by Jim Eldridge
In the middle of the afternoon I left Arthur and his mam in the living room and went up to check on Arthur’s gran. She lay on her back, her eyes closed and her mouth open, but the wheezing sound had stopped.
I put my ear to her mouth, then took a small mirror for the dresser and held it to her lips. No steam formed on the glass. She wasn’t breathing.
I ran downstairs.
“Mrs Graham, I think… I-I think she’s … dead.”
Mrs Graham raced back up the stairs, Arthur and I just behind her. She felt for a pulse and nodded.
“Poor Meg,” she said.
She blinked, then wiped away a tear, then turned and told us, “You two go downstairs. I’ll look after her.”
Arthur followed me down the stairs.
“It was so quick,” he said in a stunned voice. “She was all right last night.”
Just then, there was a knock at the door. I opened it and saw Doctor Campbell, who gave me a tired smile.
“Mrs Graham left a message,” he said.
“It’s Arthur’s gran,” I said. “She was ill, but now she’s … well, she’s died.”
“Where is she?” he asked.
“Upstairs.”
He sighed and his shoulders slumped, as if there was an invisible kitbag weighing him down. He headed upstairs. Arthur and I followed, but we didn’t go into the room. We waited on the landing and listened.
“It was flu,” we heard Doctor Campbell say.
“Flu?” said Mrs Graham. “Flu doesn’t kill people that quick.”
“This one does,” said the doctor. “They’re calling it the Spanish flu. It’s the most dangerous flu there’s ever been. This is the sixth case I’ve been called to today. I’m sad to say, your mother-in-law is the fourth to die.”
The Spanish flu! The same virus the porter told us about at the station.
“You don’t have a telephone, do you?” asked the doctor.
“No,” said Mrs Graham.
“I’ll get my wife to phone the undertakers for you. Will Fishers be all right?”
Mrs Graham mumbled something we couldn’t hear.
“After Fishers have taken her, disinfect as much as you can,” said Dr Campbell. “Burn the bedding.”
Arthur and I went back downstairs as he came out of the bedroom, followed by Mrs Graham.
“I’m afraid I have to go,” he said. “I’ve got more cases to look at, all of them the same. It seems to be an epidemic.”
“How much do I owe you, doctor?” asked Mrs Graham, still looking numbed.
“We’ll sort that out another time,” said Doctor Campbell. “And I’m very sorry, Mrs Graham. There was nothing anyone could have done for her.”
CHAPTER
15
I went next door to tell Mam and Dad the bad news. As I walked through the door I nearly fell over Ann, who was sitting in the passage playing with a rag doll.
“It’s Joe!” Ann shouted out, and jumped up and ran to hug my legs.
Mam and Tim appeared from the back kitchen, Mam wiping her hands on a tea towel.
“What’s wrong, Joe?” asked Mam, catching sight of my face.
“It’s Arthur’s gran,” I said. “She’s just died. The flu.”
“Oh no,” said Mam, her hand flying to her mouth. “I’d better go and help Mrs Graham.”
I shook my head.
“You’d better not,” I said. “Doctor Campbell’s been and he’s told her to disinfect everything and burn the bedding. He says it’s very catching. I’ve just come round to warn you.”
“I know there’s a lot about,” said Mam. “When I was round at Mrs Carson’s picking up Ann the other day, she said some of the families had it. I was thinking I’d keep Ann at home for a while, just in case.”
“Doctor Campbell says this flu is the most dangerous he’s ever seen,” I said. I thought back to the people Billy and I had seen wandering around Euston station. “I have an idea. When I was in London on the way home, I saw people wearing masks.”
“Masks?” said Tim. “Like robbers?”
“Yes, like robbers,” I said, nodding. “But they were wearing the masks to stop breathing in flu germs. They had the flu in London before we did.”
“Scarves,” said Mam. “We’ll wear scarves over our mouths when we go out.”
“Or handkerchiefs,” I said. “And I know it sounds silly, but soak them in vinegar. When I was in the trenches we used to have masks soaked in vinegar to try and protect us in gas attacks. It might help.”
