Flora's War

by Pamela Rushby

  ‘Is there a special reason for having your farewell party in this particular spot?’ I asked.

  ‘There might be.’ Lydia’s eyes were sparkling.

  The officers and nurses ate, drank, talked and laughed. It was a perfect night. The moon was full, its bright light threw deep, inky shadows under and around the huge statue. Black and white, I thought – white moonlight and black shadows. It was eerie light, clear enough to see by yet hard to distinguish detail.

  We finished eating and Matthew rose to his feet and held up a hand to gain attention.

  ‘Here it comes,’ I whispered to Gwen.

  ‘What? What’s coming?’

  ‘I’ll bet you Lydia and Matthew are getting engaged.’

  ‘Oh, I’m taking no bets on that,’ said Gwen. ‘I could see that coming a mile off.’

  ‘I have an announcement,’ Matthew said loudly. ‘A very happy announcement.’

  There was a cheer from the group. It seemed other people had guessed as well.

  ‘In the last few weeks I have become very good friends with a lovely young lady,’ said Matthew. He held out his hand to Lydia and helped her to her feet. ‘Lydia and I have become such good friends that we have decided to become …’ he paused for effect, ‘… to become engaged. So I ask you all to drink to our happiness, our future, and my lovely fiancée.’

  Lydia was half smiling, half crying. Everyone cheered again and we all toasted Lydia and Matthew’s engagement, even as I thought soberly about Matthew’s words.

  The females crowded around Lydia to admire her ring. ‘The very best of luck!’ I said, hugging her. ‘I knew this was going to happen!’

  ‘Did you?’ Lydia’s face was shining. ‘I didn’t! It’s the worst time to get engaged, I know, with both of us going away. But we thought, let’s do it now!’

  Or perhaps never, was in both our minds. But neither of us said so.

  The young officer I’d raced to the top of the pyramid, Lewis Canning, was on his feet, holding up his hand for silence. ‘We don’t know when the wedding can take place,’ he said. ‘But all of us certainly plan to be there when it does.’ He swayed on his feet a little. Lewis, I thought, had been celebrating rather too well. ‘It’s an uncertain time,’ he went on. ‘But getting engaged is a splendid idea. Such a splendid idea that I think we should all get engaged!’ He paused, overcome with the brilliance of this notion. ‘Why don’t we all get engaged?’

  One of his friends tugged at his arm, trying to get him to sit down, but Lewis wasn’t having that. He was in full flight. ‘Now let me see, who should get engaged to who?’ He looked around. ‘Well, there are some people here who should clearly get engaged at once.’ He pointed out several couples. ‘Emily and Joe, you should get engaged. Jean and Bill, you certainly must.’ The couples he’d pointed out laughed and disclaimed and told him to sit down.

  Lewis filled his glass and continued, undeterred. ‘Now, some are harder to match. Let me see, Florence and Everett, definitely Florence and Everett go together.’ Florence was a tiny girl, only about five feet tall, and Everett stood six-feet-four in his socks, so this was a great success, I thought. Encouraged, Lewis went on. ‘Gwen, let me see, who for Gwen? I think, oh I think … William.’

  Gwen’s eyes went wide with surprise. William was the officer with the prickly moustache Gwen had kissed on the night of my birthday party. Clearly the incident hadn’t gone unnoticed, as Gwen had hoped.

  Lewis laughed wickedly at Gwen. Even in the moonlight we could see her blush.

  ‘And Flora. Dear Flora.’ He found me in the group and grinned at me. ‘Oh, there’s no question there! Jim, of course! Where’s Jim? You’re so interested in Egyptian history that you and Flora will get along splendidly. You can drone on about mummies and tombs and pyramids to each other for hours. That is, of course, if Jim is as interested in real girls as he is in ones that have been dead and pickled for thousands of years.’

  It wasn’t quite so funny when I was the object of the teasing.

  ‘It was a good joke, Lewis, but that’s enough,’ Everett said firmly. ‘Sit down, old man, and have something to eat.’

  Gwen and I looked at each other. ‘That was … unexpected,’ Gwen said. ‘I didn’t think –’ She looked upset. I felt a little upset myself.

  ‘That anyone had seen?’ I said. ‘I’m sure William would never have said anything.’ I looked around. ‘Come on, let’s go and sit with Lydia for a bit.’

