by Daisy Styles
‘We’ll make sure Matron gains no entry here,’ she announced. ‘After what that woman has put the Home and this convent through, I’m delighted to be in a position to protect you and the baby!’ she informed Ada, who, after a long and stressful day, almost burst into tears.
Grateful as she was for the Reverend Mother’s assurance, Ada knew in her bones that nothing would deter Matron from her plans, not even an order of nuns! For Heather’s safety, she had to get her as far away from Mary Vale as possible.
In a bedroom allocated to her, Ada settled Heather in her carry-cot on the bed and, with Shirley standing guard, she and Sister Ann made a plan while they boiled up cocoa in the tiny kitchen just along the corridor. Too tired to be bothered with explanations, Ada came straight to the point.
‘I’m taking Heather to Isla in Windermere,’ she announced.
Sister Ann almost dropped the mug she was holding. ‘But you’ve just got her here – why move her again?’
‘With Matron on the prowl, Heather might be at risk even in the sanctuary of the convent!’ Ada exclaimed. ‘Ann, I know from what Olive let slip that Heather was on the point of being adopted by parents none of us knew about.’
The nun’s trembling hands flew to her mouth as Ada continued.
‘Percival and Matron are running some shady underhand business up at the Grange – why else would they be stealing babies out of the Home?’ Shaking her head, Ada added, ‘They’re not going to give Heather up without a fight, I know that in my bones.’
Sister Ann crossed herself. ‘God forgive them for their evil ways,’ she murmured, then added urgently, ‘You should set off for Windermere in the car as soon as it’s light.’
‘There’s a chance the roads might be blocked,’ Ada pointed out.
‘I should have thought of that!’ Sister Ann exclaimed.
Ada stared out of the window at the dark, stormy sky. ‘I’ll walk over the fells to Windermere if necessary,’ she said determinedly.
‘WALK!’ Sister Ann spluttered in horror. ‘Are you out of your mind, Ada?’
‘I’ve done that walk over to Windermere so many times I could do it in my sleep,’ she assured her anxious friend.
‘That’s as maybe! But NOT in the snow with a baby!’
‘Really, Sister, it’s not that far – once you’re over the tops you can even see Windermere,’ Ada said confidently.
‘But it will be freezing!’
‘I’ll wrap Heather up in blankets, tuck her into a sling and keep her warm under my coat.’ Ada grinned as she added, ‘One thing I’m sure of: Matron certainly won’t come chasing up the fells after me.’
Sister Ann wasn’t amused. ‘Ada, this is not a laughing matter.’
‘Let’s see what tomorrow brings,’ Ada said, draining her mug.
‘Will you be able to manage without me? I can’t promise when I’ll be back.’
‘We’ll manage; we have no choice. Heather comes first, and if somebody goes into labour, I’ll drag Shirley into the delivery room to help me!’ the nun replied.
‘Merry Christmas, sweetest friend,’ Ada said, leaning over to kiss Sister Ann on the cheek.
‘God bless,’ the nun replied as she gave Ada a hug in return.
Though Matron searched Mary Vale, she found no sign of her ward sister and, mysteriously, nobody seemed to know where she was.
Furious and frustrated, she had to wait for morning to dawn, then she hurried to the maternity ward, where she found Sister Ann and Shirley organizing the feeding rota with her team of helpers. Shirley scurried into the sluice room the minute she saw Matron approaching, but Sister Ann went calmly about her business.
‘Morning, Matron, Merry Christmas to you,’ she said with a sweet smile that hid the contempt she felt for the conniving woman standing before her.
Ignoring the festive greetings, Matron looked around. ‘I need to speak to Sister Dale – where is she?’
Sister Ann took a deep breath. ‘God forgive me for telling fibs on Christmas morning,’ she thought before replying. ‘On leave, Matron.’ Glancing at her fob watch, she cringed as she told another bare-faced lie. ‘I think I’m correct in thinking she’ll be well on her way to Sheffield by now.’
