by Ellie Dean
She went back into the garden to find Cordelia was awake and chatting to Kitty. She waited until there was a pause and then asked, ‘How’s Charlotte taken the news?’
Kitty chuckled. ‘She’s just relieved he’s not flying any more. Of course she’s very worried he might go too far and get shot trying to escape – but by all accounts this new Stalag is where the Germans send serial escape-artists, so the security is extremely tight.’
Rita came flying out of the back door and enfolded Kitty in a hug. ‘It’s so lovely to see you,’ she said, plumping down on the ground beside her. ‘You don’t visit us nearly enough.’ She poured the fresh tea into her cup and eyed Kitty’s huge stomach. ‘Goodness,’ she breathed. ‘How much bigger are you going to get?’
‘Not very much more, I hope,’ Kitty replied ruefully. ‘This baby’s due in ten days’ time, which frankly can’t come soon enough. I haven’t seen my feet in months, let alone managed to touch my toes; I can’t bend or sit properly and at night she keeps me awake by kicking me.’ She gave a soft smile. ‘Apart from all that, I feel and look like a beached whale.’
‘You look radiant and very lovely,’ said Peggy with an affectionate smile. ‘But you seem very certain it’s a girl you’re carrying. I hope you won’t be too disappointed if it’s not.’
‘I don’t really mind either way as long as it’s all right. Roger would love a boy, of course, but I rather like the idea of a little girl.’
‘Have you thought of names yet?’ asked Cordelia.
‘Faith for a girl – because I have to keep faith that Roger will come home – and George for a boy, in honour of the King.’
Peggy turned as Peter and Danuta came into the garden. She made the introductions, poured more tea and settled back to listen to them chatting, enjoying the sunshine and the prospect of babies to coo over once Kitty had delivered and Charlotte had had her twins. Freddy Pargeter had better behave, she thought darkly. His wife Charlotte was relying on him to come home in one piece to help care for his babies.
She tuned back in to the conversation to find that Rita and Peter were explaining about Cordelia’s chairlift.
‘It’s bonzer all right,’ he said enthusiastically. ‘Carried me up and back several times without a hitch, so I let the girls have a go as well.’ He looked at Cordelia, his mesmerising eyes lit with humour. ‘Reckon it’s your turn now,’ he said. ‘Are you up to it, do you think?’
Cordelia blushed. ‘I can hardly say no with you looking at me like that.’
Peter helped her out of the deckchair and Cordelia hooked her arm in his to go and see what all the fuss was about. The others trooped after her and they all stood in the hall regarding this new addition with interest.
‘You go first,’ Cordelia said to Peter. ‘I want to make sure that contraption really does work.’
‘Right oh,’ he replied cheerfully. He sat down, his large feet projecting from the footrest, fastened the belt across his hips and pulled the lever on the side of the chair. With a soft wheeze it began to slowly roll upwards, and when it reached the top, Peter engaged the brake, beamed at them all in triumph and then set it rolling back down again.
‘It’s fair dinkum, all right, isn’t it?’
‘If that means it works, then I suppose it is,’ said Cordelia, eyeing it with some trepidation. She waved away Peggy’s offer to go next and determinedly sat in the chair. Allowing Rita to fasten the safety belt, she rested her hand on the lever, and before she could change her mind, pushed it down.
‘Ooh,’ she twittered as she was ponderously carried up the stairs. ‘Goodness me. How do I stop it?’
‘Just pull the lever up,’ said Rita. ‘That will work the brake.’
Cordelia yanked on the lever and she came to a halt halfway up. Tentatively pushing the lever down again, she continued the slow journey to the top of the stairs where it came to a halt against the sturdy buffer of a wooden block. She engaged the brake and beamed down at them victoriously. ‘I did it,’ she giggled. ‘Oh, what fun.’
Peggy watched at first with her heart in her mouth as Cordelia made several journeys up and down the stairs, but it seemed the contraption was working perfectly. It would bring her a new lease of life now that she would no longer have to rely on others to fetch and carry.
Peggy stepped forward after Cordelia’s eighth trip. ‘I think that’s enough for now,’ she said gently. ‘You don’t want to wear out that motor, do you?’
