The District Nurses of Victory Walk

Edith and Mary crept carefully along the back fence of the nurses’ home, having just caught the last bus. The ground behind the home was uneven and tricky to navigate in their dancing shoes, which made Edith want to giggle. She knew that would be a bad idea. It was a warm evening and some of her fellow nurses might have kept their windows open, which would surely mean they would hear every unusual noise.

‘Ouch!’ Mary grabbed on to Edith’s arm as she nearly twisted her ankle. ‘That was lucky, I thought I was a goner then. That will teach me to wear heels. I could take them off but these stones will rip my stockings to bits.’

‘Shh, keep it down,’ Edith hissed. ‘We’re nearly there.’ She felt along the fence, testing each panel by gently pushing it, until she found the spot she was searching for. With a little creak it gave way, exposing a gap just wide enough to squeeze through. Carefully she gathered her skirt and hoiked it up so she wouldn’t rip the seam. ‘Mind that nail, don’t want to damage your lovely silk frock.’ She gave a final wriggle and was through.

Mary struggled to fit through the gap, cursing the curves that had brought her so much admiration during the evening. She finally made it, but there was a splintering noise as the adjacent panel gave way. ‘Now what?’ she asked.

‘Shhh. Not so loud. I left one of the common-room windows open just a little and asked Alice to check nobody had shut it before she went to bed.’ Edith made her way across the back yard and approached the casement. ‘This is it. I hope she didn’t wait up for us.’

Slowly she edged the sash upwards, making sure not to let it squeak in its frame, and then pulled herself up and over the window ledge and into the common room. ‘Here, take my hands, I’ll pull you up,’ she whispered, not knowing how agile Mary was. Excelling on the dance floor didn’t mean she would have the strength to climb in through a window.

Mary gratefully accepted the help and struggled to reach the windowsill, using all her strength to make it over the threshold. ‘Gosh, that was harder than I thought,’ she admitted, sinking down onto the nearest chair in the dark room. The streetlight from the side road illuminated the sofas and the dining tables, all neatly laid and waiting for the following morning’s breakfast.

Slowly it became clear there was a tall figure standing by the entrance to the service room, half hidden by the deep shadow. ‘Alice? Is that you?’ Edith called as loudly as she dared.

The figure came swiftly forwards; the hair was scraped back in a severe bun, not falling in long waves, and too late Edith realised her mistake. ‘Nurse Gillespie, Nurse Perkins,’ snapped Gwen. ‘What is the meaning of this? Not only have you broken the rule of curfew, which is there for a very good reason, namely your own protection, but you are also utterly incompetent. If you intend to go sneaking around at night, you might consider your clothing. That dress and that jacket make you stand out like beacons. Clearly you don’t mind missing your sleep but I do. You will report to me before breakfast in the morning.’ With that she turned briskly and strode out, leaving Edith and Mary with a cold feeling of fear in their stomachs.

‘Was it awful?’ Alice asked in sympathy when Edith finally took her place at the table for breakfast. There was very little left, but Alice had saved some toast for her friend and persuaded Gladys not to put the butter and marmalade away.

Edith’s shoulders slumped in dejection. ‘It wasn’t very nice. She hauled us both over the coals. There wasn’t much we could say as we were caught red-handed.’ She brightened a little. ‘Still, I convinced her that you weren’t part of it. I stupidly said your name when I climbed in and Gwen was sure you were down here somewhere up to no good, but I just said I thought she was you because you’re both tall.’

Alice pulled a face. ‘That’s kind. I did check the window for you, though, so I’m guilty too. Should I tell her – will that make her less cross?’

Edith shook her head vehemently. ‘No. Absolutely not. It won’t achieve anything useful; it’ll just make her mistrust you as much as she does Mary and me, which you don’t deserve seeing as you didn’t go out dancing but stayed in with your book. And anyway …’ She took a big bite out of her toast ‘… you’d only get in the way. Me and Mary have got to clear out the district room, wash the whole place down with Dettol – shelves, cupboards, walls, the lot – and then put it back together again. Two’s plenty for that. Oh, and we’re grounded for a week.’

‘That’s tough luck.’ Alice grimaced, sorry for her friend. ‘But was it worth it? Did you enjoy yourselves?’

Edith gave a cheeky grin. She was rarely depressed for long. ‘It was. You should see the Paramount. It’s packed to the rafters with people who want to dance, including some very friendly Canadians. I didn’t really fancy mine but he was good for a few spins on the dance floor and he bought me a ginger beer. So yes, it was worth it.’

‘You are impossible.’ Part of Alice thought she should disapprove of her friend taking such a risk but the other part knew how much Edith enjoyed a night out.

‘Not at all. It was good clean fun. Maybe you’ll come along next time?’

Alice’s expression closed down. ‘Maybe,’ she said cautiously, in the tone of voice that Edith knew meant ‘no’.

CHAPTER FIVE (#u09dbf5c0-b08a-5a64-ace3-6e6e7ce26bef)

‘Go on, Alice. Say you’ll come,’ begged Edith. ‘It’s a lovely day. You’ll enjoy yourself once you’re there.’

