Wartime Blues for the Harpers Girls

by Rosie Clarke

  ‘The hospital is keeping her for a couple of weeks,’ Fred said. ‘They seem to think she needs the rest. As I said, I’ve got a friend of mine looking after the little lad. Vera has brought up four of her own, so he’s no trouble to her.’

  Marion promised that she would call over if Fred let her know when his daughter-in-law was home and he agreed. Beth Burrows had long ago told Marion to call her Beth rather than the formal Mrs Burrows.

  ‘I’m not working at Harpers now,’ she’d told Marion. ‘So, we can talk to each other as friends.’

  Marion reflected now that Beth had looked a little wistful when she’d said that she no longer worked for Harpers and she understood that her former supervisor missed coming in to work every day, despite the love she had for her child.

  Would Marion miss Harpers when she had to give it up? Once upon a time, work had just been a job to Marion, but there was something special about being a Harpers’ girl – a kind of belonging, as if they were all one big family.

  Mr Marco had recently told her that she would make the grade as a window dresser with a little training from him. Marion didn’t feel she would ever be as clever at making people gasp with surprise and delight as Mr Marco was, but she did enjoy it – and yet the thought of having her own child tugged at her heartstrings. She might be torn and one day she might wish to return to work here again, but she decided her family came first. She was lucky to have a wonderful husband who loved her and to be expecting her first child, though, as yet, she hadn’t told anyone at Harpers about her condition.

  Beth sat up in bed as Rachel and Fred came into the ward, feeling a surge of pleasure. Rachel bent to kiss her cheek and tell her how thrilled she was to hear the news, and Fred gave her a bag of grapes and a kiss on the cheek.

  ‘How are you – and the baby?’

  ‘Both doing well,’ Beth assured her. ‘He’s gorgeous, Rachel. Just wait until you see him.’

  ‘I bought a little present for him.’ Rachel gave her a small parcel. ‘I expect you will be given lots of things.’

  ‘I was loaded up when I left this evening,’ Fred told her with a cheerful grin. ‘I haven’t looked at anything. You’ll find them all in your room when you get home.’

  ‘Thank you, Dad,’ Beth said with a small sigh. ‘No word from Jack I suppose?’

  ‘No, love, not yet,’ her father-in-law said with a slight frown. ‘He expected to be home by now, but there’s a war on and he can’t always keep his word.’

  ‘I know.’ Beth smiled at him. ‘He couldn’t have done much if he had been here, anyway. I got through it easily once it started, and I feel fine. I just wish they would let me get up and come home. It’s boring just sitting here…’

  ‘That’s Sally’s complaint. I’ve brought you some ladies’ magazines,’ Rachel told her with a smile. ‘They will give you something to do for a while – and there’s some wool so you can knit if you want, Beth.’

  ‘Yes, I should like to do something useful,’ Beth replied. ‘How is Sally now? Is she getting better?’

  ‘Yes, thank goodness,’ Rachel assured her. ‘She gets out of bed each afternoon and walks about for a while to build up her strength. They tried to keep her in bed, but you know our Sally Harper – and the nurse looking after her says it will do her good. She doesn’t approve of making a patient rest once they feel able to get up and move about, as long as she doesn’t overdo it.’

  ‘Oh good,’ Beth said and smiled. ‘Please tell her I love her when you see her, Rachel. I shall visit just as soon as I can.’

  ‘I’m sure that will please her,’ Rachel said. ‘I know she will be delighted with your news, Beth.’

  Beth nodded, then, ‘I was wondering. Have you heard from Maggie recently?’

  ‘No, I haven’t,’ Rachel said, feeling a return of her anxiety. ‘But Marion Jackson had a letter, which she gave me to read – and Maggie says she’s getting married. She expects to be allowed to visit us all next week and will come to Harpers. She hasn’t written to you about it then?’

  ‘No… I wonder why,’ Beth mused, wrinkling her brow. ‘Do you think she feels it might upset me because of Tim? I suppose it isn’t that long since he died.’ She glanced at Fred, but he was watching one of the women who had got out of bed and seemed to be unsteady on her feet. He moved to stop her falling and Beth looked at Rachel. ‘I wonder why she didn’t tell us rather than Marion?’