Cordelia reluctantly stepped away from her new toy and beamed. ‘It’s truly wonderful,’ she breathed, hugging Rita before turning to Peter. ‘I’d hug you too, but you’re too tall.’
‘Fair go, every bloke likes a hug from a pretty woman,’ drawled Peter, bending to lift Cordelia off her feet and give her a hug and a smacking kiss on the cheek.
Cordelia slapped him flirtatiously on the shoulder. ‘Naughty boy, taking liberties with an old woman like that!’
Peter kissed the other cheek and very gently set her back on her feet. ‘Glad you like it, Grandma Cordy. Now I’ve gotta go. I’m supposed to be back on duty in less than an hour.’ He turned to Rita. ‘Thanks for helping out on the project. It wouldn’t have happened at all without you working all hours.’
‘Well, it was my project too,’ she reminded him sternly, ‘so don’t think you can take all the credit, Wing Commander Peter Ryan.’
He grinned and then said goodbye and hurried down to the motorbike he’d left parked outside. With a burp and a rattle the engine came to life and he roared off, leaving a trail of black exhaust fumes behind him.
‘He still hasn’t sorted out that bike,’ sighed Rita. ‘But then he hasn’t had much time to do anything in between working on the chair and flying ops. If only he’d trust me with it, I could have it running like clockwork within days.’
Cordelia was still discombobulated by Peter’s affectionate response, and was trying to pull her wits together. ‘Men are always a bit precious about their things – especially if it has an engine,’ she said distractedly. ‘I wouldn’t take it to heart, Rita.’
‘Kitty, are you all right?’ asked Danuta sharply.
‘I don’t know,’ she replied, unsteadily making her way to the chair by the telephone. ‘I’ve had back ache all day and it’s suddenly got much worse.’
Danuta was nearest, and helped her to sit down. ‘There is other pain?’
‘No, no, just my back.’ She looked at Danuta and gave a wan smile. ‘I’ve overdone things, that’s all. I’m sure I’ll be fine if I just have a little rest.’
The gush of water soaked through her dungarees and pooled on the floor, and she looked at it aghast. ‘I’m so sorry, Peggy,’ she breathed in horror. ‘I seem to have wet myself. I’ll clear it up immediately.’
‘You’ll do no such thing,’ said Peggy, pressing her back into the chair. ‘That’s your waters breaking. Baby is on its way.’
‘But that can’t be,’ Kitty gasped. ‘She’s not due for ten days.’
‘Well, it looks like she’s decided to come early,’ Peggy told her.
Kitty stared at her in disbelief and then bent over with a groan as a strong contraction gripped her like a vice. ‘No, oh, no,’ she gasped.
Peggy reached for the telephone. ‘I’m ringing the doctor,’ she said firmly. ‘Danuta, help Kitty into the bedroom and make her comfortable. Rita, clean the floor before someone slips and then put the kettle on. Cordelia, could you help strip Doris’s bed? She won’t appreciate—’ She was interrupted by the receptionist answering the telephone, and after a very short exchange she replaced the receiver.
‘Both doctors are out on call, and the midwife is delivering another baby,’ she said as she hurried into the hall-floor bedroom to find the bed stripped and Kitty shuffling back and forth clutching her stomach. ‘The receptionist has promised to send someone over as soon as possible, and as Kitty has only just started her labour, we’ve got plenty of time to get her prepared.’
‘I’m supposed to go to t
he hospital,’ groaned Kitty, reaching for the chest of drawers to lean on.
Danuta’s expression was solemn as she took Kitty’s pulse and placed her hand on her stomach as another contraction came. ‘This baby will come fast, so there’s no time for an ambulance. I shall need towels and a rubber sheet if you have one – as well as a sharp pair of scissors, disinfectant, soap and a bowl of very hot water.’
Peggy shot out of the bedroom and raced upstairs to the airing cupboard, snatching out towels, a clean sheet and a spare pillow. Running into her bedroom, she stripped the two cots of the rubber sheeting she put there in case of accidents, grabbed her sewing scissors and almost fell down the stairs when she stubbed her toe on the safety block. Cursing under her breath, she hobbled down and dumped everything on the top of the chest of drawers.
Kitty was sweating and clinging to the footboard, almost bent double as she dealt with yet another strong contraction, and Cordelia’s little face was a picture of concern as she tried to soothe her by rubbing her back.
