Nightingales on Call

by Donna Douglas

  ‘Yes, well, the careless girl probably lost it in the street.’ Sister Sutton shrugged. ‘Either that or it disappeared up that wretched vacuum cleaner, never to be seen again. Things often go missing, it’s the way of the world.’

  ‘That’s just it,’ Jess started to say. ‘Don’t you think it’s odd that so many things have gone missing recently? Bottles of perfume, pearls, letters, that sort of thing?’

  ‘Have they gone missing? I don’t recall.’ Sister Sutton frowned. ‘No one’s told me about anything going missing. And I’m sure they would have come to me first, as I’m the Home Sister.’

  Jess stared into Sister Sutton’s blank face. Either she was the best liar in the world or she genuinely had no recollection what Jess was talking about.

  The porter arrived, pushing an empty wheelchair. ‘Taxi for Sister Sutton!’ he said cheerily.

  She sent him a withering look. ‘I beg your pardon?’ she said. ‘May I remind you, young man, I still carry the rank of Sister within this hospital, which entitles me to a suitable show of respect from the likes of you. Kindly address me properly, or not at all.’

  ‘Sorry, Sister.’ The young man hung his head. ‘Begging your pardon, I’ve been sent to take you back to the nurses’ home.’

  Sister Sutton eyed the wheelchair. ‘And I don’t suppose I have any choice in the matter,’ she said with a martyred sigh.

  ‘I’ll go and get your room ready,’ Jess said quickly, edging towards the door.

  Sister Sutton eyed her suspiciously. ‘Get it ready? What do you mean?’

  ‘I’ll light the fire. You need it nice and warm when you’re poorly, don’t you?’

  She darted away before Sister Sutton could point out it was August and the sun was blazing outside.

  Jess ran back to Sister Sutton’s flat, tripping headlong over Sparky as she went. He seemed to sense her agitation, prancing at her feet and yapping his head off.

  ‘Shhh!’ Jess hissed. ‘I’m trying to get your mistress out of trouble, not land myself in it!’

  She stuffed the stolen items into her pocket and slammed the drawer shut, moments before the porter arrived with Sister Sutton sitting like a stately Britannia in the wheelchair.

  ‘You’re looking very shifty again,’ she said to Jess. ‘What are you up to now?’

  ‘Nothing.’ Jess couldn’t meet her eye. ‘I’ve just got to fetch something from my room.’

  As she hurried away, she heard Sister Sutton mutter, ‘Good gracious, Sparky, I don’t know what’s the matter with the girl today. I suspect she may have worms after all.’

  Jess went into her own room and put the missing belongings under her mattress, then sat down on the bed.

  At least they were safe there. Now all she had to do was work out what she was going to do with them.

  Chapter Forty-One

  IT WAS ALMOST a week before Hugo Morgan finally showed his face on the ward. Effie watched from the milk kitchen as he slunk in through the double doors, looking this way and that before he crept down the ward towards Sister’s desk.

  ‘Look at him,’ Hilda Ross said. ‘Doesn’t look so cocky this morning, does he?’

  ‘He’s probably expecting me to pounce and crown him with a bedpan,’ Effie said.

  Hilda looked sideways at her. ‘And will you?’

  ‘I’m not even going to talk to him if I can help it.’

  ‘None of us are,’ Hilda said loyally. ‘We don’t think it’s right, what he did to you and poor Mulhearn. Even Bates thinks he’s behaved like a cad.’

  Just at that moment Frances emerged from behind a screen. She saw Hugo and stalked past him with a dismissive toss of her head. He watched her go with a puzzled frown on his face.

  ‘You see?’ Hilda nudged her. ‘We stick together, us nurses.’

  ‘Better late than never, I suppose,’ Effie muttered.

  Hilda looked at the bottle Effie was making up. ‘Is that for Teddy Potts? Be careful how quickly you give it to him. You know how he greedy he can be if you let him.’

  ‘I know, all right!’ Effie had been through more clean aprons feeding Teddy than any other baby. Sometimes he was as good as gold, other times he was like an unexploded bomb. The pros sometimes took bets on when he would go off.

