‘Hello, Sister.’ He sniffed the air. ‘Is that a new scent you’re wearing? It’s gorgeous.’
Sister Allen blushed lightly. ‘Why, thank you, Mr Cleary.’ She patted her hair through her linen bonnet.
Effie stared in disbelief. Sister Allen’s ice-cold heart was legendary, but somehow Connor’s charm had managed to melt it. Why couldn’t all these women see what Effie could see?
‘Now I know what you’re going to ask me, Sister, and the answer is yes,’ Connor said. ‘I’ve replaced all that old pipework, so you shouldn’t have any more rusty water coming through the taps.’
‘Oh, that’s marvellous news.’
‘And I put down some traps for the mice, too, so you won’t have any more trouble there, either.’
‘How splendid. Now I wonder if I might trouble you to look at that blackout curtain over there? The rail seems to be loose, and I’m worried the whole thing will come down one night.’
‘I expect it’s just a bracket needs replacing. I’ve got my tools outside, I’ll do it now.’
‘Mr Cleary, I don’t know what we’d do without you,’ Sister Allen declared.
‘You won’t have to, Sister. I’m not going anywhere.’ Connor winked at Effie as he said it.
He put her in such a bad mood she nearly crashed the trolley on her way back to the sluice. Once inside, she slammed the door shut, leaned against it and let out a scream through clenched teeth.
Daisy, who was scrubbing bedpans at the sink, looked over her shoulder.
‘Let me guess?’ she said mildly. ‘Mr Cleary’s here again.’
‘He’s driving me mad! Honestly, I don’t know how much more I can stand of this.’
‘You’ve got to admit, it is quite useful having him on the ward. I haven’t seen one rat since he started working here.’
‘Except for him,’ Effie muttered. ‘He’s a great big stupid rat. I wish he’d go home.’
Not that there seemed to be much chance of that. In the two weeks he’d been working at the Nightingale, Connor had managed to make himself very much at home. He’d wooed and won over everyone with his twinkling Irish charm. He laughed and joked with the men, flirted with the women, and generally made everyone fall in love with him.
Everyone but Effie.
‘He’s persistent, I’ll give him that,’ Daisy said.
‘Stubborn, more like.’
Jess considered it for a moment. ‘You don’t think there’s a reason for it, do you?’ she ventured.
‘Yes! He wants to make my life a misery.’
‘Are you sure he’s not here because he’s fond of you?’
The idea was so ridiculous, Effie snorted. She knew she could be fanciful herself at times, but Daisy Maynard took the biscuit! ‘Connor? Fond of me? Don’t make me laugh!’
She couldn’t see the attraction herself, but she couldn’t deny Connor Cleary was a hit with the women, and not just at this hospital. Why would he need to pursue her here when he had every girl in Kilkenny panting after him?
‘Well, I reckon he’s going to a lot of trouble just to provoke you,’ Daisy said.
‘You don’t know Connor Cleary. He’d saw off his own leg with a rusty blade if he thought it would annoy me!’ Effie shook her head. ‘No, he’s told me himself he’s been sent over by my mammy to fetch me home. And I bet he couldn’t wait to come over and start causing trouble!’ she muttered.
‘Perhaps you shouldn’t have run away in the first place?’ Daisy said.
‘Don’t you start! You sound just like Connor.’
The truth was, Effie did feel guilty for what she’d done. She loved her mother dearly, and had never set out to break her heart. She missed home, too. But even if she’d wanted to go back to Kilkenny she couldn’t, because she didn’t want to give Connor the satisfaction of thinking he’d beaten her.
All she could hope was that eventually he would get bored and go home to Ireland. But in the meantime, his looming presence was proving a real nuisance.
She was more worried about the effect it was having on Kit. She hadn’t seen him for a few days now and she was sure he wasn’t as keen on her as he used to be.
The few times they had seen each other had been a misery, thanks to Connor. If they met in the pub he would be in the corner, playing cards with his newfound friends. If they went for a walk in the moonlight Effie couldn’t be sure Connor wasn’t lurking in the bushes, ready to spring the minute Kit tried to kiss her. It was all very unnerving.
‘When is he going to go home?’ Kit kept asking.
