Victoria’s eyes suddenly snapped open and anger was about to be fired in Alice’s direction.
‘I… I admit, I don’t know what those reasons could possibly be.’ Alice looked to Molly, for support.
‘Look, Victoria.’ Molly hit her hand on the table. ‘It’s no good taking it out on us. I know you’re hurt, angry and probably lots of other things, but if your parents hadn’t died, I don’t doubt it would have all been explained to you in due course, but they did and now all we can try and do is find him, so you get to know the truth.’
Alice gave an enthusiastic nod. ‘Look, why don’t we come round tomorrow? We can talk about all of this and look at the photographs, certificates and whatever else there is, and try and put the pieces together.’
Molly reached out and stroked Victoria’s arm. ‘It sounds like a good plan of action.’
Victoria gave a wry smile. ‘You’re right. I’m sorry. You’re both good friends; I couldn’t ask for better, but Molly, you should be organising your wedding. It’s not very far away now.’
Molly giggled. ‘That’s true, but we’ve all got our dresses, and the rest I’ve left to the grown-ups.’
Laughter broke out around the table.
*
Victoria stood in the doorway of her parents’ bedroom. Her grey skirt complemented the soft pink blouse, with its bow tied loosely at the neckline. She pulled at the soft material tails of the bow, remembering it was one of the last things they had bought her. She stared inside the room, wishing she’d never started clearing it out. It felt like her life had been turned upside down, and there was no one to ask the many questions, which kept her awake every night. How could she have a brother and not know about him? What did that say about her parents – they were good people, weren’t they? It begged the question, what other secrets did they have?
The bed that had been strewn with clothes was now covered in paperwork and photographs. Daisy had been true to her word and got Peter to help her with the bags of clothing, which they’d separated and given to several good causes. Victoria wandered over and perched on the edge of the bed. ‘Ma, Pa, I don’t understand why I don’t know about John. Is he alive or dead?’ She stood up and walked over to the sash window, undoing the catch and pushing it up. The heat of the evening took her breath away and people’s voices carried in the air, as they walked past the house. Children could be heard playing war games and pretending to shoot each other, while arguing about who was German and who was British. ‘If John’s alive, where is he? How do I find him? You’ve got to help me, please, before I go mad and have to be locked away in a sanatorium.’ Victoria shook her head and a small smile hovered on her lips. I think that time has already come.
The chimes of the doorbell echoed from the hallway. Victoria ran down the creaking stairs and pulled open the front door, to see the smiling faces of her friends. She stepped aside. ‘Come in; the kettle’s just boiled.’
Alice nodded. ‘Lovely, shall we go up?’
‘Of course. Is everything all right, only you look tired?’
Molly followed Alice into the hall and Victoria shut the door with a thud.
Alice sighed. ‘Yes, I am a little, but everything is good.’
The three of them climbed the stairs, ignoring the usual creaks. They entered the bedroom and gasped at the double bed.
Molly whispered. ‘Oh my.’
Alice stared at it all. ‘No wonder you don’t know where to start.’
Victoria followed their gazes. ‘It looks worse than it is.’ Her slippers made no sound, as she stepped nearer the bed. ‘I’ve tried to put things into piles.’ She picked up a stack. ‘For example, these are the ones I would expect to find, like their marriage certificate and our birth certificates.’ She placed the items back on the bed and picked up another lot of paperwork. ‘These are things I don’t really know what to do with. John’s birth certificate is here, along with a couple of small books that look like diaries, but I haven’t had a chance to read them. There are also a couple of newspaper clippings, but I’m not sure what they are doing here.’
Molly looked pensive, as her eyes scanned the items on the bed. ‘And don’t forget the photos.’
Victoria nodded, as she picked up the framed photograph of her parents, holding her brother as a baby. She stared at it for a moment. ‘I wonder if this was… John, not Stephen…’ She looked pensive. ‘If it is, it means they wanted to tell us, but probably didn’t know how.’
The girls stood in silence, watching the array of emotions trample over Victoria.
Victoria tore her gaze away and looked over at them. ‘It would also explain why it was in their room, and not downstairs.’
Alice reached out her hand. ‘Can I have a look at it, please?’