  Effie had meant to avoid Hugo if she could, but as luck would have it he had come to write up notes on some of the babies. Effie sat on the nursing chair, giving Teddy Potts his feed, while Hugo moved stiffly around her, avoiding her gaze. At least he didn’t try to talk to her while Sister was watching.

  But then Sister disappeared behind the screens with Nurse Lane to examine a bad burns case, leaving the ward unattended.

  ‘Alone at last!’ Hugo joked weakly. ‘I was hoping I might have a moment to talk to you, darling.’

  ‘Oh yes?’ Effie feigned innocence. ‘What about?’

  Even from three cots away, she saw him gulp. ‘I feel simply awful about what happened at the ball.’ His words tumbled out in a rush.

  ‘Not awful enough to own up,’ Effie said.

  He was silent for a moment. Then he tried again. ‘You were a real brick, not telling on me to Matron.’

  Effie looked up at him, meeting his eyes for the first time. ‘I wanted to give you the chance to do it yourself.’

  Hugo laughed, then quickly sobered when he saw her face. ‘You’re serious, aren’t you? Good God, Euphemia, do you know what this could do to my future if it came out?’

  ‘Do you know what it’s done to mine that it hasn’t?’ she flared back. ‘Why did you plant that test tube in my pocket anyway?’

  ‘I didn’t plant it, but I had to hide it somewhere,’ he said. ‘When that girl was taken ill I thought they might search us medical students. I couldn’t throw it away so I stuffed it in the first place I could think of.’

  ‘So you didn’t care if they searched me?’

  He looked guilty. ‘I didn’t think anyone would suspect you. And I thought you’d see the funny side,’ he mumbled.

  Effie stared at him. Even now, a smirk was tugging at the corners of his mouth. ‘What happened to Mulhearn wasn’t funny.’

  ‘I didn’t know that stupid girl was going to be taken ill, did I?’

  ‘She could have died.’

  Hugo rolled his eyes. ‘Don’t be over-dramatic. It was just a fit, that’s all. She’s perfectly recovered now.’

  ‘Except she has been sent home for good,’ Effie said. ‘Matron says she’s no longer fit to be a nurse.’

  Hugo’s mouth fell open. ‘I didn’t know,’ he murmured.

  ‘And you didn’t care enough to find out.’

  ‘Look, I said I’m sorry,’ he snapped. ‘What else do you expect me to do?’

  Effie looked at him. How could she ever have thought he was handsome? she wondered. His face was far too petulant ever to be good-looking, with his mouth set in a sulky line and that arrogant look in his eyes.

  ‘Go to Matron,’ she said. ‘Tell her it was you.’

  Hugo flushed. ‘I can’t do that.’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘Because it would look so bad, and my father would never let me hear the end of it. Look, darling, you’ve got to understand my position.’ He was pleading for her understanding. ‘My father’s a big cheese in this place. We’ve already had a couple of run-ins since I’ve been here and he’s made it very clear I’m not to embarrass him further. He could make my life very uncomfortable.’

  ‘And what about my life?’ Effie said. ‘Thanks to you, I have a permanent black mark against my name. I daren’t do one thing wrong in the next three years, or I’m out. And even if I’m a model student, they probably won’t let me stay on after my Finals.’

  ‘That’s different,’ Hugo dismissed her objection.

  ‘Why? Because I’m just a nurse and not an important doctor like you?’

  ‘Be reasonable, darling. It’s vital I get through medical school. My parents really won’t be impressed if I don’t. They’re expect
ing great things from me. But you . . .’ His mouth twisted. ‘Well, you’ve already told me you’re not that interested in nursing. You’re only here so you can escape from Ireland. And it’s not as if you’re ever going to be as good as your sisters. What does it really matter if you’re sent home?’

  Effie looked down at the baby in her arms so Hugo wouldn’t see the hurt and anger in her eyes. You’re wrong, she thought. It does matter to me. It matters a lot.

  She hadn’t realised how much it mattered until she was standing in Matron’s office, about to lose it all. It wasn’t just that she was worried about being sent back to Ireland in disgrace. The two months she’d been on the ward so far had been the hardest of her life. She spent every day veering between fear and sheer exhaustion, wondering what the next minute would bring. But she had also learned a lot, far more than she’d ever imagined. Almost without realising it, she’d absorbed so many skills, done far more than she’d ever thought she could. And she desperately wanted to learn more.

