by Katie King
At the word ‘brutal’ James made a spectacular grimace, which made Peggy smile as she knew the doctor was deliberately overegging the pudding in the hope that what he said about the children being more sensible might hit home.
It seemed to, as Tommy immediately turned to look at Nurse Hampton, who was making a strapping noise with something that looked like webbing she was slapping against her thigh to get the kinks out, and Tommy’s colour blanched a shade or two on his summer-ruddy cheeks. Aside from Nurse Hampton’s possible brutality, Dr Legard wasn’t the sort of person one wanted to disappoint. Tommy knew it was his own fault that he and Larry had upset Milburn and that he had been hurt as a consequence. He sneaked a second look towards Nurse Hampton, who was assessing him with a owlish expression that made the bits of her eyebrows near the top of her nose point intimidatingly together as she snapped, ‘Look sharp, lad, and let’s sort this bandage out. I haven’t got all day to waste on the likes of you.’
Tommy glanced over at Larry as he walked across to the nurse, as if to plead for help, but Larry could only give a small shrug in sympathy. Tommy’s wrist clearly needed bandaging as it was hot and swollen, and Larry was relieved that it was Tommy who had been hurt and not him, as there was a limit to how peeved James and the nurse could be about the whole thing when Roger and Mabel were standing nearby as hosts, and Tommy was their son, while the nurse might have been even more abrupt if she had had to deal with Larry.
There was a tap at the door, and a young man in Army uniform stuck his head around the door to the church hall. James smiled and beckoned him in, and Peggy stopped her natter to June Blenkinsop about turning collars and cuffs on their blouses as the cotton started to become worn when she realised that the soldier was walking, aided by crutches, in jerky and shaky strides on what had to be, to judge by their lurching straightness, two prosthetic legs.
It wasn’t long before Roger clapped his hands to hush the gossiping, and he thanked James for coming to talk to them and then, as instructed, quickly went and sat down beside Mabel because he knew people hadn’t turned out to hear him, as Mabel had put it earlier, ‘witter on’.
‘Good afternoon everybody, and thank you for coming,’ said James, looking very serious now. ‘I’m going to run through the basics of the likely injuries and the sort of first aid you might need to apply if a bomb drops near to you and you go to the aid of injured civilians, which might also include fire or electrical injuries, of course. Then Nurse Hampton will advise on cleaning wounds and demonstrate three types of bandages – cotton, crepe and square bandages for slings – as well how to apply a tourniquet, and the things you can do to determine if an injured person must definitely be referred to a doctor or hospital, and when you can safely deal with an injury yourselves.
‘But before we get into that, I’d like to introduce you to Private Benjamin Smith, who sustained severe injuries in a depot accident right after war was declared last September. Private Smith can tell you what it feels like to be injured and then to recuperate in hospital, and drawing on his own experiences what he feels that people can do to make loved ones who might have sustained life-changing injuries ease back into their, and your, everyday lives.’
It was quite a shocking and aggressive start to what Roger had intended as a helpful and informative session, Peggy thought, heightened by James’s rather glowering expression and firm tone. To judge by the sound of shuffling chairs and the odd muffled whisper that she could hear behind her, quite a lot of other people felt similarly.
But as Private Smith hobbled across the church hall to stand by James, and remained standing even though Roger leapt up to fetch him a seat, as he described in simple and unexcitable facts what had happened to him (it had been a crush injury when a heavy crate containing metal armaments fell on him) and the precise nature of the injuries he had sustained before moving quickly on to – and this was the emphasis of his talk – how his injuries had made him feel about himself, and how he had also felt about some people’s well-meaning but nonetheless distressing comments to him. Peggy began to think that Private Smith had actually been rather an inspired choice on the part of James.
The audience settled quickly and then listened with close attention. Although upsetting, it was very interesting to hear first-hand what it might be like to be badly hurt through no fault of one’s own. Certainly everyone gave the soldier a very warm round of applause when he finished with, ‘I wouldn’t have chosen this for myself, or in fact for my deepest enemy. Every time I look down I see how my life has changed, and I’m not twenty years old yet. But I’ve made my mind up that I’m as much of a man as I was before my injury, just that I am without my legs, and I’d appreciate it if nobody felt sorry for me but instead banded together to help me – and, more importantly, all those who are or who will be injured far worse than me – become just as we are, with our limps and our injuries, the most useful members of the community that we can be.’
