Johnny felt choked at this unexpected show of sympathy from his shipmate. His advice had always been to love them, then leave them. “Saves getting yer heart all broke” was what Dermot usually said.
He just nodded, too full with emotion, shook hands then climbed down the steps to the gangway. He took one last look at the steamer as he set off for his digs in the city, listening with amusement as some of the crew hung over the stern to wave and shout at his back. Some good humoured joshing, some perhaps tinged with resentment. Dermot could be a harsh man who would lash out at the drop of a hat.
“Oh, damn yer, Maggie,” Johnny swore, as he pulled up the collar of his jacket against the wind that suddenly blustered. The only woman he had ever loved, beside his mother, had made him feel a lovelorn eejit.
“Mother, we’ve got to talk about this,” said Hannah pleadingly. She was hovering outside Maggie’s room, where her stepmother lay on top of the bed, pale and exhausted.
“Let me come in. You need somebody to talk to, or better still we’ll sit in the garden. The sun’s still warm, even though it’s late in the day.”
“Go away, Hannah. I’m not up to anything – talking or sitting in the garden. Just leave me alone, will yer. I wish I’d never gone to the Parade today.”
She groaned, as Hannah came in full of determination, flinging back the bedroom curtains and letting the sun come flooding in.
“Right, we’ve been pussyfooting around for long enough and it’s time someone took control of the situation. Look at the state of you, Mother. That was your moment of glory carrying the banner, all dolled up in your elegant dress. You’ve worked hard enough for that attribution and it shouldn’t have been taken so lightly. I was horrified when you passed it on to Mrs. Featherstone. What has she ever done to deserve the honour, except snipe at anything good you’ve done for the place?”
Maggie sniffed back her tears at the humiliation she had felt, when the banner had been so heavy that she had realised she’d not carry it more than a yard or so. Her, big strong Maggie Haines who could do anything she set her mind to, had felt as weak as a kitten. Of course she had used her recent illness to excuse herself, but that hadn’t stopped the accusing glares.
“Too big for her boots, too beneath her to carry the banner.” She knew what would be said about her. That’s why she was lying with the curtains drawn, blocking out a damning world.
“This isn’t like you, Mother,” said Hannah tenderly, sitting on the side of the bed, stroking Maggie’s hair.
“You’ve not been the same since that week you had in Liverpool and I’m sure that something happened there. Something that you are not willing to tell. I’m sorry I was rude to you, call it a trick of the light, but to me you looked as if you could have been expecting. I know, I know, it was thoughtless. I know that you and Father are through.”
Maggie sat up and made herself comfortable with a pillow at her back. It was time she faced up to her future and her stepdaughter owed her, didn’t she? Jack had walked away from their marriage because she had taken Hannah’s side against him. Now it was Hannah’s turn to listen to her sorry tale.
“Do yer remember, Hannah, when you turned to me for help that time over Jeremy?”
“Yes,” the admission was given hesitantly.
“Well, I think it will now be your turn to help me.”
Hannah sat in a state of stunned silence, while Maggie shamefacedly told the girl about Johnny Dockerty. From the meeting all those years ago, to their secret tryst at the Adelphi Hotel. To give Hannah her due, the only time she winced was when Maggie spoke of Johnny’s defection.
“So, you don’t know what would have happened if I hadn’t mentioned your unwillingness to go that morning?”
“It wasn’t that I was unwilling, Hannah; it was because I was just nervous. I’ve built a cosy nest here at Selwyn Lodge and all this is because I worked hard fer all those years. I’ve got used to not having a man around telling me what to do. But, I’m a Catholic, and there’s no getting away from the fact that I’m married, and now I’m guilty of committing adultery. Johnny, poor lamb, was just happy that we had finally admitted our love for one another and was weaving a magical future for the two of us to share.”
“So, is it possible that you could be expecting? I think you are; you have that look about you.”
“Well, you’d know about it, Hannah, seeing that’s the state you’re in.”
“This is serious, Mother, so don’t joke about it. How on earth could we pass off your baby? Father’s been gone for nearly two years.”
