by Molly Green
A shower of plaster fell on the small group and Raine quickly bent to pull the baby’s blanket further round the small dark head, then rose.
‘Go!’ she commanded. ‘Lenny, take the torch.’ She thrust it in his hands. ‘Keep hold of Evie. I’ll bring the baby.’
Galvanised into action Lenny dragged Evie out of the door, Raine following close behind, hoping to get a little benefit from the torch.
‘Come on, Evie,’ Raine heard Lenny say. ‘It’s not safe here.’
Somehow the three clambered down the two flights of steps and into the foyer which looked untouched. A handful of people stood at the exit door but seemed in no hurry to leave. Two other men were in staff uniform, one the same stocky man who’d barred her way.
‘I thought I told you not …’ He stopped when Raine held out the bag. He peered inside, then looked at her, a deep frown bringing his bushy ginger eyebrows together. ‘You’re not allowed—’
Raine raised her hand to stop him from saying more. She nodded towards the couple, Lenny still trying to calm Evie.
‘Their baby’s dead,’ Raine said as she stepped outside, out of earshot. ‘We need to call an ambulance.’
‘Poor little blighter.’ He looked towards the bag again. ‘We’ve got an ambulance but it’s picking up some injured folk round the corner. The theatre was hardly touched, thank God, but several of the old houses nearby have had it.’ He raised his fist and shook it at the starless sky. ‘Bloody Jerries.’
Can’t he see this is urgent?
‘Is there a doctor nearby?’ Raine could feel her voice rising.
‘Not that I know of. Best thing is for the baby to be taken to the hospital. Leave it to me and I’ll see what I can do.’
He turned away to talk to his colleague. She saw the second man go to his ticket booth and pick up the phone.
A few people were hanging around in the bar talking animatedly and Raine spotted some vacant chairs.
‘Lenny, take Evie to the bar so she can sit down while we wait for the ambulance. They’ve already called for one so Christine can be examined at the hospital, and I think you should insist they look at Evie as well.’
Lenny nodded. Evie was silent but she allowed him to put his arm round her, though her legs were bent in an odd manner as if they would buckle under at any moment. Raine was relieved to see that at least Evie had quietened down and wasn’t fending Lenny off. The two of them obviously loved their baby but they looked heartbreakingly young to be parents.
Raine’s arm was beginning to ache as she took the bag holding Christine to the bar. She set it down gently near Evie’s feet.
‘How long will they be?’ Evie muttered.
‘Soon,’ Raine assured her. ‘They’re on alert all the time, but I’ve just been told it was the building behind us that got hit. I don’t know any more than that.’
‘We want to thank you for everything, don’t we, Evie?’ Lenny said.
Raine’s eyes filled with tears. ‘I didn’t do anything,’ she said. ‘I wish I could’ve done more. I just can’t tell you how sorry I am about little Christine.’ She touched Evie’s arm. ‘Where will you go after the hospital?’ she said.
Evie shook her head.
‘Back to my parents’,’ Lenny answered. ‘They’ve given us a room and Christine has the b-boxroom.’ He broke down. ‘Whatever will they say when we don’t come back with her?’
He sniffed and Raine handed him a handkerchief. He blew his nose with a loud trumpeting noise and gave her a tearful smile.
‘Well, I know what Evie’s mum and dad will say – they’ll say, “Good riddance.” Their own granddaughter.’ He curled his lip. ‘Do y’know, they put Evie out as soon as she told them she was expecting.’
Raine swallowed. She could just imagine the scene.
‘I shan’t ever forgive them for that,’ Evie whispered. ‘And now Christine’s gone, I won’t go back – ever.’
Thankfully, at that moment Raine heard what sounded like the ambulance. She shot up from her seat and ran across the foyer just as it drew up outside. She opened the theatre door to see one of the crew, a hefty chap, jump down from the vehicle. She smell of smoke hit her again. The fire must be taking hold somewhere near. And then she heard a roaring sound and men’s shouts. The noise was coming from the street behind the theatre. A building must be on fire! What was it the man had said? ‘The theatre’s not been hit. But some old houses took it.’