  ‘I don’t think she’s in love with this Captain Morgan,’ Rachel said. ‘I think she is getting married for other reasons, but I don’t know what they are. Perhaps she feels vulnerable and she can’t face returning to Harpers…’

  ‘Oh, the silly girl,’ Beth cried. ‘Doesn’t she know we all love her and will help her all we can?’

  ‘I know she was desperately unhappy when I wrote to her a few weeks back. Perhaps she feels she will never find happiness again and she’s willing to settle for a comfortable home in the country.’

  ‘That doesn’t sound like our Maggie,’ Beth declared and felt a surge of frustration that she was stuck in a hospital bed. She hadn’t been down to see Maggie once they’d moved her, because it was just too tiring and then Sally had been ill. Did their friend feel as if she’d been deserted by those who should have been there for her?

  Beth determined to write to her the first chance she got – but perhaps she would be in London before she got the letter. It might be best to wait and hear Maggie’s reasons in person and maybe then they could persuade her not to jump into something before being certain it was what she wanted.

  ‘Make sure she comes to visit me, either here or at home,’ she told Rachel. ‘I feel guilty, as though I haven’t given her the attention that she needed, but I assumed she would come home to us the minute they allowed her to leave the hospital.’

  ‘I am sure she will be here as soon as she can,’ Rachel said. ‘If she has doubts, we can help her – but if she’s happy then I shan’t seek to dissuade her.’

  ‘No…’ Beth looked unsure. ‘As long as she is happy…’

  On her way home that evening, Rachel reflected that she hadn’t told Beth her own news, either about William – or Lizzie. Her feelings for the child were becoming stronger all the time. The little girl was endearing and her smiles and delight in the simple pleasures of some good food or a glass of warm milk with a little honey made Rachel ache with love.

  She had taken her on her lap the previous evening and read her stories from a picture book. Lizzie’s amazement and delight and her questions showed an intelligent mind that only needed encouragement to blossom. Given love, attention and good food, the child would grow into a lovely girl and it saddened Rachel that Lizzie’s grandmother was interested only in the money she demanded for allowing the friendship to continue.

  If only Lizzie was hers to keep and cherish, she thought as she got off the bus and walked the short distance to her home. As she approached the front door, she heard whimpering and knew instinctively that Lizzie was nearby.

  ‘What is wrong, darling?’ Rachel asked as she saw the tiny girl crouched in the dark near her door.

  Lizzie gave a cry of anguish and hurled herself at Rachel.

  She took her in her arms, holding her, stroking her and reassuring her until she had her inside the warm entrance hall and, kicking the door shut behind her, carried the frightened child into the sitting room and nursed her until the storm of tears was over.

  Gradually, she quietened and, as the tears dried, the story came out. Lizzie’s grandmother had thrown her out because she’d got into trouble with other children in the lane and her dress had been torn.

  ‘She says I’se a dirty horrible kid and she don’t want me hangin’ around no more. She says I belongs to you now…’

  ‘Did she?’ Rachel held the trembling child closer and closed her eyes.

  If only it were true. Rachel dared to think about how she might make that dream come true. Would Lizzie’s grandmother sell her to her? What would she accept? Her min
d reasoned that the grasping woman would keep demanding more and more unless she could find a way of persuading her into accepting a sum to be rid of the nuisance, she considered Lizzie to be.

  ‘I’m going to put you to bed, darling,’ she told Lizzie in a soft loving tone that made the little girl respond and hug her. She smiled and took Lizzie through to the bathroom, where she bathed her and then popped her into the spare bedroom. Everything was a revelation to the excited little girl, from a proper bath to a bedroom of her own. She chattered excitedly, eventually wearing herself out with emotion. Staying with Lizzie until she slept, Rachel sat down on her settee and planned her campaign.

  If she asked to buy Lizzie, the woman would plead love for her granddaughter. If she tried to berate her for ill treatment, she would forbid Rachel to see Lizzie again. No, she had to try something different, something more subtle, but as yet, she wasn’t quite sure what would work best. For the moment, she would simply keep Lizzie with her and see what happened.

