It was still pitch dark outside, with feathery flakes of snow swirling in the yellow shafts of
gaslight. Rosetta shut the door and locked it. ‘Where’s Granny?’
‘Took to her bed. She says she’s caught her death coming out in the cold every morning so I told her to stay in the warm.’
‘It is a bit parky. Come and have a cup of tea before you start.’
Taking off her bonnet and shawl, Sarah followed Rosetta through to the kitchen. ‘You’ll never guess what, Rose. I found a letter from Ruby on the mat when I got home yesterday. All the way from South Africa it come. Can you believe that?’
‘From Ruby? What did she say? Let’s see it, Mum.’
As she fumbled in her pocket, Sarah’s face crumpled with dismay. ‘Bother! I must have left it on the mantelpiece. I put it there special so I would bring it this morning. I was so busy running up and downstairs to your gran that I must have left it behind.’
Pouring tea, Rosetta handed it to her mother. ‘Never mind. What did she say? Is she all right? Has she seen Joe?’
Clasping the mug in her chilled hands, Sarah gave one of her rare smiles. ‘No, she ain’t seen Joe, but Africa’s a big place. It weren’t a long letter but she said she’s well and with them friends of hers, Pamela and that young doctor, what’s his name?’
‘Adam, the one she fancies! Adam Fairfax.’
‘No, ducks, you’re wrong there, he’s engaged to that Pamela. Anyway, they’re on the hospital train what Princess Christian sent out to look after the troops, waiting to go to that place what’s under siege and I can’t for the life of me remember its name.’
‘You mean Ladysmith? I read about it in the newspaper.’
‘That’s it. Ladysmith. Funny old name for a town, I thought. Anyway, I hope it’s all over soon so that Ruby and Joe can come home safe. I can’t sleep at night for worrying about them.’
Before Rosetta had a chance to ask more questions, the door to the bakehouse opened and Billy came in on a gust of hot air. ‘Mother Capretti! I thought you wasn’t coming.’
Casting an irritated glance at Billy’s flushed face, running with sweat, Rosetta frowned. ‘Give her a chance. She’s only just put her foot through the door.’
‘I’ll take me tea into the bakehouse,’ Sarah said, getting to her feet.
‘Give us a cup, Rose,’ Billy said, slipping his arm around her waist. ‘I’m parched.’
Rose wriggled free. ‘Help yourself. I’ll open up.’
‘Good girl. We’ll catch the dockers on their way to work. You’ve got a good head for business, ducks.’
By mid-morning the snow had melted into slush and the first rush of the day was over. Rosetta had shut the door to the stairs so that she did not have to listen to Martha’s outraged yelling as Elsie attempted to wean her on to cow’s milk. The shop was empty and, taking advantage of the temporary respite, Rosetta sat down on a stool behind the counter to study a copy of yesterday’s
Daily Mail
that someone had left behind. She was engrossed in an article about a meeting held in Mile End to protest at the war against the Boers that had ended in uproar, when the shop bell tinkled. Annoyed at the interruption, Rosetta glanced up and the newspaper slid to the floor as she jumped to her feet.
‘Good morning, Mrs Noakes,’ Jonas said, tipping his hat.
‘Mr Crowe!’ Rosetta could hardly speak; her heart seemed to leap into her throat, almost choking her. ‘What – I mean, can I help you?’
Tapping his kid-gloved hand with the ivory handle of his umbrella, Jonas looked around at the display of loaves and buns with a wry smile. ‘I haven’t come to buy a loaf. I need to contact your sister. Can you give me a forwarding address?’
Suffocating with jealousy, Rosetta could barely speak. ‘She’s gone to Africa.’
‘I know that, but there must be a forwarding address.’
‘If there is, then I don’t know it.’
‘Perhaps Mrs Capretti has it? I really do need to contact Ruby; it’s important.’
‘She won’t be interested in anything what you’ve got to say, specially now she’s got herself engaged.’ The spiteful words were out before she could stop herself, but Rosetta had the satisfaction of seeing Jonas’s face frozen with shock. Having started, she couldn’t stop. ‘He’s a doctor, you know, from a well-to-do family. They’re madly in love and she said they might not even wait until they get back to England. In fact, they might have tied the knot already.’