Victoria nodded, silently handing it over.
Alice studied it, moving nearer to the window, to have a closer look. ‘I was trying to see if I could find a clue as to where the photograph was taken, but other than by the seaside, I can’t see anything at all.’
‘I know; I’ve looked at it a hundred times, trying to figure it out.’
Molly walked to the window and peered over Alice’s shoulder. ‘If it’s close to London, then there are only so many seaside places it could be.’
Alice looked up. ‘Molly’s right. I can’t imagine they would have travelled for hours, with a small baby.’
Molly picked up another photograph from the bed. ‘Ahh, I think this is the wedding photograph you looked at, when we were sorting things out. That dress your ma’s wearing reminds me of one Alice took out of the wardrobe.’
Victoria looked over. ‘Maybe those clothes are what they kept for best, especially once they started saving their money in that chest. I really don’t know, but then, I have no idea who the other people are either.’ She sighed. ‘There’s too many questions and not enough answers.
Molly turned it over, to remind herself who it was. Mabel and Sid’s wedding day 14th June 1892.
‘These newspaper clippings are another thing I don’t understand, why were they kept?’ Victoria flicked through them. ‘One is an obituary of a man, that I can only assume is my grandfather, or uncle, maybe. Then I have one of a doctor and his pioneering research on breathing disorders.’ Victoria flopped down on the edge of the bed. ‘It doesn’t matter how much I look at it all, none of it makes sense.’
Molly stared at the clippings in Victoria’s hand. ‘We need to look at it as a puzzle, because it’s all here for a reason. We just don’t know what that is at the moment – well, apart from the fact they clearly loved John and wanted to keep him close.’ She looked up at her friends. ‘Perhaps we need to think about why he wouldn’t be living here, in the first place.’ She shook her head. ‘We need Daisy and Lily here.’
Alice picked up one of the small diaries and looked over at Victoria. ‘May I?’
‘I have no secrets from you two. Feel free to examine it all. I just want to try and figure out what has happened to John.’
Alice flicked through the pages, scanning the spidery handwriting. A smile crept across her face. ‘Ahh, your ma’s written about you three.’ She turned the page. ‘It’s obvious she loves you all very much,’
‘I think we already knew that, Alice.’ Molly picked up the baby photograph again. ‘Maybe he was sick.’
Victoria looked down at her hands. ‘That thought had crossed my mind, mainly because of the clippings of the doctor, but that could mean I should just leave things alone. He’s probably dead by now, bearing in mind the clipping was about pioneering work the doctor was doing.’
Molly walked over and stroked Victoria’s back. ‘Either way, you still want to know, don’t you?’
‘Sometimes I do, but sometimes I don’t, after all, no one contacted me when my parents died. There was no family rushing forward, to help us through it.’ A lonely tear ran down her cheek. She suddenly jumped up, brushing her fingers across her face. ‘I’ve got to stop this; otherwise I’m never going to f
ind out, or sort this mess out. Maybe I should just walk away from it all, I’m tired of worrying about everything. There’s Stephen, Ted and now John, I just can’t do it anymore.’
*
Victoria stood to one side of the entrance to Endell Street Hospital, finding a little shade, as she watched the ambulances queuing up. The medical staff were rushing inside, carrying wounded men on stretchers, to reappear minutes later without their patients.
‘Everything all right, Victoria? You look very pale.’
Victoria jerked round, to see Alice standing there. Her pregnancy was beginning to show through her uniform, which was smeared with blood. Once again, she wondered how Alice did it. ‘What are you doing here?’ she mumbled, as she turned to look back at the injured men, watching the walking wounded hobble through the doorway. ‘I thought you normally went to Charing Cross or St Thomas’s Hospital.’
Alice frowned. ‘I do, but I was told to bring them here, today.’ She stepped forward, so she was standing next to her friend. ‘In case you’re wondering, I haven’t seen Stephen here.’
Victoria shook her head. ‘Stephen writes to me and Daisy nearly every week, to let us know he’s safe, and we do the same.’ Her body became rigid and she blinked rapidly, to stop the tears from falling. ‘It’s Ted. I haven’t heard from him in weeks.’