  Perhaps Hugo was right, and she might never be as good a nurse as her sisters were. She might even turn out to be the worst nurse in the world. But she still wanted the chance to try, to find out for herself.

  She heard him sigh. ‘Anyway, I hope there are no hard feelings over this? We had fun, didn’t we?’

  Effie glanced up at him. No, she thought. The only time you have fun is at someone else’s expense. All she’d ever been was the butt of his jokes, or else a willing audience. Being with Hugo had been like boarding one of those waltzer rides they’d started having at travelling fairs: thrilling at times but also terrifying. And now she wanted to get off.

  Teddy finished sucking noisily. Effie took the bottle from his mouth and held it up to check how much he’d taken. The bottle was almost empty.

  ‘Is that the Potts baby?’ Hugo asked. ‘I’m supposed to be making notes on him next.’ He held out his arms. ‘Give him to me.’

  ‘Yes, but he’s going to . . .’

  ‘Just give him to me, Euphemia. For heaven’s sake, I don’t have all day!’

  Effie looked into the baby’s eyes. She could already feel the spasms of his distended belly under his shawl. It might have been wind, but she was sure Teddy was grinning at her.

  She stood up. ‘Whatever you say, Hugo.’

  She dumped the baby in his arms and started to walk away. ‘Wait!’ Hugo called after her. ‘Aren’t you going to help—’

  She had barely closed the door to the milk kitchen before the unexploded bomb that was Teddy Potts went off. She heard Hugo’s yell of horror and disgust but didn’t dare go out. She could only imagine what he looked like, his white coat dripping with baby vomit. With any luck that sour smell would linger on him all day.

  Effie put her hand over her mouth to muffle her laughter. Looks like the joke is finally on you, Hugo Morgan, she thought.

  ‘What have you been told about getting out of bed? Get back in at once!’

  Sister Sutton glared at Jess. ‘I was only fetching my button box from the sitting room.’

  ‘I’ll fetch it for you.’ Jess put the cup of tea she had brought down on the bedside cupboard. ‘And if you need anything else, just let me know.’

  As Jess ushered her back, Sister Sutton huffed, ‘I feel so useless, here in bed. I’m quite well, as you can see. I shall tell Matron when she calls to see me today.’

  Jess frowned. ‘But Matron came this morning.’

  ‘Don’t be silly, you must be getting confused,’ Sister Sutton corrected her. ‘She came yesterday morning, before church. But she hasn’t visited yet today. Good gracious, child, don’t you think I would have remembered?’

  Would you? Jess thought. She was going to explain that Matron had come this morning on her way to church, but decided against it. Sister Sutton always became so agitated when Jess pointed out her forgetfulness.

  And she had been forgetful quite a lot recently. Last night Jess had been woken up at midnight by the sound of the Home Sister crashing around outside in her nightgown, saying the roses needed pruning. Jess had managed to get her back to bed, but when she’d mentioned it that morning Sister Sutton had stared blankly at her and told her she must have had a nightmare.

  Jess wondered if the old girl might have taken those trinkets in other bouts of forgetfulness. She might have picked them up without realising then stuffed them away in her drawer and forgotten all about it. If she’d found them again, she probably wouldn’t even remember what they were or how they came to be there.

  ‘Are you going to clean out those kitchen cupboards this morning?’ The next moment Sister Sutton was back to her old self, her sharp eyes fixed on Jess. ‘I asked you to do them last week and you haven’t.’

  ‘Yes, Sister.’ No point in telling her that today was Jess’ day off. She wanted to spend it looking after the Home Sister anyway. Matron had made it clear either Jess looked after her or she would have to go back to the sick bay. Sister Sutton was too poorly to be left on her own, Miss Fox said.

  If only Matron knew how ill Sister Sutton really was, Jess thought. She wondered if she should tell her about the Home Sister’s odd behaviour, but somehow she couldn’t bring herself to do it. It felt too much like a betrayal.

  ‘See that you do,’ Sister Sutton said. ‘I don’t want anyone looking in those cupboards and saying I don’t know how to keep a tidy house.’

  Jess saw the panic in her eyes and felt for her. Poor Sister Sutton. She lived in fear of losing her place at the Nightingale and ending up like her friend Rosemary, packed away in a home for retired nurses, living out the last of her days among strangers.