It had all happened in such a rush. One minute it seemed to Ruby that she had been happily working on the wards at the London and the next she had found herself on a steam ship bound for South Africa. Strictly speaking she should not have been included in the ranks of the qualified nurses, but Sister Tutor had made an exception in recommending her. Still smouldering at the revelation that it had been Jonas and not Adam who had been instrumental in her being accepted as a nurse probationer, Ruby took some comfort from the knowledge that this time she had been chosen on her own merits. Justifying her reasons for wanting to be included on this dangerous mission, Ruby convinced herself that she would be a poor friend if she stayed safely at home while Pamela was risking her life to help the sick and injured. Adam would need people around him he could trust to keep to his high standards and Ruby knew that she had to be there, working at his side, no matter what personal danger she had to face. She might never be able to live with Adam
as his wife, but she would gladly give her life for him.
She had said a hurried goodbye to the family, saddened by Rosetta’s stubborn refusal to speak to her or even wish her well. Billy had given her a brotherly hug and Mum had cried a lot, saying it was bad enough to lose a son to the bloody war let alone a daughter. Surprisingly, it had been Granny Mole who had told her she was a brave girl and doing the right thing, and that her poppa would have been proud of her. After that it had all been hustle and bustle, packing a few things in a suitcase and being taken to the docks to board the ship, finding the cabin she was to share with Pamela and two other nurses deep below the waterline and getting used to the way of life on board.
Ruby was one of the lucky ones who had found her sea legs by the time the ship reached the turbulent waters of the Bay of Biscay, but Pamela had succumbed to seasickness almost as soon as the ship was under weigh. Ruby had tried to help, but when the weather was bad around the Cape Pam had been certain that she wanted to die, and it was only when they approached the calmer waters of the Indian Ocean that she had begun to recover just a little. Although conditions were hardly those of a cruise liner Ruby had enjoyed the trip, taking guilty pleasure in Adam’s company while Pamela was suffering in
martyred silence in their stuffy, overcrowded cabin.
On the last leg of its voyage, the ship was steaming towards Durban, expected to make landfall the following day. Ruby went for a walk on deck after the evening meal, hoping that she might – by accident, of course – meet Adam. The sun was plummeting like a fireball behind a purple stripe of coastline to the west, turning the sea to molten bronze. Seabirds wheeled and cried overhead and, for the first time since they left England, Ruby could smell land. Her stomach churned with excitement at the prospect of reaching their destination, but she was sorry that this voyage would soon be just a bittersweet memory. Tomorrow they would have to leave the well-ordered routine of living on board ship and face the grim realities of war. But whatever was to come, she knew that nothing could erase the pictures in her mind of a world where the sea met the sky in endless shades of green and blue. She would take to her grave the thrill of standing on deck with Adam watching dolphins swimming and leaping playfully out of the water. She would always treasure the conversations they had shared when he had told her of his hopes and dreams for the future. All this seemed a million magical miles from the filth and poverty of Whitechapel and the hell of the battlefield that was to come.
She saw him, leaning on the ship’s rail, gazing out across the vast, violet expanse of the Indian Ocean and her heart did a somersault inside her chest. How fine Adam looked in army officer’s uniform, with the last rays of the sun glinting on his golden hair.
Almost as though he sensed her presence, Adam turned his head and his smile pierced her heart like an arrow. ‘Ruby, come and watch our last sunset at sea. We should arrive in Durban late tomorrow afternoon.’
‘So soon?’
‘Are you afraid?’
‘Yes, a bit.’
‘Me too.’
‘No!’ Ruby stared up into his face. ‘I don’t believe it.’
‘It’s not something I would admit to just anyone,’ Adam said, smiling ruefully. ‘I hate violence and I don’t believe that fighting a war will solve the basic problems.’
‘But you’ve got to stand up for what you think is right.’ Ruby stared at him, shocked by his words, struggling with the thought that Adam wouldn’t last long in the East End if he couldn’t handle himself in a rough-up.
‘I agree, but I’d rather do it with diplomacy than the sword.’
Puzzled, Ruby frowned. ‘Then why did you come? Why didn’t you stay safe at home?’
‘Do you think I’m a coward, Ruby?’
‘No, but sometimes you’ve just got to fight,’ Ruby said, remembering the violence of the street gang attacking Bronski in his sweatshop, and Joe knocked to the ground and barely conscious. Big Biddy hadn’t been afraid to have a go, even if she had landed on the wrong bloke. ‘Sometimes you’ve got to show a bully what’s what.’
‘I patch people up – that’s my job. I leave the bloodletting to prizefighters, soldiers and men like Jonas Crowe. You were well out of that house, Ruby. I didn’t like to say anything at the time because it really wasn’t any of my business, but I could never understand what a nice girl like you was doing working for a man like Crowe.’
‘Maybe nice girls like me don’t have much choice,’ Ruby shot back at him, feeling the blood rushing to her cheeks. ‘We can’t all be born with a silver spoon in our mouth.’
