The District Nurse

by Annie Groves

  ‘Oh, and what’s that in honour of?’ the redhead purred.

  Edith bridled a little, sensing that the woman would take over the conversation with the slightest encouragement.

  ‘Oh, I promised to show Edith here the local pub,’ Harry said easily, putting a light hand on her waist to bring her forward into the conversation. ‘She’s yet to become familiar with the bright lights of Dalston.’

  Edith felt a rush of gratitude towards him and recognised that she didn’t have to worry. ‘Yes, that’s right,’ she said to the redhead. ‘I moved here back at the beginning of June but haven’t been to many places yet. Did you just come straight from work? Is that near here?’

  The woman turned with a friendly look. ‘That’s right, I make boxes for gas masks,’ she said. ‘We used to do boxes for toys, but what with the coming war and all that … Look at me, all covered in dust from the cardboard, no matter how I try to get rid of it. It’s an infernal nuisance. But we’ve got to keep the production lines running, we’re even doing a shift tomorrow.’

  ‘I don’t mind, it’ll help me pay for my wedding,’ said the shorter woman. ‘I’m Peggy and this is Clarrie. Oh, hang on, there’s Pete over there. He hasn’t seen me, excuse me a mo.’ She edged her way past a group that had just come in and made her way to a tall, athletic-looking young man in a brown jacket, tapping him on the shoulder. He swung around and gave her a big hug.

  ‘That’s Peggy’s intended,’ said Clarrie in explanation. ‘She puts her name down for every extra shift available – weekends, evenings, the lot. He’s just as bad. They’re planning an autumn wedding so they need every penny they can get.’

  ‘Isn’t that romantic,’ breathed Mary. ‘I’m sure I’d be the same.’

  Edith bit back the remark that first sprang into her head, which was that Mary had told her about her parents and where they lived in Surrey, leading Edith to surmise that they weren’t short of a bob or two. She doubted very much that Mary would ever have to work extra shifts, come the day that she got engaged. But she knew it would hurt her friend to mention it and so she just nodded.

  Looking across the garden, she could see Peggy in earnest conversation with Pete. It looked as if she didn’t like what he was telling her. He was leaning forward and everything about his posture was intense, whereas Peggy was growing more and more dismayed. Billy noticed the direction of Edith’s glance and looked over at the couple as well. He caught Pete’s eye, and Pete promptly beckoned him over.

  ‘Scuse me, ladies,’ he said, taking his drink and heading across to the couple.

  ‘Well, he’s in a hurry,’ said Clarrie carelessly. ‘Maybe something I said? He’s not usually so keen to scarper. Well, never mind, do you work in a factory round here as well?’

  ‘Oh, no,’ Mary replied, and started to explain again what district nursing entailed.

  Harry nudged closer to Edith. ‘Seems as if we haven’t had a chance to talk all evening,’ he said quietly. ‘I hope you don’t mind. I wanted you to meet my friends.’ He held her gaze and his dark brown eyes were full of warmth. ‘I’ve known most of them for years.’

  Edith looked up at him, and couldn’t help smiling. She lost all thought of playing it cool. ‘I like them,’ she said happily. ‘Thank you for the shandy too. You’re very generous.’

  ‘Think nothing of it,’ he said, taking her free hand, but discreetly, so she wouldn’t be embarrassed. ‘Would you like another? It’s thirsty work, meeting new people.’

  ‘Maybe later.’ She relished how warm his hand was, how big it was compared to hers and how safe it made her feel. She gently squeezed it, and felt a delicious sensation go through her as he squeezed hers back.

  ‘They’re bound to like you,’ Harry assured her. ‘Don’t pay any mind to Clarrie, she’s always teasing me. We were at school together when we were little and she started then. Nothing’s changed in all the time since.’

  ‘I’ve got friends like that, back in south London,’ Edith admitted. ‘What did you mean when you said you were training? Did you mean for the boxing? When’s your next fight?’

  Harry nodded. ‘Yes, and I meant it when I said I hadn’t been out much recently. Just with you.’ He winked. ‘I’ve got a big bout coming up in a few weeks. I missed my last one cos I had a really bad cold and there wasn’t no point in even showing up. So there will be a lot riding on this one.’ He stopped, suddenly almost shy. ‘Would you come to watch me? Do you like boxing? You could cheer me on.’