Please God, don’t let Alec be there. But where the hell is he?
She wished with all her heart that she could look for him right away, but first she had to see Evie and Lenny and little Christine safely on their way to the hospital.
‘Did you call for an ambulance, love?’ the ambulance man said as soon as he set foot in the foyer.
‘Yes, it’s for a couple who were watching the play.’ She quickly explained what had happened. ‘But it’s not just the baby. Her mother is very young and in deep shock. I think she needs attention as well.’
‘We’ll make sure she gets it,’ he said as he hurried to where Evie sat, quiet now.
‘Evie, the ambulance men are going to take you and Christine to hospital. They’ll look after you. I promise.’
The ambulance man held his hand out to Evie. ‘Come on, love. I’ll bring the baby. You take my other arm.’
‘No,’ Lenny said. ‘I’ll bring Christine and Evie. We’re a family, aren’t we?’ He picked up the bag holding Christine. ‘Hold on to me, Evie. Everything’s going to be all right.’
‘What about you, love?’ The man turned to Raine. ‘Do you live in Windsor?’
‘No. I was visiting with a friend and we were watching the play near them.’ She nodded towards Lenny and Evie. ‘My friend ran back to the theatre to see if they needed any help, but he’s disappeared and I’m really worried now.’
‘All the drama is going on in River Street,’ he said grimly. ‘So if I were you, I’d go back to your hotel. He’s probably there already, wondering where you are.’
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Raine followed the couple out to the ambulance. When the driver started the engine she breathed a sigh of relief. Ignoring the ambulance man’s advice to go back to the hotel she immediately dashed round the corner to River Street where the full scene of the destruction from incendiary bombs, eerily lit by the moon, knocked her back. Three firemen were training their hoses on a building where flames poured out of every window, making that same fearful roar she’d heard outside the theatre while waiting for the ambulance. Now it filled her head, stopping her from thinking straight.
Men’s voices shouting. Cursing. A stench like she had never smelt before. Her stomach heaved. She swallowed several times, fighting the nausea in the back of her throat. Even though she’d never smelt it in her life, she knew without doubt what it was. Burning flesh. Her skin crawled as she spotted two men carrying a stretcher to a waiting ambulance.
Alec, where are you? Please don’t be the body on the stretcher.
She twisted her neck this way and that, but it was too dark to pick out anyone from the crowd that had already gathered. Two more firemen called out to the people to make way so they could get to the buildings. One of them bent down and picked up something small and black from the debris. Raine peered through the darkness. It was moving. She crept nearer and saw it was a kitten. She could hear the tiniest of mews, so plaintive against the mayhem all around. The fireman held out the little ball to the crowd and said something. One lady held out her arms. The man put the kitten into her hands and she tucked it inside her coat, shaking her head as she walked away.
Raine tilted her head to look up at the burning building, where a man was dangling like a piece of meat from a rope fixed to a massive steel structure at the height of the top floor. The firemen below were shouting upwards. Alec. Maybe he was trapped. Her breathing came fast. Almost without thinking she stepped forward but immediately felt a hand on her shoulder, firmly pushing her back.
‘Don’t go any nearer,’ one of the firemen warned. ‘Leave us to get on with our job.’
‘I’m looking for someone,’ she panted. ‘My boyfriend. He came to help. I have to find him. You’d know him if you saw him. He’s tall, fair hair …’ Her mind suddenly went blank and she couldn’t think of anything else to describe him.
‘Sorry, miss,’ he said, his voice softening a fraction. ‘We’ve had many people volunteering to help but we’ve had to send them away. More trouble than they’re worth unless they’re experienced – or a medical person. And in the dark, all the smoke, I wouldn’t recognise my own mother.’ He looked at her. ‘My advice to you, miss, is to get home before Jerry gives us another swipe.’
‘I can’t leave. He may be injured … or …’ She couldn’t bring herself to say the dreaded word. Her voice had sunk to a whimper.
‘If there’s anyone injured, we’ll find them, love, don’t you worry.’
