Kitty’s War

Jessie smiled. ‘Were you doing something you shouldn’t have been?’ Again, we looked at each other and said nothing. ‘It’s all right,’ Jessie said. ‘I won’t tell. I promise. Frances can be a bit strict, can’t she?’

I felt a surprising jolt of jealousy at the casual way this girl spoke about Frances, and wondered how close they really were. ‘Thank you,’ I said, shooting a pointed look at Bel, who tried to smile, but her poor face really did look swollen now and she couldn’t be blamed for the grimace that had to suffice.

As we drew nearer the farm I glanced into the back of the trap, and noticed Jessie sitting more upright. Her face had lit up, and she looked lively and interesting as she twisted and turned her head as if trying to take in all the familiar things at once. She caught me looking, and smiled again, and I smiled back; perhaps we’d become friends. We seemed to be of an age after all. A best friend could be closer than a sister, I’d heard, but having had neither I could only wonder. Evie, while I loved and admired her, was a crucial few years older and married, and in any case she had Lizzy—our brief closeness in Flanders was from another time, another world.

As for Belinda, I had fun with her, and had even opened up a little when I’d been drunk, but we were chums, not close friends. I liked her enormously, but didn’t wholly trust her to be the kind of person I could rely on. Perhaps then, Jessie Goulding and I were destined to find that kind of unbreakable friendship… I settled against the hard seat back, hoping that would be the case, and making up my mind to do all I could to bring it about.

I pulled Pippin to a stop in the yard, and caught sight of two figures walking up through the field towards the wood. One taller, but walking stiffly and a little hunched, the shorter one very straight-backed, and gesturing with his hands, clearly agitated in his speech. Curiosity burned as I remembered that strange, emotional exchange last night; what on earth had Nathan done to Will all those years ago?

‘It looks exactly the same as I remember it,’ Jessie said, with quiet satisfaction.

I turned back to see her climbing down from the trap. ‘When were you here last?’

‘I suppose I must have been around ten or eleven. Frances usually visits us instead, but I do remember coming here when my mother wasn’t well.’

‘And how old are you now?’

‘I’m twenty-one.’

‘Can you two stop chattering,’ Belinda said through gritted teeth, ‘and bloody well help me down off this seat? My ankle has seized up.’

We took Bel’s hands, helping her to slide off the seat and land more lightly than she would have been able to otherwise. Then she put an arm around my shoulder, and I shot Jessie an apologetic look as I left her to carry both her own bags again, and helped Bel into the kitchen. Jessie didn’t complain, simply picked up her belongings and followed us indoors where Lizzy and Sally were preparing lunch.

‘Gracious!’ Lizzy put down her vegetable knife in alarm, and came over to help Bel into a seat. ‘What have you been doing? Are you all right?’

‘Quite all right, thank you,’ Bel mumbled, sounding more nasal than ever.

‘It’s my fault,’ Jessie put in quickly, and smiled and held out her hand. ‘You must be Lizzy. Frances has told me so much about you. I’m Jessie Goulding.’ She sighed. ‘I’m afraid Belinda slipped and fell from the trap while she was helping me to load my bags. I feel awful about the whole thing.’

Belinda’s mouth dropped open, but she nodded quickly. ‘Don’t worry. It wasn’t your fault at all. I was in too much of a rush to get home.’

‘You’re always in too much of a rush about everything,’ Lizzy scolded gently, and tilted Belinda’s face up to catch the light from the window. ‘You’ve managed to give yourself quite a wallop there. Kitty, could you fetch a wet cloth? Bel’s nose is bleeding a bit.’

‘It’s better than it was,’ I said, dampening a cloth at the sink. ‘We cleaned it up, but I expect the jolting of the trap started it off again.’

‘How about that foot?’ Lizzy wanted to know, frowning at the splint I’d put on. ‘Is it broken? We’ll have to get Dr Nichols over.’

‘It’s not broken,’ I said, and passed the cloth to her. ‘I thought it was but I had a good look at it, and I’m sure it’s just sprained.’

‘Well you’d know,’ Lizzy said, smiling at me with a warmth that made me feel clever again, for a minute. She could always do that. ‘Well done, Kitty.’

I blushed, and glanced at Jessie, who was eyeing me with a new speculation in her expression. Perhaps Lizzy’s words had given her a good impression of me; I hoped so. I tried to send her a look of gratitude for her quick thinking, but I don’t know if she read it correctly, and we were both soon distracted by Belinda’s little whimpers as Lizzy gently wiped the fresh blood from her face.

‘I’ll show you to your room,’ I said to Jessie, and picked up one of her cases. It turned out to be the heavy one and I grunted with surprise. She picked up the other, and followed me upstairs to the room we knew as the dorm. Jane had left her part of the three-bed room as neat as Bel’s was scruffy. The bed was stripped down, and the cupboard by its side was polished, the little jug and bowl set just so in the centre of the linen square, the drawers freshly lined with paper ready for Jessie’s possessions. Reflecting that Jane was, indeed, the best person to be taking care of hers and Bel’s mother, I put Jessie’s case on the bed and bent to unbuckle the straps.

‘There, I’ll just leave you to—’

‘This isn’t my room.’

I blinked. ‘Um, well, this is where Jane slept, and since you’re replacing Jane I thought—’

‘Whenever I come to stay I sleep in the room next door. The yellow room.’

‘Oh, but that’s…’ It was on the tip of my tongue to tell her it was my room, but she did have a prior claim after all. And it might be quite fun to share with Sally and Bel. ‘I’ll move my things in here then,’ I said instead.

‘Thanks lots,’ Jessie said, and smiled again. ‘It’s only what I’m used to, d’you see?’

‘Of course.’ I buckled up the case again and slid it off the bed. How on earth had she managed to carry the blessed things so far before we caught up with her? This one felt as if it were filled with rocks.

‘I’ll help you change the bedding after lunch,’ I offered, and she nodded her thanks. ‘What’s in this case?’ I asked, before realising how that sounded. ‘I’m sorry. That was quite rude of me.’

‘That’s all right,’ she said. ‘I should have carried that one. It’s far heavier than this. It’s got my books in it.’

‘You like to read? I do, too.’ I was itching to see what books she had, hopeful of the kind of conversations I’d often had with Lizzy’s younger sister, Emily, but she had turned away, so I just took some clothes from the drawer and carried them next door to the dorm.

On my way past the yellow room again I poked my head around the door. ‘I’ll see you downstairs. I’m going to help with lunch.’