by Annie Groves
Gwen drew back in surprise to let the two men pass.
Alice ran forward. ‘No, I’m back early, that’s all. Whatever is it? Is it bad news?’ Surely Edith had already had the worst news she could ever receive. For a moment she was gripped by fear. Was it Joe? But it couldn’t be – they would not have asked for Edie if so. She breathed more easily.
‘No, no,’ Billy said, almost shaking with eagerness. ‘Shall we tell Alice, Stan?’
‘Yes, Edith will need a friend when she hears,’ Stan said, instantly weighing up the situation.
Alice looked blankly at them both.
‘The thing is, the thing is …’ Billy was still too agitated to form a sentence, despite having shared the news once already.
Stan took over. ‘Prepare yourself for a shock, Alice,’ he said gently but firmly. ‘Harry’s alive.’
Alice took a step backwards. She shook her head, afraid that Stan had finally given in to sorrow and his mind had begun to wander. ‘No,’ she said, ‘that’s not right. I know it’s dreadful but he died at Dun—’
‘No he didn’t,’ Billy interrupted. ‘We thought he did but he didn’t. He’s badly hurt and nobody knew who he was but I’ve seen him, Alice, seen him with my own eyes. You wouldn’t believe it. He’s in a hospital in Portsmouth. He’s on lots of painkillers and hasn’t been able to talk, but it’s him. I wouldn’t get that wrong.’
Alice tried to take it in but the change of fortune was too extreme. ‘Harry? No, he can’t be. After all this time? He’s really been there since Dunkirk? Oh my goodness.’
‘Alice, take it easy,’ Gwen said hurriedly, afraid the young woman would faint at the shock. ‘Deep breaths, now. That’s it. Come, we’ll get some tea from the service room. Follow me, Mr Banham and …?’
‘Billy. Billy Reilly.’
‘Mr Reilly. This way, if you will.’ Gwen swept ahead, clearly happiest at doing something while the shockwaves settled.
‘Is it really true?’ Alice asked as they went down the back stairs to the lower-ground floor and the big common room.
‘I’m not going to make that up, am I?’ Billy said. ‘I know how you feel, I couldn’t take it in when I first heard and I had days of getting used to it before I went and saw for myself. I thought it had to be a mistake but it isn’t. When will Edie be back, Alice?’
Gwen led them to a table near the window, the very one that Edith, Mary and Belinda had all at one time or another climbed through after breaking curfew.
‘We can see the bike rack from here,’ Alice explained. ‘That’s where she’ll come in, as she’s out on her rounds. We all sort out our bikes, then come in the back way for our lunch.’
‘I’ll fetch you some tea,’ offered Gwen, going across to the service room and almost bumping into Gladys as she came through the little door. The young woman’s eyes grew wide as Gwen quickly spoke to her, then she broke into a wide smile, nodded and went back into the small room. Gwen followed her, returning shortly with a tea tray. She poured for them all, while keeping an eagle eye out for the bird-like figure of Edith arriving at the bike rack. Outside it was overcast, gloomy for late August, and far from warm.
Alice had to stop herself from drumming her fingers on the table top as they waited, hardly speaking now the astonishing news was out. She tried to think what this might mean. Was Harry going to regain consciousness? How badly would his injuries affect him? Would he be the same devil-may-care young man they had known, or would his experiences have changed his character? She brought herself up short. None of that mattered right now. There would be nothing any of them could do to alter the future, at least not for a while. Then it would be a question of helping Edith and the Banhams as much as they needed, she supposed. Her mind raced, trying to work out what would be best to do, searching for answers when she didn’t yet know the exact questions.
Finally Edith came into view, black curls peeping from under her nurse’s cap, grabbing her Gladstone bag and heading through the back door.
‘Alice! You would not believe the morning I’ve had,’ she began, and then came to an abrupt halt as she noticed who was sitting at the table. ‘Hello,’ she said cautiously. ‘Is everything all right? Have you got a day off, Billy, Mr Banham? It’s not Mattie, is it?’ she continued anxiously.