‘How far apart are they?’ Peggy asked as they quickly laid the rubber sheet over the mattress and covered it in towels.
‘Every five minutes,’ Danuta replied. ‘Is a long time since I deliver baby,’ she muttered. ‘I hope either Fran or the doctor get here soon.’
‘But you do know what to do, don’t you?’ Peggy asked fearfully.
‘Yes,’ Danuta replied shortly.
Peggy glanced at her watch. It was almost midday, and the children would be on their way home for their lunch. She called out to Rita who was running a mop over the tiles in the hall. ‘We need that hot water, soap and disinfectant quickly. Then you’ll have to run down to the park and get hold of Fran. This baby’s on its way and in a hurry.’
Rita returned within minutes with a jug and bowl brimming with hot water, and as Kitty gave a deep groan, she shot off like a startled deer to find Fran.
Kitty panted through the contractions and within half an hour, she gasped urgently, ‘I need to push.’
Danuta was very calm. ‘Not yet. Is too soon. You must pant like a dog until we get you undressed.’ With Peggy’s help she managed to get Kitty’s clothes off and settle her on the bed.
Cordelia covered her in the clean sheet and then held her hand. ‘What about her false leg?’ she asked fretfully. ‘Shouldn’t we take it off?’
‘There isn’t time,’ said Danuta.
‘I’m going to push,’ grunted Kitty.
‘No, you’re not. You keep panting,’ Danuta ordered. ‘I must look to see if baby has crowned. If you push too soon you will have a tear, and you won’t want stitches down there.’ She swiftly washed and soaped her hands in the hot water, dropped Peggy’s sewing scissors in to sterilise them with disinfectant, and tied a hand towel over her hair before lifting the sheet to examine Kitty’s progress.
‘It’s all right, Kitty,’ Peggy soothed, patting her shoulder. ‘Danuta was a nurse in Poland; she knows what she’s doing.’
Danuta emerged from beneath the sheet with a wide grin. ‘You are fully dilated and I can see your baby’s head. ‘You may push now, but very gently.’
Danuta disappeared beneath the sheet and began issuing instructions and encouragement as Kitty pushed. ‘That is good. Steady and slow. Now you can push as hard and as long as you like, Kitty. Your baby’s head is almost out.’
Peggy and Cordelia looked at each other across the sweating, straining girl, their emotions a mixture of hope and fear as her grip on their hands tightened and she gave a guttural groan and strained as hard as she could.
‘One last push, Kitty,’ urged Danuta. ‘Good girl. That’s the shoulders, and here comes the rest.’
Kitty slumped breathlessly back against the pillows, sweat running down her reddened face, her damp tangle of hair flopping in her eyes. ‘Is it all right?’ she managed.
There was a long, ominous silence before Danuta emerged with a beaming smile and a squalling bundle wrapped in a clean towel. ‘She is perfect, but first I must cut and tie cord.’ Moments later she placed the baby in Kitty’s arms and both Cordelia and Peggy burst into tears.
17
Danuta felt like crying too, but it was more from relief that the delivery had gone without a hitch than an emotional reaction to the baby. She watched Kitty cradling her tiny daughter as Cordelia and Peggy shed tears and cooed at the same time. It had been quite a morning, but as there was still no sign of a midwife or doctor, her work wasn’t over yet.
‘Mamma Peggy, would you please bath the baby whilst I see to Kitty? And Babunia Cordy, could you bring some newspaper and make a fresh pot of tea?’
She waited until they’d left the room and then looked down at the exhausted Kitty. ‘I will remove the artificial leg first, then you will be more comfortable as you deliver the afterbirth.’ She saw the startled look on her face. ‘It will not hurt,’ she assured her quickly.
Minutes later, Danuta checked that the afterbirth was whole, and wrapped it in the newspaper. She stripped away the dirty towels, washed Kitty as well as she could using a small towel as a flannel, and then used Doris’s brush to untangle her hair. Plumping the pillows and drawing a blanket over her, she watched Kitty rest back with a weary smile and knew she would soon be asleep.
‘I don’t know how to begin to thank you,’ Kitty said. ‘I’m sorry I made such a fuss, but everything happened so fast, and I was in a panic.’