  Edith was briefly at a loss for words. It felt like he was asking her something important, that how she answered would mean a lot. ‘Well … I don’t know because I’ve never been to a fight,’ she confessed. ‘But I’d like to cheer for you, Harry. You’d be bound to win. I bet you’re really good.’

  He beamed with pride. ‘As a matter of fact I am. I wouldn’t ask you otherwise. I been doing it for years, and it’s been a hard slog, but I’m getting better all the time now. I haven’t lost for ten fights, not since I took on someone who’d won the area shield. He was good but I reckon I’m up to his standard now.’ As he spoke Edith could tell how much he loved the sport and the pleasure he took in his progress.

  ‘As long as you don’t get hurt,’ she said, half jokingly but with an edge in her voice, as that was exactly what she feared.

  ‘With you there watching? No chance,’ he laughed. ‘You’ll be my lucky mascot. I’ll be unbeatable if you come along to watch, just you see.’

  ‘Sounds as if I’d better, then, or else you’re at risk of injury, and as a nurse I can’t have that,’ said Edith smartly, her eyes dancing even though part of her still dreaded him being hurt.

  Billy had come back across to them as they talked and now he gave Harry a significant look. ‘Can I have a quick word?’ he asked, a note of urgency in his voice. ‘Sorry for interrupting,’ he added, making an apologetic face at Edith.

  ‘No, no, not at all,’ she said, slightly piqued to have the moment broken so soon. She sipped her shandy as Harry stepped away a little to have a quick conversation with his friend.

  ‘Right,’ she heard him say. ‘Let’s do it, then.’

  ‘Shall we take Joe?’ Billy asked.

  ‘No, he needs to stay here with the ladies. You, me and Pete will sort it out.’ Harry’s face had completely changed. A look of fury had come across it and his body had gone rigid as he drained his pint then plunged his hands into his pockets. Swiftly he drew his brother to one side and spoke softly into his ear. She couldn’t see Joe’s face to gauge his reaction.

  Joe blinked once to take in what Harry had said and then pinched the fold of skin between his eyebrows. ‘You’re kidding, right?’

  Harry reared back. ‘I am not bloody kidding. Someone’s got to put a stop to this, you must see that. The man’s a right bastard, we all know it, and he can’t get away with this.’

  ‘That’s not the point,’ said Joe, urgent now. He knew what his brother was like, all act now and think later. ‘The risk is you make it worse. You beat him up, get caught, and Bob’s your uncle, it’s you who gets into trouble. How’s that going to help?’

  ‘We won’t beat him up. Not really. Just give him a fright. Enough to put the wind up him, stop him doing it again.’

  Joe looked his brother straight in the eye. ‘You sure? I know what you’re capable of. You hit someone and that’s it, lights out.’

  ‘Joe, I promise. I’ll let the others do most of it, we’ll just rough him up a bit. I’ll stand there and keep them in order, but if he sees me he knows I can floor him with one punch.’

  ‘That’s exactly what I meant,’ Joe pointed out.

  ‘Not that I will.’

  ‘See that you don’t. For God’s sake don’t make things worse for Kath than they already are. She may not even thank you for it.’

  Harry pursed his lips. ‘But we’re doing it for her. To protect her.’

  Joe gazed skywards. There was no stopping this, he knew, despite the perils of someone comin
g between a man and his wife, but he had to make Harry understand that he couldn’t allow his little brother to get on the wrong side of the law.

  ‘Come on, Harry,’ called Pete, making to leave.

  Harry turned. ‘I got to go.’

  ‘Remember what you promised. Don’t make it worse, Harry.’

  ‘I won’t.’ And he was heading back over to Edith.

  The daylight was fading now but – even with what was left of the sun behind him – Edith could tell Harry was very angry as he came back towards her. ‘Listen, I’m sorry, but something has come up that needs taking care of,’ he said. ‘You wait here with Joe and I’ll be back in no time. But I gotta go. See you very soon.’ He leant in and swiftly kissed her cheek before hurrying out of a back gate she hadn’t even seen was there, immediately followed by Billy and Pete.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Edith couldn’t fault Joe’s manners. He bought another round of drinks and assured them that it was nothing to worry about and the other men would be back in no time. Mary had accepted this at face value, and seemed to have forgotten her former opinion of Joe as uninteresting, as she tried hard to get him to flirt back with her. When that failed, she turned to Clarrie and Peggy, asking them all about the factory and quizzing Peggy about her wedding plans.

