James sat back, closed his eyes for a moment, and then said, ‘We shall have to travel at night and hide by day. We also need food and water. I think we must get away from the enemy trenches and the only way to do that is to go further into enemy territory before turning to scout round their lines. What do you think?’
‘That’s a hell of a walk, but I agree it’s probably the only way. We can’t cross enemy lines to get to ours, although that would be the shortest route. The problem is I am going to slow you down, so you go on your own. You will have a much better chance without dragging me along.’
‘Shut up and rest. I’m not going anywhere without you. We are in this together and that’s the way it will stay. Where I go, you go, even if I have to drag you all the way.’
Despite the pain in his leg, Lester drifted off to sleep, exhausted from the loss of blood. When he woke up it was getting dark and James was working on something. He pulled himself up to a sitting position. ‘Sorry, have I been asleep for long?’
James looked over. ‘You needed it. Do you feel stronger?’
‘A little. What are you doing?’
‘Making you a crutch to take the weight off your leg, and I found a tiny stream. The water seemed clear so I drank some and it’s all right. I had a small flask in my pocket and I collected some for you.’
He drank thirstily and handed back the flask.
‘Good, now try this.’ He hauled his friend to his feet and tucked the crutch under his arm. ‘That looks about right. I’ve used the rest of my shirt to pad the top. How does it feel?’
‘It’s comfortable. Thanks, this will be a big help.’ He took a few steps and stifled a groan. There was no way he could force his friend to leave him, so he must do his damnedest not to slow him down too much.
‘Right, if you’re ready, we had better get out of here. When we get back, I’ll buy us a bottle of champagne.’
‘I’ll need a double brandy,’ he replied as they began to move.
‘Done!’
Lester returned James’s grin with effort. They were joking, but both were aware of the perilous situation they were in and that they might not make it back to base.
Keeping away from the roads meant walking over rough ground, and although the crutch was helping, Lester was finding the going exhausting and painful. More than once he stumbled in the dark and would have fallen if James hadn’t been supporting him.
‘Stop,’ his friend whispered after about three hours. ‘Your leg is bleeding again. We must rest.’
‘How can you see in the dark?’
‘I’ve got cats’ eyes,’ he joked, pushing Lester down against a tree. ‘I’ll have to bind your leg tighter.’
Lester laid his head back. ‘Can we rest for a while?’
‘Fifteen minutes only. If we keep going for another two hours and do the same tomorrow night, we could reach safer territory.’
‘That’s optimistic with me slowing you up.’
‘I’m always optimistic.’ There was a flash of white teeth in the dark. ‘Now, shut up and rest.’
Chapter Twenty-Six
‘Nurse! Why are you limping?’
Lillia stopped and looked round at the sharp command. ‘I just knocked my leg on a chair. It’s nothing.’
‘Get it looked at if it continues to trouble you.’
‘Yes, Sister.’ Trying to walk properly, she hurried out of the ward, hiding her concern. She couldn’t tell anyone what she sensed, they would think she was mad. This short break had come just in time for her to calm her thoughts.
‘Ah, there you are.’ Ruth came into the rest room. ‘A hospital train is coming and we are needed to help board the patients. We are also to stay on there until they reach the ship.’
Lillia gulped down a cup of tea she had just poured for herself and followed her friend out.
‘Have you hurt yourself? You’re limping.’
‘No, I’m quite all right.’
‘Then why are you walking so badly?’ Ruth stopped and caught hold of her arm. ‘If you’re not fit enough, you mustn’t do this trip. You know how busy it is with long hours on our feet. Tell me the truth. How have you hurt your leg?’
She sighed, knowing her friend wouldn’t let the subject drop. ‘I haven’t hurt myself; I think Lester might have. You know we have always been aware of each other’s discomfort.’
‘How bad?’ Ruth had gone quite pale. ‘Has he crashed? Is James with him?’
‘Just a minute while I contact him,’ she said, sighing dramatically.
‘Don’t mess about.’
‘Well, you know full well that I can’t tell you. I shouldn’t have said anything because now we will both be worrying when we need our minds on what we are doing. All I know is my leg hurts and I haven’t done anything to injure it.’
‘But you can tell if he’s alive, can’t you?’
She urged her friend to start walking again, ignoring the question. ‘You like my brother, don’t you?’
‘I adore that handsome, talented man, and have done so from the moment I saw him. I love and worry about both of them flying around in those planes. How much more dangerous can it get?’
‘They could be in the trenches.’
Ruth stopped and looked at the scene in front of them. The train was already packed and they were still loading casualties. ‘Oh Lord, I take your point. This is going to be a stressful journey.’
Their concerns about the boys had to be put aside as they boarded and began their work.
The train made slow progress. Many times they had to stop to allow armament trains through as they had priority. It took a week to reach the ship, and once the men were all transferred they stood on the dock watching it sail out of the harbour.
‘Safe journey,’ whispered Lillia, remembering their traumatic voyage on such a ship.
Ruth glanced at her friend. ‘Hope we have a quick journey back to base. Er … I haven’t asked because we’ve been too busy, but does your leg still hurt?’