Alice hesitated. It was rare that they both had the afternoon off together, and there was no denying it – the sun was shining, and only a light breeze disturbed the leaves of the trees outside. Edith’s long, dull week of being grounded had at last come to its end, and to give her her due, there had been little in the way of complaining, even if she had reeked of Dettol for days on end. A concert in Victoria Park might take Alice’s mind off all the sombre news she’d been hearing on the wireless about the threat of conflict in Poland, even though she’d planned to spend the afternoon catching up with those newspapers she hadn’t had time to read during the past week. ‘All right,’ she said, suddenly making the decision. ‘Why not? Did you say there would be a band playing?’

‘Yes, there’s a bandstand and we’ll head for that. Mary said she’d make a picnic,’ Edith explained.

Alice hadn’t realised Mary had the afternoon off as well.

‘The more the merrier,’ Edith went on, catching the look of hesitation on her friend’s face. ‘She hasn’t been out all week either. Besides, her mother has sent her some fruitcake and she said she’d bring it. I’ll bring some lemonade.’

‘The shop on the corner had some lovely apples when I went past yesterday,’ Alice remembered. ‘I’ll buy some of those, shall I? They’ll go well with fruit-cake.’

‘Shall I make some sandwiches?’ Edith offered. ‘Just a few. We don’t want to get hungry, do we? I’ll see if Mary can fit it all in her wicker basket.’

Alice stretched out luxuriously beneath the shade of the big tree. The sun had been hot on their faces as they’d sat close to the bandstand, and now that the music was over they’d taken refuge, Edith unpacking the picnic as Mary spread out a red and white checked cloth. From all around came the sounds of children playing, and people were strolling by in all directions. Others were settling on the grass with their own picnics. Everyone seemed to have had the same idea.

Mary produced three tin mugs with a flourish. ‘Look what I found. They were in the back of a cupboard in the service room.’

‘Then we won’t even have to swig from the bottle,’ smiled Edith. ‘We’ll be all correct and proper.’

‘I should hope so,’ said Alice, propping herself up on one elbow. ‘What if any of our patients were to see us? Can’t let the side down by swigging from a bottle in public.’

Mary grinned, pitching up the sleeves of her lilac cardigan before laying the mugs on the checked cloth. ‘I’ll drink to that. Edie, can you pop open that lemonade?’

Edith obligingly did so, with a loud fizz as the stopper came loose. Several heads turned nearby to see what the noise was.

Alice held each mug while Mary poured, but Edith’s attention was caught by one of the groups who had looked round at them. She shook her hair a little before returning her gaze to the drinks.

‘Here you are,’ said Alice, passing her a mug. ‘What’s up?’

‘Oh, nothing,’ said Edith, over-casually. ‘Don’t look now, but I think that man over there is looking at us.’

‘What man?’ asked Mary, turning round at once.

‘Mary! Now he’ll think we’re interested,’ Edith tutted. She deliberately cast her gaze upwards into the branches. ‘Do you reckon that’s a blackbird up there, Alice? I can’t quite see.’ She made a show of peering into the foliage, shading her eyes with her hand.

‘Do you mean the fellow in the green shirt?’ Mary asked. ‘Sitting with several other people and a baby?’

‘Maybe. I didn’t really notice the details,’ said Edith unconvincingly.

Alice took a sip of her lemonade and waited for what would come next. Sure enough, in no time at all a male voice sounded from behind them.

‘Good afternoon, ladies,’ said the voice, and one glance revealed that it was a man in a green shirt. ‘I couldn’t help noticing you don’t have a bottle opener. Would you like to borrow ours?’

Edith smiled up at him. ‘Thank you, but we don’t need one. Anyway, we’ve only brought the one bottle of lemonade.’

The man nodded and Alice had to admit that his looks were eye-catching. He had a handsome face, hair like polished oak, and with his sleeves rolled back and his tie-less collar undone, she couldn’t help but notice he had very well-developed muscles. Edith clearly liked what she saw, because she shifted around, rearranging her flared skirt with its colourful patches of bright flowers, and arched her neck at him. ‘Still, thank you for asking. It’s very hot today, isn’t it?’

‘It is.’ The man was smiling back, his eyes dancing with merriment as he took in Edith. ‘Can I offer you ladies something a little stronger? My brother’s brought some beer with us and we won’t finish it all.’

‘Oh no, really we don’t—’ Alice began, but Mary’s reply was louder.

‘That’s very kind. We could mix it and make shandy. Maybe you’d like some too?’

The man in the green shirt nodded. ‘That’s a good idea. Why don’t you come over and join us?’ He pointed across to the group he had just left: a man of similar age to himself, and a woman with her back to the rest of them, clearly holding a young baby.

‘I don’t know …’ muttered Alice, who had been perfectly comfortable under the tree.

‘Oh go on, Alice,’ said Edith, gathering up her skirts and delicately making sure her lemonade didn’t spill against the tree roots. ‘What harm can it do? We haven’t made many new friends apart from the nurses since we moved here. Maybe they can tell us about the area, give us some local tips.’

‘All right, all right.’ Alice could tell when Edith had set her heart on doing something, and it was usually pointless to resist. ‘Give me a moment. Let me tuck our bottle back in the basket and prop it up with the cloth.’ She arranged the bottle so it wouldn’t empty itself over the grass when moved, and got to her feet, trailing across behind the others the short distance to the man, woman and baby.