  It was only when Mary said she had to powder her nose and persuaded the other two women to show her where to go that Edith had a chance to press Joe for the truth.

  ‘You might as well tell me,’ she said, her eyes wide with concern. ‘I wasn’t born yesterday – I can see something’s up.’

  Joe sighed. ‘All right. You’re right, we just heard some news.’ He shifted uneasily. ‘How much has Alice told you about our friend Kathleen?’

  ‘Well, I know she’s the reason we know you at all,’ said Edith. ‘Then at the start of this week Alice got called to her house because she said she’d had a fall. But Alice didn’t believe that was what had really happened.’

  Joe shrugged. ‘That’s what she’s maintained all this week, but we know that’s not the case. Mattie saw her that morning – she’s no fool. She said Kath had marks on her wrist from where she’d been grabbed or dragged. Kath’s husband turned up on Saturday morning, apparently as if nothing was wrong; as though he hadn’t left her for months with hardly any money or letting her know how or where he was. Mattie and Ma looked after the baby most of the weekend. Then Monday morning, she looks in a state and he’s scarpered. Draw your own conclusions.’

  Edith nodded sadly. ‘That’s pretty well what Alice thought – the injuries weren’t consistent with Kathleen’s story, but fitted being pushed around by someone else.’

  ‘Usually she’s in and out of our house all the time, but we haven’t seen her all week,’ Joe went on. ‘Mattie’s been going over there instead. She said she didn’t want us to see her in that state, but Harry’s been asking around, seeing if he can get word of where Ray went. Nobody had seen hide nor hair of him, certainly not down the docks, or Billy would’ve known. I might as well tell you, Billy used to be sweet on Kathleen so he was spitting blood when he heard.’

  ‘So that’s why he was in such a rush,’ said Edith, abruptly losing her taste for her shandy. She put her glass down on the nearest table.

  ‘Anyway, someone at Pete’s workplace told him that Ray would be at the Dog and Whistle this evening, so they’ve set off to find him,’ Joe explained. ‘I warned them not to do anything stupid. It’s all well and good trying to help Kathleen, but I don’t want them putting themselves at risk. That will have the exact opposite effect. I said they’ll have to stick to pointing out to him that he won’t get away with it again.’

  Edith could hear the doubt in his voice. ‘But if Billy’s angry and Harry’s ready for a fight … what if they get hurt? What if the police get called?’

  ‘You don’t call the police to the Dog and Whistle,’ said Joe. ‘It’s not that sort of place. Don’t you worry about Harry, he can take care of himself. It’s just not how I like to go about things. Ray’s a cowardly bully but there are ways and means.’

  Edith nodded. Where she grew up, nobody would have thought of calling the police, either. You sorted out your own problems. All the same her stomach churned with anxiety. ‘What can we do?’ she asked, quietly now as out of the corner of her eye she could see Mary returning with the other two young women.

  ‘Nothing,’ said Joe bluntly. ‘We wait here. Drink up, Edith, put a smile on your face and maybe it’ll all be fine.’

  Alice sat back against her pillows, setting down her book. She’d finally turned the last page, although she’d deliberately made it last all evening, getting the very most from it. She could see why Edith would have enjoyed the film – the stirring story, the dramatic settings. She’d loved it, all the more so because she secretly suspected it wouldn’t have been Joe’s cup of tea at all. Still, this meant she could return it to him tomorrow so he could take it back to the library in the coming week. She smiled at the thought of seeing him again, then stopped herself. What was she doing, thinking of him late into the evening?

  Her thoughts turned to the conversation she’d had with Janet Phipps when she’d visited St Benedict’s earlier in the week. She’d ruefully told the teacher about her encounter with Pauline and Janet had laughed. ‘Yes, that sounds like the Gran we know,’ she said. ‘Still, at least Pauline’s got her. The mother isn’t around much, so I believe.’