  We got to our feet and as Gwen moved off I stooped to pick up the cushions we’d been sitting on. The moon slid behind a cloud and everyone looked up. It was a small cloud but more were coming fast. The tendrils were thin and wispy but enough to shadow the brilliance of the moonlight we’d been enjoying. It was suddenly hard to see.

  ‘What a shame!’ someone said. ‘There are candles somewhere –’

  I stopped, uncertain of where to put my feet, and stumbled.

  Someone held my arm, steadying me.

  ‘Flora?’

  ‘Yes?’ I couldn’t see who it was.

  ‘It’s Jim. James Hunter. We were introduced at Shepheard’s.’

  ‘Of course.’ I was embarrassed. Lewis had coupled our names so publicly. He’d certainly had his revenge on me for humiliating him at the pyramids. I didn’t want James Hunter to know that Lewis had upset me. I looked down and tried to think of something to say. ‘Um, Fa’s very grateful for your help. And I think it’s nice that you’re working on the pit burial. So often those humble, simple little burials are ignored, but I think it’s interesting to find out how ordinary people lived.’

  ‘Yes, so do I!’ he said eagerly. ‘And it’s been a privilege to work with Mr Wentworth.’ A pause, then he said hesitantly, ‘I often saw you there when I visited the excavation.’

  Had he? I could only recall seeing him in the distance.

  The moon seemed to have gone for good now. Candles in jars were casting long, flickering shadows over our group.

  ‘I’m sorry if Lewis embarrassed you.’ He nodded in the direction of Lewis who was again drinking from his bottle of wine.

  ‘Oh, that’s all right. It was just a joke.’

  I thought I’d better find Gwen. ‘Well, James –’

  ‘Jay,’ he said.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Jay. That’s what my mother and sisters call me. It’s a nickname, because my father was Jim – James – when he was alive. I’d like it if you –’ He paused. ‘If you’d call me Jay, too.’

  ‘Yes, if you like,’ I said. ‘Jay, then.’ I hunted for something to say. ‘How many sisters do you have?’

  ‘Three,’ he said. ‘I’m the baby.’ There was real warmth in his voice. I was sure it was a happy family.

  ‘And where are you from?’

  ‘Far western Queensland, beyond Winton. We have a property there. But I’ve been away at university for a few years now.’

  ‘Oh yes, of course, you’re studying archaeology,’ I said.

  Another pause. Then hesitantly, he said, ‘Would you like to walk with me for a bit? Maybe … show me the Sphinx?’

  I knew very well what walks around the Sphinx involved: a little stroll, a little flirting. But this was a nice young man; he’d been embarrassed by Lewis too. What harm would it do?

  ‘I’d be happy to show you the Sphinx,’ I said.

  We set out, walking carefully because the moon was still behind clouds. Jay linked my arm through his and I didn’t object as the ground was uneven. We talked about his family, and his studies, about how I’d left school and would now be working with my father, about Fa and I staying on in Egypt.

  ‘Then you’ll still be here when we get back?’ he said eagerly.

  ‘Probably,’ I said. ‘Unless we travel to England for a while. Fa wants to go to the British Museum.’

  We walked in silence for a little. Then Jay suddenly stopped, took both my hands and pulled me towards him. He bent his head and moved towards me.

  I knew he was going
to kiss me, and I let him. I more than let him, I leaned into him and invited it. Gwen wasn’t the only one who was curious about how it felt to be kissed. And as Frank obviously had no interest in kissing me, well, here was an opportunity to find out what it was like. Jay kissed me and I kissed him back – very thoroughly indeed. And, like Gwen, I discovered it wasn’t stars and thrills and violins, but it was certainly pleasant. Very pleasant indeed, I decided. Especially since it didn’t involve a prickly moustache. We drew apart. It was too dark to see each other’s faces, but I could hear the smile in his voice.

  ‘You know, I’ve been w-wanting to do that for ages,’ he said.

  I was surprised. Had he? But we’d barely met.

  Jay drew my arm through his again and kept walking. ‘Your father talks about you so much and I’ve seen you many times at the excavation. I feel I know you. Your work is – well, it’s brilliant.’

  Really? I didn’t say anything.