Peggy felt a lump in her throat. This young man seemed so brave and laudable that it was almost painful to witness. She couldn’t help but compare Bill and his cavalier attitude to life and how he treated people against the quietly modest and upstanding determination of this young man, clearly now set on living the best and most fulfilling life that he possibly could, legs or no legs. Bill didn’t come out of the comparison very well in Peggy’s eyes, and as Private Smith made his tottery way to sit down on an empty chair beside Tommy (nodding with a questioning look towards Tommy’s clean white bandage on his wrist as if they were now comrades in arms and seeing Tommy’s shy grin back as he mimed a horse-riding accident) Peggy thought Private Smith would make somebody a lovely husband one day, and she very much hoped he had a sweetheart who cared for him just as much after his accident as she had done when he was well and healthy.
As James led the thanks for the previous speaker and then began to do his part of the talk, Peggy whispered as much to June, who smiled her support and squeezed Peggy’s knee in reply when her voice wobbled as she sighed in an undertone how disappointing Bill felt by comparison. While Peggy would never wish such a heinous injury on anybody, and despite Private Smith’s can-do attitude, to have lost both legs did seem a huge burden for such a seemingly kind young man, whereas her own husband could be this very minute lying wrapped in MaureenFromTheNAAFI’s arms, his legs and arms and everything else intact and all too functioning. Life was very unfair at times, Peggy could only think gloomily.
James ran through some basics of first aid – if a bit of a person is bleeding, then get it elevated as soon as possible and try to staunch the bleeding; and how to check airways are clear, and so forth – before pointing his finger at Connie and Jessie and asking them to join him and Nurse Hampton at the front of the room.
‘Right, we’ll now see an expert in action as Nurse Hampton demonstrates the correct way to do all sorts of things with bandages,’ James concluded as he bade the twins to climb onto two chairs in order that everyone could see the nurse’s bandaging techniques. ‘But do please remember everyone,’ James added, ‘never to put your own lives at risk when going to someone’s aid. This is really important, especially with moving machinery or fire or anything electrical, as the worst scenario would then be that two or more people end up injured rather than one and thus stretch already stretched medical help further. So, take care of yourself, check for danger first and if danger is present and it is safe to do so, turn off electric and gas sources, or vehicle engines, or any machinery, and then you can touch people who need your help.’
As Peggy watched Connie being told by Nurse Hampton that she must pretend she’d had a head injury that needed band-aging (Connie proving quite the little actress as she grabbed her head just as if she were in acute pain, rolling her eyes dramatically), and Jessie was told he’d broken his collarbone and so his arm would need to be bound up in a sling (his acting skills a poor second to his sister’s), Peggy realised that she had never thought of giving help in quite the way that James had just outline
d. It seemed selfish on the face of it not to just step in as quickly as possible as valuable seconds might be a matter of life or death in heinous injuries. But the more she dwelled on it, the more she saw all the various implications of wading in regardless, most of which were likely to offer a worse outcome overall. What was it about James? Peggy wondered. She thought of herself as a sensible, reasonably practical person, and yet he had the knack of showing her how many of her ideas were perhaps not as solid or as sensible or as straightforward as she had always believed. She wasn’t quite sure she liked this sensation, but she realised that she always looked forward to hearing the next thing that he had to say.
Once all the demonstrating had been finished and the floor had been opened for questions, James thanked everyone for listening so attentively.
And then from his pocket he produced a distinctly ill-sewn cloth bag. ‘Before I finish, I would just like to say that any donations to the field hospital of drawstring bags about this size, sewn from whatever scraps of cloth you have to hand, will be gratefully received over on our wards. The patients need something to keep their tobacco in, and their knick-knacks and maybe the odd pair of socks or a book, or a letter or photograph from home. This is one I made last night. It’s not very good, as you can see, but it will do what it needs to do, and if I can do it, then anybody can, I promise.’ At this the doctor pointed a roving finger at all the boys in the audience, ‘and so I would like to see everyone who is still at school make some bags like this over the summer for our patients, boys as well as girls, so no excuses, lads. And the person aged fourteen or under who makes the most bags by their own hand will win a prize of either going in an ambulance for a ride, or coming to the hospital for tea, with the sandwiches and maybe even a cake made by some of my patients, or else something that I can think of that might be even better. I’d love to see a boy win either of these prizes, wouldn’t you Private Smith?