‘Now I’ve offended you. I’m sorry, Ruby.’
Shaking her head, Ruby turned away. The difference in their backgrounds had never seemed so unbridgeable, and she couldn’t bring herself to look him in the face.
‘Look, Ruby. Just look at that sunset.’ Abruptly changing the subject, Adam pointed at the dying sun as it plunged below the distant hills. ‘Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?’
‘I’ve never even seen the sea before. I’ve never been to Southend, let alone Africa.’
‘Life is strange, isn’t it?’ Adam said slowly, staring into the distance. ‘But for the war we wouldn’t be standing here on this ship, miles from home, watching the sun setting over the African continent. It feels like a world apart, don’t you think?’
Ruby gripped the iron railing and felt the throb of the ship’s engines beating like her own heart. Adam’s candid blue eyes searched her face for an answer; the warmth of his body enveloped her like a cloak as a cool breeze ruffled the surface of the sea, snatching playfully at her long skirt. She swallowed hard. ‘It isn’t Whitechapel and that’s for certain.’
Adam’s laughter broke the tension between them. ‘Ruby, you are such a breath of fresh air. Don’t ever change.’
‘Oh well, I’m glad I’ve got some uses,’ Ruby replied, staring down into the sucking swell of the water as the hull sliced through the waves. She looked up, startled, as Adam took her hand and tucked it in the crook of his arm.
‘I’m sorry. I’m saying all the wrong things tonight, but I truly meant it; you are so refreshingly honest. Most of the girls I know simper and smile and say things they think I want to hear. You’re different: you speak your mind.’
‘Pamela isn’t like that.’
‘Pam is the sweetest girl in the world and I love her dearly but you’re a chum, Ruby. I can say things to you that I would never say even to Pam. You don’t mind, do you?’
Allowing herself the luxury of leaning against him as the ship changed course slightly, Ruby shook her head. ‘No, of course not. I’m glad we’re friends, Adam.’
Making landfall in Durban next day, they were transported to Maritzburg and the military hospital at Fort Napier. Ruby couldn’t quite grasp the idea that it was the middle of January and nearing the end of summer, whereas they had left England shivering beneath a blanket of grey clouds that threatened snow. By contrast it was very hot during the day in Durban, much hotter than Ruby had ever experienced in England, but mercifully a lot cooler at night. The nurses were set to work almost immediately, tending the sick and wounded soldiers brought in by train. They were such young men, little more than boys, some of them with terrible injuries but many of them were ill with typhoid fever, which had spread with alarming and deadly rapidity. She had no idea where Joe was, but each one of the men in her care was someone’s son, brother or perhaps a father, and but for the grace of God, could have been Joe. Ruby worked tirelessly and, being one of the least
qualified, hers were the dirtiest and most mundane tasks, all of which she did willingly. The hours worked by all the medical teams were long and at the end of each shift, all Ruby wanted to do was collapse on her bed, but she managed to compose a letter to her mother, writing a few lines every night before she fell into an exhausted sleep.
Sharing a room with Pamela and half a dozen other nurses, there was no privacy and no time to sit and think or to worry about what was happening six thousand miles away in London. In her few free moments, Ruby tried to escape the ever-present smell of carbolic, the stench of sickness and death and the draining heat by walking in the comparative cool of the tree-shaded hospital grounds. In these precious, quiet moments, she thought about her family at home and in particular about Rosetta, wondering whether her baby was a girl or a boy. She hoped that Rose was happier now and had become resigned to being married, putting aside her feelings for Jonas and recognising Billy for the good bloke he was beneath the brash exterior.
While the horrors of war that Ruby witnessed daily made everything and everyone at home in London fade into a hazy blur, like an old sepia tint, Jonas Crowe leapt into her thoughts with terrifying clarity. Late at night when she was drifting off to sleep, thinking of Adam, who had
been summoned away to work in a field hospital under Sir Frederick Treves, Jonas would appear, his dominant personality wiping out everything else like the sweep of a board rubber on chalk. She had left London to get away from Jonas. She was in love with Adam, who was a good man and a fine doctor; she was desperately, deeply and hopelessly in love with him, but it was Jonas who haunted her subconscious. No matter how hard she fought against him, it was Jonas, a self-confessed villain, who made love to her in dreams from which she awakened night after night, aroused, sweating and having to creep out of the dormitory to the bathroom where she sponged herself down with cool water. Silently cursing and hating him, Ruby was shamed and disgusted by the lustful demon within her that no amount of water could wash away.