by Rosie Clarke
In the kitchen, Kathy was busy making toast for Dickon and a sandwich for her and Milly. She offered to make them for Marion and Sarah and Marion agreed. She placed the cups in the sink and then, hearing a yell from upstairs, ran up to her sister-in-law again.
‘That was a sharp one,’ Sarah said. ‘They’re coming quickly now, Marion. I think I wet myself and it hurts like hell…’
‘Your waters have broken,’ Marion said, noting the damp patch on the towels Sarah was lying on. ‘That was quick.’
‘Ouch,’ Sarah cried out. ‘It’s like being kicked in the back by a horse.’
‘Don’t forget to breathe deeply – like this…’ Marion panted as Mrs Jackson had told them earlier. ‘That’s it – that’s what Mum did and she pushed when she got a pain.’ It was odd but now that the baby was coming, she felt quite calm. ‘You can do this, love.’ She was remembering what the midwife had done and her mother giving birth, how she’d come through the pain and it had all been wonderful when Milly was born.
Sarah gritted her teeth and made a strangled pushing noise and yelled as she felt the worst pain so far. ‘I think it is coming…’ she said and drew her knees up, her nightgown pulled up to her thighs. ‘Is anything happening?’
Marion took a peek and gave a little squeal of excitement. ‘I can just see the head… Oh, Sarah, it’s coming. Breathe deeply now and push when you feel the need.’
Sarah panted hard and then felt a strong urge. She pushed and screamed and then fell back against the pillows in despair. ‘I can’t…’ she gasped. ‘I’ve never felt such pain – it feels as if I’m tearing apart…’
‘The head is through,’ Marion encouraged her and put her hands underneath the baby’s head, supporting it with her hands. ‘Next time you push I can help you.’
‘I can’t… I can’t…’ Sarah moaned. ‘It hurts too much…’ Yet even as she said it, she was beginning to pant again and then she felt the need to push and Marion held her hands ready, taking hold of the little slippery body by the shoulders and easing its passage into the world; suddenly baby came slithering out into her hands as Sarah screamed.
Kathy entered the room with their sandwiches and Marion yelled at her to fetch Mrs Jackson quickly. She backed out hurriedly and was heard pounding down the stairs and out of the back door.
‘You’ve done it, Sarah,’ Marion told her. ‘You’ve got a beautiful little girl. She is perfect.’
Sarah craned to look. ‘I want to hold her.’
‘I’ve got to do something, cut the cord…’ Marion said and frowned. ‘I’m not sure what to do. I don’t want to make a mistake. Let’s wait for Mrs Jackson…’ She gently wiped blood and moisture from baby’s head and face with a towel and then wrapped it around the little body.
Sarah flopped back against the pillows and closed her eyes.
Within moments, they heard pounding feet up the stairs and then Mrs Jackson was back with them, a sharp knife in hand.
‘Well, I never,’ she said astounded. ‘I thought you’d be hours yet, but we’ll soon have the knot tied and then you can hold baby.’
‘I wasn’t sure what to do,’ Marion told her.
‘The midwives have proper instruments to clamp the cord,’ she told Marion as she worked, ‘but my granny always used to tie a knot like this, see, and then it’s safe to cut the cord here.’ She did so efficiently and wrapped the child in a warm towel Marion provided. ‘Let mother hold her for a while and then you can wash her while I see to Sarah.’
Marion saw the look on Sarah’s face as she held her daughter in her arms and kissed her head, which was still marked with her blood.
‘She’s so beautiful…’
‘Yes, she is,’ Marion agreed and smiled as Sarah nursed the baby for a few minutes.
‘You’d better let me look after her,’ Mrs Jackson said and poured warm water into a bowl. ‘I can’t see any damage down there, Sarah love, but you’d be best to let the midwife look at you when she gets here – and if she doesn’t, I’ll send Paula round. That sort of thing doesn’t want leaving, though I don’t think you need a stitch. Luckily she was small.’ She bathed Sarah and then helped her into a clean nightdress. Together, she and Marion moved her gently from the damp sheets and put a dry one under her. Before Marion came home, Sarah had placed some old towels under her for the birth and that had saved most of the blood from staining the mattress.
