The Mersey Angels

by Sheila Riley

  ‘Will you go and get some sleep, nurse, you are no good to us if we have to step over your unconscious body on the floor,’ Sister said sternly. ‘You have been awake for nearly two days, and we can’t have you collapsing with exhaustion.’ Anna had to admit that sleep was a luxury she could barely afford so far, but she knew, if she did not rest soon, she would be fit for nothing.

  ‘Sam Cassidy…?’

  ‘I’ll let you know if anything happens. Now sleep.’

  Anna, giving Sister a weary smile, nodded agreement.

  32

  February 1918

  The hospital ship which Sam should have been on had long since sailed without him, Christmas and the new year had come and gone with not much reason to celebrate.

  Anna had been on duty the previous twenty-four hours and it seemed only minutes since she closed her eyes and drifted into a deep sleep, but it must have been quite a while, as the sun was beginning to go down and an orange dusk descended.

  ‘Nurse! Nurse. Anna.’

  She felt the urgent shaking of her shoulder and, groggily, Anna looked up. Her screwed-up eyes refused to focus.

  ‘Sister is asking for you,’ the young Australian nurse gave her a cup of water and Anna drank it greedily. Groaning, she would have loved another couple of hours.

  ‘Sam? Is he all right?’

  ‘He had a restful day. The doctors are doing a good job.’

  Unable to find a comb, Anna raked her fingers through her hair, before loosely tying it into a chignon at the nape of her slim neck. ‘You said Sister wanted to see me.’

  ‘She is with Lady Ashland.’ The nurse said no more as, quickly and efficiently, she led the way.

  Anna scampered behind the hurrying nurse, about to tell her Lady Ashland was back home. However, intuition told her to stay silent.

  When she reached the little kitchen that doubled as Matron’s office, Anna found Ellie in tears and her brows pleated. Lady Ashland? She did not comment as she had never seen her so distraught. Ellie was as tough as old boots. However, the reason for her tears soon became clear to Anna when Sister asked her to sit down.

  ‘I’m afraid Captain Sloan died a couple of hours ago, Lady Ashland was with him.’

  ‘Captain Sloan?’ Anna tried not to show the confusion she now experienced. She had not heard Ellie talk of a Captain Sloan.

  ‘Rupert,’ Ellie sniffed, ‘we met him at a fundraising dinner at Ashland Hall.’

  ‘You should have woken me.’ Anna put her arms round Ellie’s shoulder, surmising that her friend’s tears were a culmination of many things. Daisy’s death. Exhaustion. The men who would never see loved one’s again…

  ‘We cannot cry over them all,’ Sister said, ‘no matter how much we care.’

  ‘It is so futile,’ Ellie cried, ‘to die for a couple of inches of gained ground. It is madness.’ She put her head on Anna’s shoulder, and cried as if her heart would break. Patriotic fervour had all but diminished now. So many lives had been lost. So many young men on all sides sacrificed.

  ‘He will be buried in a small plot at the other side of the field tomorrow morning.’ Sister’s manner was more compassionate now. She bent her head and gently cleared her throat; allowing tears in her office was a rarity. ‘Excuse me,’ she said a moment later, lifting a large stack of hospital reports. ‘I must get on.’ There was no mistaking the now-move-along intonation in her voice as Anna turned to Ellie, her eyes wide.

  ‘Since when did you become Lady Ashland?’ Anna asked as they made their way to the food hall. The shelling had subsided, and they were ready for something to eat.

  ‘I had to say something,’ Ellie replied, ‘the dragon would not let me on the ward.’

  Anna smiled, knowing Ellie would use any means possible to get what she wanted.

  ‘Nurse Cassidy, will you come with me please,’ a nurse said in a hushed tone as Anna finished her beef soup and her blood ran cold. Sam! She felt the fizz of terror sear right up to the roots of her hair. But even though the look of supreme professionalism etched on the other nurse’s face, gave nothing away, Anna feared the worst. ‘There is somebody here to see you.’

  ‘Ned,’ Anna’s voice was barely a whisper when she saw her darling fiancé sitting at Sister’s desk. He turned as she entered and quickly stood up, his navy-blue cap in his hand. Moving forward, she longed for him to take her in his arms. However, Sister’s beady eyes were upon both of them.

