The District Nurses of Victory Walk

‘It’s just a precaution,’ Mary said breezily. ‘I expect they’ll go back to making toys or whatever those factories did until recently. Give them a few months and all the panic will be over. I’m not going around wearing a gas mask, I can tell you that right now. It’s bad enough trying to keep my hair in order as it is.’

‘Yes, they aren’t really designed with fashion in mind,’ said Edith, trying to make light of it while keeping an eye on Alice. She knew her friend followed public events with keen scrutiny, and had little patience with people who buried their heads in the sand. Would Alice start an argument now? Normally she was the most level-headed person around, but she had been known to grow hot under the collar about world affairs.

Alice held her tongue, but Edith could see it was an effort. ‘Well, all I can say is there are lots of Canadian and American servicemen in town, so I shan’t complain.’ She smiled at the memory of the last time she’d been out dancing.

‘Edith, you are dreadful,’ said Alice, but without malice. ‘Mary, pay no attention to her.’

‘Oh no, I completely agree,’ Mary said. ‘They’re so smart, aren’t they? And I do like their uniforms. Especially the Canadians. They’re so straightforward; you haven’t got to go through the usual palaver about who their families are or if they’ve gone to school with your brothers.’

Edith nodded dubiously. She didn’t usually have to worry about that sort of thing, especially as all her brothers had done their best to avoid school whenever possible. ‘Lots of them are good dancers,’ she said.

‘Aren’t they just? And they aren’t shy to ask you onto the dance floor,’ Mary said with growing enthusiasm. ‘We’ll have to put them to the test the next time our shifts allow. We’ll have such fun. Long may they stay over here.’

There was a sound from the door, a gruff cough, and an older woman appeared in a highly starched nurse’s uniform.

‘That’s enough of such frivolous talk, Nurse Perkins,’ she said, her expression lined with severity, her cardigan buttoned tightly all the way up to her throat. ‘You might think war is just an excuse for dancing with young men, but I can tell you right now it is no laughing matter. Besides, you owe it to your training to put your profession first and not to lower our standards. Kindly bear that in mind.’ She let her gaze rest on each of them in turn before abruptly swirling around, leaving them open-mouthed.

‘Who was that?’ asked Edith after a moment.

Mary pulled a face. ‘Gwen. You heard her earlier. She’s been here for ever, and is as old as the hills. Well, as you saw. She disapproves of everybody and everything and her pet hate is anyone enjoying themselves. As she’s Fiona’s deputy, she’s always telling us off for something. Bet she hasn’t been out dancing for years. Well, that’s not my fault.’

Edith grimaced. ‘That’s too bad, but I can tell you right now, I think we deserve a bit of fun in our time off. Don’t get me wrong, I love being a nurse and I work hard, but everyone is entitled to a spot of recreation now and again. Isn’t that true, Alice?’

Alice paused. She’d caught a look in the older woman’s eye that made her wonder why she was so sharp, so judgemental. Still, it couldn’t be much fun watching young nurses arrive, full of life and energy, if you were older and more set in your ways.

‘You go on out and enjoy yourselves,’ she said. ‘I’m no good at dancing. I’d rather stay in with a good book, if you want the truth.’

‘Oh, I’m sure that can’t be so!’ Mary exclaimed. ‘Look at you, you’ll be bombarded with offers to dance. We’ll have to take your rejected suitors.’

Alice smiled gamely but her heart wasn’t in it. She had no intention of going dancing, with Mary or anyone else. She used to do it with a light heart but that was before. She was no longer that carefree young nursing student. Life had seen to that.

As soon as Mattie and Kathleen opened the door the steam hit them. Delicious wafts were coming from the kitchen and they could hear Mattie’s mother singing at full volume, unaware that anyone had come in. ‘My old man said follow the van,’ she sang, slightly off-key.

Mattie grinned. ‘Come on through, then we can put Brian down with Gillian.’ She led the way down the short corridor to the big kitchen, three times the size of Kathleen’s, where little Gillian was tucked into a cot in the corner and her grandmother stood at the range, her sleeves rolled up and her face red with the heat from cooking.