He put an arm round her, and although she realised he was being kind, his grip was as strong as if he were arresting her. She had no choice but to allow him to lead her back to Theatre Street.
‘Will you take my name … just in case?’
He removed a small notebook and pencil from his inside jacket pocket.
‘It’s Lorraine Linfoot.’
‘All right, Miss Linfoot. And your friend’s name?’
‘Alec Marshall.’ She gulped. Where on earth is he?
‘Right you are.’ He scribbled in his book, then looked up. ‘Do you live here?’
‘No. We’re staying at Riverside Hotel for a couple of days.’ She blushed as he gave her a sharp look.
He snapped the notebook shut and put it back in his jacket. ‘My advice to you, miss, is to go back to your hotel and have a nice quiet cup of tea. And at least we’ll know where you are if we come across him.’
He gave her a sympathetic pat on the arm and disappeared.
Sick at heart because she could think of nothing better to do, she slowly walked back to the hotel. She tightened her silk scarf round her head to muffle her against the biting cold. What else could she have done?
A feeling of dread stole through her body as she unlocked her bedroom door. It had started out as such a wonderful day. Now, nothing was the same. A baby had died … Her eyes stung, but whether it was for the baby or from the smoke – or Alec – she couldn’t tell. She sat on the edge of the bed, her legs trembling, her throat sore. There was a small glass of water on the bedside table. She swallowed it all in one long rhythm of gulps. She was just putting the glass back on the table, when she heard footsteps treading heavily up the stairs. Heart pounding against her ribs, she jumped up and ran to open the door. It might only be one of the maids but …
Alec was standing outside, almost unrecognisable. He looked exhausted. Showers of ash had turned his hair grey and his face was smeared with soot. He smelt of fire. And that terrible stench. His brows were drawn together and his eyes were dark with anger.
She recoiled.
‘Well, that’s a relief, at least, to know you’re still alive,’ he said, fury coating his words.
‘What on earth are you talking about? It’s me,’ Raine thumped herself on the chest, ‘who’s been worried sick about you.’ When he didn’t say anything, she said, ‘Where were you?’
‘More to the point, where the hell were you?’
‘Don’t you dare swear at me!’ Raine flashed.
He suddenly looked contrite, then said, ‘Are you going to leave me outside and let all the residents hear us having a row?’
Feeling ashamed, Raine opened the door wider and stepped aside. He immediately flopped into the only chair. She sat on the bed, hardly able to look at him.
‘Bloody hell, Raine, you really had me worried. I’ve been looking everywhere for you.’ He threw her a suspicious look. ‘Did you follow me?’
‘Yes.’
‘I thought so. But I told you not to.’
‘No, you ordered me not to.’
‘And you don’t take orders, is that it?’ Alec brought out a packet of cigarettes. He flicked his lighter and lit one.
‘It’s not that. I was so worried about that couple and the baby …’ Tears gathered in her throat and she swallowed.
‘Did you find them?’
‘Yes. They were exactly where we left them, so why weren’t you there?’
‘As soon as I ran back to the theatre, one of the staff told me it hadn’t been damaged very much, though there’d been some vibration. Bit of plaster fallen but no one was injured. He said the smoke was from some idiot in the balcony who hadn’t put his cigarette out properly and that the buildings on River Street were the ones that were blasted. So I went to see what I could do to help.
‘Those three beautiful Georgian houses were almost totally destroyed – do you remember how we admired them when we had our walk?’
She nodded dumbly.
‘Two shops with flats were just a pile of bricks. One of the firemen told me two people had already died. And you and I had only just said how lucky they were to live in such beautiful houses. One youth was asking everyone if they’d seen his parents. He said they were all sitting in the dining room together. But he couldn’t find them … he was sobbing. Dear God … who knows? There were bits of bodies everywhere. It was a dreadful sight.’ His voice broke and he put his head in his hands. ‘I couldn’t do much because I could see I was in the way.’
‘I went there after I got the couple and their baby into an ambulance,’ Raine said, her voice shaking.
He looked at her in surprise. ‘What time was that?’