‘Don’t worry, he’ll give up soon,’ Effie pleaded.
‘Perhaps I should have it out with him …’
‘Don’t! Please don’t.’ She had seen Connor fight, and knew Kit wouldn’t stand a chance. ‘He’s not worth it,’ she added.
‘It’s a bit of a nuisance, you know.’
‘I know,’ Effie said. ‘But it won’t be for ever, I promise.’
‘It’d better not be. My patience is starting to run out.’ The note in Kit’s voice frightened her.
When she left the sluice, Connor was up a ladder, replacing the curtain rail. Most of the patients had given up their books and their knitting and their crosswords puzzles to watch him in fascinated silence.
Effie could see how other women might swoon over him, what with those twinkling eyes, dark curls and rippling muscles. But Effie had grown up with him, and she knew he was actually the devil in disguise.
He was waiting for her when she left the hospital that evening, leaning casually against the gatepost, smoking a cigarette.
‘If you’re looking for the cart, it’s already gone,’ he said.
Effie looked up and down the road in frustration. She’d only been ten minutes late. ‘But Sulley usually waits for me.’
‘I told him you weren’t coming.’
She turned on Connor. ‘Thanks a lot. Now I’ll have to walk home.’
‘Or you could come for a drink with me?’
She stared at him. ‘Why on earth would I want to do that?’
He shrugged. ‘I thought you might want some company, as your boyfriend isn’t around so much these days.’ He blew a curling stream of smoke into the air. ‘Has he gone off you?’
‘If he has, it’s all because of you!’
‘Me? Why?’
‘You make him nervous.’
Connor gave an insulting laugh. ‘What is he, a man or a little girl?’
‘Having you around would put anyone off.’
‘It would take more than that to put me off, if I cared about someone.’
Now it was Effie’s turn to laugh. ‘You, care about someone but yourself? I’d like to see that.’
‘That’s all you know, isn’t it?’ Connor’s voice was low.
Effie stared at him. ‘What’s this? Have you got a sweetheart? Don’t tell me Connor Cleary’s actually fallen in love?’
‘Shut up, Euphemia.’ Connor’s jaw tightened, but she could see colour creeping up his throat.
‘It’s true, isn’t it?’ she grinned. ‘Come on, who is the poor girl? Do I know …’
Just then, as if by some miracle, Effie suddenly saw Kit striding down the lane towards them. She instantly forgot all about teasing Connor.
She heard Connor mutter something unpleasant under his breath as she ran down the lane to meet Kit. She was so thrilled she launched herself into his arms, hugging him fiercely and planting kisses on his face, for Connor’s benefit as much as his.
‘That’s a nice welcome, I must say.’ Kit held her at arms’ length. ‘I was worried I might have missed you.’
‘The cart left without me. Thankfully.’ Effie sent a meaningful look over Kit’s shoulder to where Connor slouched against the gatepost. Little had he known he would be doing her a favour, sending Sulley away.
Kit glanced at him. ‘I see you haven’t managed to lose your shadow yet?’
‘He’ll go soon, I promise.’ Effie threw her arms around his neck
again. ‘Oh, Kit, this is such a lovely surprise! Will we go out tonight?’
‘Sorry, sweetheart, I can’t. There’s a briefing tonight, and I can’t miss it.’ He led her away, out of Connor’s earshot. ‘But I wanted to let you know, a few of us are heading down to the coast this weekend, and I wondered if you’d like to join us? On your own, of course,’ he added, glancing back at Connor.
‘I’d love to. If I can get the time off.’ Effie had already decided she would do it, whatever happened. Nothing was going to keep her away from Kit.
‘We’re thinking of making a weekend of it, so you might want to sort out a staying-out pass too, if you can?’
He said it so casually, but his meaning was clear. Effie’s heart swooped in surprise and alarm.
‘I’ll try,’ she said quietly.
‘Good girl. I know you won’t let me down.’ He kissed her passionately. ‘I love you, and I’ll see you on Saturday. Don’t forget to bring an overnight bag with you.’ He winked at her. ‘But leave your friend Connor behind, all right? You know what they say, three’s a crowd …’
Chapter Twenty-Seven
THE KENT COAST Wasn’t quite as picturesque as Jess had imagined it would be.