Matron spun around so that the nun wouldn’t see the fury in her face; the wretched girl could be well on her way to Timbuctoo for all she knew, but one thing Matron knew: wherever Ada Dale was, Heather would be close beside her. Walking purposefully back to her office, Matron wondered how far away Ada could be. With the snow falling the way it had been, she could still be in the vicinity, in which case there was still a chance of reclaiming Heather. Beginning to lose her nerve, she paced back and forth nervously across her office floor.
‘What happens if we’re reported? Olive would yap to anybody for the price of a drink,’ she thought to herself. ‘Maybe I should slip away too and leave Sir Percival to face the music on his own? After all, it’s due to his repeated incompetence that we’re in this mess.’
But it was exactly his incompetence that made her stay. She knew she could never trust him to deal with the problem on his own; whether she liked it or not, she had to stay.
As Ada had predicted, the roads were blocked and the telephone wires were down.
‘Be a love,’ Ada asked Shirley, who’d stayed by Heather’s side all night long and was due to join Sister Ann on the ward. ‘Pop down to my office and look out my admin file on Isla; I needed Jeannie’s address in Windermere. Here’s the key to the filing cabinet,’ she said, handing it over. ‘And, while you’re down there, Shirley, can you pick up a warm layette from the nursery, and a couple of blankets too?’ she quickly added.
Shirley gave her a worried look. ‘What’re you up to, Ada?’
‘I’m taking Heather home to Windermere – I’m walking there.’
Shirley’s jaw dropped. ‘You’re mad!’
‘Please don’t you start,’ Ada pleaded. ‘I’ve had enough nagging. I can’t sit around here – it’s not safe for the little girl.’
Agreeing entirely with Ada, Shirley didn’t argue for a moment. ‘Best to get her well out of here and to safety as soon as possible.’
‘Jeannie’s house is the safest place I can think of, and it’s not that far once you’re on the tops … But I’m worried about what this will do to Isla. I don’t think I have a choice, though,’ she admitted.
The girl nodded. ‘Turning up out of the blue with Heather when Isla thinks she’s been adopted,’ she guessed. ‘I’d have a fit if somebody turned up with Lizzie,’ she replied in all honesty. ‘But, really, Ada, if Isla breaks down and rejects Heather, I’m certain they’d at least let you stay with them until it’s safe to move her to another home. One thing’s for sure – she can’t stay here!’
Ada gave her a hug. ‘And that’s exactly what I think too. Now be a love and get that address; otherwise I could be explaining my motives to Sister Ann till Boxing Day!’
While Shirley hurried to do her bidding, Ada got out her warmest trousers, a roll-neck woolly jumper, a waterproof jacket, gloves, scarf and her beloved leather walking boots. After feeding and changing Heather, she waited feverishly for Shirley to return, which she did, bringing baby clothes and Jeannie’s address scribbled on a scrap of paper.
‘Good job I learnt to write,’ Shirley said with a bit of an un-nun-like swagger. ‘While you’re getting Heather dressed, I’ll go and fetch you some food for your journey.’
‘Thanks, Shirley,’ grateful Ada replied. ‘I’d completely forgotten about eating – though I’ve made up several bottles of milk for Heather, hopefully, they’ll stay warm for a while wrapped in a couple of old jumpers that I’ll stuff into my knapsack. I’ve got some milk formula too.’
Heather didn’t like the improvised sling which Ada had concocted from two soft woollen shawls but, once she was against Ada’s body, the baby calmed down, and, after Shirley had helped Ada into her coat, which she buttoned up tightly, Heather seemed quite content. Heaving the rucks
ack on to her back, Ada put on her gloves, then wrapped the scarf around her neck.
‘If anybody apart from Emily, Gloria or Sister Ann asks where I am, be sparse with the details and stick to the plan that I’m heading home for Sheffield,’ she told Shirley. ‘If the phone lines are in operation on the other side of the valley, I’ll phone you when I get there. Do your best to keep Sister Ann from having kittens – she’s bound to worry,’ she said fondly.
Anxious to be on her way without being spotted by Matron, who would surely be on the lookout for her, Ada slipped out of the convent grounds shortly after dawn on Christmas morning. On the verge of tears, Shirley smiled at the baby, whose little face emerged over the edge of Ada’s coat. Her dazzling Highland blue eyes, so like her mother’s, shone against the ice-blue sky.