‘Kathleen Berry! And there was me thinking you’d got a better offer.’ The older woman put down her big wooden spoon and strode across to greet her guest. ‘You need feeding up by the looks of you. And how’s the boy?’ She peered at the little bundle in Kathleen’s arms. ‘Has your Auntie Mattie brought you round for your tea? He’s a proper little darling, just look at him.’

‘Thank you, Mrs Banham,’ said Kathleen, who still found Mattie’s mother overwhelming even though she’d known her for years. ‘It’s kind of you to have us.’

‘Nonsense, what else am I going to do with all this stew? It would be a crying shame for it to go to waste,’ Flo Banham insisted, returning to her bubbling pot.

‘I’m sure Joe and Harry could finish it off,’ Kathleen said, knowing that Mattie’s brothers had hollow legs, particularly when it came to their mother’s cooking. She carefully tucked Brian into the opposite end of the big cot, which had held generations of Banham children, and had plenty of room for two small babies.

Flo Banham tutted. ‘There will be plenty to go round. I went down Ridley Road and the butcher let me have this cheap as he was expecting a new delivery. Practically begged me to take it off him, he did.’ She gave the stew one more vigorous stir and then put on the lid. ‘There, we’ll let that simmer away for a while and then it’ll be ready by the time the boys get back.’

Mattie grinned. Her brothers hadn’t been boys for a long time but their mother always called them that, as if they still needed cosseting and looking after. She used to think that was funny but now that she had Gillian, she understood it better. She couldn’t imagine ever not wanting to take care of her. She looked over the side of the cot at the little girl, fast asleep, her soft baby hair spread out on the little pillow. ‘Has she been good?’ she asked her mother.

‘She’s been a little angel for her granny,’ said Flo, coming to join her daughter to gaze down at the youngest member of the family. ‘She’s far quieter than you ever were, Mattie. You used to burst into tears every time I put you into your cot. I had to tie you in a sling so I could carry you round while I did my housework.’

‘Must be why I’m so good at it now,’ said Mattie cheekily, rolling her eyes. She’d heard it all before.

Kathleen sat down in the rocking chair with a sigh. She was tired out by the worries of the day and because Brian had kept her awake for much of the night, but it was comforting to hear Mattie and her mother gently bickering. After a few moments she felt herself nodding off and, although she fought to stop it, the warmth of the room soon had her falling into a light doze. That came to an abrupt end when the front door banged and loud voices filled the air. Mattie’s brothers were home.

Kathleen jolted upright, shaking her head to clear it, as Joe and Harry strode into the kitchen. Neither was surprised to see her there. Harry flung his jacket at a stool beside the back door, but his mother caught him.

‘You just put that back in the hallway where it belongs, Harry Banham,’ she scolded. ‘A place for everything and everything in its place – how else are we going to manage, can you tell me that? If Joe can remember then I don’t see why you can’t as well.’

Harry rolled his eyes but went to do as he was asked. ‘Won’t do any harm, it’s only a jacket,’ he protested, his voice echoing back down the hall.

‘It’s cluttering up my kitchen, that’s what it’s doing. If we all did that there’d be no room to cook.’ His mother wasn’t going to let him get away with anything. Harry was always trying his luck, trying to wind her around his little finger, but she’d had years of practice at resisting his easy charm.

Joe snorted, settling himself down at the well-scrubbed old wooden table, fishing the evening paper out of his back pocket. ‘Hello, Kathleen. Brought little Brian round to see Gillian, have you?’

‘Yes, they’re both in the cot,’ Kathleen began, before Harry burst back in and made his way over to that corner, making eager noises.

‘How are my two best playmates?’ he said in a singsong voice, and Kathleen looked up in alarm.

Mattie saw and intercepted her brother. ‘Leave them to sleep, Harry,’ she said firmly. ‘Brian’s been up half the night and given Kath the runaround – all because he caught your cold. Poor little mite can’t fight it off like you can. He needs his sleep.’

Harry slunk away, chastened but not for long. ‘I’ll teach him to fight once he’s big enough though. I’ll take him down the ring when he can walk, Kath, see if he likes it. It’d be the making of him.’

Kathleen shook her head. ‘I don’t know if I hold with all that boxing, Harry. I know you’re good at it but it always looks awful rough.’