Alice slipped her arm around her friend’s shoulder. ‘Stay positive; you’ve given him something to live for, so he’ll get home, if he can.’
Victoria cast her haunted eyes towards her friend. ‘The trouble is, I’d never know if something had happened to him. We’re not married, and I’m not family.’
Alice tightened her grip on Victoria. She had no words of wisdom to pass on.
‘Is everything all right here?’
Guilt swarmed in on Alice, as she dropped her arm from her friend’s shoulder. Both girls looked round at the pristinely turned out nurse.
Victoria straightened her shoulders. ‘Yes, Nurse Atkins.’
‘Are you on your way in, or out?’
Victoria jutted out her chin. ‘I’m just coming in now. I’m sorry, if I’m late.’
Nurse Atkins looked at the young girl’s pasty complexion. She still couldn’t lift the feeling that they had met before, and yet she didn’t remember where or when. ‘You’re not late, but that’s because you’re a volunteer.’ She frowned in their direction. ‘I could do with some help though; we seem to have a lot of new patients.’ She turned to the ambulance driver. ‘Have you been to this hospital before, only I don’t recognise you?’
Alice stepped forward. ‘No, I haven’t. I’m Alice Leybourne. Victoria and I are good friends; in fact, I’d say we were like sisters.’
Mabel nodded. ‘Well, we certainly all need good friends and family, especially at this time.’
Victoria nodded. ‘I’d better go in. It sounds like it’s going to be busy.’
Alice hugged her friend. ‘I’ll see you in the morning. Don’t be late; we can’t keep the groom waiting.’
‘No.’ Victoria smiled. ‘We certainly need to make sure she gets to the church. You know what Molly’s like.’
They all giggled and Alice waved goodbye to them both. ‘It was lovely to meet you, Nurse Atkins.’
Mabel lifted her hand, just in time to see Alice climb into the driver’s seat of the ambulance. They both watched her back up and drive out of the hospital grounds.
‘Victoria, let’s get out of this heat.’ Mabel adjusted her cap and stepped further back, inside the doorway. ‘You’ll be working with me, on Joan of Arc Ward. We’re pretty thin on the ground today, so I might have you doing more than arranging flowers and delivering newspapers.’
Victoria opened her mouth to speak, but Mabel raised her hand.
‘I know that’s important too. I know it’s all about patient welfare, but first, we have to save their lives, otherwise there’s no welfare to worry about.’ She turned away, not waiting for an answer. ‘Follow me.’
Victoria did as she was bid. The corridors were full of men, sitting on chairs. Everywhere she looked, the once deep red blood was now brown, congealed and cracked by the heat, on bandages and uniforms. The stench of dust, mingled with vomit, hung in the air. Men on trollies groaned, as waves of agony grabbed them. When she finally drew her eyes away, her voice was barely a whisper. ‘I don’t know what I can do to help?’
Mabel looked at her, wondering how good she would be in this critical situation; she had no choice but to find out. ‘Just try and watch what I do, then follow my instructions, without fail, and to the letter of the law.’
Victoria nodded.
Mabel pushed open the door to the ward and it quickly became clear to Victoria that the new patients had to be cleaned up and put into vacant beds. Mabel marched down the ward and Victoria trotted behind her. She stopped at the foot of a bed, all made up with clean bedding. ‘Now, what I want you to do is help the soldiers get undressed, and if that means cutting them out of the uniform, then so be it. Those that need surgery straight away have already gone downstairs, and the doctors are already working on them; I get the impression there are going to be a few amputations, this time.’
Victoria gave Mabel a confused look. ‘I don’t know what an amputation is.’
Mabel stared at her for a few seconds. ‘It’s where a limb has to be removed, you know, an arm or a leg. The doctors here are getting a very good reputation for doing them successfully. Anyway, I want you to do the best you can at removing the old bandages, clean the area with an antiseptic to stop any infections from forming, and then get some clean bandages to cover the wound again.’
Panic ran across Victoria’s face. ‘I’ve never done anything like that before. What if I mess up?’