Stan came across to her and put his hands on her upper arms. ‘Sit down, Edie. We’ve got news for you, and no, it’s not Mattie, she’s all right. No.’ He waited until Edith sank down onto a chair beside Alice. ‘Edith, you will find this hard to credit, but Harry’s alive.’ He waited until he was sure she had understood. ‘It’s a miracle, Edith. He’s badly hurt but he’s alive. He didn’t die at Dunkirk after all. Edie, your Harry, our Harry, he’s come back to us; he’s in hospital but he’s alive.’
Edith simply stared at him, her mouth open.
‘Did you hear that, Edie?’ Alice asked. ‘Did you take that in?’
Slowly Edith turned her head to her friend. ‘This is my dream again, isn’t it? Only this time you’re in it. I’ll wake up in a minute and then I’ll be back to normal.’
Alice smiled, shaking her head. ‘No, it’s not the dream, Edith. It’s different. It’s real this time. Harry isn’t dead, he’s in a Portsmouth hospital, and Billy’s seen him.’
Edith frowned. ‘What’s he doing in Portsmouth?’ she said, focusing on the least important detail as everything else was too impossible to comprehend. ‘He doesn’t know anybody there. He wouldn’t go to Portsmouth.’
‘I don’t think he had much choice,’ Billy said. ‘Matron said he was one of a load of badly injured soldiers brought on board ship after Dunkirk. He’s been there ever since.’ He started to explain the circumstances but Edith waved him away.
‘No, stop, Billy, I can’t take it in. I’ll wake up then it won’t be true and then it’s worse than ever.’
Alice put her hand over her friend’s. ‘It is true, Edith. You can believe it. You aren’t going to wake up this time; this is really happening.’
Edith’s wild-eyed stare began to relax and she blinked several times. ‘No. Really? Al, really? You aren’t having me on?’
Alice shook her head, never breaking gaze with Edith.
‘I suggest you go somewhere quiet and try to come to terms with what you’ve just heard,’ said Gwen, mindful of the impending lunchtime crowd. ‘Go up to my room if you like and I’ll have your food sent up. I’ll arrange cover for your afternoon calls. Go on, before everyone else comes in and it’s pandemonium in here.’
Edith, in a daze, allowed Alice to guide her out of the common room and up the stairs towards their deputy superintendent’s big corner room. Alice paused at the bottom of the second set of stairs. ‘I’ll look after her,’ she assured Stan and Billy. ‘When it’s sunk in, maybe we will come over and work out what’s best to do next. Thank you so much for coming. I … I can’t believe it either.’
Stan’s face creased into a smile. ‘Come this evening. Flo has started baking as if he’s arriving tomorrow, although she knows that’s a long way off. You take your time, Edie. It’s not every day you are blessed by a miracle. You take as much time as you need.’
Gwen went to show the men out, muttering her appreciation, all trace of her sternness towards Billy long gone. Alice and Edith slowly climbed the stairs to Gwen’s room. At the door, Edith turned to her friend, a confused expression on her face. ‘Did that just happen or am I going mad?’ she asked. ‘Billy and Stan were here, saying Harry’s been found alive?’
Alice nodded. ‘That’s right.’
Edith drew in a long breath and then burst into tears. Alice stepped forward and gave her a big hug, as her friend repeated over and over, ‘Harry’s alive. Harry’s alive.’
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Edith was desperate to jump on the next train to Portsmouth, but Alice persuaded her otherwise. As they walked back from a very emotional evening at the Banhams’, they talked it through.
‘From what Billy says, it won’t make an
y difference if you go tomorrow or at the weekend,’ Alice pointed out. ‘As neither of us is on duty on Saturday that means I can go with you. Wouldn’t that be better? And with the trains being so crowded, we’d be safer together.’
‘Are you sure, Al?’ Edith asked. ‘Giving up your day off like that? Won’t you mind?’
‘Of course not!’ Alice insisted. ‘Not when it’s you seeing Harry again! What could be more important?’
Edith nodded. ‘Then thank you. I’d rather you were there. What if I faint or something? That would be awful.’
‘You won’t,’ Alice predicted. ‘You’re made of tougher stuff than that, Edith Gillespie. Tough as old boots, you are.’ She paused at the postbox on the edge of Hackney Downs. In her hand she held a letter to Joe that Stan had written that evening, telling him about Harry.
