The District Nurses of Victory Walk

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

‘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.

She’d missed the first introductions, although it wasn’t hard to see that the other man was related to the first. He wasn’t as strikingly good-looking and his hair was darker, but he had similar features. His expression was pleasant but warier. Alice had the clear impression that he wouldn’t have invited a party of strange women to join his family group on the slight pretext of sharing a bottle opener, but he seemed friendly enough. Then the woman turned around properly and she realised she knew her.

‘It’s Nurse Lake, isn’t it?’ said the young woman, kneeling up and placing her baby on the ground in front of her, where there was a pale yellow knitted blanket. ‘Alice?’

‘Mattie! How nice to see you,’ said Alice, swiftly recognising her first patient’s friend. ‘Is this your baby? Isn’t she a little beauty?’

‘Yes, this is Gillian,’ said Mattie, beaming with pride. ‘And these are my brothers, Harry and Joe. Looks as if you’ve already met Harry.’ She pulled an affectionate face. ‘This is the nurse I told you about a few weeks ago, the one who came to see to Brian after you gave him your cold, Harry.’

Harry stuck out his hand. ‘Pleased to meet you. Mattie told us all about you. Are you all nurses, then?’

‘We are,’ said Edith. ‘So you can believe us when we say that it’s very important not to get too thirsty on a hot day.’

‘And is shandy an acceptable medicine?’ asked Harry, eyes bright with mischief.

‘It is.’ Edith nodded seriously.

Alice turned back to Mattie. ‘And how is little Brian now? I haven’t heard from Mrs Berry again, so I assumed he was better, but you never know.’

Mattie shifted a little so that Alice could sit down beside her. ‘He’s much better. They almost came with us today but then Kathleen had to go to see her mother about something or other. She said he had a bit of a temperature for a few days after you saw him and some sniffles, but it didn’t last long. He’ll be all right.’

‘Good.’ Alice was relieved. ‘And your friend? Kathleen? How is she? It must be so tiring, looking after a baby on her own, especially when he’s sick.’

Mattie pursed her mouth. ‘Well, she’s as right as can be expected when her husband’s buggered off and left her with hardly a penny. He thinks she can live off air alone. No wonder she’s so thin. My mother feeds her up as much as she can, but Kath’s got her pride.’ She suddenly came to a halt. ‘Sorry, you probably don’t want to know that sort of thing.’

Alice shook her head. ‘Don’t worry, she told me something of the sort when I was there, and I could see she was underweight, and so was Brian.’

Joe sat up and looked at his sister. ‘Mattie, I don’t think you should say things like that about your friend. She’s not here to defend herself.’

Alice leant back a little at the tone of his voice, but Mattie wasn’t deterred.

‘You weren’t there to see how upset Kathleen was, Joe. She was much better by the time you got home, and Brian was on the mend because Nurse Alice was kind to him. I’m only saying what anyone can see for themselves.’

Joe’s frown deepened. ‘It’s her business though, Mattie. You wouldn’t like it if anyone talked about you behind your back or said things about Gillian.’

‘I should hope not!’ Mattie tugged at her collar to loosen it. ‘It’s not the same, is it? Lennie gives me plenty to live on and Gillian is healthy as a horse.’

‘Really, I don’t want to upset anyone,’ said Alice hurriedly, feeling caught in the middle.

‘That’s enough, now, Mattie,’ Joe said, though he looked directly at Alice who felt the weight of his disapproval. ‘I’m sure Kathleen wouldn’t thank any of us for airing her dirty laundry in public.’

So that’s what he thought, Alice realised, that she went around gossiping about her patients. ‘I can assure you …’ she began, but he looked away.

‘I’m sure you acted for the best,’ he said, and then moved so that he was on the other side of the group, leaving Harry, Mary and Edith in the middle, mixing their shandies.

Alice felt a warm anger flushing her cheeks but was determined to hide it. Who did Joe Banham think he was, accusing her of something like that?

‘Want one?’ Mary asked Alice.

Alice almost had to grit her teeth. ‘No, that lemonade was enough, thanks.’

‘Mattie, how about you?’ Mary offered.