“I will, but I don’t know if your dad will wear one. You know how stubborn he can be.”
“Where is he?” I asked.
“He’s out at the moment,” said Mam.
“Where?”
“I think he’s gone to see some pal of his at the railway. He’s still hoping to get a job there.”
I nodded. “I’d better get back next door, Mrs Graham is going to need some help.” I turned towards the front door, then stopped. “I’m sorry things are the way they are. I’d better not hug you in case I’m…”
“Yes, I know,” nodded Mam. “I’ll tell your dad about Arthur’s gran, and the scarves and vinegar. You take care, son.”
It was late in the afternoon before Fishers came to take poor old Mrs Graham away. Then Arthur, Mrs Graham and I set to work to disinfect the house. We took her bedding out into the garden and set fire to it. As we stood beside the flames, I saw black smoke rising up from other gardens. I guessed they’d been given the same instructions.
CHAPTER
16
I went back to work the next day, but Arthur stayed at home to help his mam.
I’d soaked a big handkerchief in vinegar and tied it round my mouth and nose. When the other blokes saw me, they burst out laughing.
“Look, it’s Joe the bank robber!” Andy said, laughing.
“There’s no money here,” chuckled Bert. “Maybe he’s come to rob us of cobbles!”
“It’s to try and keep the flu at bay,” I told them.
“Flu?” said Andy with a snort. “I’ve had flu loads of times.”
“Not like this,” I said. “The doctor says it’s the most dangerous he’s ever seen. And when I was coming through London on my way back from the front, everyone was wearing them because the flu was making them drop like flies.”
Andy and a couple of the others carried on sniggering, but I just shrugged and started digging. Their attitudes began to change when they realized that a lot of the blokes hadn’t turned up for work. In fact, out of the road gang of twenty, only ten of us were there.
Our foreman, George Potts, didn’t arrive until nearly nine o’clock.
“I’m sorry I’m late, lads,” he said. “I’ve been going round houses to find out who was going to make it to work today, as a couple of the lads sent word they were ill. Loads of ’em have gone down with this flu.” He hesitated, then said unhappily, “In fact, both Mick and Geordie died from it over the weekend.”
“Died?” said Andy. “But … but they’re big strong blokes. They were fine on Friday!”
“It turns out it doesn’t matter how big and strong you are, it seems this particular flu can kill an ox,” said George.
And so, short-handed though we were, we set to work. It was the same as in the war, your mates die but there is still a job to be done. You have to get on with it.
Andy and Bert were the first to tie handkerchiefs around their noses and mouths.
When I got back home after work, Arthur was in the kitchen peeling potatoes. There were sausages frying in the pan on the top of the range.
“Your mam put you in charge of supper?” I asked. Arthur put down the potato he was holding and looked at me grimly.
“She’s next door, at your house,” he said. “Your dad and Ann have both gone down with the flu.”
My stomach dropped. I turned around without another word and rushed next door. I was sick with fear to think of Ann and her bad cough, and Dad with his
weak lungs from being gassed. Mrs Graham was in our kitchen with saucepans of water bubbling away on the range. Tim was sitting at the table, looking lost and bewildered.
“Ann and Dad are poorly,” he said.
“They’re upstairs,” Mrs Graham told me. “Your mam’s with them. I’m boiling water ready to scald things.”
I hurried upstairs. Mam had brought a mattress into her and Dad’s room for Ann, and Dad was lying on the bed. Both looked dreadful. They were sweating and making the same wheezing sound that Arthur’s gran had made. Mam was wiping a wet rag over Dad’s forehead. I saw she’d already put one on Ann’s head. A bowl of water was on the floor beside Dad’s bed.
“What can I do?” I asked. “Shall I go and get Doctor Campbell?”
“He’s been,” said Mam. “It’s the flu all right.”
“They should be in hospital,” I said.