The beach was lined with sandbags and squat blocks of concrete to stop enemy tanks coming up off the beach in the event of an invasion. Ugly stretches of rusty barbed-wire fencing reached as far as the eye could see. Even the fresh sea air was tainted with the smell of cordite.
It was a cold, cheerless day, and the scene was bleached of colour. The iron-coloured sea blended into the grey sky, and the wind whipped at Jess’s skirt and tried to tear the hat from her head.
‘I guess no one’s going to be getting a suntan today!’ Harry quipped beside her, as they walked along the damp sand. In the distance, the clusters of sea forts looked like strange monsters wading in from the sea, the waves crashing around their long spindly legs.
‘Doesn’t look like it,’ Jess agreed. ‘But I’m just glad to be out in the fresh air, after all those nights on the Fever Wards.’
‘Sooner you than me. I don’t know how you can stand working in that place.’
Jess sent him a quizzical look. ‘How can you say that? Your job’s far more dangerous than mine.’
‘All the same, I’d rather take my chances in the open skies than have to be cooped up with a bunch of sick folks night after night! How do you know you’re not going to catch something?’
‘Sometimes you can,’ Jess admitted. ‘But it’s not a big risk if you’re careful about keeping clean. And nurses are tested for immunity to certain diseases before they’re allowed to work in the ward. I’m immune to diphtheria, for instance, so I can’t catch it.’ She picked up a pebble and aimed it into the sea. It fell short of the water’s edge. ‘Anyway, nights aren’t too bad. At least it means I have my days free. Otherwise I wouldn’t be able to come here, would I?’
Not like poor Daisy Maynard. As she and Effie were on the same ward, they couldn’t both take time off. Effie had begged and pleaded with Daisy, and had ended up bribing her with her precious tin of scented talcum powder because she was so desperate to join the party.
Not that it was turning out to be much of a party. Daisy wasn’t missing anything, Jess thought as she aimed another stone at the water. It landed with a plop.
‘Here. This is how you do it.’ Harry selected a flat stone from the sand and sent it skimming across the flat, grey surface of the sea.
Jess looked at him admiringly. ‘You’re an expert!’
‘I’ve had a lot of practice as a kid. Here, let me show you …’
As he rooted around in the sand for a suitable pebble, Jess looked down the beach at Max. He stood a few yards away from them, also aiming pebbles into the sea.
‘Is your friend disappointed that Daisy couldn’t come?’ she said.
Harry laughed. ‘Are you kidding?’
Jess frowned at him. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘Nothing. I just get the impression she’s keener on him than he is on her. Ah, this looks like a good one.’ He picked up a stone and showed it to her, but Jess wasn’t paying attention.
‘What do you mean?’ she said. ‘I hope he isn’t stringing Daisy along?’
‘Believe me, that girl doesn’t need stringing along!’ Harry grinned.
Jess’s mouth firmed. ‘He’d better not be messing her about. She’s my friend, you know.’
‘And Max is mine.’ Harry aimed the stone. It skittered across the surface of the water. ‘Look, don’t worry about Daisy. Max is a good guy. He’d never set out to hurt her. Unlike some people …’ His gaze slid sideways to the distant sand dunes where Effie and Kit were sitting wrapped in each other’s arms, oblivious to everything around them. ‘That’s the girl who should be careful. Kit has a bit of a reputation.’
Jess sighed. ‘I’ve tried to talk to her, but there’s no telling Effie anything.’ She was glad in a way that Harry had confirmed her worst suspicions about Kit, although she worried for Effie. ‘She’s convinced he’s in love with her.’
‘Kit’s good at convincing people.’
Harry took a bottle of ginger beer from his pocket and handed it to her.
Jess unstoppered the bottle, took a mouthful of ginger beer and gazed up and down the beach. They were the only three people on the lifeless promenade. ‘Do they have nice beaches in Canada?’ she asked.
‘Sure, they have beautiful beaches right near where I live. We were always there when I was a kid.’ He looked at her. ‘How about you?’
