Nightingales on Call

by Donna Douglas

  But even as they took their seats in the stalls, the others couldn’t seem to forget their studies. They chattered between themselves, gossiping about the latest goings-on in the class, and only fell silent as the lights went down. Then, as they queued for their interval ice creams, they compared notes on who had studied the most, who was the best at bandaging and who couldn’t get their junket to set in cookery that afternoon.

  Bored, Effie’s attention began to wander. She looked around the crowd, jostling to buy their ice creams from the usherette, and suddenly she spotted a young man. He had his back to her, but she recognised his sleek dark head immediately.

  As if he knew he was being watched, he turned and caught her eyes. A fleeting frown crossed his face then he recognised her and smiled.

  ‘It’s him,’ Effie said out loud.

  Anna, who was in the middle of reciting the different parts of the respiratory system, turned to her with irritation. ‘Who?’

  ‘The student who played that prank with Sister Sutton’s bloomers. You know, the one I told you about? Look, he’s over there.’ Effie started to point, then realised the young man was edging his way through the crowd towards them. ‘He’s coming over!’ she yelped.

  ‘Do stop staring at him, O’Hara! Pretend you haven’t seen him,’ Anna advised, patting her hair.

  But Effie couldn’t drag her eyes off him until he stood before her. She had only seen him at a distance before, but up close he was very handsome, with a perfect profile, slicked-back dark hair and brown eyes that twinkled with devilment. He reminded her of Robert Taylor in Camille.

  ‘Hello again,’ he said.

  Even his voice was perfect, deep and beautifully spoken. Effie felt her knees weaken.

  ‘Hello,’ she managed back.

  ‘I’ve been meaning to find you and thank you for not giving me away the other day.’

  ‘That’s all right. It saved me from another of Sister Parker’s lectures, at any rate.’

  ‘All the same, you were a good sport.’ He held out his hand. ‘I’m Hugo, by the way.’

  Effie shook his hand. His fingers were warm and strong as they grasped hers. ‘Euphemia,’ she squeaked. ‘But everyone calls me Effie.’

  His mouth curved. Even his smile was perfect. ‘Why would they do that? Euphemia is such a delightful name.’

  Effie felt her face flooding with colour. ‘It’s awful!’

  ‘It’s charming. As are you.’ They were both silent for a moment as Hugo went on holding her hand. Effie felt her palm turning clammy and hoped he wouldn’t notice.

  The interval bell rang, breaking the spell. Still Hugo seemed reluctant to release her hand. ‘There’s a spare seat in our box. Won’t you join us for the second half?’ he said.

  ‘I can’t, I’m with my friends . . .’ She looked around. Anna and the others had bought their ice creams and were shuffling back to their seats. ‘Unless there’s room for all of us?’ she added hopefully.

  Hugo glanced over her shoulder at Anna and the other girls. ‘I’m afraid not.’

  ‘Then I’d better not,’ Effie sighed. Not that the other girls would even notice she’d gone, she thought. But Anna would probably get cross with her anyway.

  ‘In that case, shall we meet after the show?’ Hugo suggested. ‘I’ll bring my friends, and we could make a party of it. Perhaps we could go to the pub?’

  ‘Oh, yes, please. I’d love that,’ Effie accepted eagerly.

  ‘It’s a date, then. We’ll meet you and your friends outside.’

  Anna looked up at Effie as she took her seat, just as the lights went down again. ‘We didn’t get you an ice cream,’ she said sourly.

  ‘It doesn’t matter,’ Effie replied, her gaze fixed on the box, waiting for Hugo to appear.

  Anna tutted. ‘I hope you weren’t too forward?’ she said. ‘You should let the man do the chasing, you know.’

  ‘If I did that, I’d probably be waiting for ever,’ Effie sighed. She decided not to break the news to Anna until later that they were meeting Hugo and his friends. She would probably never hear the last of it otherwise.

  Throughout the second half of the show, Effie couldn’t stop herself sneaking glances up to Hugo, sitting with his friends in the box above them. Once or twice he caught her watching him and Effie looked away quickly, wondering if Anna might be right about her being too forward. But then the third time she found her gaze straying back towards the box, Hugo was already watching her. When she caught his eye he lifted his hand and gave her a little wave. Effie waved back, glad the darkness of the theatre hid her blushing face.