Harry strutted across his mother’s rag rug. ‘It’ll turn him into a real man, Kath. Go on, say you’ll let him try.’

‘Plenty of time yet,’ said Flo, wiping her hands on her faded apron. ‘Give the little fellow a chance to make up his own mind, and don’t be bothering Kathleen about it all the time.’

‘And look what it’s done to you,’ Mattie added. ‘Knocked what little sense you ever had clean out of your head.’

Harry folded his arms. ‘You won’t say that when I bring home the shield. I’ll have all the big promoters after me once I start winning big time. It won’t be long now, then you’ll have to fight your way to your own front door, the crowds’ll be out there shouting for me to sign their autograph books.’

Mattie shook her head. ‘Says you. That’ll be the day. More likely someone’ll bust your nose, then you’ll be all upset that your beauty’s ruined.’

Harry couldn’t help but turn to the mirror over the mantelpiece to check his face. He was good-looking and he knew it, with oak-brown hair that was thick enough to be the envy of all the girls he knew – and he knew a lot. So far, despite having been a keen amateur boxer for several years, his looks hadn’t been ruined and he’d kept his unmarked profile. ‘You’re just jealous,’ he said, ruffling Mattie’s hair because he knew it annoyed her.

‘Gerroff,’ she protested, swiping at him.

Joe cleared his throat, well used to breaking up arguments between his two younger siblings. ‘Give it a rest, you two. Let me read the paper in peace.’ He turned his attention back to the headlines, even though they didn’t make for cheerful reading.

‘Kath had the nurse round to see Brian today, you’d made him so poorly,’ Mattie said, goading her brother once more.

Harry’s face fell. ‘Really, Kath? Was he that bad? I’m sorry, I didn’t realise. You know I’d never do that deliberately.’

Kath nodded. ‘I know. He’s just got a bit of a cold, that’s probably all it is, but he was so hot and I couldn’t get him to settle. Anyway, the nurse was very kind. I think she’s new, I haven’t seen her before.’

‘There, see, Mattie, if you’d stayed on at school like your teacher wanted you to, you could have been a nurse too,’ said Harry.

Mattie tossed her head, and the remaining hair in her bun fell out and tumbled to her shoulders. ‘Leave it out, Harry. You know what it’s like as well as I do. They don’t let you do nothing in those nurses’ homes, it’s worse than being in school. I’d never have been able to marry my Lennie and then we wouldn’t have Gillian, and then you’d be sorry.’

Harry shrugged. ‘Suit yourself. I reckon they’re all hoity-toity anyway.’

Kathleen felt obliged to defend Alice. ‘This one wasn’t. She didn’t speak all posh like some of them. She wasn’t that much older than me neither. She was lovely and kind to Brian and she made me a cup of tea. I felt better for seeing her and that’s the truth.’

Flo put a gentle hand on the young woman’s shoulder. ‘Don’t you let that Harry wind you up. I’m glad the nurse could help. That’s what we pay into the provident scheme for, after all.’

Kathleen’s face flushed red in embarrassment, knowing she couldn’t afford to be part of the scheme, but Mattie came to her rescue. ‘Kath’s right, this one wasn’t hoity-toity. She spoke normal – she’s not from round here though. Anyway, that didn’t matter. If Gillian gets taken poorly I’m going to ask for her specially.’

‘I don’t think they let you do that,’ warned Joe from behind his paper with its picture of Neville Chamberlain on the front.

‘Well, they might. If they do I’m going to tell them I want Alice Lake,’ said Mattie firmly. ‘You can say what you like, Joe. I’m going to try, but touch wood I don’t have to.’

Harry immediately touched his sister’s head, and was swiped away once more.

Joe sighed and folded the paper in half, laying it on the table. ‘I don’t like the sound of this,’ he said quietly, tapping one of the articles. ‘They’re gearing up for something big, that’s what it feels like.’

‘Oh, don’t be like that, Joe,’ said Mattie. ‘It’s all a big fuss over nothing, I bet.’