“The infirmary’s full, they can’t take any more. Same for the cottage hospitals. Dr Campbell said we must try to keep them comfortable. He’s given me some aspirin, but he’s not sure how much good it will do.”
I felt sick with fear and panic. This was my fault! I’d brought the flu into the house!
“I did this,” I blurted out. “When I came round yesterday, Ann hugged me. I brought it round from the Grahams’.”
“No,” said Mam firmly, shaking her head. “Ann probably caught it from some of the other kids at Mrs Carson’s. It was nothing to do with you. There’s so much of it about, we couldn’t have stopped it.”
She turned back to Dad, and I hovered over her feeling helpless. After what had happened to Arthur’s gran, I knew how quickly it could take effect.
“What can I do?” I asked.
“We need to watch them, see if they get worse,” said Mam. “Doctor Campbell says we’ve got to try and bring their fevers down, so I’m keeping them cool with cold-water flannels. And we’ve got to keep making them drink.”
“What about Tim?” I asked.
“Mrs Graham says she’ll take him in. So it’s down to you and me taking turns to look after them.”
I looked at Dad and little Ann. After what had happened to Arthur’s gran, I wasn’t going to let them out of my sight.
CHAPTER
17
It was a long night. I remember when I was in France, a doctor at a field hospital telling me that the ill people were always at their worst between one o’clock and three o’clock in the morning. I didn’t know if this was true, but I watched Dad and Ann closely, just in case.
We kept them cool with rags dipped in cold water, listening to their dreadful rattling coughs. When they weren’t coughing, they were spluttering and wheezing. But at least their faces hadn’t gone the terrible purple colour that Arthur’s gran’s had.
At four o’clock in the morning, Mam patted my hand.
“Go to bed and get some rest,” she said. “Your head’s nodding.”
“I’ll be all right,” I assured her. “We used to stay awake all night in the trenches.”
“We’ll need to watch them all day tomorrow,” she said. “You’ll be no use to me if you fall asleep then. Go and get some rest. I’ll wake you in a couple of hours and you can take over.”
It made sense, so I went into the other room and lay down on the mattress on the floor. Even though I’d agreed with Mam that I’d rest, I was determined to stay awake in case they took a turn for the worse and she needed me. But the next thing I knew, Mam was shaking me awake.
“Your turn, Joe,” she said through a yawn.
“What time is it?” I asked.
“Six o’clock. They’re both still the same, no worse, no better.”
I got up and Mam flopped down on the mattress.
Both Dad and Ann were still asleep. I checked their foreheads. Ann was hot, but Dad’s temperature felt almost normal. I bathed Ann’s forehead in cold water, and then went back to Dad. He wasn’t sweating like last night, and although he was still wheezing, his coughs didn’t have the same dreadful rattling sound.
Dad’s eyes flickered.
“Doris,” he croaked.
“No, Dad. It’s me, Joe.”
His eyes opened. He peered at me, then blinked and his eyes closed again.
“Where … where’s your mam?”
His voice was so thin that I could hardly hear him.
“Asleep,” I said. “She was up all night. I took over so she could rest. I’ll wake her.”
“No,” he said.
His voice had more force to it with that one word. He reached out and gripped my arm tightly, his hand bony but strong.
“I … got a job,” he said.
“A job?”
He swallowed, then forced out the words, “Booking office. Carlisle station.”
“Dad, that’s brilliant!” I said.
“Haven’t … told your mam yet. Wanted … to surprise her.” He coughed. “Don’t know if I’m going to make it, though.”
“What do you mean?” I demanded.
“You know.”
He coughed again.
“If you’re talking about dying, you can forget that,” I told him firmly. “The Hun couldn’t kill you. You’re not going to let a few germs do what they couldn’t, are you? You’re not going to die here. Me and Mam won’t let you.”
He coughed again, then spluttered through the saliva that bubbled between his lips, “You’re giving me orders now, are you?”
“Yes,” I said. “Dad, you’ve been a hard, stubborn man all your life. Don’t go soft on me now.”
There was a sudden coughing and moaning from Ann on the mattress. Dad turned his head towards the sound.
