by Anna Jacobs
He found a fallen log and sat down on it for a rest and a think. What would Phoebe do now? It seemed obvious that she’d leave the hospital and go somewhere else. Would she leave straight away? No. She’d need to find somewhere, make plans, give notice.
So he had a bit of time to catch her. He just needed somewhere to keep watch.
When he found a tumbledown barn in the field next to the end of the hospital drive, with an excellent view of the road, he punched one fist into the other and said, ‘Ha!’ in tones of satisfaction. It could have been put there just for him. There was only one way out of Bellbourne, so if she left, he’d see her passing by, or at least he’d see vehicles in which she might be hidden.
He needed food, though, and blankets, if he was going to keep watch. She might try to slip out at night. Luckily he was a light sleeper. You had to be in his job. Sometimes he had to go out at night to pick things up.
He’d keep watch for a couple of days – he didn’t think it’d take longer than that for her to leave, because he’d given her a real fright. And he’d make a list of the vehicles which came and went, in case she got away. He knew people who’d help him follow up on anything suspicious.
When he thought about it, he realised he should have planned what he was doing today better. He usually took more care, which was why he was making such good money. He hadn’t been thinking straight, because Phoebe had looked so pretty in the dappled light of the gardens, he’d simply grabbed her. He’d not make that mistake again.
He went back into Swindon to pick up some supplies, then got a lift out of the town from a fellow who owed him a favour.
He left some blankets and a bit of food at the barn and arranged to be picked up again in a couple of days, then went into the village to get himself a drink.
The pub was full up and he couldn’t even find a seat, but the beer was good. He saw one of the orderlies from the hospital, and got into conversation by the simple method of pretending to trip and spilling his beer. He insisted on buying the fellow another pint in compensation, which put him in a good mood, because the glass had been nearly empty.
They had a nice little chat and he listened sympathetically as the orderly complained about the VADs, who were, he said, treated too well and didn’t work half as hard as the men did.
By the time Frank left, they’d arranged to meet the following evening, because Frank had said wistfully that he got a bit lonely when travelling round. He’d bought more drinks than the orderly, which no one could object to.
It was damned cold in that barn, and Frank got a lousy night’s sleep, but he didn’t care. He’d wake up if any vehicle passed by. Phoebe wouldn’t get away from him. At least the old barn was watertight, so when it began to rain, he didn’t get wet. It was damned chilly, though.
It seemed a long time till morning, but as soon as it was light, he got up and took out the paper and pencil he’d brought to note down which vehicles passed.
He’d planned everything he could think of, now he could only wait.
Phoebe and Matron left the hospital openly then made their way to the supplies section, following a rather circuitous route that avoided most people. ‘Go inside,’ Matron ordered. ‘I’m waiting for Scorton to arrive. I came with a nurse, and I’ll be leaving with one.’
Corin stepped out from a corner, his expression brightening at the sight of Phoebe. ‘That was quick.’
‘I know how to organise things in my own hospital.’ Matron’s expression was smug. ‘Change quickly into your own clothes, Sinclair. You can go behind the cupboard door to do it. I’m sure Major McMinty won’t peep.’
He turned round immediately, so that his back was to them, but not before Phoebe had seen him grin. She concentrated on changing her outer clothes as quickly as possible, then handed the nurse’s uniform to Matron, who bundled it up in the towel.
‘Good luck, Sinclair. I’ll leave you now.’ She walked outside to the other nurse, handed her the bundle and they left at once.
The supplies orderly came out from the back of the building and gave Phoebe an assessing look. ‘Come through to the back. We need to get you into the box.’
‘We’ll talk later,’ Corin told her. ‘You’ll have to trust me for the moment.’
‘I do.’
They’d put a blanket and two pillows in the box to cushion the bumping. Phoebe tried to make herself comfortable inside it, but couldn’t, because she was too cramped and had to crouch down uncomfortably.
‘Sorry,’ Corin whispered. ‘For the moment we don’t want people to have the faintest idea of how you’ve left the hospital or where you’ve gone. I’m taking steps to get Hapton removed from Swindon, but it can’t be done overnight. We have to catch him at something illegal first.’
Then the lid came down and they hammered in a couple of nails.
She winced at the noise, so close to her head, and winced again as they picked the box up and started carrying it outside, bumping her from side to side. She was sure she’d got a splinter in her bottom from the rough wood it was jolted against. She had trouble holding back a cry as someone stumbled and the jerky movement banged her head against the side of the box, which seemed to be getting smaller by the minute.
They stopped moving and she felt them hoist the box into the back of the truck.
Silence followed and seemed to go on for ages. She wondered what was happening. Although there were slight chinks where the wood didn’t fit perfectly, they were too narrow to do anything but let in a little light and air.
Another bump next to her must be the second box with her suitcase in it, followed by metallic clunks and what sounded like bolts sliding into place. A couple of minutes later someone started up the engine, cursing as the starting handle hit his hand hard. At last the motor started, the truck door banged shut and it set off.
As they jolted along, she braced herself, hoping she wouldn’t be shut up for much longer. Surely they’d stop soon.