She shook her head. ‘If I ever did, I can’t remember it.’ She paused. ‘I went to Southend with Sam, though. We went on a charabanc trip two years ago … before he got called up,’ she said.
It had been such a happy day. The weather was fine. They’d strolled on the pier, visited the amusement park, had fish and chips on the front and then caught a lift to the top of the cliff, trying to fit in as many happy memories as they could to carry them through the long separation that was to come.
As if he could read her thoughts, Harry nudged her and said, ‘You’ll be able to go again, when he comes home. Things will go back to normal soon, you’ll see.’
Jess didn’t reply. She turned her gaze to the ugly stretch of barbed wire. She couldn’t imagine anything being normal again. The war had changed everything.
She forced herself to cheer up. The boys had been good enough to bring them all down here, the least she could do was enjoy herself.
‘Are you looking forward to going back to Canada, once the war’s over?’ she asked Harry.
‘You bet! I can’t wait.’ A broad smile lit up his lively face, making him look almost handsome. ‘I’m going to have a huge party. And I’m going to hug that kid of mine so hard, I don’t think I’ll ever let him go.’ He paused, then said, ‘You know, it’s his birthday today?’
‘No! You didn’t say. How old is he?’
‘Three.’
He stared into the distance, and Jess could see his Adam’s apple working as he fought down his emotions at the thought of his son. Poor Harry. She couldn’t imagine what it must be like for a father to be separated from his son for so long.
‘I know,’ said Jess. ‘Let’s send him a message in a bottle.’
‘What?’
‘You can write a message, we’ll stick in it that bottle and send it out to sea. You never know,’ she grinned, ‘it might make it all the way to Canada?’
Harry’s mouth twisted. ‘From the English Channel?’
‘Oh, just try it!’
He shrugged. ‘Hell, why not? I’m game.’
They finished off the bottle of ginger beer, then Jess found an old bus ticket and a stub of pencil in the bottom of her bag and Harry scribbled a message to his son. It seemed to distract him from his sadness for a while at least.
‘We’ll probably get arrested as spies,’ Jess giggled as Harry took aim and tossed the bottle over the barbed-wire fence. It landed wi
th a thud on the wet sand. Jess and Harry watched it, both willing the tide on as it inched towards it, then cheered when the bottle was finally claimed by a wave and began its journey.
‘Happy birthday, son,’ Harry murmured, a faraway expression in his eyes. Then he turned back to Jess, all smiles again. ‘Now, how about we find a café? I don’t know about you, but I’m freezing. I’ll treat you to fish and chips and a nice hot cup of tea.’
‘Tea?’ Jess mocked. ‘You’re starting to sound proper English!’
‘Well, we’ve got to drink something since the pubs keep running out of beer.’ He called over to Max. ‘What do you say, pal?’
‘I guess so, if you’re buying?’ Max called back.
Jess nodded towards Kit and Effie, still snuggled together in the distant dunes. ‘Should we ask them, do you think?’
‘Hey, you two,’ Harry called out to them. ‘Do you want to come to the café with us?’
‘You go on without us, old chap,’ Kit called back, his voice carried off by the wind. ‘We’ll catch up with you shortly.’
‘No prizes for guessing what they’ll be getting up to, the minute our backs are turned!’ Harry laughed as they trudged away.
Jess glanced back at Effie. She could just see the top of her dark head peeping out from behind the dune.
Poor Effie. She gave her heart far too easily, and nearly always to the wrong man.
‘I just hope she’s careful,’ muttered Jess.
Effie watched the others sauntering off, Harry’s laughter drifting on the wind towards her.
‘We should go with them,’ she said.
‘I’d rather stay here with you.’ Kit reached up and twisted a curl of her hair between his fingers.
‘It doesn’t seem right to leave them on their own.’
‘They’ll be fine.’ His fingers trailed along the arch of her neck. ‘What’s wrong, darling? Don’t you like being here with me?’
‘Yes, of course, but …’ If she’d been honest, Effie had thought the seaside trip would be more of a laugh. She’d imagined them all eating chips on the beach, pushing each other into the sea and generally having fun.
But instead Harry, Jess and Max were having all the fun while she was stuck here in the sand dunes with Kit.
Nightingales Under the Mistletoe Page 19
