Together for Christmas (29 page)

‘What the bloody ’ell do you think yer up to?’ a rough voice demanded.

Michael wiped the sweat from his eyes. Somehow he had brought the car to a halt. He was no longer in Gallipoli climbing the sandy hill, but back in the present. Two men were staring angrily in
the car window. ‘Look what yer done,’ one of them shouted from under the brim of his cap. ‘Yer drove right at us, yer silly bugger!’

Michael saw two carts and their shying horses, somehow entangled with the front of his car. Then there was an almighty bang. It seemed to rattle his bones and teeth. The men bolted at once.
People who had been standing in the road began to run. The eerie glow of the street’s gas lamps made them look like ghosts. Above, the Zeppelin hovered in the sky. Fear filled every pore in
his body as he saw something on the ground. It was Flora.

He pulled himself out of the car, sliding from the seat onto the road. Pressing himself through a space between the two carts, he began to run towards her. His lungs filled with air and a rush
of oxygen caused him to stumble. He bounced off a wall like a drunken man and sprawled headlong, saving himself as he caught hold of a window ledge. Then he found himself running again and the salt
tar of the docks washed bitterly into his mouth.

At last, he reached her and threw himself over her with all the force he could muster.

The noise was deafening.

‘We’re going to make a dash for it, Flora,’ Michael said.

‘I can’t move.’

‘Once you stand, you’ll be able to run.’

‘But the airship might follow us.’

‘My car is not far away. We can drive away from it.’

Flora felt sick and weak. She had never seen anything so large and threatening in the sky. She had been stuck to the cobbles of the road, unable to move.

‘Don’t look up. Hold on to me.’

Flora feared she couldn’t even take a breath, let alone run. But with Michael’s help she managed to climb to her feet. They began to run towards the carts blocking the road. The
vegetables squelched and burst beneath her feet, she could hear the horses whinnying. How had all this happened in just a few minutes? Michael wouldn’t let her stop. He dragged her on,
towards the carts and through the space between them.

‘There’s my car,’ Michael urged. His voice was calm as he pulled her through.

When they reached the car he opened the door and helped her over the running board. ‘We’ll soon be away from here.’

Flora looked up at the sky and sat very still, fearing to move. From out of the window she could see the great swaying body above and the searchlights crossing it. A very loud noise shattered
the silence. Flora closed her eyes and immediately thought of the Bensons.

‘It’s all right, Flora. The airship has passed over us.’

‘Where are we?’

‘Almost home.’

Flora realized she had been sitting with her hands over her ears and her eyes squeezed tight. She hadn’t wanted to hear or see anything after that enormous noise. The clatter of the car
engine was for once welcome.

‘But how did you find me?’

‘I called at the surgery to alert you and the doctor to the incoming Zeppelin. Dr Tapper gave me Mrs Benson’s address and on the way there I found you. Look, the doctor is waiting on
the surgery steps.’

Michael brought the car to a shuddering halt. Flora jumped out of the car and ran to the doctor.

‘There, there, my dear,’ he said, patting her back gently. ‘You’re quite safe now. Thank heaven that Michael found you.’

Flora began to explain all that had happened with Archie and Mrs Benson and how she had come to find herself walking home so late. ‘The airship suddenly appeared,’ she recalled,
shuddering. ‘I began to run, just like everyone else.’ Flora held back the tears stinging in her eyes. She would never forget how terrifying the first sight of the Zeppelin had been.
‘Then there was a terrible bang. I fell . . .’ She looked up at Michael. Had she really seen him running?

‘It appears you are walking unaided, young man,’ the doctor observed.

‘I saw Flora on the ground and forgot my leg,’ Michael said as though he couldn’t believe it himself.

Flora stared at the tall, upright young man who had risked his life for her. He looked so very different without his cane.

Flora saw it all again. She was at the Bensons’ and Archie was in his bedroom, hiding behind his bed. Mrs Benson was exhausted by the long hours of caring for her son.
Then she was transported to Westferry Road and was gazing breathlessly up at the sky. The Zeppelin hovered above and people had come out of their houses to look at it. The noise of the explosion
had sent them all running. And she had run too, only to fall and lie frozen with fear under the airship.

‘Flora?’