  The problem was what to do while she was at work. She needed a kind capable woman who was able to care for the child during the day, but where could she find someone who had all the time in the world? A smile touched her lips as the solution came in a sudden flash.

  Hazel was forever complaining of being lonely. She’d asked Rachel to move in with her several times. ‘William is away and you’re on your own, Rachel. It makes sense.’

  Rachel had been reluctant to give up her comfortable flat and move into Hazel’s house, but for Lizzie’s sake she would do it for the time being. Lizzie’s grandmother would have no idea where to find her granddaughter and Rachel could take her time over sorting out this problem.

  It did cross her mind that she could be accused of stealing Lizzie, but she wasn’t prepared to let the child be pushed out into the cold night by an uncaring grandmother. So, she would take her to her former mother-in-law’s comfortable home and they would care for her between them. It was a short-term answer to Rachel’s problems and in time she would be able to decide what to do.

  22

  Sally’s health improved with each day that passed, but she was not officially allowed to leave her bedroom until the second week of October, and she was still forbidden to work, though Rachel smuggled in accounts and catalogues whenever she could. Once released by the hospital, Beth brought her new baby to see her and some of the staff of Harpers were allowed to visit. Ruth, Minnie Stockbridge, Mr Marco and Marion were the four that had asked particularly and were amongst her first visitors. Maggie had written to tell her she was coming as soon as she was allowed.

  I stupidly caught a chill and that set everything back for at least two weeks. I keep telling them I’m fine and it’s just a late summer cold, but I’ve been ordered back to bed until I’m better. I’m longing to see you, Sally, and send you my very best wishes for your recovery. Rachel visited during her week’s holiday and told me how ill you had been. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there to help look after you…

  Maggie’s letter had said nothing about her planned marriage or her husband-to-be and Sally wondered if Marion had made a mistake in thinking she planned to wed soon but was assured by Rachel that she’d read it herself and there was no mistake.

  ‘I can’t understand why she isn’t telling us,’ Sally said when Beth came to visit.

  Beth was glowing. Jack had got home at last, when she’d begun to think he might have been killed at sea. He hadn’t told her much, but she’d gathered that his ship had been badly damaged and he’d had to wait for a new one to bring him home.

  ‘It sounds as if he and his crew are lucky to be alive,’ Beth said. ‘I don’t ask him much, but he told me he’s been given a rest for six weeks – so I know it was bad.’

  ‘It’s probably for the best that you don’t know,’ Sally agreed.

  The news elsewhere was not good. Over a hundred people had died in a German bombardment on the Isle of Sheppey and Thanet earlier that year. Also Allied hospitals had been bombed overseas, something that had the ordinary folk on the street up in arms, because hospitals should not be targets. War was war, but to bomb sick people seemed outrageous. And at Passchendaele, the fighting went on relentlessly, all through August and September and now October. It seemed endless.

  Sally knew that Ben was working tirelessly to source and supply the Armed Forces with munitions and other equipment they so desperately needed. It was a constant battle and Ben had told her that it felt as if he were fighting his own private war.

  ‘I might not be firing a gun at the enemy but I feel as if I’m under fire,’ he’d told her once as he sat drinking the last of his rare old brandy. He had been hoarding it like a miser, allowing himself just a tiny drop when he felt the need. ‘I know you must feel much the same when you’re being told your regular firms cannot supply what you ordered, but, of course, Jenni is dealing with that side of it for the moment.’

  Sally had smiled and agreed with her husband. Neither he nor Jenni knew of all the arm twisting she did on the telephone to secure their fair share of whatever was available.

  At the end of that week, Sally had a visit from a friend she had not seen for months.