Joe shook his head, and his mother caught his expression. Normally she’d be the first to encourage everyone to look on the bright side, but her eldest’s face gave her pause. She was increasingly coming to respect his views. Joe was the one who’d buckled down to his lessons and got a scholarship to the technical college, a rare achievement for a boy from Jeeves Street. He knew what he was talking about. Mattie could have done well at school if she hadn’t had boys on the brain, and Harry had only ever shown interest in boxing. But her Joe – she was quietly extremely proud of her firstborn. He was going to make something of his life – if this threat of war didn’t get in the way.

Now she busied herself stacking plates beside the stove. Worrying about the future wouldn’t change it. What mattered to her were the people in this room right now – her children and the friend who was almost a member of the family, along with the precious babies. Only one person was missing, and footsteps outside the back door heralded his arrival.

Stanley Banham pushed open the door and inhaled the delicious smell of his wife’s beef stew. ‘That’s something to come home to!’ he exclaimed, going across to peck her quickly on the cheek, as he wasn’t given to big shows of affection.

Flo Banham beamed. Now all was right in her world. She just hoped it would stay that way.

CHAPTER FOUR

Gwen wove her way along the busy street, automatically dodging the boys running messages for their employers, the housewives shopping for food, the small children too young to go to school. Her mind was whirling and she longed for the peace and quiet of her room at the nurses’ home to think about what she’d just heard.

She’d met up with her old friend Miriam for a cup of tea in a café just off Kingsland Road. Miriam, as always, was immaculately turned out, far more fashionable than Gwen had ever been, even when she’d been young and cared about such things. Miriam’s smart navy suit with wide white-trimmed collar put Gwen’s serviceable old brown jacket to shame.

However, Miriam had looked troubled and Gwen soon found out why. Miriam’s husband ran an upholstery factory not far from the café, and for years the business had been growing steadily. Now there was a change in the air, and unrest among some of the people working there. ‘It’s that Oswald Mosley, he stokes them up,’ Miriam complained. ‘He tells them it’s the Jews who are behind the threat of war, that it’s all our fault. Damn the man. You know his followers are doing disgusting things, pinning pigs’ heads to the synagogues, defacing our shops. It’s made Jacob really worried. Now, when he goes to business meetings, he says some of his former contacts ignore him.’

‘Mosley’s lot talk about peace though,’ Gwen pointed out.

‘Gwen!’ Miriam had been shocked. ‘You’re never telling me you agree with the Fascists? If you do, you’re not the woman I thought you were.’

‘No, no, of course not,’ Gwen said hurriedly. ‘It’s just that I can’t bear the thought of another war. You know what it’s like, you lived through the last one.’ She sighed. ‘I want to believe there’s hope that it won’t happen. Surely there’s still a chance?’

Miriam had raised a beautifully shaped eyebrow at her friend. ‘And if you believe that, Gwen, then again, you aren’t the woman I thought you were.’

They had changed the subject, turning to news of Miriam and Jacob’s son Max, who was in New York, partly for business and partly taking advantage of the chance to see the world. ‘I think he’s met a girl,’ Miriam confided. ‘He won’t say much – he never does. But a mother can tell.’

Gwen had nodded sagely, even though she had no children of her own.

Now she strolled slowly back to Victory Walk, her unease increasing with every step. She wanted so badly to hope that there wouldn’t be another war. What had happened twenty-five years ago had been unbearable and she didn’t think she could go through it all over again. She glanced at the street sign, thinking that it would be a hollow victory indeed if it was all to start up once more. But she was a realist, not a dreamer, and Miriam’s words had confirmed her growing fears. Miriam wasn’t given to despair; her own life had taught her to make the best of things. So if she was gloomy about the future, Gwen took it very seriously.

She valued her time with her friend. It was a respite from the hard daily work of a nurse, and also it was wonderful to chat with somebody her own age. Fiona Dewar was sensible and kind, but as superintendent of the busy nurses’ home she rarely had a moment for a casual chinwag. Gwen sighed. She couldn’t blame the other nurses for being young – after all, she herself had once been their age. But she could blame them – or at least some of them – for their silliness.

That Mary Perkins for a start. Heaven only knew how the girl had managed to qualify as a nurse. She had no common sense at all. To be fair, Gwen could see that she was good with her many elderly patients, warm and friendly. But she was as daft as a brush. She seemed to believe whatever anybody told her, whether it was likely to be true or not. How on earth had she ever passed her exams?