Mattie shook her head ruefully. ‘I’d better not. I’m feeding Gillian and some folks say it don’t do her any good.’

Trying to shake off her annoyance, Alice nodded in approval. She’d come across plenty of mothers who thought nothing of having a drink while feeding their babies, but she agreed that it wasn’t good for them.

‘Then I’ll take you back, Mattie,’ said Joe, getting to his feet. ‘Those buses will be getting crowded now these crowds are thinning out. You might as well come back with me and let Harry and his new friends get on with it.’

Mattie pulled a face but agreed. ‘I wouldn’t mind staying a bit longer, but I can always do with a hand, what with the pram and everything.’ She nodded towards where a big silver pram was parked under a neighbouring tree. ‘Bye then, Alice. Thanks again for looking after Kathleen like that. We won’t forget it.’

‘Only doing my job,’ smiled Alice, but she felt slightly resentful that Joe could just end the conversation so abruptly – and sounding so self-righteous, too. Who did he think he was, to pass judgement like that? She could feel herself blushing at the injustice of it but she held her tongue. She didn’t really know these people, after all. It wasn’t her place to cause trouble, and she’d probably never see him again anyway.

Mattie and Joe set off towards the pram and Alice pulled herself closer to the others, accepting a top-up of lemonade and a piece of fruitcake. She wasn’t going to let the incident ruin what had been a lovely afternoon. Poor Mattie to have such a killjoy of an older brother.

Joe Banham fumed silently as he stood on the lower floor of the crowded bus, having made sure Mattie got a seat and the pram was safely on board. It wasn’t just the press of people, or the heat, or the fact that some of their fellow passengers had clearly had more than a single mug of shandy while out enjoying themselves that afternoon. He was used to all that. No, it was the way that nurse had looked at him. It had made him uncomfortable and he didn’t know why.

He’d been surprised that the nurse Mattie had spoken so highly of had turned out to be so willing to listen to gossip. He had thought someone in such a profession would be above that sort of thing. Didn’t they have standards, a code of conduct or suchlike? Should he report her? No, he was being stupid, it wasn’t as bad as that – and yet, he’d reacted to her expression and the few things she’d said in a way that disturbed him. He could tell that she disapproved of him as well. Mattie had said she wasn’t hoity-toity like some of them but he wasn’t so sure. She probably thought she was above him and his family. Plenty of nurses came from good backgrounds and Alice Lake had probably been raised to have the best of everything; a far cry from growing up on Jeeves Street. Well, he was having none of it. He’d worked extremely hard to get his scholarship and had passed his exams at the technical college with flying colours. He was second to none and he wouldn’t stand for some toffee-nosed nurse looking down at him. She had no right. Just because she had a smattering of new freckles on her nose and bright blue eyes, she probably thought she could get around anybody. Well, it wasn’t going to work with him.

He brought himself up short. He hadn’t realised he’d noticed those details about her – they’d only been sitting together for a matter of minutes when it came down to it. It was silly to get worked up about such a small incident on what had up till then been a fine day out. Mattie often found it difficult to get anywhere beyond walking distance if it meant manoeuvring the pram onto public transport and he’d been pleased to help his sister. The trip had been worth it for that alone. He was damned if he would let thoughts of that blonde nurse ruin the occasion.

CHAPTER SIX

July 1939

‘A word, Alice, if I may.’ Fiona Dewar popped her head out of her office doorway just as Alice was walking by. Alice wondered how she did it – was it just luck, did she already recognise her footsteps, or was the superintendent even smarter than they thought? Alice quickly racked her brains for anything she might have done wrong over the past few weeks. Surely she wasn’t going to be blamed for helping Edith and Mary defy the curfew? That was all over and done with.

‘Nothing to worry about,’ Fiona Dewar said, catching the change of expression on the young nurse’s face. ‘I have something I wish to speak to you about, that’s all. Take a seat, do.’ She herself sat down behind her desk, quickly restacking a pile of papers out of habit.

Alice did as she was asked, her mind racing. She touched her Queen’s Nurse badge at her throat, as she often did when anxious.

‘Well, now.’ Fiona sat back in her chair. ‘We have been approached by a local primary school – St Benedict’s, maybe you know it? Just on the other side of Kingsland High Street. You’ll have cycled past it, I’m sure.’