  Which was why Jess had decided to put the missing things back where they belonged. With any luck, their owners would find them and think they had simply misplaced them.

  She had been keeping them in her apron pocket, and when she found the girls’ rooms empty she put the items back, carefully selecting a safe place down the back of a drawer or under the bed where she knew the owners would find them eventually. She had already returned the letter and the pearls. Now all she had to do was return the brooch and perfume to Anna Padgett.

  Luckily for her, as it was Sunday the students had all been taken off to church. They had set off over an hour ago in a shuffling crocodile, led briskly by Miss Hanley.

  Jess crept into Anna’s room. It was deadly quiet with no students around, and Jess jumped at the squeak of her own footsteps as she crossed the room to Anna’s dresser.

  As usual it was in disarray, littered with make-up and odd bits of jewellery. Sister Sutton would have a fit if she saw it, Jess thought. The students were obviously making the most of the Home Sister’s absence to fall into slovenly ways.

  Jess smiled to herself. She was even beginning to sound like Sister Sutton now!

  She took the scent bottle out of her pocket and put it carefully on its side underneath the dresser, so it looked as if it had rolled there. Then she took the brooch and placed it in the back of the top drawer, closing it gently, trying not to make a sound even though she knew there was no one in the house to hear her.

  The front door suddenly banged open downstairs, startling her. Jess jumped, and sent a jewellery box flying. It skittered across the room, spilling its contents all over the floor.

  The sound of girls’ voices drifted up from downstairs, followed by Miss Hanley booming out, ‘Quietly, girls, please!’

  Jess scrabbled around desperately, gathering up the jewellery. Panic made her clumsy, her fingers slipping as she gathered up the trinkets, her heartbeat thundering in her ears, drowning out the flurry of footsteps up the stairs.

  She had just emptied the last handful into the box when the door swung open and Anna Padgett walked in.

  They both froze, looking at each other, Anna framed in the doorway, Jess crouched on the floor, the box in her hands.

  ‘What are you doing?’ Anna demanded coldly.

  ‘It fell,’ Jess mumbled. ‘I was just picking it up.’

&nb
sp; She straightened up. Anna crossed the room in a couple of strides and snatched the box out of her hands. ‘What were you doing in my room?’ she demanded.

  ‘I—’ Jess glanced at the doorway where a few other girls had gathered, drawn by the commotion. Effie was among them. ‘I was cleaning,’ she finished lamely.

  ‘I don’t see a broom or any dusters.’ Anna looked around, then her eyes flashed back to Jess. ‘Turn out your pockets,’ she demanded.

  Effie gasped. ‘Really, Padgett, I don’t think—’

  ‘Shut up, O’Hara! I caught this girl red-handed with my jewellery box. If that doesn’t prove she’s a thief, I don’t know what does.’ Anna faced Jess, hands on her hips. ‘Come on, let’s see your pockets. If you haven’t stolen anything, you’ve got nothing to hide, have you?’

  Jess reached into her pockets and turned them out. ‘You see? Empty.’

  ‘What about that other one? In your apron?’

  ‘I told you, I ain’t stolen . . .’ As Jess plunged her hand in, her fingers found a small, hard object. The earring. She didn’t know who it belonged to, and she’d forgotten all about it.

  Her shock must have shown on her face, because Anna pounced. ‘What is it?’ she said. ‘You’ve got something there, haven’t you? Show me!’

  She grabbed Jess’ hand and prised her fingers open. There, in her palm, lay the tiny stud, carved in the shape of a rose.

  ‘That’s mine!’ Anna clawed it out of her hand.

  ‘I found it downstairs,’ Jess gabbled the first thing that came into her head. ‘I didn’t know who it belonged to.’

  ‘Liar! I haven’t worn them since I came here, so it couldn’t have been downstairs.’ Anna turned to the others, holding up the earring like a trophy. ‘You see?’ she said triumphantly. ‘I told you she was a thief, didn’t I? And this proves it.’

  The other girls mumbled in agreement. Jess looked up, meeting their hostile faces. And then she caught Effie’s eye. The disappointment in her expression upset Jess far more than the other girls’ anger.

  ‘I ain’t a thief,’ she muttered.