‘And,’ James went on in a louder voice as the boys gave a small cheer, ‘Nurse Hampton, I dare say you’d like the girls to be top dogs though? I think the girls are going to give the boys a run for their money. Or are the boys going to surprise me? What do you think, children?’
All the children in the audience were so busy calling out who they thought would win the race to make the most bags that they just about drowned out the doctor’s finishing words, ‘And all bags to be at the hospital by 1st August, please.’
A still-bandaged Connie led the cheering of the girls, even standing up and turning to face the audience in order to take a pretend bow for the girls’ victory, calling out cheekily ‘I’d like to say it was a close-run thing, but we girls wiped the floor with you boys,’ before being shouted down by the boys in the audience who, in the heat of the moment seemed to have forgotten all about sewing being something for girls or sissies, to judge by some raucous boos and whistles aimed in Connie’s direction, and one expertly aimed screwed-up piece of paper thrown at her by Aiden that scored a bullseye by striking the tip of her nose.
At this point the older and calmer members of the audience began to make their way to speak to one of the three who had spoken.
Peggy was congratulated by several of Roger’s parishioners for Connie’s lack of fear of performing in front of so many people, at which Peggy could only shake her head and say ‘nothing to do with me’ with a self-deprecating smile.
She waited for a lull, and then she went over to Private Smith. ‘I want to thank you for coming to speak to us,’ she said. ‘I doubt there was a person in the room who didn’t find what you had to say most inspiring.’
Private Smith looked a bit pink around the gills at her praise as he hoisted himself to his feet, but Peggy didn’t notice as she was too busy signalling to the Tall Trees children to come and thank him.
The first thing that Tommy said once the children had all gathered around was could they have a squiz at one of his artificial legs? The children nodded enthusiastically.
‘Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry!’ said Peggy, clapping a hand to her mouth in shock as she would never have beckoned the children to him if she had thought for a moment they would be so forthright as regards what they had to say to him.
But Private Smith just laughed and said he’d better sit down again so that the children could get a better look as then he could put his leg up on a chair for them to see at close quarters.
He really didn’t seem to mind, and after Peggy had reminded everyone only to ask sensible questions and to remember that they were to be nice and not rude, she left them all to it, noticing that out of all of them it was Connie who seemed the most interested in the intricacies of the false limb the young man was showing them, asking if she could touch it and looking carefully at the straps that attached it to the young soldier’s leg very carefully.
Tommy got a bit carried away when asking questions about what weapons Private Smith had used, although Jessie and Larry diverted Tommy’s enthusiasm before he could then go on to ask the inevitable ‘have you killed anybody?’ with their own questions to the young Private on what sort of food soldiers were given when on manoeuvres and did they have to sleep on the floor or were they given camp beds if doing something tactical abroad.
Once she had reassured herself that Private Smith wouldn’t let himself be drawn on answering questions on anything he didn’t feel comfortable about, and nor would he let Tommy get too carried away, Peggy went to find June, intending to ask her back to Tall Trees for a cup of tea. But before she could do this she was waylaid by James, who said, ‘How are you feeling now, Peggy? A little more rested up than when I last saw you, I trust?’
‘Much better, thank you,’ said Peggy, and then once she’d remembered how she’d bawled her eyes out in front of him not very long ago at the hospital, which was the last time she had seen him, try as she might she simply couldn’t think of anything else to say. Remembering now how she had reacted back then to the doctor’s kindness, her hot tears about her own predicament seemed such a lily-livered response to the times they were living through, and she felt acutely embarrassed and as if she had been made to seem all the more shallow and selfish after the touching and brave way Private Smith has spoken about his own plight.