  ‘Um, Flora?’

  ‘Yes?’

  Suddenly his voice was shy, hesitant, uncertain. ‘This – this getting engaged business of Matthew and Lydia’s?’

  ‘Yes?’ Now where was this going? I wondered.

  ‘I wonder, would you consider, I mean well, might you consider getting engaged too? I mean – I mean, to me?’

  Would I what? I stopped dead. Then I realised. It was Lewis’ joke. He was carrying on the joke. All right, I could do that, too. I started to make a joke in return, something like, ‘Of course, Jay, I’d be happy to get engaged, especially to you since we know each other so well’, but just as I opened my mouth he went on.

  ‘I know it’s very sudden, but I’ll be going away and I don’t know what’s going to happen, but well, you know, I mean it, Flora, I really mean it.’

  Oh my. He was serious. He wanted to get engaged. To me. It was a real proposal, something every girl imagines, thinks about, dreams about.

  And I wanted to run, I wanted to bolt, to flee. And he stood there in the shadows, a perfectly nice, serious young man, watching what he could see of my face for my reaction.

  What could I say? ‘I’m, um, I’m very flattered,’ I started to stammer. Where on earth had that come from? Maybe I’d dredged it up from an etiquette lesson at school, ‘What A Girl Should Say When She Receives An Unwanted Proposal’. How did the rest of it go? ‘I’m – um – honoured, very honoured that you should think so highly of me –’

  He put up his hand to stop me. ‘Don’t say no, please don’t say no straightaway.’ His voice shook.

  I thought quickly. I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. ‘I’m not saying no,’ I said carefully. ‘But can I think about it? Perhaps I could get to know you a little better?’

  He exhaled. ‘Of course.’

  ‘I – um – think maybe we should be going back now,’ I said. ‘It must be almost time to go.’

  I didn’t know if it was time to go. I just wanted to escape this situation.

  At once he courteously took my arm again and we retraced our steps around the Sphinx. My head was whirling. The effects of champagne did not compare with this. I had been asked to become engaged. And all I wanted to do was run.

  The group was packing up. Jay escorted me to Lydia. He shook my hand, pressed it. ‘I’ll see you soon, I hope,’ he said.

  ‘Where in the world have you been?’ demanded Gwen, when I found her. ‘You’ve been away an age.’

  ‘Have I?’ I still felt dazed.

  Gwen held a candle in a jar up to my face.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ she said. ‘You look … funny.’

  ‘Have I got something to tell you!’ I said.

  Chapter 11

  ‘Had you any inkling at all he felt like that?’ Gwen asked.

  We’d driven from the Sphinx and were sitting up on the roof terrace of the House of the Butcher and Blacksmith. Frank would be arriving to take Gwen home shortly.

  ‘How could I?’ I said. ‘I’d only met him once, that I can remember.’

  ‘Then why?’

  ‘All I can think,’ I said slowly, ‘is that he’s so keen on Egyptian history, and he sees me as part of the excavation team. He’d really like to be involved and because they’re all going into action he wanted someone to care about him – not just his family, I mean. Lewis started that stupid joke, and he saw how happy Matthew and Lydia were, and with the moonlight maybe it all got mixed up together and he thought being engaged was a good idea …’ Did that make sense? I wondered.

  Gwen smiled. ‘Blame it on the moonlight.’

  I didn’t hold it against her for being amused, it was a ridiculous situation. ‘Gwen, what am I going to do?’

  ‘One of two things,’ she said. She ticked them off on her fingers. ‘One, you can say yes, please, and get engaged.’

  ‘Well, that’s out!’ I said.

  ‘Two, you can say no, thank you, and you don’t get engaged.’

  ‘It’s not that simple,’ I argued. ‘He’s going into action! I don’t want him to go away hurt, disappointed –’

  ‘There’s a third option,’ said Gwen. ‘You play for time. You thank him very nicely and say you need to think about it. He goes away, you write to him, by the time he comes back he’s realised it was only a romantic moonlit evening and he’ll be as glad to be out of it as you.’

  ‘You really think so?’ I said.

  Gwen grinned. ‘Or he might come back keener than ever, of course.’

  I groaned. ‘No!’

  ‘But you can deal with that when, or if, it happens,’ Gwen reassured me.