‘No, it’s fine. The train’s about to leave so let’s get moving.’
James had been out with his prediction of making it to safety in two days. They had been travelling for three days and Lester knew he wouldn’t have made it this far without his friend. He had remained cheerful and continually urged them forward step by step, but they were both exhausted from lack of sleep and very little food, not to mention they both had wounds that urgently needed attention. The sky was just beginning to get light when they stumbled on an isolated farm and crept towards a barn.
‘You stay there.’ James shut the door of the barn and made his friend comfortable on a pile of hay. ‘I’ll see if I can get some food and water. We need something more substantial than raw vegetables dug out of a field.’
‘What we really need is help if we are to get any further. I can’t keep this up. I’ve told you time and time again to leave me.’
‘And I’ve told you I won’t. You’ve done jolly well and we are now back on safer ground. I’ll have a scout around, and if this village isn’t occupied by Germans I’ll try to get transport of some kind. I suppose push bikes are out of the question?’
‘I’ll try anything. See what you can do, but don’t take any chances.’
‘Not likely.’ His usual grin was rather strained by now, but was still in evidence. ‘We’re getting back to base. I haven’t caught the Red Baron yet.’
Lester laughed quietly. His friend was incorrigible and he would never have made it this far without his dogged determination. ‘Next time we see him you can have first go at him.’
James slapped him on the back. ‘Then the sooner we get out of this mess, the better. Won’t be long. You have a rest and I’ll see if there’s anything to eat around here. Can’t remember when I’ve been so hungry.’
The commotion of people around woke Lester suddenly and he scrambled to get to his feet.
‘It’s all right.’ His friend rushed to steady him. ‘This is the farmer, his wife and
their son. They are going to help us.’
The son was a tall, strong youth, and he picked up Lester as if he was nothing more than a feather, and the woman hurried along beside them as they made their way to the farmhouse, shaking her head as she studied his torn and bloody trousers. The son dumped him on the huge kitchen table and tore away the rest of his trouser leg to expose the wound. The father was talking rapidly to his wife who was already cleaning his friend’s arm.
‘What are they saying?’ he asked James. ‘My French isn’t good enough to follow them.’
‘I caught most of it. This woman used to be a midwife and they are dealing with animals all the time here on the farm so they can handle our injuries.’
‘Oh, good.’ He felt like laughing hysterically. ‘I didn’t know I was pregnant.’
James felt it his duty to translate this for the family, and soon everyone was laughing.
In a whirl of activity and pain, the wounds were cleaned and bound, and they were enjoying a large bowl of stew with chunks of delicious home-made bread.
After the good meal and with his leg feeling more comfortable, Lester was able to follow much of what was being said, although his French was limited and not used for some time.
The boys thanked the family profusely, but this was waved away as they explained that they were going to take them by cart to as close to a field hospital as possible. They would then be able to make it the rest of the way on their own.
‘When the war is over we must come back here and see that these kind people are all right,’ Lester said as they travelled along country roads.
‘Definitely,’ James agreed.
The horse trotted along for about two hours, and at the sound of gunfire they stopped. The farmer and his son then explained that this was as far as they could take them, and pointed out where the hospital could be found.
They began walking – Lester still using the crutch – and an hour later arrived at their destination with a great sigh of relief. They had made it against all the odds.
The journey back had still been slow, and the girls were pleased when the train dropped them off at their base, and they hurried in to resume their duties. The hospital was as busy as ever, but Ruth had never expected to see her cousin in one of the beds.
She rushed over to him. ‘What are you doing here? How badly are you hurt? You look awful.’
‘One question at a time,’ he told her. ‘I had a deep gash in my arm. We got here by walking and then in a farmer’s cart – and you are not looking too good yourself.’
‘What do you mean “we”?’
‘Lester’s over there.’ He pointed across the ward, and just when she would have rushed over to him, he caught hold of her arm. ‘Don’t disturb him. He’s just come back from surgery and he’s walked miles with an injured leg. Don’t panic. He’s going to be just fine.’
‘How did this happen?’
‘We were on a photographic mission when we got shot down.’
‘Oh, I’m so sorry.’ She kissed her cousin on the top of his head. ‘I must go and tell Lillia.’
‘Is she still here with you as well?’
She nodded. ‘Like you and Lester, we have managed to stay together. It helps to have a friend with you when things get tough.’
‘That is so true. Go and get her because it will cheer them up to be together again.’
Ruth found her friend with some new arrivals. ‘Come with me.’
‘I can’t leave here. What’s the matter?’
‘You’ve got to come. It’s urgent. Get someone to cover for you.’
She called another nurse over and told her she had been called elsewhere, but would be back as quickly as possible.
‘Go and look in the bed over there, but don’t wake him if he’s asleep.’
Frowning, she walked to the bed and stood still, staring at the man fast asleep.
Ruth stood beside her and said gently, ‘He’s all right. There is an injury to his leg, just like you felt, and he’s exhausted. I don’t know the whole story yet, but they have evidently had to walk a long way.’