Peggy looked at her feet, then flashed an awkward smile at James, before she had to look down at her sandals once more as she felt herself getting a bit hot and bothered.
James looked uncomfortable as well, and as if he couldn’t think of a way to keep the conversation going either now that Peggy had become tongue-tied. There was an awkward silence, during which Peggy longed to have Holly with her, as that way she could have covered her lack of imagination by saying something about the baby, but Gracie was looking after Holly for the afternoon as she wanted to go out later with a girlfriend, during which time Peggy would see to Jack for Gracie.
Peggy rather hoped James would make his excuses and leave her, but he didn’t, and eventually Peggy managed with a bit of squeak, ‘A very good talk, and a good turnout too. You must be pleased.’
‘Well, hopefully nobody will ever have to use what we covered, but in these times it pays to be at least slightly prepared,’ James replied stiffly, and then the conversation fell fallow again.
Peggy didn’t know what had come over her as she was rarely lost for words. And a disconcerted James looked mightily relieved when Mabel’s booming voice called him to her in order to settle a dispute about something or other to do with homemade remedies, and he was allowed to beat an honourable but hasty retreat, although not before giving Peggy a two-fingered salute from his temple.
The instant she was standing on her own, Peggy felt relieved, and then a second later chagrined and out of sorts as she discovered she wished he was still standing close to her.
Chapter Sixteen
A couple of hours later Peggy was at the white five-bar front gate to Tall Trees saying goodbye to June Blenkinsop, who had been treated to a typically lively Tall Trees tea, and who was now heading home, clutching a brown paper bag c
ontaining some fresh eggs that Peggy had persuaded Larry to scavenge from the hen house.
The sun had moved the imposing shadow of Tall Trees’ impressive foursquare frontage around, and as she leant on the gate, Peggy enjoyed the feeling of the sun on her back and the way her favourite green-sprigged cotton dress gently fluttered at her knees as she stood dreamily watching June walk down the road and then turn the corner. Peggy allowed her shoulders to drop as she listened to the boys race noisily around the garden as somebody else – was it Connie? – was giving the back yard a sweep to clear away any stray straw following Milburn’s afternoon muck-out.
Nearby, there was a bush that was attracting the bumble bees, and as Peggy listened to the gentle humming of the hard-working bees and watched their furry yellow and black bodies bob this way and that as they harvested the pollen, she wondered briefly whether they should get a beehive at Tall Trees, or maybe the churchyard might be a more sensible place to position it seeing as there were young babies at the rectory and bee stings could be very nasty, although a crop of honey would be wonderful.
It was a peaceful end to the afternoon, as Holly had had a feed and Gracie had fed Jack too, and so now the babies were top-and-tailed in the perambulator under the shade of a tree in the garden as they napped, with Connie and Angela watching over them with strict instructions to move them if the sun moved and shone directly on them.
It felt good to have a moment to herself. So wonderful in fact that Peggy allowed herself to slip her feet from her shoes and wiggle her toes as she stood barefoot on the warm stones that edged the front of the drive. She refused to think about how worn her sandals were – back in Bermondsey she would never have gone out and about in footwear that had so clearly seen better days, and actually they had such stretched leather that they weren’t very comfy, but what could she do? and nor would she have dared to be in public with bare legs as that was very frowned upon at home no matter how hot the weather – as she closed her eyes and breathed in the scent of the garden flowers. Then Peggy put her hands on top of the tall wooden gate, which was wedged open as it always was, and slowly she leant backwards, arching her back in a luxurious stretch that took her head far enough back to feel the sun on her eyelids, while she supported her weight with her straightened arms and she kept her hips quite close to the gate. She straightened up and then bent her shoulders first to one side and then the other, after which she circled her head, dipping it down towards each of her shoulders. Peggy’s neck cricked slightly and she could hear her shoulders each give a small crack as then she raised them up towards her ears in a circular motion. She was stiff these days, she thought, and no longer the nimble and flexible young woman of previously, and with a small sigh and still keeping her eyes closed she lifted her hands to massage her neck. Okay, she might be feeling older, but Peggy hoped she was wiser too. And she knew a moment or two allowing herself to enjoy such a glorious afternoon was making herself feel, just a little, healed.