But they didn’t.
She’d always hated being shut in. She began counting her breaths, trying not to let panic overwhelm her. But it was hard to keep calm.
The following evening, after a tedious day spent watching the road and seeing only delivery vans and ambulances, Frank was beginning to think this wasn’t the best idea. But since he’d started he carried on, noting down every vehicle that passed, because he couldn’t think of anything better to do.
The main trouble was, he couldn’t see who was inside the back of the ambulances.
He’d carry on checking vehicles, especially ones from somewhere else, just in case, but he reckoned the orderly might be his best way of finding out whether she went out in an ambulance.
He couldn’t bear to leave anyone else to do this. If you wanted a thing done properly, you did it yourself. By the time he introduced Phoebe to his acquaintances, he’d have tamed her good and proper. He’d enjoy doing that.
When evening came, he went to the pub and sat down to wait for his new friend.
The orderly sauntered into the pub with another fellow and they joined Frank, who promptly bought the pair of them a drink, claiming a lucky bet had put him in the money and he wanted to celebrate with someone.
When the new fellow asked what he was doing in the area, he said he was looking for somewhere for his parents to retire to, a nice cottage with a bit of garden, but he hadn’t liked what he’d seen and maybe they’d be better staying in Swindon, after all.
The drink certainly loosened the other men’s tongues and he had a bit of luck. Without him even needing to do any prompting, they got on to the topic of the pretty, red-haired VAD who had vanished mysteriously earlier today, without farewells and without anyone seeing her go. And her bed had been allocated to a new woman who’d just turned up, so the redhead clearly wasn’t coming back.
From their talk, the new fellow had fancied Phoebe and she’d told him to leave her alone. Frank pretended to sympathise with him, though in actual fact, he felt like punching the idiot
in the guts and teaching him to leave other people’s women alone.
He felt a sourness in his stomach, because it was obvious that for all his care, his bird had flown the cage. ‘How could this woman have got away from the hospital without anyone seeing her?’ he asked innocently.
‘That’s what everyone wants to know. She took all her clothes, too, so she had time to pack. But I was on gate duty and I saw every vehicle that went in and out, and believe me, she wasn’t in the ambulances.’
‘Perhaps she was crouching on the floor.’
‘It was a quiet day. Only a couple of ambulances went out and I asked the drivers if they’d seen her. They said they were fed up of being asked and they hadn’t driven her anywhere. The only vehicles I didn’t know were the delivery vans, one from down Devizes way and one from London. They both had open backs to put stuff on, and there was only room for two people to squeeze into the cab, so I’d have seen her if she’d been in one of them. Believe me, I know a lot about motor vehicles. I’m going to go for a job as a chauffeur once this damned war is over.’
‘Strange, that.’ Frank hid his anger by taking a sip of beer. ‘Your young woman must have had help, then.’
‘Who the hell from? There was no one to get her away, I tell you. I’d have seen them. There were just ordinary fellows delivering supplies.’
‘What about the two who weren’t local? You said one from Devizes. Where exactly was the other from? London’s a big place.’
‘How should I know? I’ve only ever passed through it. They’d come down to bring drugs, which happens every now and then. I noticed the labels on the boxes they delivered, same as usual. These two were just ordinary fellows, not even in uniform.’
Frank left the pub an hour later, abandoned his blankets and set off walking into Swindon. He’d missed her going. Definitely. So he was going to sleep in his own damned bed and get a decent night’s sleep.
He was lucky. A car stopped after he’d walked about half a mile and the driver gave him a lift nearly into Old Town. The fellow didn’t want to talk, so Frank sat quietly as if tired and thanked him for the lift.
What a sod of a week!
Phoebe was relieved when the truck stopped and a cracking sound above her was followed by the lid being wrenched off.
Corin held out one hand and she grasped it, letting him pull her up and lift her out of the box.
The other man nodded at her and set about securing the lid again.
‘Do you mind sitting on my knee with my greatcoat covering most of you?’ Corin asked. ‘There isn’t a lot of room in the cab, but we want you out of sight as much as possible.’
She shivered. ‘I’ll be glad to be warm again.’
When the truck set off, she nestled against him, feeling safe and getting warmer by the minute. He kissed her forehead and whispered, ‘I was upset when I heard about your incident. That brute didn’t hurt you, did he?’
‘No. Two patients came along and he ran away.’
‘If I ever catch him, I’ll make sure he limps away.’
‘I hope I never even see him again. Where are we going?’
‘To a place called Greyladies, a convalescent home. It’s only about an hour and a half’s drive from here, to the south-west of Swindon, near a village called Challerton. I’ll brief you properly once we get there.’
‘Nice name.’ She closed her eyes and didn’t wake until the truck stopped and the engine was switched off.
Corin shook her gently. ‘You all right?’
She blinked up at him in the light shining from the windows of a big house. ‘Yes. I’m fine. Fancy falling asleep on you like that. Only I didn’t sleep very well last night for worrying about what Frank might do next.’
He glanced sideways but the driver had got out. ‘I enjoyed holding you in my arms, Phoebe.’