‘I’ll pray to God to keep you in his love, to keep you safe, and to Saint Christopher to guide you on your way!’ she said, brightened by the thought of having another spiritual force to address. ‘He’s the patron saint of travellers, you know.’
Before sweet, earnest Shirley started reeling off a list of her favourite saints, Ada gave her a kiss.
‘Bye, Shirley – keep those prayers rolling,’ she chuckled, and, with a wave of her hand, she strode confidently across the fields to Allithwaite.
36. Hamps Fell
As church bells rang out in the little villages she passed, Ada hummed Christmas carols to herself. She’d told the truth when she’d said she’d done this walk many times, but on previous occasions it had been springtime with birds singing and daffodils in bloom, or in high summer, when sheep with their scampering lambs grazed the fells. Now it was cold and icy, but Ada felt invigorated. Energized by the necessity of her mission to get Heather to safety, she made good progress over Hamps Fell; then, after crossing the road, she covered the low hills to Newton Fell, from where she could make out Newby Bridge to the west. The ice-cold wind got stronger as she gained height and reached the ridged pathway above Newton in Cartmel. Normally, it would be comfortable walking, but, with the snow and ice underfoot, Ada almost slipped several times, until she came across a stout stick that she used to keep her balance as she climbed higher and higher. She couldn’t let anything happen to little Heather, nor to herself.
Looking down from the ridge, she gasped at the first sight of Lake Windermere stretching out long and wide until it disappeared into the hazy distance that was Grasmere, fringed by the majestic Northern Fells. Heather wriggled, as if waking up, and caused Ada to put on a spurt of speed; she had to make the most of her time while the baby slept. Once Heather was awake and restless, she’d probably have to stop to give her a bottle-feed.
The higher she climbed, the better the view was; she could even see little boats moored on the shimmering blue water, and far down below she spotted a few cars, like children’s toy cars, weaving their way along the narrow country lanes.
‘Good,’ thought Ada. ‘That means the roads are open on this side of the valley.’
It was the perfect scenario, she mused with satisfaction: the roads around Cartmel and Allithwaite, which undoubtedly Percival and Matron would take to pursue her (if they’d second-guessed her plan), were blocked with deep snow, while on this side they were open.
‘The wicked pair are stuck with no way out!’ she said out loud. ‘I hope it stays that way,’ she added, because the next thing she planned to do (after delivering Heather to Isla) was to notify the police of all that she knew about what was going on at Crow Thorn Grange.
‘The sooner it’s in the police’s hands, the better,’ Ada thought vengefully.
In Matron’s office, where Percival eventually turned up after she had threatened him, the two faced each other across her desk. Looking like he’d been drinking all night, he barked, ‘So, have you found the brat yet?’
‘NO!’ she snapped back. ‘And I can’t go turning the place upside down without arousing suspicion.’
‘Have you questioned the nurse who took her?’ he demanded.
‘She’s gone off on holiday leave,’ Matron coldly told him.
‘And what if she blabs to somebody? Or, worse still’ – he paled at the thought – ‘takes the baby to the police?’
Desperate to calm his escalating anxieties, Matron spoke in her ringing, professional voice. ‘Leave the finding of the child to me, Sir!’
Percival gave her a mocking look. ‘And how do I get around the small problem of telling the eager adoptive couple that, for the moment at least, we don’t have a baby to give them?’
‘Buy time,’ she snapped. ‘They already know the weather’s bad – tell them it’s getting worse – tell them bloody anything to stop them from turning up here!’
After a few hours of brisk walking, Heather grew restless, so Ada made a brief stop to feed her. The baby devoured her bottle of milk, then, knowing she had to make the most of daylight, Ada set off once more, hungrily eating the egg sandwiches and the apple that Shirley had so thoughtfully prepared for her. How Shirley had changed, Ada mused: the little nervous wreck of a girl had gone, replaced by a stronger, braver and more focused young woman. Life’s hardships had made Shirley grow up fast, and after her near-death experience she’d discovered a love of God and a desire to become a nun. Ada smiled to herself: Shirley’s journey had been a torturous one, but at last there was happiness in sight.