She was holding her brother’s hand and looked up sharply. ‘They?’
‘James is over there. He’s the one waving with his good arm and has a silly grin on his face.’
‘Thank the Lord they are both safe, but they look as if they’ve had a hard time.’
‘No doubt about that. You go over and see him while I stay with your brother.’
‘Don’t worry about him,’ James said as soon as she reached his bed. ‘That brother of yours is tough, and his skill at flying saved us by getting a damaged plane on the ground without killing us, even though he was injured.’
‘Tell me what happened,’ she demanded.
James kept the story short, with little jokes thrown in, but there was no doubt they had been in great peril.
‘Thank you,’ she told him when he had finished. ‘You saved his life.’
‘We saved each other. That’s what friends do, but you can kiss me if you like.’
She laughed and plumped up his pillows. ‘I can’t kiss patients.’
‘Ah, shame.’
‘Go back to sleep.’ Then she heard the sound she knew only too well, and headed for the door to help with arriving ambulances.
The first moment she had she checked on her brother’s condition and was satisfied that he would make a complete recovery. The relief that both boys were safe was enormous.
It wasn’t until later that evening when the girls were off-duty that they were free to spend time with them. They clustered around Lester’s bed and talked until lights out.
After a good night’s sleep both boys had recovered well from their exhausted state, and began fretting about letting everyone know they were safe.
‘That has all been taken care of,’ Ruth told them. ‘Stop wandering around, James, and don’t you dare try and get out of bed again, Lester.’
‘I’m all right. I’ve walked miles on this injured leg.’
‘That is obvious, but you are not taking another step until it has healed completely.’
‘But I want to go and see my sister.’
‘You can’t. She’s busy – we are all busy, so you two behave yourselves.’
‘Is she always this bossy?’ he asked James.
‘Not usually, but while you were sleeping I had a wander around this place. It is packed, with more injured arriving all the time, and these doctors and nurses are working until they drop. Some of the things I saw made me realise just how lucky we are.’ James shook his head. ‘I don’t know how our girls do this job. When the war is over we must do everything we can to make their lives happy ones.’
‘We will, but there’s no end in sight, and I’m worried about our mother. She must have been told I was missing and will be frantic. Please see if you can get me a pen and paper so I can write to her.’
‘I’ve already done that.’ Lillia swept up to them. ‘I can’t stay but I was told you two are fretting. Don’t worry because you won’t be here long – we need the beds for those more seriously wounded. In a couple of days you will be moved. They might even send you home.’
‘No!’ they declared together.
‘We’ve got to get back to our airfield. I’ve still got the pictures I took and they must be delivered.’
‘So that’s why you are guarding that camera.’
James nodded. ‘It’s important.’
‘He wouldn’t leave it behind, even though he had to support me all the time. He’s stubborn and I’m grateful, because there is no way I would have made it on my own.’
‘I know.’ She smiled and winked at her brother. ‘He’s a stubborn darling though, isn’t he?’ With that teasing remark she turned and left the ward.
‘She called me a darling,’ James exclaimed, a huge smile on his face. ‘She likes me.’
‘Of course she does.’
‘I’m glad you are both in such high spirits,’ a doctor said, ‘
because I have just received word that an officer is coming to see you.’
They waited anxiously until evening for the visit, determined not to be sent home. When he arrived they were astounded to see who it was. He walked up to them, pulled out a chair and sat down.
‘What are you doing here, Alex?’ James asked, addressing him as the family friend.
‘I brought a new plane over, so I thought I’d see the girls while I was here. I was also hoping to get news about you two. I’m relieved I’ll be able to tell everyone at home that you are all right. Now, tell me what the hell you’ve been up to.’
He studied them carefully as he listened to the account of their escapade, before saying, ‘You were lucky to get back without being captured. After an ordeal like that I’ll see if there is any chance of getting you sent home.’
‘Please don’t do that,’ James pleaded. ‘We’re going to recover completely, and then we want to return to our squadron.’
‘And you are both of that opinion?’ When they nodded, he said, ‘Very well. I’ll see what I can arrange.’
‘Thank you, sir. Do our families know we are safe?’
‘Not yet. They have been informed that you are missing, and as soon as I get back I will go and assure both families that you are safe.’
With a sigh of relief Lester rested his head back on the pillow. ‘That is a load off my mind.’
Alex stood up. ‘I can’t stay, but be more careful in future. You have caused a lot of worry.’
‘We’ll try not to get shot down again,’ James told him, his ready smile appearing.
‘You do that.’ He started to walk away and then turned back. ‘Oh, and by the way, well done. That was quite a show of courage and endurance.’
‘We’ll be all right now,’ James declared confidently the moment they were alone again. ‘As soon as we are fit we’ll be back on active duty.’
‘How can you be so sure? The brigadier hasn’t any authority over us now, and certainly can’t influence where we are sent.’
‘You still haven’t worked him out, have you?’ James made himself comfortable on the edge of the bed. ‘He’s an impressive man, right?’
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