  ‘What about now, though?’ I worried. ‘I’ll have to see him. What will I do?’

  ‘You need to make very sure you don’t see him alone,’ said Gwen. ‘No more walks around the Sphinx.’

  ‘Never!’ I agreed.

  ‘Never say never,’ said Gwen.

  We could hear Frank coming up the stairs to the roof. ‘Don’t tell Frank!’ I said quickly. ‘I’d never hear the end of it!’

  Gwen put her finger to her lips. ‘Not a word. Promise.’

  Gwen left with Frank and I sat on the terrace for a little longer, feeling rather resentful. I’d always expected to be over the moon if someone told me they wanted to be engaged to me. It wasn’t fair! I thought. I hadn’t asked him to fall in love! But I had agreed to go for a walk in the moonlight. That was a signal, I supposed. And I had encouraged him to kiss me, just because I was curious. I wouldn’t encourage anyone to do that again in a hurry, I promised myself. Not even Frank. In the unlikely event that he should offer.

  …

  The next day, a note came from Lady Bellamy. She wanted all her volunteers at the rest and recreation centre immediately for what she called ‘special training’.

  The few soldiers in the centre that morning were left to their own devices; we were busy. ‘We shall be learning the basics of first aid,’ Lady Bellamy announced, a medical officer standing beside her.

  ‘Are we to expect trouble in Cairo, Lady Bellamy?’ Mrs McAvoy asked in her soft Scottish burr. She was, I supposed, thinking of the recent unrest in the Wozzer.

  ‘No, no, not at all,’ said Lady Bellamy. ‘This is a precaution only.’

  Lady Bellamy knows something is going to happen, I thought. If not in Cairo, then somewhere not far away. We learned where to apply pressure to stop bleeding, how to immobilise a limb with splints, and all the surprising things you could do with just one triangular bandage.

  We had finished and were chatting when Lady Bellamy said, ‘During any spare moments you have, ladies, there is plenty of linen that needs to be cut into strips and rolled up into bandages.’ She paused. ‘It is best if you do not allow the boys to see you rolling bandages. Be discreet.’

  ‘We might pretend we’re making tea cloths or something?’ suggested Gwen.

  Lady Bellamy gave her a hard look. ‘Yes. If you like, Gwendoline. Tea cloths.’

  …

  A few days went by. Flowers were delivered to the House of t
he Butcher and Blacksmith, with a note from Jay saying that he was sorry, he couldn’t get away, and all leave had been called off for now. ‘But I hope to see you very soon’, the note ended. ‘And that you will allow me to ask your father for your hand.’

  I hoped I wouldn’t see him soon. And the very idea of him speaking to Fa sent me into a panic. I was unsure whether to reply to the note.

  ‘Don’t,’ advised Gwen. ‘If you wanted to be engaged to him you’d write back. But as you don’t, it’s not incorrect not to reply.’

  I was still considering whether to reply when another note arrived. It had been written in haste.

  My dear Flora,

  We are leaving almost immediately and I will not be able to get leave to visit you before I go. I am very sorry I can’t see you, but it simply can’t be arranged.

  The ‘very’ was heavily underlined, I noted.

  Will you write to me? And please think about what I asked you.

  I sighed. I’d thought about little else.

  I’ve certainly thought about it! And with great hope. When I return and ask you again, will you feel you can say yes?

  When he returned, I thought, I hoped he’d have changed his mind completely.

  I’m enclosing a photograph for you to remember me by. I’m afraid it’s not a very good one, just a snap of me and my friends, but it’s all I have.

  Yours very truly,

  Jay

  The ‘very truly’ was heavily underlined, as well.

  The enclosed photograph showed a group of ten young officers perched on the stones of a pyramid. I could see Matthew, that horrible Lewis, and William who’d kissed Gwen, but where was – oh yes, there he was. Jay. I stared at the rather blurry photograph and felt incredibly guilty.

  …

  ‘No, that’s not him,’ said Gwen. She peered closely at the photograph. ‘That’s him.’

  ‘Are you sure?’ I stared at the officer she’d pointed out.

  ‘It’s a bit hard to tell,’ admitted Gwen. ‘It’s rather far away, isn’t it? What a pity he didn’t mark which one he is.’