‘Maybe twenty minutes after you left. Maybe half an hour. I don’t really know. So much was happening.’
‘You said that couple had to go in an ambulance. Why? Were they hurt?’
‘The baby.’ She looked at him, her eyes tear-filled. ‘The baby … when I got there … in the box … the baby – oh, Alec, it was horrible – the baby was already dead.’
His head jerked up. ‘Dead? How?’
‘They don’t know. I think it must have been the shock from the noise of the explosions. Oh, Alec, she was just a little mite – they named her Christine. She had her eyes open but there was no sign of life. It was so sad. And the poor mother was hysterical.’
She broke down, sobbing. Seconds later she was aware of him on the bed beside her, a pair of strong arms enfolding her. She felt his hand in her hair, stroking, soothing.
‘Don’t get upset, Raine,’ he murmured. ‘Tell me everything later when you’re feeling better. Don’t cry. Please don’t cry. I’m here now.’
‘I’d better go back to my room and clean up a bit,’ Alec said after a few minutes when she’d poured it all out. ‘I must look a wreck – and I certainly feel it. But do I risk not being allowed in again?’ He held up her tear-stained face and kissed both eyelids. Then he gave her a tender smile.
‘You’ll have to take a chance,’ Raine said, giving a wan smile back.
He brushed his lips to hers and disappeared.
Slowly, she stood and stepped into her bathroom, thinking she must look a sight as well. In the mirror she barely recognised herself. Bloodshot eyes stared back at her as though in dismay from what she’d subjected them to. Her white face was smeared with soot and her hair, covered in bits of plaster dust, was falling out of its pins and kirby grips. She looked ten years older. She grimaced at her reflection which seemed to be mocking her.
Raine washed the soot off her face and with a comb smoothed a few wisps of hair out of the way with more pins. There was no time to redo it properly. She lightly swept lipstick over her mouth and went back to her room, then sat on the bed where he’d left her and waited.
There was a light tap at the door.
Alec was smiling and there was no mistaking the warmth in his eyes.
‘Come in,’ she said, catching her breath.
‘Before half the hotel knows I’m entering your boudoir?’ he grinned, sweeping her into
his arms. ‘Are you feeling better?’
‘Yes,’ she said, ‘I am.’
He bent his head and kissed her. She wound her arms round his neck, running her fingers through the short fair hair, kissing him back, over and over, until they were breathless.
‘I don’t know what I would have done if something had happened to you,’ he said thickly.
She felt exactly the same, but she couldn’t bring herself to say the words.
‘I love you, Raine.’
Something twisted deep inside. They were words she had dreamed of hearing. But did he really mean them?
‘You’re not saying anything. It’s that other chap, isn’t it? Doug. You haven’t stopped loving him, have you? Even though we said we’d love one another this weekend and not let anyone or anything interfere.’ He kept hold of her arms as she drew away.
‘You said you wanted us to pretend to be in love,’ Raine flashed. ‘That’s a whole lot different from the real thing. I’ve told you before, it’s not Doug.’ She blinked as the tears threatened to flow again. ‘And I don’t want to play any silly games.’ Whatever she said, however much she explained, it was obvious he wouldn’t believe she was not in love with Doug. ‘My head aches and I want to be left on my own for a while. Maybe I’ll feel better if I have a nap.’ She held his gaze. ‘Do you understand?’
‘It’s probably from ingesting all the smoke, and the strain of what you’ve just been through, so of course I understand.’ He hesitated. ‘But if you need me, you know where I am. Just across the hall.’
He kissed her forehead lightly, and then he was gone.
It was impossible to sleep. Raine looked at her watch for the tenth time in the last hour. Coming up to half past eight. It felt like midnight, she was so tired. It was no use. She couldn’t lie there a moment longer, thinking of Alec. Thinking of Doug. Thinking of the couple with the baby – except they no longer had a baby. Poor little soul. If it hadn’t been for the couple bringing her in against all the rules, the child might still be alive … Raine blinked furiously as she sat up. Surely there were no more tears left in her.
