Rainbow's End (45 page)

‘Yeah,’ agreed Nellie. ‘But people do change, Dee. It’s bin years since you seen ’em together. They’re not engaged, are they?’

‘No,’ agreed Deirdre, ‘But we saw them kissin’ once, me and Donal.’

‘Kissin’ – that don’t mean nothin’,’ Nellie said scornfully. ‘Didn’t you know that – well, it don’t mean nothin’ if they ’aven’t got engaged since.’

‘Yes, but the war,’ Deirdre pointed out. ‘There weren’t much they could do. They’ve bin’ in different parts of France until fairly recently and soon she’ll be in France and he’ll be in Liverpool. You can’t get much further apart than that.’

‘No, I expect you’re right,’ agreed Nellie. ‘Still, our Dee, you don’t want to give up any idea of Tolly gettin’ fond of you. Your Ellen’s nursin’, you say. She must ha’ met a great many fellers over there. How d’you know she’s norrin love with one of them?’

‘’Cos she’d have said,’ Deirdre said smartly, slapping a round of chopped ham on a slice of margarined bread. ‘Anyway, it don’t really matter. I’m really goin’ to enjoy havin’ him home, and I’m not goin’ to let Donal parade him round the shops like a raree-show seein’ what extras he can get,’ she added crossly. ‘Trust a boy to think of a thing like that! Chuck us some more bread, queen.’

‘It was a beautiful golden October day and Ellen had for once managed to get a whole day off from the hospital and she and Patsy had decided to walk into the country and have a picnic. The countryside which surrounded her present hospital was wooded and the fields which, a month earlier, had waved with golden grain were now stubbled or had been ploughed, and the two girls were in holiday mood. They had managed to persuade one of the cooks to allow them to make sandwiches in the hospital kitchens, a seed cake had been bought from the local village and bottles had been filled with weak lemonade, and now they were determined to enjoy their day and forget the war.

‘We might have a move down to the coast before winter,’ Patsy said as they walked along. ‘I wouldn’t mind a bit of seaside air.’

‘Nor me,’ Ellen said. ‘Still you couldn’t get anywhere much more beautiful than this.’

‘No, it is lovely,’ agreed Patsy. The two of them were walking along a quiet, dusty lane and had stopped to lean over a five-barred gate and examine the view.

‘Odd, how peaceful it looks,’ Ellen said thoughtfully. ‘I just hope it doesn’t get overrun when the fighting starts again.’

‘We pushed them back here, so they’ll attack somewhere else, I expect,’ Patsy said. ‘When we reach the wood ahead should we come off the road a bit and wander through the trees?’

‘Yes, that would be lovely.’

The two girls continued on their way, trying desperately hard not to think about the war, the hospital or any of the other things which had happened to them of late. Although the battle of Passchendaele was largely behind them there were always the injured to be nursed and it sometimes seemed to them that their work never lessened.

They reached the wood and turned down a narrow path between the trees. Over their heads the boughs were still in leaf, although the many colours of autumn had overtaken the green of summer and Ellen guessed that the first high winds would strip the trees of their colourful burden. They walked on for a short way, then Ellen looked to the left and saw a clearing in the trees. She pulled at Patsy’s arm. ‘Patsy, look.’

Patsy followed her friend’s gaze. ‘The clearing? So what?’

‘Blackberries, millions of them. Oh, I love blackberries!’

‘So do I – we must take some back to the hospital. Tell you what, if we eat our food first then we can put the blackberries in the basket,’ Patsy suggested. ‘Cookie will be pleased and it’ll be a lovely change for the fellers to have some fresh fruit.’

‘Good idea,’ Ellen said, as they emerged from the trees. ‘Look, there’s a stream. Shall we sit down beside it and have our sandwiches?’

‘Well, let’s walk along beside it for a little way,’ Patsy said. ‘It’s a bit early for lunch.’

The stream was as delightful as the girls could have wished. It ran over a rocky bed between gentle green banks upon which foliage crowded close to the water.

Ellen knew that Patsy was right and that they shouldn’t have lunch too soon, so they continued to walk beside the water until they came to a part where the stream widened out into a tiny beach, surrounded by cool green grass.

‘Here we are,’ said Ellen, settling herself on the bank above the little beach. ‘This is ideal. Come on, get the food out.’

‘It’s perfect,’ Patsy agreed. ‘We can stand the bottles in the water – it’ll keep them cool.’

The picnic was good. It was lovely to sit on the cool grass and eat the food they had prepared, whilst around them birds sang softly in the undergrowth and the little stream chattered. Presently, full of delicious food, the girls rolled over on to their backs and lay looking up at the blue sky through the canopy of branches overhead.