‘You were very calm considering,’ soothed Danuta. ‘I have heard much worse from other women.’
‘It was you who was calm,’ said Kitty solemnly, ‘and that made me feel better. I dread to think how I’d’ve coped if you hadn’t been here.’
‘Between you and Mamma Peggy you would have managed,’ she replied, patting her hand. ‘You have a beautiful, healthy daughter; that is all that matters now.’ She turned as Peggy came into the room, the baby swaddled in a clean towel, its tuft of dark hair brushed into a sweet coxcomb. ‘I will leave you to enjoy her,’ she murmured, heading for the door armed with dirty towels and the bowl of water.
‘I’m calling her Faith Danuta Makepeace,’ said Kitty, ‘and when she’s old enough I will tell her all about you, and how wonderful you were.’
Danuta blinked back tears, suddenly overcome by all that had happened. ‘Thank you, Kitty. That is a great honour,’ she managed before quietly closing the door behind her.
‘It’s brought it all back, hasn’t it?’ asked a sharp-eyed Cordelia as Danuta entered the kitchen. She put her arms around her and drew her close. ‘There, there, dear.’
‘I’m not crying for my Katarzyna – she is with me always – but these tears are because I am so relieved nothing went wrong.’ She drew back from the embrace. ‘You see, I was so frightened of that, Babunia. Kitty went into labour very fast, and it can be most dangerous to both mother and baby.’
‘Then you cry away, Danuta,’ Cordelia said with a loving smile and a soft pat on the cheek. ‘Kitty and the baby are safe and well, and you’ve proved you’re wasting your talents by hanging about here instead of going back to nursing.’
Danuta wasn’t at all sure about that. She’d found the entire episode nerve-wracking to say the least, and the thought of being plunged straight back into the hectic routine of a busy hospital was a step too far.
The silence in the kitchen was broken by Rita and Fran rushing up the steps. ‘Sarah’s keeping the children out for lunch at the Lilac Tearooms,’ said Fran. ‘How’s Kitty?’
‘She’s had a beautiful daughter,’ said Cordelia proudly. ‘And Danuta managed it all wonderfully well.’
‘That was quick,’ breathed Fran. ‘Were there any complications?’
Danuta shook her head. ‘We are waiting for the doctor to come to check her, but as far as I can see they are both doing very well.’
Fran cocked her head as she heard the demanding wail of a newly born. ‘It certainly sounds like it,’ she said, shooting her a grin. ‘Well done, Danuta. You see, I told you, you are ready to go
back to nursing.’
‘Maybe,’ Danuta hedged. ‘And it would be good if you could put something on Kitty’s stump. She walked too far today and it looks very sore.’
‘Can we go in and see them?’ asked Rita excitedly.
‘For a little while. Kitty is very tired and needs to sleep.’
Danuta remained in the kitchen as they headed for the bedroom with the fresh pot of tea. She needed a moment to settle down after all the excitement, and the sight of that dark coxcomb of hair had almost been her undoing, for, despite her protestation to the contrary, it had reminded her too much of her own baby.
Peggy was in her element. Kitty had given tiny Faith her first feed and then fallen asleep, leaving Peggy to cuddle the drowsy baby. She looked up as Rita and Fran came into the room with Cordelia and put her finger to her lips. ‘They’re both sleeping,’ she whispered.
The girls crowded in to see the baby, their faces soft with awe as she grimaced and stretched, her rosebud mouth moving at the memory of her first feed.
‘Do you want to hold her?’ Peggy asked.
‘No fear,’ whispered Rita. ‘I’d be terrified of dropping her.’
Fran had no such fears and expertly took the baby from Peggy’s arms just as someone knocked on the front door.
‘I’ll get it,’ called Danuta, and after a short conversation, brought in Doctor Sayer.
The elderly medic beamed at them all before quickly examining Faith and then shooing them out of the room with instructions to call an ambulance.
‘There isn’t anything wrong, is there?’ asked Peggy sharply.
‘No, my dear. ‘But young Kitty here needs to be in hospital after delivering so quickly so we can keep an eye on her and protect her from any infection.’
Peggy telephoned the hospital and then went to join the others in the kitchen, where Fran assured her it was common practice to take newly delivered mothers in when the birth had been swift.