  Afterwards, she waited for him outside the theatre, in spite of Anna’s protests.

  ‘We’ll miss our bus,’ she complained. ‘And I’m not going to end up in trouble with Matron because of you.’

  ‘Just another five minutes?’ Effie pleaded, watching the sea of people surging out of the theatre.

  ‘He’s probably not coming anyway,’ Anna went on. ‘I expect he’s forgotten all about you.’

  ‘Here he comes!’ Effie caught sight of Hugo’s handsome face in the crowd and started waving madly. ‘Hugo! Over here!’

  ‘Really!’ Anna muttered. ‘No man will ever respect you if you behave like that.’ But Effie was too pleased and relieved to care as Hugo pushed his way towards them.

  ‘I’m so sorry to keep you waiting,’ he said breathlessly. ‘I’m afraid my friends are being frightful bores. They want to go straight home. But I would be happy to escort you all to the pub myself?’ He looked around the group.

  ‘Well, I suppose so.’ It wasn’t quite what Effie had hoped for, but she was so desperate to spend time with Hugo she would have agreed to anything. But Anna had other ideas.

  ‘Certainly not!’ She looked outraged. ‘My mother would never allow me to set foot inside a place like that. It’s not respectable for young women. Besides, we have to get back to the nurses’ home before ten o’clock.’

  She started herding the other girls bossily towards the bus stop, but Effie stood her ground.

  ‘I’ll come with you,’ she blurted out to Hugo.

  Anna looked scandalised. ‘You mustn’t! You’ll be in trouble with Sister Sutton if you’re caught coming back late. And you’ve already got enough black marks against your name,’ she pointed out.

  ‘I won’t get caught,’ Effie shrugged. ‘My sister told me there’s a way in around the back. No one will know, unless someone tells Sister Sutton?’

  Everyone looked at Anna. ‘Of course we won’t tell. Will we, Padgett?’ Prudence Mulhearn put in. Anna pressed her lips together and said nothing.

  ‘Between you and me, I’m rather glad they’ve gone,’ Hugo whispered as they watched the other girls heading off towards the bus stop. ‘If you don’t mind me saying so, that friend of yours seemed rather tiresome.’

  ‘She likes to do the right thing,’ Effie said.

  ‘And you don’t?’ His dark brows lifted.

  ‘I wouldn’t be here if I did, would I?’

  Hugo grinned. ‘That’s the spirit. I knew you were a girl after my own heart.’ He tucked her hand into the crook of his arm. ‘Now, let’s go and get that drink.’

  Effie really didn’t know why Anna had made so much fuss. The Docker’s Arms was hot, stuffy and crowded, the air thick with cigarette smoke and the stench of unwashed bodies. But it was still more respectable than the local village pub in Killarney. At least the sawdust on the floor was fresh and everyone seemed to be minding their own business.

  ‘I’m terribly sorry about this,’ Hugo said as he guided her to a corner table in the saloon bar. ‘I didn’t realise it would be so crowded. We could find somewhere quieter, if you like?’

  ‘It seems quiet enough to me.’ Effie shrugged. ‘No one’s fighting yet, at any rate. That’s what usually happens at Kelly’s. You know it’s payday when someone ends up going through the window, my da says.’

  She wondered if she’d said something wrong when she
caught the puzzled look Hugo was giving her. But then he smiled and said, ‘What would you like to drink?’

  Panicking, she said the first thing that came into her head. ‘Lemonade?’

  ‘Are you sure I can’t get you something stronger, since we’re living dangerously?’

  Effie looked blank. ‘I don’t know any strong drinks, except for beer and whisky. And I don’t like either of those.’

  Hugo laughed. ‘Leave it to me, in that case. I’ll find you a strong drink you might like.’

  He returned to the table with a beer for himself and a fancy glass filled with a pretty deep pink liquid for her.

  ‘What’s that?’ Effie peered into it suspiciously.

  ‘It’s a port and lemon. Try it, I think you’ll like it.’

  She took a sip. To her surprise, it tasted rather good. Sweet, but with a slightly bitter edge to it. ‘That’s gorgeous.’ She quickly drained the glass and set it down on the table.

  Hugo’s brown eyes widened in surprise. ‘Steady on! You don’t want to get tipsy, do you?’

  Effie looked at the empty glass. ‘I don’t think there’s much chance of getting tipsy on that.’