Then there were those new arrivals. Gwen prided herself on being a good judge of character and she could sense that Edith Gillespie had trouble written all over her. As yet she’d done nothing, but then she’d only been at the home for a week. Gwen decided to keep a very close eye on that one. She didn’t like disruptive influences in the home – that meant everyone was on edge and therefore didn’t work as well. That in turn might mean one of them could make a mistake, possibly a fatal one. She couldn’t allow that.

She was less sure about the other young woman, the taller one with the dark blonde hair. She was much harder to read. So far she’d shown herself to be competent and steady. Fiona had let slip that she had outstanding references. However, she gave very little away. She hadn’t shown any tendency towards flightiness, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t lurking there underneath. Gwen decided to keep a close eye on her as well, just in case. You couldn’t be too careful in this profession.

Pushing open the door to the nurses’ home she was greeted with a whoop of joy from somewhere on the lower-ground floor, probably the common room, and then there was a loud burst of laughter. Two seconds later Mary Perkins and that new girl, Edith, came skidding out into the corridor, hastily turning their run into a walk when they saw her glowering at them from the front porch.

‘I’m glad to see you are enjoying yourselves,’ Gwen said firmly, ‘but I must remind you that there is to be no running along the corridors. What if someone were to come down the stairs, possibly carrying something sharp?’

Mary Perkins nodded. ‘Of course. We were just pleased to find out that we’ve got the same free time this week.’

Gwen moved to one side to let them past. She doubted the pair would be spending their leisure hours studying together, or doing anything useful. She closed her eyes briefly. She really mustn’t condemn them out of hand, and yet she reckoned they didn’t have two ounces of brain cells to rub together between them.

‘Oooh, look, they’re definitely Canadian.’ Mary perched on her stool to one side of the Paramount’s dance floor, eyeing the crowd. She nudged Edith, who was looking the other way, trying to catch a glimpse of herself in one of the mirrors.

‘Careful! You nearly had my ginger beer.’ Edith adjusted herself on her stool. She knew it was a mistake to wear a white frock out dancing, it showed every smudge and spill, but she couldn’t resist showing it off. It had a tight waistband, full skirt and deep stiff collar, and she reckoned it was her best chance of looking suave and sophisticated. Being so short, she often felt like a schoolgirl. The downside of this frock was the pressing need to avoid anyone who might knock over a drink on it. Such as Mary.

Mary herself had piled her hair high and wore an equally arresting dress in turquoise silk, designed to draw attention to her curves. It was drawing the attentions of the Canadians right now, and two broke from their group and made their way over.

‘Excuse me, ladies, but would you care for a dance?’ asked the taller one, and Mary immediately jumped off her stool. Edith took in his friend, a pleasant-enough seeming young man, slightly more bashful but evidently keen to hit the floor. ‘Shall we?’ she said, carefully putting her glass on a small side table.

‘Gosh, you’re a good dancer,’ Mary said after the Canadians had reluctantly retreated in order to catch their breath. ‘I can see you’ve done this before.’ The loud hum of many young people enjoying themselves almost drowned out her voice.

‘I have, though I didn’t come here very often,’ Edith admitted. ‘Tottenham Court Road was too far from where I grew up, and we trained in West London so it was usually the Hammersmith Palais. That’s too far from Dalston though. Anyway, you’re not so bad yourself.’

‘That nice pilot was very sweet and said all the right things, but actually he had two left feet. I had to do all the work while making him think he was leading me.’ Mary sighed. ‘Why is it some grown men can’t count to four? It’s not hard.’

‘I hope he’s better at numbers when he’s navigating,’ Edith giggled, swigging the last of her ginger beer. Then her face fell. ‘Talking of numbers, have you seen the time? We’ve well and truly missed curfew.’

Mary shrugged. ‘We knew we probably would.’

Edith looked guilty. ‘Yes, but Alice will wait up. It’s not fair on her. We’ll have to go. What a shame, here come those pilots again. You explain to them we must be off and I’ll go and queue at the cloakroom.’

Mary nodded reluctantly. ‘All right, although we might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb. I don’t want to upset Alice, though. You fetch my cream jacket and I’ll let these nice young men down gently, and won’t tell them it’s because one of them can’t dance for toffee.’

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.