  ‘Sister, Doctor Evans wants to see you on ward two,’ the Australian nurse gave Anna a sly wink as she followed Sister from the office leaving Ned and Anna alone.

  ‘Oh Ned,’ Anna could hardly believe her good fortune. ‘I have missed you so much.’

  ‘I’ve missed you too, my darling.’ Ned searched every inch of her beautiful face, her small tip-tilted nose. He gazed into her trusting marine-coloured eyes that now burned with love, silently daring her to respond in a way not dictated by her virtuous position. ‘Sister tells me you have leave due.’ Ned could have kicked himself. He did not intend to blurt his intentions so quickly. However, seeing her now, he realised he had developed only a gossamer memory of her loveliness. How quickly the mind’s delicate retention protects the longing of the heart, for, if he recalled in sharp detail her exquisite beauty, he would have risked being absent without leave just to be near her, to protect her, to hold her.

  Ned deftly caught Anna round her slim waist. Over the heady scent of Lysol disinfectant and carbolic soap, he detected a hint of the Fleur de France perfume, which he had once bought her, and felt a surge of overwhelming adoration wash over him. He loved her. He needed her. He wanted her with every beat of his heart.

  His fevered imagination could not fail to envision the men she had tended. However, that mattered not one iota now, Ned thought, banishing septic considerations, knowing war did funny things to a man’s mind, especially when he was engaged to the most beautiful nurse in the world. However, now she was here, in his arms, and her attention was his and his alone.

  Her eyes were silently imploring him to kiss her. Unable to resist, Ned bent his head, and their lips met for the first time in what seemed like eternity. Anna was the only girl he had ever loved, and he knew that she felt the same way about him.

  He took her hand, and folding it in his own, Ned held it to the thick navy-blue serge of his greatcoat, aware she could feel the thundering beat of his heart. Her head resting against his shoulder, Ned could see the rosy flush of her cheeks. Looking up to him now, the brilliant sparkle of happiness in her eyes showed no hint of sights a woman should not see.

  ‘Ned,’ Anna whispered, a little self-consciously, ‘what’s wrong?’

  Pulling her close, feeling her slim curves form into the hardness of his body, he had intended to greet her with the courteous reserve their positions called for. However, as soon as Anna had walked into the room, all Ned’s good intentions had flown out of the window. He wanted her so damn bad it hurt. Without answering, his passionate lips explored hers. Fervent kisses resonating the thundering beat of his heart.

  ‘Oh Ned,’ Anna gasped when, finally, she could find her voice, ‘can’t we get away from here.’

  ‘Come with me,’ Ned smiled, breathlessly taking her hand in his, knowing they both needed exactly the same thing. Each other.

  ‘Ellie will keep an eye on Sam for me,’ Anna said, carrying a picnic basket for their day in the woods as far away from the bombardment as possible, her eyes dancing with delight. ‘I have an unexpected twenty-four hours’ leave.’ A surge of pleasure and excitement shot through her. Ned was here. Now. This minute… She could hardly believe it. This was more than she ever dared dream. Proudly, she linked his arm. The brave nursing sister walking tall with her courageous naval officer. Suddenly, even the war did not matter, as long as she was with Ned. When his eyes met hers, they glistened like the most precious of diamonds.

  ‘The break will give us a chance to catch up and…’ Ned was hesitant now.

  ‘What is it?�
� He seemed a little restrained, something Ned had never been. Something was troubling him, she could tell, it unnerved her. The war had changed all of them. They would not be human if it did not. However, Ned was quiet now, even politely formal. Usually, he took life by the scruff of the neck and got the most out of it.

  ‘I have a surprise for you.’ He smiled and reached for her hand, ‘Well, hardly a surprise, more like a hotel room.’

  Anna’s jaw fell open. She knew what he was suggesting, and it was not his revelation that shocked her now, but her own reaction to it.

  ‘Will you come with me?’ Ned’s hands, encasing hers, were trembling ever so slightly. His eyes were bright, expectant. ‘I have not slept for days knowing I was going to see you again, then, when they told me you had gone to the hospital ship, I was frantic, especially when they said it had already sailed.’

  ‘Sam was not ready to travel, the doctors did not want him moved at that point,’ Anna sighed. ‘They said he could join the next one instead.’