The child was lying on a chair wrapped up warmly after Marion had bathed her in warm water and swaddled her in another clean towel. Now that Sarah was comfortable, she put the little girl back in her arms. Sarah smiled at them.
‘I want to call her after you, Marion – and you Mrs Jackson.’
‘I’m Pam,’ Mrs Jackson said, looking pleased. ‘Not that I deserve it – I quite misjudged her arrival.’
‘It was probably the fall that brought it on early,’ Marion said. ‘Sarah tripped down a couple of stairs this morning and has had pains on and off since.’
‘That will be it,’ Mrs Jackson agreed. ‘So, it’s Marion Pamela Kaye – well that’s a nice name. Let’s hope your husband approves.’
‘Oh, he will,’ Sarah assured her. ‘He thinks the world of Marion – and I do too. She’s been so kind to me – there’s no one like her.’
‘I’ll agree with that.’ Mrs Jackson shook her head as they heard a knock at the door. ‘That will be the midwife or the doctor – trust them to turn up when it’s all over – but they can look you and the little one over, Sarah love, just to be on the safe side.’
It was an hour or so later that Sarah lay sleeping after giving baby her first feed and Marion was able to eat her supper. She was feeling a bit shocked at the speed of the birth and nervous now that it was all over. So many things could have gone wrong, but they’d been lucky and both the midwife and the doctor had told them Sarah and her baby were fine.
‘I’ll never be able to thank you enough,’ Sarah said to Marion before she fell asleep, exhausted all of a sudden. ‘If you hadn’t been here…’
‘I’m just glad I was and that you weren’t alone in lodgings somewhere.’ Marion smiled at her. ‘You’ve got a lovely baby and I’ve got a gorgeous niece and I’m so happy. I only wish Mum had been here to see her. She would have loved her, Sarah.’
Sarah wiped tears from her face. ‘I know you miss her, Marion. Dan does too – but at least we’re a family now. We’ve got a little person to bind us together now.’
Marion agreed, though she hadn’t needed anyone; she’d taken to Sarah immediately but Kathy was enraptured with the new baby and told Marion that she was glad Sarah had come to stay.
‘She looks a bit like Milly,’ she said. ‘I remember when Milly was little – before her hair went darker – and Sarah’s baby looks like she did…’
Marion wasn’t sure, but she smiled and nodded, pleased that Kathy loved her niece and was reconciled to Dan’s wife living with them.
She was just about to make their evening cocoa and had sent Kathy up to discover if Sarah was awake and would like some when someone knocked at the door. She opened it and saw a neighbour from three doors down. ‘Come in, Mrs Brown, what can I do for you?’
‘Oh, Marion,’ Mrs Brown said apologetically. ‘I’m sorry to disturb you, but this was delivered to my house by mistake earlier today. I should’ve brought it before this, but I was out and then I heard you had a lot going on…’ She handed a letter with an official postmark on it.
Marion saw it was addressed to Sarah and recognised her brother’s handwriting.
‘My brother’s wife just gave birth to her first baby,’ Marion said. ‘Baby was early and took us all by surprise – but she’s fine, a bit small, of course, but lovely.’
‘That explains all the comings and goings,’ Mrs Brown said. ‘Well, I’m glad everything is all right – and if you need any help, I’m usually at home in the afternoons.’
Elsie Brown went scrubbing floors in an office block from four in the morning until eight o�
�clock and then did three hours washing up in a canteen to make her husband’s small wage eke out. Ken Brown had been in an accident down the docks a few years back and though he’d recovered enough to manage the job of caretaker at the factory where he’d once worked harder than anyone, it didn’t bring enough in to keep a family of five. None of their children was above fourteen and although the eldest boy would be leaving school to work on the docks that July, he wouldn’t bring in more than a few shillings a week, so his mother would still have to work.
‘That’s very kind,’ Marion said. ‘I’ve asked for time off from work. I shall go in tomorrow morning and Kathy will stay home from school, but after that I should be able to take my two weeks’ holiday to care for Sarah and the baby.’
