The Mersey Daughter (Empire Street #3)(34)
‘Whatever’s got into you?’ asked Laura, sweeping through the door. ‘Oh, you lucky thing, you’ve got a letter. Good news, by the looks of it.’
‘I’ll say!’ exclaimed Kitty, quickly skimming the rest of the single page. ‘Elliott’s finally going to visit. I was so worried for him, in the thick of all the bombing, and he must have seen some dreadful things.’
‘All the more reason to show him a good time then.’ Laura threw herself on to the bed beside Kitty. ‘Budge up. That’s better. When’s he coming?’
‘Let me check.’ Kitty scanned the letter again. ‘I’ll have to work it out, it’s taken a while to get here … oh, that’s soon! This Friday!’ She paused, her old insecurities rising to the surface. ‘Laura, I’ve got to get my hair done and I’ve nothing to wear …’
‘Calm down,’ Laura said at once. ‘We’ve always sorted you out before, haven’t we? I shall go through my extensive wardrobe,’ she nodded towards the narrow cupboard containing her clothes, ‘and if there’s nothing suitable we’ll see what the shops can do. Don’t look like that, Kitty, you must have some wages saved up – you never spend anything on yourself. Don’t you fret, we’ll get you looking just the ticket for when the glamorous doctor comes to town.’
Kitty laughed. ‘Don’t get your hopes up. He’s not exactly glamorous.’ She smiled warmly as she thought of his kind face. ‘But I do want to look right for him. He’s used to mixing with girls who really dress up. That’s not me and he knows it, but I don’t want to let him down.’
‘You won’t, I won’t let you,’ declared Laura decisively.
Kitty took one look at her friend and knew she meant it. The weeks that had passed since their initial training had taught her, if there had ever been any doubt about it, that when Laura set her mind to something, she fully intended it to happen. It was sheer good luck that the two of them plus Marjorie were still in the same dormitory, in the same old school building. Many of the young women who’d arrived at the same time had been sent elsewhere to continue their training, once it had been decided what their specialism would be. Laura’s future had been decided almost at once, when the senior officers discovered that she could drive. They had been even happier to find she didn’t mind what sort or size of vehicle she was given. Therefore she was currently scaring unwitting bystanders in north London, who would glance up at the noise of a large lorry approaching, only to see a striking young blonde woman at the wheel. Laura had been particularly delighted when a very smart City gentleman had almost fallen backwards off the pavement at the sight. That had made her day.
Marjorie had stood out for her academic abilities, and there had been some debate as how best to use them. It turned out she had a flair for languages, so she was currently on a crammer course in German and French in central London, commuting to and fro each day. Sometimes this was easy if the buses and Tubes were working; other days it involved a lot of walking. She didn’t mind. She was being given free rein to use her brain and she took to it like a duck to water. Unfortunately Laura and Kitty were no good to practise on.
Kitty herself had caused them some problems to start with. She had no obvious qualifications, other than having run a home from the age of eleven. For a dreadful few days she had thought she was going to be stuck cooking again. It wasn’t that she didn’t like cooking – but she’d already proved she could do it, and wanted something new. Then it became clearer that she was extremely organised and logical. So now she was being trained as a telephone operator, as everyone knew how vital communications might become if the war lasted for a long time. She knew the job could change and develop as time went on, and might take her anywhere. She didn’t mind. She liked the sense of freedom that brought. At present she was based in a commandeered college on the northern edge of the city, easy to reach when the Northern Line was working, and tricky to reach by bus if it wasn’t.
Now she stretched back on the unforgiving mattress and sighed with pleasure. ‘I can’t wait. It seems like years since I saw Elliott, although it’s only been a matter of weeks.’ She counted back. ‘Well, a couple of months or so. A bit more. Anyway, no time at all really, yet we’ve done so much. And he’s been through the horror of that awful week at home.’ Her expression grew serious as she remembered the sad details in Rita’s letters.
‘Well, my girl, it is therefore your patriotic duty to take his mind off all of that,’ said Laura grinning wickedly. ‘Look upon it as an order, for king, country and our hard-working medical staff.’
‘In that case I will,’ Kitty smiled back.
Rita washed her hands, making sure she’d been thorough, before hurrying back to the nurses’ station. She knew better than to run; as a sister she’d had to tell off many a less experienced junior for doing such a thing. However, there was no time to waste, as usual. Her ward was crowded with casualties, mostly as a result of the raids in the first week of May. Once the immediate damage had been assessed and the injured allocated to beds around the city, they were once again full to capacity in Linacre Lane Hospital. Many of the badly hurt had been caught up in the massive explosion when the SS Malakand had gone up in flames in Huskisson Dock. It had happened after the all-clear had been sounded, so people had been walking home from the shelters in the false belief that the danger was over.