“Who’s that?”
“Ann,” I told him. “She’s ill with the flu too.”
“She shouldn’t be in here,” he said.
He tried to sit up, but fell back on his pillow.
“She’s in here so we can keep an eye on both of you,” I told him.
I knelt down beside Ann. Her eyes were closed, but she was thrashing around in her sleep. I put my hand to her forehead. She was even hotter.
I plunged a rag into the cold water, squeezed it out and wiped it gently over her face and neck. She carried on coughing. Then she opened her eyes and looked at me.
“What…?” she whispered.
She was staring at me, but her eyes were blank, as if she wasn’t actually seeing me.
“Ann, it’s Joe,” I said. “I’m here to look after you. Mam’s here as well. You’ll feel better soon, I promise.”
I remembered what Mam had said about giving them water, so I lifted Ann’s head up and held a cup to her lips.
“Take a sip,” I said.
I gave her cheeks a gentle squeeze to open her mouth and let some of the water trickle in. She went slack, and some of the water dribbled out of the side of her mouth. She’d stopped coughing.
I put the cup down and put my ear to her mouth. The faint wheezing sound told me she was still breathing.
But then I noticed that her skin had the same purple tinge that I had seen on Arthur’s gran’s face, and I felt sick. What if we couldn’t save her?
CHAPTER
18
Mam came and joined me at about half past seven. Dad dozed off now and then, but was more and more alert each time he woke up. His cough wasn’t anywhere near as bad and his temperature was definitely down. I kept him supplied with water, while Mam concentrated on looking after my sister.
Ann hadn’t opened her eyes again, and although she wasn’t coughing as much, her breathing was very laboured. No matter how often Mam wiped her face, she stayed hot. Worst of all, her skin still had that awful purple tinge to it.
I was downstairs making a pot of tea when there was a knock at the front door. It was Doctor Campbell.
“How are they?” he asked, striding in.
He looked exhausted – his face was pale and he had dark shadows under his eyes.
“Dad’s awake but Ann’s still looking ba
d. Her skin’s going purple.”
I followed him up the stairs. He opened his bag and took out his stethoscope and a thermometer. He went to Ann first, listening to her lungs with his stethoscope and taking her temperature. Then he did the same with Dad. I felt Mam take hold of my hand and grip it tightly, anxious.
“Well, doctor?” she asked.
“Your husband seems to be over the worst, and with rest he should recover, but your daughter…” He shook his head. “With her medical history I worried this might be the case, so I managed to get her a bed at the infirmary. Sadly, one became available just an hour ago.”
‘Sadly’ meant someone had just died. Was that what was going to happen to Ann? I looked at my sister, so small and frail, and I felt so helpless. Nothing in the war had prepared me for this. The flu wasn’t an enemy you could shoot at.
“There are no ambulances free, so I’ll take her in my car,” continued Doctor Campbell.
“I’ll come with you,” said Mam. “I want to be with her.”
“They won’t let you into the ward,” said Doctor Campbell.
“Then I’ll sit in the waiting room,” she replied.
The doctor put his hand on her shoulder.
“Mrs Henry, you’ll be more use here looking after your husband. He still needs nursing.”
I could see the struggle in Mam’s eyes, torn between her husband and her little girl.
“I’ll go,” I said. “I’ll stay in the waiting room. Then I can be there if … if there’s any news.”
Mam nodded.
“All right,” she said, reluctantly.
Doctor Campbell packed his stethoscope and thermometer into his bag.
“Can you carry her, Joe?” asked Doctor Campbell. “My car’s just outside.”
We pulled up outside the entrance to the infirmary and Dr Campbell lifted up Ann and carried her in, with me following. The infirmary entrance hall was full of people with anxious faces, and I knew I must look the same. As Doctor Campbell carried Ann to the reception desk, the people waiting moved aside to let him through, most of them nodding in silent greeting.
“I’ve brought Ann Henry in,” Doctor Campbell announced. “I’ve arranged a bed for her.”