‘Well, my Jilly can run errands or do a bit of fetching and carryin’ if yer want,’ Mrs Brown said and smiled. ‘I’ll get off now – I can see you’re gettin’ ready to go up.’
Kathy entered the kitchen and smiled at their neighbour. She was friendly with Elsie’s daughter, Flo. ‘Sarah is still sleeping, so I didn’t wake her – Baby Marion is sleeping too.’
‘Calling her after you.’ Elsie nodded and looked pleased. ‘That’s nice – not everyone would have done what you have, Marion.’ She moved towards the door and then paused. ‘Remember I’ll help if I can…’
‘Thank you, Mrs Brown,’ Marion said. ‘Everyone is so kind.’
After their neighbour had gone, Marion helped Kathy make the cocoa and they took theirs upstairs. Dickon was out again that evening. He’d come in for his tea as usual and retreated swiftly to the pub when he’d heard the screams from upstairs, telling Kathy he might stay at a friend’s house that evening.
‘I reckon Dickon’s got a girlfriend,’ she told Marion as they went upstairs. ‘He’s been so secretive lately – it’s not like him…’
‘He’s too young to be courting,’ Marion said with a frown. She felt a cold shiver at her nape. Since Sarah’s arrival, she’d been too caught up in her and the coming baby to take much notice of Dickon and now she wondered – Marion didn’t believe her brother was in love. She was more afraid that he was trying to enlist. He’d heard that several young lads of fifteen and sixteen had been signed on, even though they were officially underage.
He wouldn’t do anything so daft – would he?
Marion made up her mind to talk to him in the morning. If he was feeling neglected or that she didn’t need him… She couldn’t forbid him to go if he managed to get accepted, but she would do her best to persuade him to at least wait for another two years.
Would the war go on for that long? She knew that a lot of people felt it was dragging on far longer than it should have done, but the lads of Dickon’s age were afraid it would be over before they got their chance to kill a few Huns. Marion prayed it would be. She already had two brothers and her fiancé at risk – she couldn’t afford to lose Dickon to the Army too.
Upstairs, she peeped in at Sarah and then the baby. Just as Kathy said, they were both sleeping well. She placed the letter from Dan on the table beside the bed where Sarah would see it first thing and smiled. Sarah had been fretting for weeks over not getting a letter from her husband, now at last one had come.
In the morning, Marion was down before Kathy and found Dickon pulling on his work boots. He looked at her sheepishly.
‘Sorry I bolted, Marion – but I didn’t fancy listening to Sarah… she’s all right, isn’t she?’
‘Yes, and the baby, a little girl.’ Marion looked at him intently. ‘If I’ve neglected you recently, Dick, I’m sorry…’
‘Don’t be daft.’ He grinned at her. ‘You’ve got things to do – and baby stuff to talk about. ’Sides, I’m a man now and I’ve got me mates.’
Marion looked at him and saw he was right. He was a man in everything but years. He did a good job and he gave her two-thirds of his wages, but she felt a pang of regret; he’d had to grow up too soon.
‘I know – but you’re still my little brother. Don’t go away and leave us, will you?’
‘They won’t take me yet,’ Dickon said and grinned. ‘I went down the recruitin’ office again last week, but they know me and told me to wait another two years. I would have to go off where they don’t know me to get put on the register…’
‘I know you want to join up, but we still need you here.’ She looked at him anxiously. He was too young to fight!
Dickon nodded. ‘Yeah, I know – Robbie told me I had to look after you all and so did Reggie. Don’t worry, our Marion. I’ll be around fer a bit longer – they say they need me down the docks, too. If we all go, there won’t be enough men left to repair the ships, so maybe I’m doing more good where I am…’
Marion breathed a sigh of relief. ‘I’m glad you realise that, Dick. Sometimes it needs more courage to stay home and do your duty than it does to go and shoot at the enemy.’
‘Yeah, perhaps,’ he said. ‘Is there any bacon this mornin’? I’m famished.’
Marion smiled and went to the pantry. She would do him a special breakfast of bacon, fried bread, an egg and tomatoes. He deserved a bit of special treatment now and then and it would show him he was important to her and to his family.