‘Why are you hesitating?’ Edith asked, drawing her jacket tight across her chest against the cool breeze.
‘I’m not. Well, not really.’ Alice shuffled her feet. ‘I just wondered if – given the circumstances – we could ring him first.’
‘How?’ Edith was baffled. ‘He could be anywhere by now, couldn’t he?’
Alice nodded in acknowledgement. ‘He could. But if he’s still at his base we could get a message through. He gave me a number, for emergencies.’
Edith’s eyebrows shot up. ‘He did?’ She knew this was highly irregular. ‘You didn’t say anything about it before, not even to Stan and Flo.’
Alice looked a little embarrassed. ‘I know. I don’t know if he was meant to. He was worried about Mattie – she told him she’d had that scare. He wanted to know as soon as anything happened, good news or bad. So he let me have the number in case I could call from the home. I promised not to use it except for real emergencies, but don’t you think this is one?’
Edith couldn’t hide her surprise. ‘Blimey. He … he must think a lot of you, Al, to trust you with something like that.’
‘It made sense, that’s all, because we have access to that telephone. He knew I wouldn’t misuse it or anything.’ As ever she tried to play down the close connection she and Joe shared. It was hard to explain to anyone, even Edith. It was nothing like the intense passion she had had with Mark, and nothing like Edith and Harry’s blazing love affair, but it was something deep and real. Him giving her the number proved it. ‘So I thought, he’ll want to know, won’t he? And the letter might take ages to reach him. I could telephone tomorrow morning and ask to get a message for him to call the home either at lunchtime or when we’re back in the evening. Do you think it’s a good idea? I hope Gwen and Fiona won’t be cross.’
Edith thought back to Gwen’s reaction earlier that day. ‘They won’t be.’
Alice made up her mind and posted the letter with a flourish. ‘There, that will reach him at some point. But tomorrow morning, I’ll ring his base.’
It was a good job Billy had warned them about what the train was going to be like, Alice reflected, as they descended onto the platform of Portsmouth Harbour station. Being forewarned, they had packed plenty of fish-paste sandwiches, which Gladys had helped them to make because she was so excited about them going to visit Harry. They had also borrowed thermos flasks from the kitchen and filled them with tea, to keep their spirits up. Just before they had set off, Bridget and Ellen had found them and presented them with a small box. ‘We had some ingredients left over from Joe’s “welcome home” cake,’ Bridget explained, ‘so this is a very small version.’
‘We’ll take it to the hospital,’ Edith decided at once. ‘Even if Harry can’t eat it, his nurses can. That’s perfect.’
Somehow they had managed to keep the box from getting squashed, and Edith now carried it gingerly along the heaving platform. Alice stuck close to her side, afraid that the crowds would separate them and then she would have no idea of where to go. Edith had the map that Billy had given them, carefully redrawn from Ron’s attempt, this time with the correct street names.
They were swept along to the station’s exit and disgorged onto the street beyond, at which point they could gather themselves and work out in which direction to head for. ‘Are you sure you want to walk?’ Alice asked.
Edith gave a little laugh. ‘You don’t have to treat me as if I’m sick, Al,’ she chided. ‘I’m nervous, of course, who wouldn’t be, but I am all right. I’d rather walk. It was kind of those sailors to give us their seats, but we’ve been sitting down for hours. I need to stretch my legs.’
‘Then by the looks of it, it’s this way.’ Alice pointed at the map and then at the road across from them. ‘Over there.’
As they strode along, pausing only to consult Billy’s drawing, Alice remembered the disbelief in Joe’s voice as she had told him the news. With Fiona’s permission she had rung his base immediately after breakfast on Thursday, and persuaded the clerk at the other end that this was no sentimental telephone call but a serious matter. Joe had called back while she was on her lunch break, just as she had hoped he would.
‘Whatever’s the matter? Are you all right, Alice? Is it Mattie?’
‘I’m fine. Look, I can’t stay on the line for long, but it’s not Mattie, Joe. Prepare yourself for the most astonishing news. It’s Harry. He’s not dead after all.’ And once Joe had protested his disbelief and then calmed down, she filled him in on the basic details. ‘A letter from your father is on its way, but we’re going down to Portsmouth on Saturday, Edie and me. How about that?’
