A WELCOME BREAK

story contd.

The Christmas dance was fun. It was formal and Matron would invite the army or navy from the nearby bases. We had a dance every month in the Nurses Recreation Room and there was a steady flow of young men – engineers and under grads and forces – all under the watchful eye of Matron and her army of senior staff – so there was no malarking. You could, of course sneak out into the grounds on the pretext of showing the visitors the wards from the outside, but you’d better not linger too long in the shrubbery.

I wore a beautiful white lace dress – handed down from Maddie, and with a bunch of violets pinned to my bosom felt quite grown up. I met a nice sailor from Kent and we arranged to meet when I came back from holiday. Actually I wasn’t very good with boys. Mostly I regarded them as chums and when they started getting soppy my interest waned. On the rare occasions I fancied someone I behaved in such a way as to frighten them off. I was only seventeen and expected I would get better with age.

At home Gran was excited about her forthcoming trip to the States to visit Auntie Janet who was expecting her first baby. Evan was swotting for School Cert and planning on leaving school afterwards and training as a mining engineer. I found it difficult to imagine my little brother ever having a career without me there to look after him, but he seemed to have managed so far.

There was a happy reunion with Annie who was enjoying her Fever Training. When I told her about my training school she said she was sure she had made the right decision as ‘Pen ‘ sounded too rigorous.

At last it was time to take the train to Oxbridge. Mrs T, next door gave me ten shillings – bless her – and I had saved up enough money – as long as I was careful. I don’t remember why I was travelling overnight – maybe it was cheaper – and it was a difficult cross country journey. The excitement of travelling alone in the middle of the night wore off when a strange, beefy man with a long ginger beard boarded the train at Melton Mowbray, took off his shoes and put his feet on the seat beside me.
The best time to arrive at your destination is early in the morning when you can see and smell it au natural. When I saw the ‘dreaming spires’ and the mist rising from the river I realised that cities could be beautiful.

Maddie met me and we went for a coffee in the High and she showed me the Asmolean where her art school had been evacuated to. We had been invited to have tea in MTL’s rooms later in the week. She and Paul had rooms in a large old house outside the town and a soldier friend of Paul’s’ was also staying. Maddie and I had lots to catch up with and we chattered and giggled non stop – much to Paul’s annoyance. I don’t think he was delighted we were seeing Liam and MTL On the day I made sure my hair was freshly washed and dressed in a suit hoping it would make me look older. When we reached the porter’s lodge there was someone studying the notice board and as we spoke to the porter he turned round and it was MTL. Gosh! I’d forgotten those dark gypsy-ish looks.