There was a sudden silence between them as they both realised the importance of her words. Hadn’t Maggie been shown that morning just how prevalent the antipathy towards her still was? After all those years, there was still a lot of envy towards the woman she had become. Her good name would be reduced to the level of the gutter. She’d be thrown off her committees; shunned if she attended church. The ladies of the parish would have a field day if Maggie was in a certain condition. She would have to think of going away.
“Of course, I may be worrying unnecessarily, yer know. It could be that I am as Joan has told me, suffering from middle-aged spread.”
Maggie looked at Hannah hopefully, who snorted, “I don’t think so. You should get in touch with Uncle Johnny. It’s his baby and he should be responsible. He’s the Captain of the Irish Maiden, isn’t he? Eddie says he ties up in Liverpool every other day.”
“Well, I did write him a letter, just before I went down with influenza, but he hasn’t bothered to reply to me, so why should he do so now?”
“And where did you send it to? Perhaps he never received it… Oh, the offices of the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board. Well, he certainly should have received it by now. You’ll just have to go to the House for Fallen Women, Mother.”
This joke was quickly retracted when Hannah saw Maggie’s face.
“I’m sorry, this is no time for me to be joking, but I can hardly take in what you’ve just told me. It’s like I’m in some sort of play, where I’m acting out a role, I can’t believe that you and Uncle Johnny… Wait ‘til Eddie hears.”
“Oh, you can’t tell Eddie!”
Maggie clutched at Hannah’s arm, her voice rising in alarm.
“I couldn’t face him ever again; he’d be horrified. No, we’ll have to think of something else to tell him, another reason if I was to go.”
“Look, you’re worn out, Mother. Lie back now and I’ll fetch you a cup of tea. It’s time I woke the baby up from his afternoon nap anyway; he’s not going to sleep tonight if I don’t wake him now. Oh Glory! Did you hear that? There’s someone in the hallway. I’ll have to go downstairs.”
“Whoever it is, tell them I’m not up to visitors. Leave me to try and make some sense of the mess I may be in. And Hannah, put some brandy in me tea.”
“Mrs. Featherstone and Mrs. Gee, for Madam, Hannah,” shouted Olive. “I’ve put them in the drawing room and Cook wants to know if she’ll be wanting me to serve them tea.”
“Not so loud, Olive,” whispered Hannah, leaning over the banister. “I’m going to get little Johnny up and yes, take them in a tray of tea.”
She hurried to the nursery, where the dear little chap had awoken. Her body began to tremble as she hugged him to her breast. Her mind felt seized with doubt as she pondered Maggie’s dilemma. Wasn’t she the one who had put thoughts of a pregnancy into her stepmother’s head?
What if there was no baby? There had been no sickness had there, or nausea on Maggie’s part. Just an admission that she and Uncle Johnny had spent a week together; perhaps they’d had separate beds? What if it was true that she was suffering menopausal symptoms? All this panic would be for nothing and she’d be the one to blame.
Maggie was also trembling under the covers in her bedroom. So the women from the committee had come a-calling had they? Was it possible that they could smell a scandal? They always seemed to be good at that. The dress that she’d been wearing this
morning had indeed been fuller, but at Maggie’s age, lots of women were stout. Oh, why had she listened to Johnny’s silver tongue, gone along with staying at the Adelphi Hotel, then shared his bed? It had been foolish and stupid to be looking for affection, when she had it from her family here at home. She had acted like a simpleton and was about to pay. What was that saying of Father O’Brien’s? Disobedience brings punishment, obedience brings rewards. Then she would be getting a bucketful of punishment, for adultery was a sin!
“Nosey old biddies,” Maggie said, when Hannah returned to her bedroom. “I suppose they were having a look at me stuff and putting a value on it.”
“Oh come, Mother. I think that they had called because of genuine interest in how you are faring. They were concerned about your disappearance from all the festivities. You know you’ve always tried to be there on Neston’s Ladies Day.”