‘We musn’t go to sleep – just a little doze, eh?’ Ellen said presently. ‘But a rest won’t hurt – not too long, though, because we’ve got to get back before it’s dark. Later we can have a paddle to cool our tootsies.’

‘Well, we won’t go to sleep then,’ Patsy said. ‘We’ll just close our eyes for a minute or two.’

Ellen closed her eyes and the next thing she knew she was awoken by the sound of a sharp exclamation. Opening her eyes, she saw two young soldiers slipping and sliding their way into the grassy hollow, staring at them as if they had never seen nurses before. She sat up hastily and shook Patsy, feeling thoroughly embarrassed as she realised how dishevelled they were. The boys, however, were obviously equally taken aback. The one who had come down first, who had soft, dark hair falling over his face and a pair of bright, mischievous eyes, said rather lamely, ‘Oh! Sorry I am to disturb you gorls, we t’ought we was alone. We’re on a week’s R and R and we like to come here, me and me mate, when we’ve got time off. Never seen another soul here, have we, Steve?’

The lad called Steve, coming along behind, echoed the apologies. ‘Fancy uz findin’ de sleepin’ beauty,’ he said in unmistakable scouse accents. ‘Two sleepin’ beauties, Liam.’ Both boys and the girls laughed.

‘Not that beautiful,’ Ellen said ruefully, well aware of her crumpled uniform dress, sleep-flushed face and untidy hair. ‘Still, we don’t often get the chance to relax.’

‘No, nobody works harder than you girls,’ agreed Steve, the scouse boy. He glanced from one to the other interrogatively. ‘All right if we join you?’

‘Yes, please do,’ Ellen said. She smiled up at him. ‘Isn’t this a perfect spot? This is the first time we’ve been here – we don’t have a lorra time off. You’ve been here before, you said?’

‘Oh aye, the day before yesterday it was,’ Steve said. He sat down on the grass and his companion followed suit. ‘Well, we’d better introduce ourselves. I’m Steve Pryor and this is Liam Nolan. In case you hadn’t guessed, girls, he’s from Dublin.’

Ellen laughed. ‘The brogue gives it away,’ she said teasingly, ‘but it’s nice to hear a voice from nearer to home. We’re both from the ‘Pool, Patsy an’ me.’

‘Are you now?’ said Steve.’ So am I – as if you didn’t know the moment I opened me mouth!’

‘Whereabouts in Liverpool do you live?’ Ellen was asking. As she spoke she became very aware that the second young man, the Irish one, had his eyes fixed on her face with a burning intensity. She glanced towards him and quickly back to Steve. Did she have a smut on her nose? Was there something wrong? But she continued to address the young Liverpudlian. ‘I’m from Everton; what about you?’

‘I ’ail from the Scottie,’ Steve said laughing. ‘Can’t you tell?’

Ellen laughed too. ‘No, no,’ she said. ‘We all sound alike to me. Well, it’s nice to meet you, fellers. Oh, I’m Ellen Docherty and this is me friend Patsy Blythe from Toxteth. Did you have a picnic, something to eat?’

‘No, we just had a couple of sandwiches afore we left,’ Steve said. ‘Why, have youse got somethin’ left over?’

‘We have, there’s some seed cake. Would you like a bit?’

Both young men nodded eagerly and Patsy dived into the box and produced the crumbly cake which was left, dividing it into two and handing a piece to each of the soldiers. As soon as they had eaten the cake the men glanced quickly at each other and began to untie the laces on their heavy boots.

Liam turned to the girls with a gentle smile. ‘We roll up our trousers at this point and have a paddle, so we do,’ he informed them rather shyly. ‘Are you goin’ to join us?’ The girls looked at each other. Then they smiled at their companions.

‘We were thinkin’ of havin’ a paddle,’ Patsy admitted. ‘But then you turned up . . .’

‘Oh come on – youse were asleep,’ Steve said, ‘Anyway, we’ll paddle now, yeh?’

‘Yes, sure,’ said Patsy. The two girls turned discreetly away from the boys, shed their shoes, undid their stockings, rolled them down and took them off, then the four of them waded into the water. It was deliciously cool and comforting to hot feet, though they had to avoid the rocks.

‘I feel like a five-year-old again,’ Ellen said, ‘Goin’ down to Seaforth Sands and paddlin’ in the sea for the first time; or in the Mersey acourse. It’s great paddlin’ in the Mersey, if you climb down the chains on the old bridge, the swing bridge, an’ don’t mind the mud.’