30
Sally looked at the stocklist she needed and sighed. From her calculations, she would actually be able to buy about a half of what she’d wanted to order. This wretched war! However, she knew that in the scheme of things, her problems were nothing compared to the injuries the men were suffering. Harpers being less well stocked than she would like was insignificant when you thought about the men lying out there in those field hospitals with horrendous wounds. Her thoughts went briefly to Mick, thankful that he at least had recovered from his wounds. He’d proved a good friend these past years and the thought of him lying on a battlefield, slowly bleeding to death made her close her eyes for a moment – but then she smiled. Somehow, she knew Mick would come home. Many would not and some of those would probably be Harpers’ men… and that dimmed her smile once more.
Nothing was as it had been, Sally reflected. These days, some food shops had queues. Whenever a fresh delivery came in and word got around, everyone rushed to buy whatever it was, whether they knew what the shop was selling or not. You saw a queue and joined it in the hope you could buy something nice to eat.
She shivered, pulling her cardigan tighter. The months just seemed to fly by. It was almost the end of June already, and Jenni was due any day now. It was cooler than it had been for a while. Sally wasn’t sure where the summer had gone. She’d been so busy – and so had Ben. Perhaps the warm weather would return; you could never tell with the British summer. It could go from blazing hot to freezing cold in a day. Jenni’s ship had been due a couple of days earlier, but they’d heard it had been delayed for various reasons. Ben was on thorns, anxious to see his sister, but fearful that her ship might be attacked. Sally reviewed the events of the past few months in her mind.
The war dragged on and the news veered from good to bad: in May, the Allied troops had stormed ashore in Gallipoli, but then the Auxiliary ship Irene had exploded at Sheerness with many dead. On 7th May, the American ship, the Lusitania, had been sunk after being torpedoed off the Irish coast; it had devastated the Americans when so many passengers were killed – including some close friends of President Woodrow Wilson. That incident had unsettled Ben, making him worry for his sister’s safety when she came over.
Then, towards the end of May, the Liberal Government had ended when Prime Minister Asquith decided to form a coalition, and right at the end of the month the Zeppelins raided London itself for the first time. That in itself had been terrifying for those caught in the blasts and made everyone realise how terrible war from the air could be.
On 8th June, a young British flier had successfully downed a Zeppelin by climbing above it in the clouds and dropping his bombs. Tragically, it fell on a Belgian convent and killed two children and two nurses. He was later awarded the Victoria Cross for his b
rave act. In mid-June, the miners of Wales had gone on strike for more pay and on 25th June the Germans had sunk two American merchant ships off the coast of Ireland.
Ben was still haunted by the sinking of the Lusitania and Sally saw a permanent frown on his forehead these days. Some days, she hardly saw him and he was away at least one weekend in three.
‘Mrs Harper…’ Ruth popped her head round the door. ‘There’s someone to see you.’ She was smiling and looked pleased.
Sally’s nerves tingled as she stood up, looking expectantly towards the door.
‘Marco…’ she exclaimed as he entered wearing the uniform of a captain in the Army. ‘You’ve been promoted. Congratulations! How lovely to see you!’
‘Sally Harper,’ he said and came forward to greet her, kissing her on either cheek in the French fashion. ‘How are you – you look as lovely as ever.’
‘I’m very well,’ she said, feeling a little puzzled as she noticed he had a slightly tanned appearance. ‘You’re looking healthy – training must suit you.’
‘Oh, well, running about on the south coast doing gym exercises…’ Marco replied with a little shrug, which seemed a rather French mannerism. There was definitely a change in him, but she couldn’t have said what it was or whether she liked it. ‘It is very good for one. I find it a little boring, but we must do whatever they tell us.’
‘I’m glad they haven’t sent you overseas,’ Sally said. ‘We’ve lost at least two of our male staff – a young lad called Nick who was training under Mr Brown and Cyril Havers. He was on the china and glass counter if you recall?’
‘Yes, I do. Cyril has been killed?’ Marco frowned, because he’d known the young man well. ‘Where did that happen?’
‘At Ypres so I understand,’ Sally said. ‘And Fred Burrows lost his son, Tim – you may know he was engaged to Maggie Gibbs?’