She opened her eyes, realizing she had been dreaming. She was laying on the doctor’s sofa with a blanket over her. The drapes were open and the dim light of dawn was flowing in through the
window. Michael stood beside her. He had washed the dirt from his face and combed his hair back into place. He was smiling, although his green eyes were full of concern.

‘Did I fall asleep?’

‘Yes. How are you feeling?’

She sat up and lowered her feet to the floor. ‘I was dreaming about what happened.’ She blinked. ‘Is it true you can walk without your cane?’

He sat down beside her. ‘Yes, it’s true.’

‘Are you sure?’

He laughed. ‘Perfectly. Perhaps the remainder of a limp, but the doctor assures me that the recovery will now continue.’

‘I’m very happy for you, Michael.’ Flora remembered how he had held her as they lay on the road. How he had told her they would run for the car. She wanted to throw her arms
around him but instead she sat quietly, listening.

He took her hand. ‘And there’s more good news. Whilst you slept I drove Dr Tapper to the Bensons. He was concerned that Archie had been upset by the noise of the Zeppelin bombs. When
we arrived and knocked, there was no reply. Thinking something must be wrong, Dr Tapper pulled the key from the letterbox. We let ourselves in and were met with darkness. Then we heard someone
snoring. Mrs Benson was asleep in her chair. It took several minutes before we could rouse her. The candle-wax earplugs had given her a grand night’s sleep.’

‘And Archie?’

‘Together with his medicine and the earplugs, Archie didn’t wake. Mrs Benson was surprised when we told her that a Zeppelin had flown over only half a mile away.’

‘Was there much damage?’

‘Some houses have come down in Westferry Road and Deptford Dry Dock. The station at Norway Street was bombed and also Greenwich.’

‘The airship was a frightening sight,’ Flora recalled, remembering the moment when it had appeared. ‘I thought of the soldiers trying to run from the clouds of poison gas. I
realized how impossible it would be to escape.’ She looked into his eyes. ‘Until I saw you . . .’

Michael squeezed her hand. ‘And I realized how much you meant to me.’

Flora took a breath. Did he mean it?

‘Ah, you’re awake, Flora. Time for breakfast,’ the doctor said as he brought in a tray and set it before them. Flora looked at the buttered crumpets, jelly jam and pot of hot
tea. She still couldn’t believe everything that had happened.

‘I am as surprised as you are,’ Michael said when the doctor enquired again what had happened to his leg. ‘I . . . I was driving, just driving,’ he recalled, his brows
knitting together in deep concentration. ‘The street was in front of me, the cobbles, the walls of the houses, the roofs and the windows. I was thinking of Flora and how I could most swiftly
find her. Then I heard our guns fire. Suddenly, I was detached from myself and somehow in Gallipoli. The beaches were littered with the dead and the heat was unbearable. Already the flies from the
many corpses flew around us. The stench of death was in the air, in our very breath. I urged my men forward, though only one young soldier was beside me. A boy, running terrified at what he had
seen and the prospect that he too would almost certainly fall under gunfire. We made for the hill, attempted to climb its sandy face. We reached the top, though God knows how – and then, as I
climbed over, there was an explosion.’ He raised his eyes slowly and they were full of pain. ‘When I came to, I was alone. I lay stunned, hearing a faint cry for help. I pulled myself
to the edge and looked down. He was there, calling out for my help.’ Michael’s voice faltered and he gave a deep, shuddering sigh. ‘His leg had been blown away. Every movement he
made must have been agony.’

They sat in silence and Flora knew that Michael was reliving that moment. A moment he had kept hidden, perhaps even from himself. He shuddered again as a long sigh escaped his lips. ‘I
grasped his wrist and pulled, dragging him up and almost to the ledge. Then the sniper’s bullet found my own leg.’ Once again, there was silence until he continued. ‘I felt him
slipping. I couldn’t hold him. Eventually, I let go.’ He swallowed, the muscles of his face tightening.

‘It was not your fault,’ the doctor assured him. ‘You did all you could for the boy.’

‘It wasn’t enough.’

‘No man can do more than his best.’

Once again, Michael stared down at his leg. Then looking at Flora, he said quietly, ‘I knew I mustn’t fail this time. It was as though I had been given a second chance.’