  ‘You think you can hold your drink?’ Hugo laughed.

  ‘I know I can,’ Effie replied seriously. ‘Katie and I once got hold of a bottle of my daddy’s poteen, just to see what it was like.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘And Katie was sick as a dog after one glass, but I managed half the bottle. And I could still see straight to go out and feed the chickens,’ Effie said proudly.

  Hugo put down his glass. ‘In that case, I’d better get you another one.’

  After three glasses, Effie had forgotten her nerves and was chatting away to him as if they were old friends. He asked lots of questions about her family, and her village in Ireland, and he seemed very amused by what she’d told him. Effie began to wonder if she should try to be more aloof and sophisticated, but she didn’t know how to be anything but herself.

  She tried to change the subject and asked Hugo about himself. He told her he was in his final year as a medical student at the Nightingale, his father was a doctor, his mother a former nurse, and his younger brother was in his first year at Oxford. The family lived in a leafy suburb of London that Effie had never heard of.

  ‘I’m afraid it’s all very boring compared to your riotous life in Killarney,’ he sighed.

  ‘Do you like being a doctor?’ Effie asked.

  ‘I never really thought about doing anything else.’ He shrugged. ‘My father was a doctor, and his father before him. It was sort of expected, I suppose.’

  ‘That’s exactly like me,’ Effie said. ‘My four older sisters are all nurses, so everyone told me I should be one, too.’

  ‘And did you want to be a nurse?’

  ‘I wanted to get away from Killarney, and nursing seemed the best way to do it,’ Effie admitted frankly. ‘I wanted to come to London because it seemed so exciting. Although I haven’t seen much excitement up until now,’ she sighed.

  Hugo smiled at her over the rim of his glass. ‘We’ll have to see what we can do about that, won’t we?’

  Effie was disappointed when the bell rang for last orders. Hugo looked at his watch and said he should walk her back to the hospital.

  ‘But I’m having such a nice time!’ she cried.

  Hugo smiled. ‘So am I, my sweet, but it would be very irresponsible of me to keep you out too late. Besides, I promised to meet my friends for cards, and they’ll be rather annoyed with me if I keep them waiting any longer.’

  As they stepped outside into the moonlight, he reached for her hand. ‘Just in case you stumble in the dark.’

  ‘Oh, no, it’s quite all right,’ Effie assured him. ‘It’s not nearly as dark as the country lanes in Killarney. I can see where I’m going in pitch black.’

  Hugo sighed. ‘My dear girl, you do realise I’m only using it as an excuse to hold your hand?’

  ‘Oh! Sorry.’ Effie slipped her hand into his. She really should ask Katie more about this courtship malarkey, she decided. She needed to know what to expect if she was going to have a boyfriend.

  They had missed the last bus, and so had to walk back to Bethnal Green. It was nearly midnight by the time they reached the wrought-iron gates of the hospital.

  ‘If you can distract the Night Porter, I’ll sneak past,’ Effie said. ‘Once I get to the nurses’ home, my sister says there’s a drainpipe that’s easy to climb.’

  ‘Don’t break your neck, will you?’ Hugo said. ‘I’d hate to find you on Female Orthopaedic when we do our rounds tomorrow.’

  ‘I’ll be fine. I’m used to climbing trees.’

  Hugo shook his head. ‘You’re quite unique, Euphemia,’ he said.

  Effie peered at his face in the darkness, trying to make out whether he was complimenting her or not. It was hard to tell.

  ‘Right, I’ll go and have a word with that porter,’ Hugo said. Then he turned back to her and said, ‘I don’t suppose you’d like to have dinner with me next week?’

  Effie suddenly thought about Anna’s words of wisdom. Don’t be too forward. Let the man do the chasing.

  ‘I’d love that,’ she said.

  Jess was sitting up in bed reading her anatomy textbook when she heard the noise outside. It was almost midnight and she should have turned her lamp off hours ago. But the book was so fascinating she kept turning the pages, even though she was worn out and her eyelids were growing so heavy she could barely make out the diagrams.

  She hadn’t realised she had fallen asleep until the noise woke her up with a start. She put aside the book that had slid out of her hands on to the quilt, switched off the lamp and scrambled out of bed to peer out of the window.

  The noise stopped. But just as Jess was turning away from the window she heard it again. A strange rustling, coming from the bushes.