She wasn’t going to lie about something so important. ‘I liked being held close by you.’
The truck door was opened and a voice said, ‘Shall I help you out, miss?’
‘Thank you.’ She wriggled carefully down and turned to look at the house.
It was as if everything suddenly started to move more slowly, as if every little detail of the scene was taking time to impress itself on her.
It was a beautiful old house. She’d never seen anywhere as lovely in her whole life. Grey stone walls, grey stone tiles on the steep roof and gables. Above the front door was a stained glass window. Though she couldn’t make out the scene depicted in the window very clearly, she loved the way the window seemed to be casting subdued jewelled tones over the puddles lying on the path.
She took a step forward, then another, not waiting for Corin, unable to resist the sudden compulsion to go inside.
Chapter Sixteen
Harriet suddenly broke off mid sentence, frowned and stood up from the table. ‘I have to go to the front door.’
She didn’t know why, just knew she had to do this. She didn’t even wait for Joseph’s reply or finish answering a question from Jody, but walked through the old oak door and into the entrance hall of the new part of the house.
She was vaguely aware of other people moving about the hall, but her attention was focused on the front door. She didn’t stop to greet anyone, just walked straight towards it.
Before she even reached the door, it swung open and she stopped in surprise. There was no one near enough to open it and the person standing outside was too far away to have done so. She gasped, reminded of the time she’d first come to Greyladies. The door had swung open to her then without human help.
Was this … could it be something Anne Latimer’s ghost was doing? Was another lady about to take over here? She’d felt for a while that her own days at Greyladies were numbered, but not known how the changes would happen. It had made her sad, but seemed inevitable, given Joseph’s family situation.
She stayed where she was, about three paces away from the entrance, waiting for she knew not what. It had stopped raining and the figure standing outside was haloed by sunlight, which glinted off the puddles. It was hard to make out any details except that it was a woman. Well, of course it was. Another lady to care for the old house.
Phoebe began walking towards the grey-stone house, drawn by something, she couldn’t have said what. She only knew that she had to go inside it and must do so on her own. She wasn’t in the least afraid. How could you be in such a beautiful place?
She felt as if she knew this house, even though she’d never been here before. It was like coming home, reaching not only a place of safety, but somewhere filled with warmth and happiness, finding a family even. Which was a wonderful feeling for someone who no longer had any close relatives to care about her, and who missed her mother dreadfully.
Still feeling as if everything was happening slowly, she walked up the shallow stone steps. The door swung open before she reached it, and she paused, but though a woman was standing staring at her, she didn’t move to greet her.
That didn’t matter. Something was urging her on, so Phoebe walked inside. She stopped for a moment to look round the huge entrance hall, marvelling at how lovely it was, with its panelled walls and the elegant staircase at the rear.
Before she moved on she looked to the left and saw that the woman was still standing watching her, smiling now as if glad to see her.
How she knew this person had come to greet her, she couldn’t have said. It was all part of the strangeness of this moment. She wanted very much to speak to the woman, but she had to do something else first. It was important, seemed to be the most important thing she’d ever done in her life.
A movement near the top of the stairs caught her attention and she looked up to see a faint light shining there. It grew brighter by the minute until she could see the outline of another woman. This person had come to welcome her to Greyladies, she knew that instinctively.
As she crossed the hall, people fell back before her. She sensed that vaguely but couldn’t speak a word of thanks. Happiness began
to well up inside her as she mounted the stairs, not hurrying, no need for that. There was all the time in the world and this must be done properly, with measured steps and a loving heart.
Once she reached the landing she stopped, puzzled. The lady waiting for her was wearing strange, old-fashioned clothing, all grey and white.
It was a costume from the Tudor age, Phoebe decided. She remembered seeing one like it in a book at school. The long grey skirt was topped by a grey bodice, which ended in a point in front below the waist. The low, square neckline was filled by a white lawn and lace insert. Full sleeves opened out over softly ballooning white undersleeves, the latter gathered at the wrist, with a frill edged in lace.
The lady’s hair was parted in the middle and drawn back under a headdress like a stiffened half-moon of grey velvet. From the back of this crescent, silky grey material hung down past her shoulders. She was holding up the folds of her skirt with one slender, graceful hand and her toe, in a pointed shoe, peeped from beneath the heavy floor-length folds, as if she was about to dance.
As Phoebe stared, entranced by this delightful vision, the lady stared solemnly back, then smiled and gave a slight curtsey which seemed to be a way of greeting her. Phoebe inclined her head in return.
Words whispered across to her, blurred by an echo. ‘Welcome to Greyladies, my dear Phoebe. May you be very happy here.’
‘Thank you.’ The lady looked wise, not old but not young either. She was beautiful, but in a gentle, rather than a showy way. No, it wasn’t her face that was beautiful, Phoebe decided – it was her expression and the soul that lit those glorious eyes. She looked as if she loved everyone and wanted to help them.
The light began to shimmer and fade. The lady became transparent against the oak panelling.
‘Don’t go!’ Phoebe called.
‘I’ll visit you again.’