  ‘That’s a shame,’ Alice had replied, nibbling on a shortbread that Janet had provided from her own batch.

  ‘Her little friend has the opposite problem – her mother hates to let her go and always waits at the school gates for ages,’ Janet had gone on. ‘You know, little Dotty, with the ringlets? I’m sure I shouldn’t say it but her mother absolutely smothers her. How we’re going to get her to stand on her own two feet I really couldn’t say. I dread to think what will happen if the class is evacuated.’

  ‘Do you really think they will be?’ Alice asked, remembering Fiona Dewar’s warnings.

  Janet had set down her cup and saucer and stared out of the classroom window into the deserted playground. ‘Yes, she said. ‘I should say it’s inevitable. And soon. All those careful plans will have to be executed to the letter to keep those children out of harm’s way.’

  Alice turned over, feeling the coolness of the pillowcase on her cheek. Such a lot had happened since they’d first arrived at Victory Walk. It wasn’t even that long ago, only early June, and yet it felt like ages. She and Edith had adapted to the work and started to get to know who was who in the local community – the nice doctors, like old Dr Patcham, the others like Beastly Beasley. The nearby shopkeepers, like the one who knew which paper she bought and who would now keep one back for her if she was running late and they were liable to sell out. The teachers and pupils at St Benedict’s. Above all, the many and varied patients.

  She felt increasingly confident in the work. If she was honest, some of it wasn’t what she had expected; the huge numbers of households living in poverty was something she’d known about and had seen to an extent at home in Liverpool, but to see it up close was a different matter. The sheer difficulty of giving advice on health and hygiene when there was barely access to running water for so many patients; it stretched her ingenuity to its limits. Then again, she’d been prepared to see regular cases of diphtheria, and yet for all its difficulties the borough had managed to limit cases of that horrible disease. It made her feel her work was worth it, and if she kept up the message that prevention was better than cure and led by her own example, then things would slowly get better. Yet when the war came … Sighing, she tried to settle to sleep, knowing that worrying wouldn’t help.

  The next hour passed agonisingly slowly as Edith pretended to join in the conversation and look as if she was enjoying herself while she waited for Harry to return. Every second seemed to last for an eternity. All around her people were chatting and laughing, just like on any other Friday night. Mary was getting
on famously with Clarrie and Peggy, who didn’t seem to be particularly worried about the absence of the men – even though Peggy at least must have had a fair idea of why they had left. Edith wondered if it was perhaps because she was a nurse and had seen all too often at first hand the damage a street fight could do. She could tell Harry would be well able to look after himself, but all it took was one lucky punch from his opponent … she tried not to let her thoughts wander down that track.

  At last there was a commotion from the direction of the back gate. Edith looked across to see Pete, his tall frame clearly visible above the crowd, his face clearly bearing new scratches even from this distance and in the dim streetlight. The crowd parted to let him through and he instantly sought out Peggy, who whirled around at the sound of his voice. He was followed by Billy, also bruised and bloodied, walking a little stiffly but grinning from ear to ear. Finally Harry appeared, his blue shirt smeared with blood and his knuckles red, but his eyes gleaming.

  ‘Harry.’ Edith couldn’t hold back her worry. ‘Are you all right?’

  He smiled and she could see he was glad she’d been concerned for him. ‘More than all right,’ he said. ‘We found the bastard, scuse my language, and we sorted him out good and proper. He won’t be hurting Kathleen again, the filthy coward. Not now he knows we’re on to him.’

  ‘But your hands,’ Edith protested. ‘And your shirt, it’s got blood all over it.’

  ‘Not mine,’ said Harry grimly. ‘He didn’t get a chance to lay a hand on me. He’s not fast enough, doesn’t know the moves like I do.’

  ‘What about Pete and Billy?’ she asked. ‘They look as if they’ve been in the wars.’

  Harry shrugged a little. ‘It might look like that but Ray’s come off much worse, believe me. They aren’t hurt, or not really. They’ll be fine tomorrow. Pete’s got Peggy to kiss him better and that’ll work wonders.’

  Edith shook her head. ‘Harry Banham, what can I say? You take off like that and now you’re back here telling jokes …’