‘A bit like Heather’s journey,’ she thought. ‘She could have been lost forever, but we found her and, one day soon,’ she promised herself, ‘I’ll find out where Bertie and baby Tom went too.’
At Tower Wood, Ada started her descent to Ghyll Head, then onwards to Windermere itself. When she reached the country lanes, Ada sighed with relief – it was good not to be slipping and sliding on ice and snow – but she was beginning to feel tired and Heather, fed up with being restricted for so long, was wailing loudly.
‘All right, all right,’ Ada soothed, as she jiggled the restless baby.
The sound of an approaching car made Ada draw back into the hedgerow to let it pass, but to her surprise the vehicle, an old, rusty farm truck covered in mud and smelling acridly of sheep’s droppings, pulled up.
‘We’er art thou heading, lassie?’ the cheery farmer driving the truck asked.
Ada scrambled in her pocket for the scrap of paper on which Shirley had written the address.
‘Thou’s a few miles to go,’ he muttered, recognizing the address. ‘Hop in: I’ll drive thee yon afore it turns dark.’
‘Oh, thank you,’ sighed weary Ada. ‘That’s so very kind of you,’ she added, as she opened the passenger door, then stopped short as a wet collie dog slurped her hand with its warm tongue.
‘Shift, yer owd bugger!’ the farmer said with rough affection. ‘Make room for’t lass, wil’t?’
After the collie had mooched over on to the back seat, Ada sank gratefully into the passenger seat he’d just vacated.
‘It’s very kind of you, Sir,’ she said again, releasing Heather from her makeshift sling, then blushing as she realized how very smelly the baby was. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said apologetically. ‘She’s needs a nappy change.’
‘Doesn’t fret this’elf, cock,’ the farmer chuckled, as he clanged gears and they rattled slowly along the road that skirted the now-darkening lake. ‘Owt’s better than the stink of sheep shit!’
After a few stops for the farmer (accompanied by his faithful collie) to chuck hay into the snowy fields for his sheep to graze on, Ada arrived at her destination.
‘Is that babby somebody’s Christmas present?’ the farmer teased, as Ada staggered out of the car clutching Heather, whom she’d managed to change during one of the stops.
Gurgling and contented now, Heather wiggled her feet in the woolly leggings that had kept her warm all day.
‘You could say more of a Christmas surprise,’ Ada laughed, as she abandoned the sling and settled Heather on her hip before looking around to get her bearings.
‘It’s yon big ’ouse over yonder,’ the fa
rmer said, and pointed to Jeannie’s house, which, Ada could see, ran all the way down to Lake Windermere.
After thanking him again, she waved off the farmer and his dog, then took deep breaths to steady her nerves. What would Isla say? How would she react when she saw her baby again? What if she were in the throes of getting over leaving Heather and Ada’s appearing so unexpectedly like this would rip the wound open all over again?
‘It’s too late for that now,’ she declared, and, with her stomach churning, she walked to the front door and rang the bell.
‘Okay, kiddo,’ she muttered to Heather. ‘Time to see Mama again.’
It was Jeannie’s housekeeper who opened the door, but, on seeing Ada standing on the step holding a little baby, she quickly beckoned them in out of the cold.
‘Could you tell your mistress that it’s Sister Ada from Mary Vale?’
‘Yes, Miss,’ the housekeeper replied, and hurried away to make her announcement. Hardly a minute passed before Ada heard running footsteps approaching and Isla’s soft, lilting voice calling excitedly down the long echoing hallway. ‘ADA!’
Just as she was about to throw herself on to Ada, Isla spotted the little bundle now resting in the curve of her friend’s arm; going as white as a sheet, Isla visibly rocked on her feet with shock. ‘Heather …’ she gasped.
‘Isla, dear, what is it?’ Jeannie’s voice rang out, as she too came hurrying into the corridor. ‘Is it really Ada, come visiting on Christmas Day?’ she inquired in a delighted voice.
‘It is Ada,’ Isla replied, her face now transformed by a radiant smile that brought the colour rushing to her cheeks. ‘Jeannie, darling, Ada’s brought …’ She paused as Jeannie caught sight of Heather. ‘She’s brought my daughter home to me.’