There had been a pause as Joe drew a breath. ‘I wish I was going too,’ he sighed, his voice full of emotion. ‘Give him my regards, won’t you. Thank you for telling me, Alice. I’m so glad you thought to ring. I don’t know if I would have believed it in a letter, it’s too unlikely. Hearing your voice makes it real.’
Alice had silently thanked heaven that she had done the right thing.
‘You go on, now. I know you’ve got to keep that line clear. But thanks again. I hope we see each other again soon.’
‘So do I, Joe. Bye.’
For a fleeting moment she wondered if he would be granted extra leave to come down to see his brother, but then recognised that it would be very unlikely. How she would have loved to see him again. Those four days of his last leave were fading fast. There was no question about it; everything felt better when he was there. She felt alive in a way she never did otherwise. But at least she had managed to speak to him.
Now she wondered what lay in store for them at the hospital. She had tried not to dwell on it, as the very fact that Harry was there at all was cause for celebration. Yet she knew they must not get their hopes up. He would be unable to react to them; he might well not know they were even there. How would Edith cope with the stark reality of that? All Alice could do would be to comfort her if needed.
As they drew closer to the hospital, Edith’s excited chatter faded and she sank into silence. Alice glanced at her friend’s face. Edith was chewing her lip.
‘What’s the matter?’ Alice asked gently.
Edith shook her head. ‘I’m just a bit nervous, that’s all. Not knowing how he’ll be. I’m expecting the worst, you know. I don’t expect him to hear my voice and suddenly sit up or anything like that. But I’m dreading it as well as longing to see him, so I feel a bit strange.’
Alice slipped her arm through Edith’s. ‘That’s why I’m here. It’s going to be a real mixture of joy and sadness, isn’t it? You’ll cope, Edie, that’s what you do best.’ She tried to keep any of her own trepidation out of her voice. That would not help at all. ‘This must be it, behind those big gates. Yes, there’s the sign. We go in and follow the main corridor.’
Edith swallowed hard. ‘Right you are, then.’ She broke into a swift, determined walk that left Alice struggling to keep up.
Edith’s nerve almost failed her as she reached the double doors to the ward. Part of her was terrified at what she was about to see. Now that the shock of the news had faded, the grim prospect of what lay ahead taunted her imagination. H
arry, terribly maimed, unable to speak, hear or see, a living corpse. She gave herself a mental shake. Nothing good ever came of letting your imagination run riot. She had to face the truth, whatever that turned out to be. Pushing open the big doors, she went in.
Quickly she found a nurse to direct her to the right bed. She passed by several injured men, bandaged or in traction, before drawing up to the corner bed. She could sense Alice right behind her, ready for whatever came next. There he was; this must be him. He was lying on his back, with one heavily bandaged arm raised, a sheet almost covering his head. Cautiously, she lifted the sheet a little away from the face, and took a short gasp of breath.
Half of his face was blistered and scarred, and she could not begin to think how that had happened nor how painful it must be now. Yet the other side of his face was her Harry, the handsome features still there, the hair on that side the gorgeous wavy chestnut brown, envied by every woman they knew. His eyes were closed, but the professional side of her noted that his breathing was regular and easy. Even though he was so heavily sedated, she took that as a good sign.
The nurse who had directed her came across, temperature chart in hand. ‘Were you warned what to expect?’ she asked quietly.
Alice answered for them both. ‘Yes, we know he’s not responding.’
‘Yes, nothing has changed in that regard, although we have begun to reduce his pain medication now that we can address him using his name. We hope for a reaction soon,’ the nurse said, deliberately cheerful.
Neither Alice nor Edith was fooled. They used that tone themselves.
Edith pulled up the hard wooden bedside chair and sat down. She reached across to take Harry’s unbandaged hand. ‘Hello, Harry,’ she said, just as she would have done if she’d arranged to meet him at the local café. ‘It’s Edie. Alice and me have come to see you, to see how you are. Isn’t that right, Al?’
If Edith could speak normally, then so could Alice. ‘Yes, we came on the train.’
‘Took us ages, it did,’ Edith chipped in.