Mabel relaxed a little. ‘You won’t; it’s no different to looking after children who have fallen over.’ She frowned. ‘It’s just a little more serious, and anyway, I watched you with Corporal Peters; you’re a natural. Just make sure you hide your own worry, about the wound and the sight of blood. Make sure you try to reassure them. They might act tough, but they’re all frightened and have seen some terrible things, by the time they get here.’
Victoria nodded, knowing this was going to be a baptism of fire. She took a deep breath. Well, she wanted to know whether she would make a good nurse or not, and there was no time like the present.
15
The girls had spent the morning together, at Carlisle Street, getting Molly ready for her big day. She had shown no sign of nerves as she had giggled her way through the morning. Molly had refused to worry about how hot it was going to be. She had just kept repeating with a huge smile, ‘It’s August and it’s my wedding day.’
Victoria and Alice had tears in their eyes when Molly appeared in all her finery with her mother.
Victoria had pushed away any doubts about her own wedding day and dabbed her handkerchief at her eyes. ‘You look beautiful.’
Her father and grandmother had gasped with pride and wonder, as she had come down the stairs in her wedding dress. Molly wore her grandmother’s gold locket around her neck, which her father had gifted to her, promising to guard it with her life.
Victoria stood alone now, staring down the narrow aisle of the church. She couldn’t help wondering why Alice had been giving her strange glances all morning; were they sympathy looks? Then Alice had whispered that she wanted to speak to her later, when they were on their own. Victoria shook her head, hoping it wasn’t for more ‘your time will come’ talks. She caught a glimpse of Andrew, nervously looking around at the few guests he and Molly had invited to their big day. He had been a patient man, and Victoria told herself she too had to be patient. Her eyes welled up. She prayed every day that Ted would write to say he was well. She wouldn’t – couldn’t – allow herself to think about any other outcome. One day, she would walk down this aisle, but not as a bridesmaid. Even if it wasn’t with Ted, surely there was someone out there for her to love, and who could love her back. Molly had been
right; she didn’t need all the splendour. She just needed the man that she loved, to return home to her. It had been a long time to wait, but she would keep the faith and it would all turn out right for her, too. Victoria glanced around the church, and at its stained-glass windows. It was an intimate place, with seating for no more than two hundred people. The altar was small and the aisle narrow, but Molly had loved this church when Alice and Freddie had got married there, nearly three years ago. She smiled, as she remembered that day, when her brother had come home so unexpectedly. All her anger, of him enlisting at sixteen, had evaporated when she saw him.
Andrew turned to the woman by his side. ‘It won’t be long now.’
Elizabeth smiled. ‘Nervous?’
A sound escaped from him, like a cat in distress. ‘I just hope Molly turns up; she’s a little unpredictable, that one.’
‘She will. No one has ever been loved more, on either side, and she’s just what you need.’
He grinned at his sister. ‘Thanks for being my best man.’
Elizabeth flushed with colour. ‘It’s an honour to be asked, if not unusual, being a woman.’ She giggled. ‘I suppose I should have taken you out last night and got you drunk, on your last night of freedom.’
Andrew smiled and wrapped his arm around his sister, careful not to crush her pale blue dress. ‘Yeah, that sounds like something I would do, and I wouldn’t want anyone else standing next to me, on one of the most important days of my life.’
Molly’s mother, Charlotte, walked through the church doorway, dabbing at her forehead with a lace handkerchief, as stood in the cool vestibule, glad to be out of the midday heat. She gazed down the aisle at Andrew waiting patiently for her daughter. A smile played on her lips as she remembered Molly trying to avoid him, but he never gave up and he was a good match for her high-spirited, independent daughter. The dark oak door was pushed back, against the grey stone of the church wall. She lifted her hand to check her hair, patting the plaited bun at the back of her head. She was thankful Daisy had come round with Victoria that morning. She ran her hands down her sage green, tulip-style dress, under the matching jacket, smoothing out the non-existent creases, enjoying the softness of the fabric against her skin. Lily guided Molly’s grandmother, Sophie, into the church entrance. Jack escorted Molly through the doorway. Victoria turned and tweaked at Molly’s blonde hair and long veil, while Alice straightened the bottom of it, across the floor.
Christmas at the Foyles Bookshop (The Foyles Girls) Page 18