  ‘I know that now, my darling,’ Ned let out a relieved sigh. ‘I saw Ellie, she told me everything… About Daisy and Sam and…’

  Anna put her finger to his lips. ‘We are wasting time…’

  33

  ‘Ned seems troubled,’ Anna told Ellie while throwing clean drawers and a chemise into a small vanity case. ‘He seemed nervous… with me’

  ‘You should have asked him,’ Ellie said, holding up a pale silk nightdress. Ellie shook her head, her colour rising. ‘Not that one,’ she said, ‘that is for my wedding night, if I ever have one.’ Without Anna noticing, Ellie slipped it into her valise.

  ‘I could not ask him something so personal.’ Because if she was honest, Anna had a feeling he was going to tell her something she did not want to know.

  ‘Maybe he’s just tired,’ said Ellie. Removing the pins that secured her headdress, and shaking her hair free, she unfastened the deep white collar and stiff uniform sleeves.

  ‘I hope that’s all it is,’ said Anna, ‘at least that can be easily fixed.’

  ‘Don’t worry,’ Ellie said, ‘everything is going to be fine.’

  ‘How do you know that?’ Anna thought Ellie was being flippant, taking her situation lightly. She even looked a little smug and that was most unlike Ellie who hurried along to the staff dining room ahead of her. Ned was already waiting for her, gently drumming his fingers on the table and watching other people come and go. At this time of day, after a long and sometimes difficult night shift, Anna would usually be ravenous. Now though, she had completely lost her appetite.

  Ned stood up and pulled out the chair nearest his own. Quietly she sat down and looked at the cups.

  ‘Shall I pour?’ Anna asked. This was all so civilised. Very stiff and polite, he nodded.

  He said nothing as she poured, making her feel even more nervous. Handing him the cup, her hands shook. He looked at the watch she had bought him for his birthday.

  ‘Am I keeping you from something?’ she asked him, but Ned did not answer. He seemed preoccupied. Then, he looked at her for a long while before speaking.

  ‘Anna, do you remember when I asked you to marry me?’ he said quietly.

  ‘Of course I do.’ Anna was shocked that he would ask such a question as he gently took her hand. Had he changed his mind? Had he found somebody else? Her heart was pounding as he lifted her chin, so that her eyes were looking directly into his.

  ‘Do you still want to marry me?’ he asked in a voice barely a whisper.

  ‘Of course I do,’ she answered again, her voice full of trepidation.

  ‘Will you marry me today?’ Ned asked. Anna looked round her before answering, to see if anybody was listening. Today how could she marry him today? It was impossible at such short notice.

  ‘You know I would, if I could, but….’ Anna rose as Ned gently pulled her to her feet.

  His smile was as wide as ever now, he picked her up and spun her round. ‘I’ve got a special licence, had a word with the chaplain. It’s all done. The only thing you have to do is turn up.’

  ‘Matron will have my scalp.’

  ‘She will develop a blind eye. Anna, it’s all fixed, can you be at the chapel in half an hour?’

  ‘Wild horses won’t keep me away.’ Anna knew she was going back to England with the hospital ship soon. She did not think she would be going back as Mrs Ned Kincaid.

  Ned, relieved, let out a long, low whistle, ‘I was afraid you would say no.’

  ‘No fear.’ Anna’s eyes shone with happiness and she longed to kiss him but not here.

  ‘I thought you would want to wait until the war was over,’ Ned told her, ‘and have the big ceremony at Ashland Hall, with Archie giving you away…’

  Anna shook her head and as the news sank in, unable to resist any longer, she kissed him. She did not care who was looking.

  His rank of Chief Petty Officer meant he led many hundreds of men. Training brave young matelots in the way of the sea at war. His keen logistic abilities meant he was an expert in planning and decision-making. Now he had organised her wedding day. The man was a genius.

  ‘Although,’ Ned said hesitantly, causing Anna’s excitement to dim just a little when she saw the solemn pleat of his brow, ‘I have to leave tomorrow. The Lieutenant has come down with something nasty.’

  ‘What kind of nasty?’ She looked up at him now.

  ‘Shrapnel,’ Ned answered, ‘we were picking up wounded men whose ship had been sunk.’ Ned looked sheepish, ‘I’m sorry.’