‘Ah, you’ve done that,’ Steve said. ‘Me an’ all.’

‘Me too,’ Patsy said. ‘Hasn’t every girl? Every little boy and girl?’

‘Not so many of the girls,’ Ellen said. ‘New Brighton for them. More posh.’ The four of them laughed companionably.

‘Would you like to wade a wee way upstream?’ Liam said presently to Ellen, ‘Come on, let the other two explore the other way. No messin’ around. No funny business. Just have a look and see where it goes.’

‘Right,’ said Ellen. ‘I’d like to see where it goes. Have you gone upstream before?’

‘Well, we have,’ Liam admitted. ‘You can’t get very far – the banks get too overgrown and the water goes deep, I’ll show you. But it’s nice, so it is.’

Holding up her skirts with one hand Ellen followed Liam up the stream and, as he had said, the undergrowth began to crowd closer to the banks until they reached a deep pool with willows hanging over it, which effectively stopped any further exploration by water. As they turned round to go back Ellen became aware once more of Liam’s eyes on her face. ‘You do stare,’ she said, half laughing. ‘Would you know me again?’

‘I . . . I . . . almost think I knew you before,’ Liam said hesitantly. ‘You’re awful like someone I knew, so you are.’

‘That is the oldest line in the world,’ Ellen said, laughing. ‘Unless I’m like your mam, of course.’

‘No – not me mam – a friend . . .’ Liam said slowly. ‘A good friend – shall I show you her likeness?’

‘Yes, sure,’ Ellen said.

Liam fished around in the pocket of his battledress and pulled out a small photograph which, after looking at it for a minute, he handed to her.

The photograph showed a girl with a boy – undoubtedly Liam himself – on a beach. The girl was facing towards the camera and after a long, careful look Ellen could see what Liam meant. The girl had long, thick, very curly hair just like her own and a similarly shaped face. She handed the photograph back. ‘Yes, I know what you mean, there does seem to be a certain likeness,’ she said lightly. ‘Your girlfriend?’

‘In a way,’ Liam said. ‘She was killed. We was brought up together as kids. I’d known her . . . ten years . . . somethin’ like that. We were good friends.’

‘I’m sorry,’ Ellen said quietly. ‘Was she a nurse, or involved in the war in any way?’

‘No, she was killed in an accident,’ Liam said bluntly. ‘I try not to think about that. Now, what plans have you two got for the rest of the day? Steve and I thought we might pick some blackberries. That’s why we come back – for a feed of ’em. Would you like some, to make up for givin’ us your cake?’

‘Oh, if you’re going to pick blackberries, so are we,’ Ellen said eagerly. ‘We decided to have our food early so we could use the basket for the fruit.’

‘Oh, great – well, let’s get back to the others then.’

Back on the bank once more, sitting down and drying her legs as best she could with her handkerchief, and rolling on her stockings, Ellen realised that paddling in the stream had definitely broken the ice. Steve and Patsy were talking as if they had known each other all their lives and she felt comfortable and at ease with Liam. Covertly she watched him as he sat on the bank, relacing his boots and chatting to his friend. She decided he was nice to look at, with his thick dark hair falling across a tanned brow. His eyes were cobalt blue and rimmed with thick black lashes, and his chin had a deep cleft in it. He was several inches taller than herself and slim, but his shoulders were broad, his hands strong. He looks . . . reliable . . . she decided, fastening her own shoes and getting to her feet. And his voice is lovely, soft and melodious – I’d like to know him better.

But right now, they were off to gather blackberries so she had better stop mooning or she’d get left behind and that would never do!

The bramble patch, when they reached it, proved to be enormous and rich with huge blackberries. The boys insisted on putting their fruit in with Patsy’s and Ellen’s in the picnic basket but were happy to eat some as they picked.

‘Sure an’ ’tis terrible for your skin,’ said Liam to Ellen, displaying hands purpled with the berry juice, ‘and for your clothes. That’s your uniform dress – what happened to you? Look, it’s ruined entirely, so it is.’

‘Oh don’t say that,’ Ellen said reproachfully. ‘It’s not ruined, just, just . . .’

‘Let me push into the bushes; my uniform’s tough,’ Liam said. ‘You stay on the outside and pick from there.’

They soon filled the basket, thoroughly enjoying the work and each other’s company, and in the course of their blackberry picking managed to glean a good deal of information about each other. Liam was in the infantry, as was Steve, and the girls told the boys about their nursing and the various hospitals they had worked in.