Alice frowned and then nodded. ‘Yes, I know the one. A big brick building, not far from the market.’

Fiona beamed. ‘Got it in one. It’s just opposite the entrance to Ridley Road but along a bit. If you haven’t done so already, you’ll most likely be treating some patients who attend there.’

Alice nodded again. ‘I don’t think I’ve done so yet.’ Then she stopped. ‘No, wait, I have treated the younger brother of one of the pupils there. From one of those really crowded terraces behind the High Street. I went there last week.’

The house had been almost falling down around their ears. Alice had had to strain her eyes to work out who was human and what was furniture, the light was so dim in the front room, despite the sunshine outside. The referral had come from Dr Beasley, often called Beastly Beasley by some of the nurses behind his back, as he didn’t seem to possess an ounce of compassion. Mary could do a horribly realistic impersonation of him. Alice wasn’t surprised that he had failed to warn her of the depths of this family’s situation. It was the most dire she had yet come across.

The patient was hardly more than a baby but already he was showing signs of rickets. Alice had struggled to know what to say to start with. The little boy was sweating, restless, and when she gently touched his limbs he recoiled as if it caused him pain.

‘He always does that, Nurse,’ said the mother, as she tried to restrain a slightly older child – a girl, Alice thought, but in the murk it was tricky to tell. ‘He wouldn’t crawl nor nothing. His dad says he’s just lazy.’

Alice hadn’t been able to prevent her eyebrows from rising. ‘I’m not sure that’s right,’ she said as steadily as she could. ‘It could be a symptom of rickets. Do you know what that is?’

‘Oh, that.’ The mother paused. ‘Yes, me granddad’s sister had it, made her short as anything. I hope that isn’t what Frankie’s got, poor little mite.’ She turned to shoo away the girl. ‘What can we do for him, Nurse? It’s horrible to see those what’s got the bandy legs. The other kids won’t half take the mick. I don’t want that.’

Alice had sighed. The textbook answer would be: keep him outside in the sunlight as much as possible, without putting weight on his legs. There was as much chance of that as teaching him to fly, as there was scarcely room to swing a cat between the rows of the terrace, and the back yard stank from the privy shared between all the houses. Then she should suggest improving the child’s vitamin intake with bone soups, fresh pasteurised milk and green vegetables, especially spinach. That was unlikely to happen either.

This was an occasion to resort to the authorities. Taking a deep breath, Alice plunged in. ‘In that case,’ she said, ‘I strongly recommend you take Frankie to the Infant Welfare Clinic and they will be able to refer you for assistance. He needs a special diet while there is still time. Don’t delay, but don’t despair either. We can help his bones to grow more normally, but not on what he’s eating at the moment.’

Frankie’s mother had balked at that but then she had nodded. ‘All right. I don’t hold with going to the welfare for nothing, but if it’s his only chance …’

‘It’s a very good chance,’ Alice had answered immediately, determined to drive the point home. And, she thought to herself, I’m going to contact the Sanitary Inspector for once. There’s overcrowding and filthy living conditions and then there’s this. Whoever is renting this out as a family home needs reporting.

‘Ah yes. I heard about that,’ Fiona said now. ‘Well done.’ The superintendent clasped her hands together on her desk and went on: ‘St Benedict’s are concerned about instilling good habits of hygiene in their pupils. Sadly we can’t assume that parents have the time or knowledge to teach the children as well as might be desired.’ She looked Alice directly in the eye. ‘You’ll already have noticed that the homes around here have widely different facilities available. Some have indoor bathrooms with running water. Some make do with a tin bath hung on the scullery door and an outside toilet but have running water indoors nonetheless. Some don’t even have that. As I believe you saw for yourself only the other day.’ She paused and sighed. ‘When you have a family consisting of several generations under one small roof, teaching each child how best to brush their teeth is seldom a priority. And very few of them can afford a trip to the dentist.’

‘No, I suppose not,’ said Alice.

‘That’s where we come in,’ Fiona announced. ‘Or, more precisely, you, Alice, if you are willing to take on this service.’