  Jess shaded her eyes with her hand and peered again into the gloom, then jumped back with a scream as a face suddenly appeared below her, pale and ghostly in the moonlight.

  Then she realised who it was.

  She jerked open the window. ‘What are you doing?’ she hissed.

  ‘Oh, thank God it’s you.’ Effie smiled up at her. ‘I thought Sister Sutton had heard me.’

  ‘It’s a wonder she didn’t, the racket you’re making.’ Jess pressed her hand over her hammering heart.

  ‘Sorry. I’m trying to find the drainpipe to climb up. I don’t suppose you know which one it is, do you?’ Effie gazed about her vaguely. She looked so comical, standing there with her shoes in her hand.

  ‘I think it’s round the back.’ As Effie started to tiptoe off, Jess sighed and said, ‘But it’ll be a lot easier if you just climb in through this window.’

  Effie hesitated. ‘Are you sure? I don‘t want to get you into any trouble.’

  ‘You’ll get yourself into trouble if you end up with a broken neck!’ Jess eased the window wider open, cringing at the squeak it made. ‘Pass me your shoes and then climb up.’

  It took a while to haul Effie through the window. She landed on Jess’ mat in an ungainly tangle of long arms and legs.

  Jess switched the lamp on, and Effie squinted up at her surroundings. ‘So this is your room.’ She looked up at the bookshelves and giggled. ‘Look at all those books. Are they all yours?’

  ‘Yes.’ Jess saw the grin on Effie’s face and bristled. ‘Why is it funny that I like to read?’

  ‘I’m sorry, it’s not funny. I just find it strange that anyone enjoys reading. I hate it!’

  ‘You don’t know what you’re missing.’

  ‘You might be right. But I prefer to experience real life, not to read about it in books.’

  Jess watched her as she untangled herself and stood up. ‘You look as if you’ve experienced real life tonight,’ she commented dryly. ‘You reek of cigarette smoke.’ She leaned closer and sniffed. ‘Have you been drinking?’

  ‘Just a bit!’ Effie clamp
ed her fingers over her lips to stifle a giggle. ‘Oh, Jess, it was wonderful!’ Effie’s wide blue eyes were dreamy. ‘I think I’m in love.’

  ‘Good for you.’ Jess went to the door and opened it a crack. ‘Now, we’ve got to get you back up to your room before Sister Sutton notices.’

  ‘Oh, it’ll be grand. She’ll be fast asleep by now.’

  ‘She’s got ears like a bat. And if she doesn’t hear you, Sparky will.’ Jess peered out, checking the coast was clear. ‘Go on, I think it’s safe.’

  ‘Thank you.’ Effie’s whisper seemed to echo around the darkened hallway. ‘I won’t forget this, I swear . . .’

  ‘Careful!’ Jess saw the shadowy outline of the coatstand a split second before Effie backed into it. It wobbled, then fell in agonising slow motion, landing with a crash that reverberated through the whole building. Jess barely had a moment to spring forward and push Effie into the shadowy recess of the broom cupboard before Sister Sutton’s door opened and she stood there outlined in the light from her room, her bulky frame swaddled in a flannel dressing gown. Sparky pranced around her ankles, his four feet leaving the ground as he bounced up and down, yapping with excitement.

  ‘Who’s there?’ she called out into the gloom.

  ‘It’s me, Sister.’ Jess found her voice. ‘I was just – er – fetching a glass of water, and I knocked the coatstand over.’

  ‘Really! How clumsy of you. And most inconsiderate, too, waking everyone up with your unseemly racket.’

  ‘Yes, Sister. I’m very sorry, Sister.’ Out of the corner of her eye Jess caught a flash of movement as Effie slipped out of the broom cupboard and made for the stairs. Luckily, Sister Sutton didn’t notice her, but Sparky did. He dashed from his mistress’ side, yapping madly.

  ‘Sparky?’ Sister Sutton peered into the darkness. ‘What is it, boy? Where’s that light switch? I can’t see a thing.’

  ‘I’ll get it, Sister.’ Jess got to the light switch before her and made a great show over fumbling with it, praying that Effie would make it up the stairs before she switched it on.

  ‘Hurry up, girl!’ Sister Sutton ordered.

  Jess counted to five and then switched on the light. She heard Sister Sutton’s gasp of outrage and hardly dared look over her shoulder.