Through the Storm (51 page)

Even those troops sprawled out of harm’s way on the roof tops found they weren’t immune from civilian attention to their welfare. Half a dozen soldiers concealed behind the chimneys of a row of terraced houses found themselves obliged to crawl along to a dusty loft window from which a hand emerged with a cup of tea and a voice shouted, ‘Do any of you lads take sugar?’

When Eileen Stephens arrived to see her sister, she found Pearl Street almost deserted. Jessica Fleming was the only friend to be found in. She opened the door looking incredibly smart in her turquoise suit and matching pillbox hat with its fetching veil. Penny came running into the hall to see who’d arrived, wearing a red velvet frock with a lace collar, which Jessica explained Brenda Mahon had made out of a piece of old curtain, adding, ‘I think she’s going to grow up as mad on clothes as her mother. She insisted on a new frock for her birthday party the other week.’

‘I’m sorry I didn’t bring Nicky, Jess,’ Eileen said apologetically. ‘It was his birthday a few days after Penny’s, but I didn’t want to leave Nick by himself.’

‘Is he no better, love?’ Jessica asked worriedly as she showed Eileen in. Nick Stephens had returned from Russia minus his left arm, and was finding it difficult to
adjust
to civilian life with a handicap. He was depressed, refused to go out and objected to visitors, even his wife’s closest relatives. To Eileen’s further dismay, he took scarcely any notice of the son he’d only seen once before, on the night of his birth.

To Jessica’s relief, Eileen’s lovely blue eyes lit up. ‘Oh, he’s over the moon, is Nick. He’s managed to land a desk job in the RAF. Unfortunately, it’s in London, but he’ll come home weekends whenever he can. He only heard the other day and you wouldn’t believe the difference it’s made. He said he no longer feels useless and “surplus to requirements”, as he put it. The other night, we actually …’ She paused, and her cheeks turned pink. ‘… Well, we did something we hadn’t done since he came back.’

‘I’m ever so pleased, Eil, I really am.’

‘Y’know, Jess,’ Eileen said thoughtfully, ‘a year ago, when Nick had to leave the maternity home within an hour of me having the baby, I had the strongest feeling I’d never see him again. I was beginning to wonder if I’d been proved right. It wasn’t the Nick I used to know who’s been living at the cottage over the last few months. It was a stranger who couldn’t bear to touch me. I still loved him, but I desperately wanted the old Nick back.’ She smiled gleefully. ‘And now I’ve got him! He insisted I leave Nicky with him when I came out today. He said, “It’s about time I got to know my son.” Of course, he feels dead awful now because he didn’t do it sooner.’

‘So, it’s turned out perfect!’ Jessica couldn’t possibly have felt more pleased for her friend, though at her words, a shadow fell over Eileen’s face. Of course, it would never be perfect without Tony – and Nick had lost an arm.

Eileen sighed, then seemed to pull herself together. ‘Why are you and Penny all dolled up, anyroad? You look as if you’re off to a wedding.’

‘I am,’ Jessica said quietly.

‘Anyone I know?’

‘Someone you know very well. Me! I’m marrying Gus Henningsen in the Register Office at one o’clock. Kitty’s the only one I’ve told. I kept it a secret from the street as I didn’t want any fuss.’

‘Jess!’ Eileen jumped to her feet and gave Jessica a hug. ‘I’m dead pleased. Congratulations! Where are you going on your honeymoon?’

‘Nowhere! We’re going to the Dorchester for lunch, then Gus will go back to Burtonwood and Penny and me are coming home. He’ll be along later if he can get away.’

Eileen burst into tears. ‘I’m sorry, Jess, but ever since this bloody war began, I cry at the drop of a hat. I hope you and Gus and Penny will be very happy.’

‘Don’t cry, love,’ Jessica said emotionally, ‘or you’ll have me at it. I’ll spoil my make up and I’ve just used the last of the mascara.’

She’d cried a lot over the last two weeks, more than she’d done in her entire life. She’d lost her baby and her grief was made worse by the awareness it had been her last chance to have a second child.

‘It’s all my fault,’ groaned Gus. By then, the whole awful business was over. An army doctor had been called, and Jessica cleaned up and moved to an emergency bed in the First Aid Centre.

‘No, it’s my own fault,’ Jessica said weakly. ‘I should have had more sense than to run the way I did.’

Gus was sitting on a chair beside the bed. He looked at her despairingly. ‘But you wouldn’t have if I’d had the good sense to call you myself with the news about Peter.’