“Hmm, well I’ve been thinking whilst you’ve been entertaining them, that yer could be wrong, Hannah, and you’ve been talking me into something that might just go away.”
“And what if I’m right? If I’m aghast at the situation and I’m one of your family, how do you think the locals will act? There’ll be whispering, pointed looks, and fifty years ago they’d have you burnt at the stake! Here, drink your tea, then perhaps you’ll feel up to coming downstairs for an hour or so. You know how Olive likes to gossip. Don’t give her any reason to, except for her knowing that you’re not very well.”
Katie sat at the Sister’s desk thinking of how well she had done. It had been ten days since the admission of the soldiers from Bengal. Matron had been quick to tell her staff nurse that she had coped extremely well.
“You have the makings of a first class Sister and I will submit a letter to the Hospital Board, saying just that. And I hear that you give attention to your studies also. Well done, Staff Nurse Tibbs; I have a great faith in you.”
Katie had blushed self-consciously. She had thoroughly enjoyed herself, being mistress of all she surveyed, but did Matron’s visit signal an end to it all? Was it back to making beds and carrying bed pans for the patients yet again?
“How are the men in Hinderton Ward, Matron? We’ve not been allowed any contact with the staff there, as you know.”
“Better than we’d hoped, though of course I’ve only spoken to Sister from the doorway. It is an Isolation Ward after all. She tells me that after the initial assessment made by the ship’s doctor, most have reacted favourably to his recommended treatment. Of the seven admissions, only one is causing her concern.”
“So when do you think Sister will return to take over this ward again, Matron? I’m only asking, because I put in for some holidays at the end of June.”
“I think that will be in order, Staff Nurse Tibbs, though I warn you that Sister Gill will be looking for time off too. She and her staff have not been able to leave the building, taking it in turns to sleep in one of the side rooms. But I’ll mention it to Sister tomorrow when I visit, if I think on. She thinks that now the tide has turned, I can include the ward on my rounds.”
Katie looked around her, checking that every patient looked clean and tidy and in carefully made up beds. The cleaner had been in earlier and everywhere looked polished. Win was tending to old Mr. Biggins and, behind her in the sluice room, Mrs. Mottram was washing out the bedpans. It couldn’t have been easier, Katie thought. The miner had gone home to his family to be replaced by a labourer who had dropped heavy bricks on his toes. The man whose face was scalded had gone as well; there had not been a lot that could be done for him. The chesty man was waiting to be seen by a doctor who was travelling over from Liverpool. His problem was being dealt with by inhaling the steam from kettles. And Mr. Biggins was really no trouble, except he had a bad habit of wetting the bed.
“Psst, Auntie Katie, over here – I’ve a message from me mam.”
Katie turned to look down the corridor. Inside the open doorway was her eldest nephew, Luke.
She hurried to him as fast as her legs would carry her. If Matron caught him on the premises there would be Hell to pay!
“What are you doing here, Lukey? You know children are not allowed. Shouldn’t you be in school today?”
“Naw, it’s nearly time for the holidays. They’re teaching us nothing, so I’m pretendin’ I’ve got a toothache. Mam sent me to ask when you’re coming down to see us, ‘cos you’ve only bin once since we moved in.”
“She knows I’m busy. I’m in charge of this ward now and will be for the foreseeable future. Anyway, why is she sending you? Her legs are stronger than yours are and she could have come up on the visiting ‘bus.”
“Oh, Auntie, I’m nine now yer know and it’s easy coming across the fields. I keep to the footpaths, so the farmer can’t shout fer spoiling his crops, and if I’m thirsty I stop at the little streams. I’m terribly hungry now, yer know.”
He looked at Katie hopefully.
“Well, I can only spare you a copper, ‘cos I’ve eaten my lunch already. If you walk back down through the village, there’s a small bakery where you should get something to eat for a penny. Tell your mother that I’ll be over at the end of June; that’s when I’ll be getting some time off. By the way, how’s your Uncle Ernie settling in?”