  When Pearl announced her visitor, Sally sat up eagerly as Michael O’Sullivan entered the room bearing flowers, books and chocolates. ‘Oh, Mick how lovely of you,’ she cried as he sat on the sofa and looked at her quizzically. ‘Yes, I know. It isn’t like me to sit around like this…’

  ‘If the doctor advised it, you should take notice,’ Mick said and grinned at her. ‘I’ve just been sent back to London for a rest myself. I was injured and stuck in hospital for some weeks. I didn’t know what had happened to Maggie until I asked Matron Mayhew – and then when I went to Harpers to ask you a few questions they told me you’ve been very ill…’

  ‘I was for a while,’ Sally agreed. ‘I feel fine now, but they won’t let me go back to work. I’ve got to rest for another few weeks, according to my doctor.’

  ‘Well, if he is a good doctor, he probably knows what he is talking about,’ Mick said. ‘I must say you look fine to me, Sally – as beautiful as ever.’

  ‘That’s your Irish charm talking,’ Sally accused, but her smile lit up the room and she felt better than she had in ages. ‘Maggie is supposed to be coming up to London soon, but she had a bit of a chill, so they kept her another couple of weeks.’

  ‘Is she returning to Harpers?’ Mick enquired with an innocent look.

  ‘We’re not sure. We think she might be getting married—’ Sally stopped abruptly as she saw the smile drain from his eyes and a terrible sadness fill them. ‘I think that can’t be right, though, because she hasn’t told Beth or me – and she doesn’t talk about her fiancé. I’m certain she isn’t in love with this man…’

  ‘You can’t know that for sure if she hasn’t told you anything?’

  ‘But Maggie usually tells us everything. That’s what makes this a little odd… perhaps she feels as if she has no choice. Because she was placed so far away, none of us have got down to Devon much, so she may feel we’ve deserted her. I wonder if you have time to visit her and tell her there is a home with Beth and Fred and her job is waiting for her at Harpers…’

  Mick fixed her with a stare. ‘And why would you be askin’ me to do that, Sally Harper?’

  ‘Because…’ Sally looked at her old friend consideringly. ‘It isn’t my business, Mick – but if you care for Maggie, you should go straight there and discover what is going on. I think she may have been tricked into something… because this reticence isn’t like Maggie.’

  ‘What makes you think I might care?’ he asked.

  ‘You do – don’t you?’ Mick wouldn’t have come asking where she was if he didn’t care.

  ‘You always did know how to get to the heart of a man, Sally,’ Mick said with a half-smile. ‘I fell for Maggie Gibbs after I told her about what happened to Tim Burrows. She was so sad but so brave – and she carried on looking after the men despite her heartache.’ He p
aused, then, ‘The last time we were together, I thought she might feel something for me – but then I was moved to a new area and I got injured. I couldn’t let Maggie know or write to her for ages…’ He shrugged. ‘I wasn’t sure I would walk again – and I’m too old for her. If she has found someone more suitable, it would be better for her.’

  ‘You don’t know that,’ Sally said, looking at him directly. ‘Tell Maggie how you feel, Mick. You will soon discover whether she feels the same. It’s better than not knowing and perhaps leaving it too late.’

  Mick looked uncertain and then nodded. ‘You’re a good friend, Sally Harper. I shall visit Maggie. I’ll give her your message and I will tell her that I care for her. If she has found happiness, I shall be glad for her.’ His smile was back, though she could sense the heaviness of spirit and understood that Mick had fallen hard for the pretty young woman who had endured so much in France to serve the wounded.

  Mick then talked lightly of other things and by the time he left, Sally was feeling so much better that she made up her mind. She didn’t feel ill any more and she would go into Harpers the next day, just to see people and have a break. She wouldn’t attempt to return to work yet, but she did want to talk to Rachel and see if she’d managed to find a private investigator to discover the truth about her mother…

  ‘Yes, I have found someone at last,’ Rachel said when Sally asked her the vital question in her office the next day. ‘Two others I spoke to didn’t want to take it on, but Harry Stevens says he’ll be glad to. He wants ten pounds down and another ten when he finds her.’

  ‘Did you engage him?’

  ‘Yes. I was going to call this evening and let you know,’ Rachel gave her an odd look. ‘I’m sorry I haven’t been to visit you for a while, but I’ve had something on my mind…’

  ‘Is it a problem I can help with?’ Sally asked and smiled as Ruth brought coffee and biscuits in.