‘Neither of us acted rationally. People do all sorts of silly things in terrible situations.’

‘I’ll never be able to forgive myself. Two kids gone in
one
night, first Peter, then yours. Lord Almighty, Jess! I’m not sure if we can come through this.’

Jessica reached for his hand. ‘As soon as I’m back on my feet, we’ll get married and come through it together.’

His face twisted into a grimace which Jessica realised was Gus being tender. ‘Are you sure, darling?’

‘I’m positive.’ It was only then that Jessica remembered about Penny. ‘Kitty’s got to be up for work early in the morning.’

‘I sent my sergeant to collect Penny. I told him to say you were ill, that you’d just fainted. He should be back soon.’ Then Gus said bleakly, ‘Do you realise, Jess, that Penny’s now all we’ve got left between us?’

But Gus turned out to be wrong. Several days later, Private Peter Henningsen, aged nineteen, was found, badly injured and more dead than alive, in the thick foliage of a Papuan jungle. Within hours, he had been flown to the safety of a hospital in Australia, where his young healthy body was responding well to treatment.

When Jessica heard, she took the news strangely. Normally down to earth and impatient with superstition, she felt as if her child had been lost in order to save Gus’s. She even imagined God, whom she wasn’t sure she believed in, asking her to make a choice, ‘Will you give up your unborn child for Peter?’ and spent many hours wondering what her reply would have been. The sensible part of her mind told her she was being silly and merely looking for justification of her bitter loss in order to feel better. If she could find a reason for the tragedy, it would be easier to bear.

Kitty was delighted to hear Jessica was getting married, and promised to keep the news strictly to herself.

‘Gus is looking round for a property to rent close to the base,’ Jessica told her. ‘I’d prefer to stay in Pearl
Street
, but it wouldn’t be fair on him. He’s on edge the whole time if he’s not in easy contact with his office, and I doubt if I could have a telephone installed in wartime. That means I’ll be moving soon, Kitty.’

‘I’ll miss you and Penny, Jess,’ Kitty said serenely. Her holiday had certainly done her good. Lately, she’d been looking increasingly pleased with herself.

‘The thing is, dear, you could have this house if you want it. I know the landlord very well and I’m sure he could be persuaded to transfer the rentbook to your name.’

Jessica thought that Kitty would jump at the idea. She’d only be a few doors away from her dad, with whom good relations had been completely restored, and she was becoming fond of Theresa’s boys. Not only that, her lifelong friends lived in the street. But to Jessica’s surprise, Kitty shook her head.

‘I wouldn’t feel right, taking a whole house to meself. There’s whole families need it far more than I do.’ Kitty looked at Jessica with shining eyes. ‘Anyroad, I’ll be off meself soon. I’ve joined the Merchant Navy as a nurse. I intended telling you once I got me first posting. It should come through any day now.’ It had seemed like a miracle at the time. Kitty had gone back to work after her week in Southport, determined to do something different with her life, and there, on the noticeboard, she had found the ideal solution. The Merchant Navy were advertising for volunteers to serve on hospital and troopships. It meant there was no need to get permission to change her job. She’d applied immediately, gone for interview and been accepted. All she was waiting for was an advice to say what ship she would serve on. ‘I won’t be coming back to Bootle any more, except to visit me friends and family,’ she said. ‘I’ve no idea what I’m going to do when the war’s over, but I’ve no intention of settling down for a long time.’

It all seemed a bit extreme to Jessica, but she wished
the
girl good luck. ‘I’m glad you’ve got over Dale Tooley,’ she added.

‘I haven’t,’ Kitty said simply. ‘The time we were together was so perfect, that I doubt if I’ll ever get over Dale. You’ll probably think me stupid, Jess, but in me head there’s two Dales: the one I went out with for three months, and another one who told me he was married. I could easily forget the second in time, but I’ll never forget the first.’

Jessica, who was in the throes of trying to decide if her lost baby’s life had been sacrificed for Peter Henningsen’s, said drily, ‘I don’t think that’s stupid, Kitty, not at all.’

‘There’s something else I won’t forget, Jess,’ Kitty said warmly, ‘and that’s how kind you’ve been. I’m not sure how I would have coped without you.’

‘I did my best, but I don’t think I truly understood how upset you were. It’s only now I realise what you went through. The idea of Gus doing to me what Dale did to you, is so beyond the bounds of possibility that it’s never crossed my mind.’

‘That’s the way I thought,’ said Kitty.

‘I’m sorry, Eileen, but I shall have to leave for the Register Office soon.’