“I think that’s why she wants yer to go and see her. They had a terrible barney when he walked with his dirty boots over the living room floor that she’d just bin cleanin’. She shouted at him and he took himself off and hasn’t called at our house since. She’s supposed to give him his dinner and wash his clothes, well Granny does that really, but she’s worrying if he’s eating properly, though she’ll not go down to Lilac Cottage to see if he’s all right.”
“Have you not been down to see him, Lukey? You used to get on well with him, didn’t you? Didn’t Uncle Ernie take you out in his punt?”
The boy hung his head and took a while to answer. There was a strange look on his face and he avoided Katie’s eyes.
“I don’t like him anymore; he says things to me that I don’t understand. He started crying once, just sat there like a baby. Mam’ll go mad when she sees his place. Me and Freddie Jones looked through the back window last Saturday and it looks like a rubbish tip. Right, I’ll tell her that you’ll be over soon. Thanks fer the money. Bye.”
Katie stood for a moment in the doorway, watching her nephew run along the walkway that separated each building. His words had made her feel uneasy. There was something strange about her brother, but she had got used to him after all these years. It was just his craving for solitude that made him different from other people; he had only ever wanted a simple life. Not like her, who wanted to make something of the chances she’d been given. Go places, see places before she stepped off this mortal coil. With a bit of luck she could rise to the position of Matron, be given her own hospital in a different part of the world. But she’d look in on Ernie next time she visited Neston. Perhaps something was grieving him; perhaps her brother was missing his Mam.
“Good Morning, Staff Nurse Tibbs. Oh, you look surprised to see me. Didn’t Matron tell you that I’m out of Isolation and I was coming back today?”
Katie had just wandered in at the start of another morning. She was looking forward to a nice cup of tea before she began her shift.
“Oh, hello, Sister Gill. No, she didn’t tell me, but I’m happy to see you anyway.”
The two women went into the little kitchen where the kettle was boiling merrily.
“I’ve done the changeover for you, Staff Nurse. Nothing to report other than Mr. Biggins has wet the bed.”
“Nothing changes on the Thornton Ward, Sister, but tell me about your time on the Hinderton Ward. Was it gruesome having to look after those poor unfortunate men? How are they now? They must be better if you’re allowed out again.”
“I felt desperately sorry for them, Staff Nurse, as you can imagine. When the wagon brought them in, I just felt full of despair. And the stench from their vomit and other orifices was overpowering. We
had to wear masks, all covering aprons and everything had to be thrown away. We got through more sheets and blankets than the store room could cope with and I had to shout a message through the window to be left some more. Mrs. Kane was constantly mopping with Lysol; Janey was forever changing the beds; I was boiling kettles, trying to get some liquids into them, the bedpans were constantly in use and I lost count of the bed baths. I’m fair worn out I can tell you. But this is what I’ve really come to tell you, I’m going to stay at my sister’s for a few days, she lives in Birkenhead. You’ll be in charge of the men that are left and your existing patients. We’ve checked their stools and we think there’s no infection; they’re eating well and some will be discharged in a day or two. There’s only one who must be put in a side ward. They say that he’s an officer and must be treated in a special way.”
“A special way, Sister?” Katie frowned. She disliked being told that patients were to be given better treatment than others. As far as she was concerned, everyone should be treated the same. “If he is to have special treatment, why hasn’t he been sent to somewhere like the Officer Wards at Chester?”
“Because we didn’t know he was an officer when he first came to us. All the men were in a terrible state, none of them were in uniform and the underwear they had on was burnt at the receiving hospital in Liverpool. It was one of the charitable institutions that provided them with clean under clothes and blankets. He was the one we were treating for delirium, so we couldn’t make any sense of what he was saying for days on end. However, we now know that he has family living in Neston, so I’m to take a note to his mother when I go for the Birkenhead train. Put him in a side ward will you, so that he and his mother can have a little privacy.”
“And the others? Are you visiting their families with little notes, Sister?”
“If I didn’t know you better, Staff Nurse, I would think you were being sarcastic. No, Matron has already written to their relatives telling them of their son’s admission, but warning there was to be no visitors for a couple of weeks or so.”
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