot. ‘I’m your mum,’ Dot said. ‘It’s going to be just you and me, little one, but I will do my very best for you.’
The baby smiled at Dot. Dot tickled the side of the baby’s mouth and she automatically turned towards her mother’s fingers.
‘Looks like she’s hungry already,’ Kate said.
‘Just like her father. He loved his food. Looks like she has his blue eyes too,’ Dot replied.
‘They all have blue eyes when they’re first born. It will be a few weeks yet before their true colour emerges,’ Mary said.
Kate kissed her sister. ‘Have you thought of a name?’ Kate asked.
‘Yes, I thought Jemima because the name means dove. It’s a symbol of peace, freedom and hope.’
‘That’s a beautiful name,’ Kate replied. ‘And most appropriate for a baby born in wartime. Let’s hope she is the bringer of peace.’
The doctor arrived and after Dot had been given a wash and Jemima had taken her first feed, Sarah brought Anthony up to meet his new cousin.
‘Congratulations, Dot, she’s lovely,’ Sarah said. ‘All we need now, is for this terrible war to end and Ronnie and Tilly to come home safely. God bless you, Jemima, and may you grow up in a more peaceful world.’
Chapter 31
At first light, Tilly was woken by sounds around them. There were male voices speaking in a foreign language, but not German.Thank God for that, Tilly thought. She woke Fliss and the two of them listened and prayed. The voices got closer and around the side of the upturned ambulance came several men, mounted on camels. When they saw Tilly and Fliss, they shouted at the camels who responded to their instructions by kneeling. One man jumped off and approached the two women. Tilly and Fliss clung on to one another, both wondering what these wandering tribesmen would do. Were they the same ones they had seen on their outward journey?
They indicated to the two women that they should stand and then pointed at the stranded ambulance. Tilly wondered if she could make them understand that they needed their help to get the vehicle upright. Through a process of sign language and demonstration, she managed to make them get the message. They produced rope from their saddlebags and proceeded to hitch their camels up and attached the other ends of the ropes to the ambulance. They hissed and shouted at the beasts, who spat at them and complained bitterly. Men and beasts combined got the vehicle into an upright position, and Tilly and Fliss applauded them. They watched in amazement as Tilly checked the ambulance over and tried the engine. When it wouldn’t start, she raised the bonnet and used various tools to adjust parts. She tried it again and the ambulance sprang to life. It was their turn to applaud her. The two friends thanked the men, climbed back into the cab and waved to the departing tribesmen. Tilly knew the answer to her question now about whether the travelling tribesmen would help them or not. They had been very lucky that the camel riders had turned up when they did, otherwise they might not have survived at all.
Once Tilly had managed to get the engine functioning, they were about to set out to continue their journey when they noticed a sandstorm rising in the desert in exactly the direction of their route to Tobruk. Tilly calculated that if they turned around and headed back to Alexandria, rather than try to continue, they might be able to outrun the storm. Either way they faced danger but if they tried to sit it out, sand might well get into the workings of the engine and make travel in either direction impossible. Reluctantly, they turned around and returned to Alexandria.
They were lucky enough to reach the army encampment just in time before the sandstorm hit. They hunkered down with the rest of the troops to wait it out. They were relieved that by the time it reached them, it had largely blown itself out and no great damage was caused. The two women reported back to Captain Banks who was pleased to see they were safe.
‘I’m sorry to hear about Sapper Wilson, but thank God you’re all right,’ he said. ‘When we saw what was coming, we were doubtful that you would survive.’
‘We’d like to think you’d have sent out a rescue party after the storm had died down,’ Fliss said.
‘Undoubtedly,’ Captain Banks replied, his gaze firmly on Fliss.
They were taken to the mess tent where they ate a substantial meal and were then shown to a tent where they could bed down for the night. They were told to report to Captain Banks in the morning.
‘I’ve had intelligence that the situation in Tobruk is not good,’ the captain said, when he received them in his office. ‘It looks like it will fall to the Germans any day now. I’m not going to send you back into a situation where you will, more likely than not, be taken prisoners of war. Therefore, my suggestion is that you remain with my battalion and join our medical team. Wehave been ordered to join the forces under the command of Field Marshal Montgomery at El Alamein. This has all the signs of becoming a key battle in the Western Desert Campaign. We will need all the doctors and nurses we can get.’
From that moment on for the next few months, Tilly and Fliss became part of the team supporting the Eighth Army in their bid to oust Rommel and his Panzer divisions from the Western Desert.