Eileen immediately jumped to her feet, but Jessica insisted there was just time for a glass of sherry. ‘I wouldn’t mind one myself. Now the time’s come, I’m feeling a bit nervous.’

‘That’s understandable,’ Eileen assured her. ‘Is a car coming for you?’

‘No, I’m walking. We’re supposed to keep vehicles off the road today.’ Jessica giggled. ‘I hope we don’t get taken prisoner on the way.’

‘It’s sheer bedlam out there. If it was a genuine invasion, the Germans’d turn tail and run. They’d think they’d landed in a giant lunatic asylum. I’ll walk part of
the
way with you, if you don’t mind, and see if I can find our Sheila.’

They left shortly afterwards. Eileen wandered off in search of her sister, and Jessica Fleming, hand in hand with Penny, made her way through the happy and excited crowds towards the place where she was due to marry Major Gus Henningsen.

Kitty’s posting came through the following Monday. She was ordered to join the troopship
Nero
which would sail from Portsmouth on the first of October, five days later. A travel docket was enclosed for the train.

She had already worked out her notice at the hospital, but went in for a final time to say goodbye to the good friends she’d made over the last twelve months.

‘It’s been the best year of my life,’ she said to Nurse Bellamy.

‘We’ve enjoyed having you,’ the nurse said crisply. ‘Perhaps when the war’s over and things are back to normal, you might consider a career as a professional nurse. You could probably skip the first year’s training in view of your past experience.’

‘I’ll think about it,’ Kitty said seriously. The idea was already on her list of options when the time came to make a decision on her future.

Lucy cried profusely when they said goodbye. ‘It won’t seem the same without you, Kitty. Clara is still as thick as thieves with Valerie. I hope whoever takes your place won’t side with them, else it’ll be me against all three.’

‘I thought you were getting married to what’s-his-name at Christmas?’ Kitty had lost track of the names of Lucy’s never-ending boyfriends and fiancés.

‘Harry! Oh, he turned out to be a drip, so I chucked him,’ Lucy said witheringly, ‘but I met this dead good-looking Yank at a dance last night.’

They promised to write. Kitty said goodbye to the
nurses
who vowed they’d keep close track of the
Nero
in the papers, then sought out Clara Watkins. Although she’d said nothing to Lucy, there was bad news in store for Clara. One of the nurses had confided that her husband George had been seen in a pub in town with Valerie Simmonds, and they appeared to be
very
good friends indeed!

Clara was in the kitchen preparing the dinner trolley. Kitty didn’t waste words. ‘I’d like you to keep an eye on Lucy for me,’ she said bluntly. ‘She’s young enough to be your daughter, Clara, and it’s not fair the way you and Valerie gang up on her.’

‘Lucy can be a little bitch,’ Clara sneered, though she had the grace to look slightly ashamed.

‘She’s never been a bitch to me. She’s a good kid and she has a hard time at home. I’ve never asked anything of you before, Clara, but do me one first and final favour, be nice to her. Anyroad, it’s best to be on good terms with your mates at work. You never know when you’ll need one as a friend.’

‘I’m really sorry you’re leaving, Kitty,’ Clara said grudgingly. ‘I’ve always liked you, though I may not have shown it. For your sake, I’ll try to get along with Lucy from now on.’

Kitty was saying her last goodbye to the Wren at the reception desk, when a pretty, well-dressed woman came into the building through the main entrance. She looked vaguely familiar and Kitty was trying to remember where they’d met before, when the woman said, ‘How are you?’

‘Fine,’ Kitty said courteously. ‘I’m afraid …’

The woman laughed a trifle patronisingly. ‘You don’t remember me, do you? I’m Miss Ellis from the Labour Exchange. I’ve come to see Staff Nurse Bellamy. It’s Kitty, isn’t it?’

Kitty remembered the rude way in which Miss Ellis
had
spoken to her, as if she was worthless and ignorant. ‘No,’ she said coldly. ‘It’s not Kitty, it’s Nurse Quigley. Goodbye, Miss Ellis.’ With a toss of her head, Kitty swept out of the door, though on the way home, she regretted her rudeness. All in all, she had much to thank Miss Ellis for. She’d learnt a lot over the past year. One thing, she would never allow anyone to speak to her in such a demeaning way again.

Jimmy Quigley was panic-stricken when Kitty told him the news. ‘You’re leaving! But it sounds dead dangerous, kiddo. You could be killed. I need you, girl, I need you here with me.’