Flora felt a warmth fill her. The emotion spread into her heart and it was then that she knew she truly loved him.

The doctor gave a little cough and nodded. Then he continued to pour the tea.

Hilda was sitting on the window seat, gazing out at the view. She was bored beyond words and yearned to go out and enjoy the golden September day. The leaves were beginning to
turn brown and the smell of woodsmoke was in the air. The strong aroma reminded her of the island and its thousands of chimneys that burned through the whole year. Her life there seemed very far
away now.

Hilda leaned forward to get a better look at the gravel drive leading from the house and up to the archway of trees. The front doors of Adelphi Hall were directly below the window, three floors
down. She made sure she didn’t knock her arm. Though it was now free of the sling, the doctor had warned her to be careful. The small fracture of her wrist had not been discovered at first,
not until it was too late and the bones had begun to heal in the wrong way. Her wrist had stayed swollen for weeks. Putting any pressure on it still caused her great distress and Mrs Burns, fearing
that she would only stir up more trouble, had virtually locked her away. If it wasn’t for the fact that she had dared to creep out when everyone was asleep, she would have gone mad. She knew
Mrs Burns would have been furious if she’d discovered her wandering in the grounds. But luckily, they had met no one, though Gracie, who had accompanied her under protest, had refused to go
anywhere near the stables.

‘I’ll only come if you behave yerself,’ Gracie had warned her, making Hilda promise to venture no further than the kitchen garden. ‘Cavorting about in the night is how
you ended up like you are. Anyway, you won’t be bumping into ’
im,
’ she added with a toss of her mousy head. ‘’E’s orf to Venice with that Lady Gabriella
and hasn’t spared a thought for you, nor will he. Next thing we know, it’ll be marriage bells, mark my words.’

Hilda had been furious. Lord Guy would never marry the stick-thin, po-faced Lady Gabriella Beresford, who had made cow’s eyes at him at the Christmas party. The intimate expression in Lord
Guy’s gaze had been for Hilda alone. She shivered inside when she thought of how he had torn away her clothes and explored her body in the soft straw of the barn. He had spoken with scorn of
the women who fawned over him, assuring Hilda that they were of no interest. The memory of her willing surrender and acts of passion made even Hilda blush. She couldn’t imagine the vain,
self-obsessed, doll-faced Lady Gabriella unlacing her corsets and throwing both caution and her knickers to the wind. It was Gracie who was trying to poison her thoughts . . .

Hilda sighed softly as she gazed out on the beautiful countryside. These were the fields and woods in which she and her master had played their games. It was entirely her fault that she had
disappointed him. Inexperience and fear had held her back. She hadn’t realized that his boisterous nature meant he might sometimes go a little too far. But next time she would indulge him in
all his wishes without protest. He would love her for this. Four months of boredom with Lady Gabriella would send him eagerly back to her arms.

With her finger, Hilda drew a heart in the dirt on the window she had yet to clean. Now, at least, Mrs Burns was allowing her to perform small duties, well away from the rest of the household.
She had been banished to the top floor, with strict instructions to clean there between midday and two o’clock while Lord William was resting. Mrs Burns had sent Gracie, too, who was now the
eyes and ears of the housekeeper. Gracie couldn’t be trusted to be Hilda’s confidante any longer. When Lord Guy returned, their meetings would have to be secret. Hilda felt a tremble of
the old excitement when she thought of her lover. He would seek her out, she was convinced of that. A love like theirs couldn’t end. And with time, she knew she would change him. She
understood him and forgave his dark moods.

‘’Ilda?’

The sound of Gracie’s squeaky voice made her jump but Hilda deliberately ignored her.

‘Didn’t you ’ear me? What are you doing just sitting there?’

‘My arm is aching,’ Hilda threw over her shoulder.

‘If you start complaining, Mrs Burns won’t like it.’

Hilda turned and narrowed her brown eyes at Gracie, who stood with her red raw hands on her hips and a lock of thin, mousey-brown hair falling out of her cap. Hilda thought resentfully how once
Gracie had been only too willing to be her friend. She had been grateful for Hilda’s attention and had even told her that she would shoulder any duty that Hilda didn’t care for. Now,
the tables seemed to have turned, Hilda thought crossly. She was beginning to detest Gracie’s bossy ways.