  ‘Are you asking me to marry you because you are being shipped out, or because of our day in the woods when we almost…?’ Anna could not finish her question knowing they had come so dangerously close to making love.

  ‘Not at all,’ Ned said, quickly allaying her fears. ‘I’m asking you for much more selfish reasons.’ He could not tell her he was going on another mission, so dangerous even he did not have the details. There was a chance he might not come back. All Ned knew was that this would be his last mission one way or another. If he was successful, he would be given a free pass to leave the Navy if he so wished, and if he wasn’t successful, he did not want to die without being united with his one and only true love. His darling Anna who noted that familiar, wicked twinkle in his eyes, ‘But you have to admit, my love, I have waited so very long.’

  ‘We have both waited, Ned,’ then she said, with an equally wicked twinkle, ‘much too long.’

  Arriving at the church in a Red Cross Rolls-Royce ambulance, Anna’s fingertips fluttered at the circle of pearls at her throat, which Ned had given her, to compliment her creamy complexion, he had said.

  Nervously, she entered the village chapel, to see Ned standing at the altar, his body half-turned towards her as she walked slowly up the aisle on the arm of a French farmer she had only just met.

  Looking up into his handsome face, his eyes upon her, loving her, consuming her with his adoration, she felt every inch a loving bride, simply dressed – thanks to Ellie’s help in securing the clothes from who knows where – in a straight-cut, dove-grey chemise dress belted under the bust, to enhance her neat curves. Anna’s matching silk hat, she was told, brought out the true beauty of her eyes, sparkling as she and Ned became man and wife.

  The ceremony, held in the small village chapel, was three miles west of the battlefield. The weather was glorious, the rain had stopped, it was beautiful. It seemed to Anna, there was no war. It was so peaceful. The sun shone, the birds sang, and lavender filled the air with its sweet fragrance, a gift to them all.

  Under the circumstances, the ceremony was not long, but the bride and groom were thrilled when a war photographer took a single photograph, to commemorate their happy day. Anna was surprised when she left the chapel on Ned’s arm, to see some of the remaining villagers form a guard of honour outside. Tilting her head up, she lovingly accepted Ned’s kiss, her face beaming with happiness.

  ‘The farmer’s wife has put on a small celebratory buffet,’ Ellie
was all smiles, ‘but we do not expect you to stay.’

  ‘Ellie,’ Anna cried, thrilled at her wedding day arrangements, ‘I’m sure you’ve played a big hand in all this. But I can’t understand how you’ve kept it all so quiet.’

  ‘It was easy for me,’ said Ellie. ‘I only found out about it from matron half an hour before you did.’

  ‘Matron was in on it?’ Anna could not have been more shocked. ‘How strange.’

  ‘She said you have been through such a lot of late, you deserved to have your day.’

  ‘We both had our share of heartbreak in this war,’ Anna said as a shard of pain pierced her heart. She would have loved her darling brother to be here to see her married, or better still, to give her away, but it was not to be and Daisy…poor Daisy would have loved all this.

  ‘But nobody has asked me to marry them, have they?’ Ellie said, childishly rolling her bottom lip, raising Anna’s spirits again, but still, something niggled. She tried to dismiss it as they raised a toast. However, she could not. Everybody had been so obliging… Even Matron…?

  ‘Just make the most of today,’ Ellie said, ‘let tomorrow take care of itself.’

  ‘I will,’ Anna smiled brightly hugging her friend as Ned came over, putting his arm round her waist. Was his mission as benign, as he had led her to believe?

  Five minutes later they were heading towards the small unscathed hotel, which Ned had found, before he came looking for her. Their time was so short and precious. It was not the time for doubts and questions.

  34

  ‘I don’t want you to go.’ Anna’s voice held a note of desperation, as Ned inched closer.

  ‘I will be back before you know it,’ he whispered, stroking her arm, kissing her bare shoulder, Anna was glad that he could not see her fear. His body spooned into hers after consummating their love. With Ned’s tender care, Anna enjoyed his powerful body with an abandonment she did not know she possessed. His skilful lovemaking ensured she did not suffer the cautious inhibitions of many new brides. ‘What will we do when the war is over?’ Ned nuzzled the words into her hair, and she writhed comfortably into him, dreaming of the future.