‘Oh, Andrew, you know I did. I thought you would be back in London days ago …’
‘I intended to be,’ he said, and his smile dimmed. ‘Forgive me, darling Sally. My aunt had a bit of a turn and I had to take her into the hospital. She is over the worst, thank God, but she will need to stay in a nursing home for a few weeks.’
‘Oh, I am so sorry,’ Sally said. ‘I hope she isn’t really ill?’
‘Her heart isn’t strong,’ he said. ‘The specialists say she may have a few years yet. I must hope so. Aunt Janet brought me up after my parents died and I’m fond of her. I have to look after her now – as she did me.’
‘Yes, of course you must,’ Sally said, giving him a loving smile. ‘It was just that I missed you.’
‘Had you been on the telephone I would’ve called, but telegrams only ever carry bad news and I didn’t want to scare you, hence the surprise.’
‘You certainly did that,’ she said, her cheeks warm because Nan had just entered the playroom. ‘Did you want me, Nan?’
‘I need you to help me with a couple of new arrivals,’ Nan said.
‘Yes, of course,’ Sally said, and turned to Andrew. ‘Shall I see you later?’
‘I’ll call for you at home at half past seven.’
Sally nodded and turned to Nan as they went into the hall together. ‘Who have they brought in for us today?’
‘It’s a brother and sister. Their names are Nancy and Terry Johnson. They both seem nervous – the boy is terrified, I think. The police have been looking for them, as they were missing after their home caught fire, and found them hiding down the dockyard. Unfortunately, the parents were killed but the children got out somehow and ran off in fright … I suppose that is natural enough. It must have been terrible.’
‘It’s a miracle they got out, isn’t it?’
‘Constable Sallis thinks the girl pulled her brother out of bed and they fled, not knowing what else to do.’
‘Poor little things,’ Sally said. ‘How old are they?’
‘I think Nancy must be nearly fourteen and her brother …’ Nan frowned. ‘I’m not sure, because he looks as if he might be ten or so but seems backward for his age. I left him with Michelle. She was giving them a little check over when I left …’ Nan’s words were cut off by the sound of screaming from the bathroom. They looked at each other and Sally broke into a run, arriving just in time to see the boy sink his teeth into Michelle’s hand.
‘No, stop that, child!’ Nan cried as she followed her into the room. ‘You mustn’t bite. It isn’t nice …’
‘Has he drawn blood?’ Sally asked the staff nurse. ‘Shall I put some disinfectant on for you?’
‘The skin isn’t broken,’ Michelle said with a wry look. ‘Terry objected to my trying to take his pyjama bottoms off – didn’t you, Terry?’
‘Don’t like you,’ the boy muttered sullenly. Sally could see what Nan meant because he was nearly as tall as his sister, thin and wiry, and he looked quite strong, but his attitude was that of a small child. ‘Shan’t be washed. Nancy washes me – don’t yer, Nance?’
‘Yes, Terry, love, I look after you.’ Nancy came forward and placed herself between Michelle and the boy. Her eyes were filled with a silent appeal as she said, ‘Terry relies on me. I’ll give him a wash if you let us alone for a while.’
‘Staff Nurse Michelle wants to help you,’ Nan said. The children often resented the implication that they might have nits, but many of them were crawling with lice when they first arrived, and these two had been living rough, although if Constable Sallis was right, only for a few days. ‘No one is going to hurt either of you, Nancy, but you must have a bath – you may wash him if that is what you both wish.’
Nancy stared at her defiantly for a moment, and then inclined her head. ‘I’ll take your things off, Terry. Nurse has to look at us both but she won’t hurt you. I’m here to protect you.’
His sullen expression didn’t alter but he allowed Nancy to take everything off. Nancy turned him round so that they could see his thin body and Sally caught her breath as she saw the bruises all over his back, arms and legs.
‘Who beat you, Terry?’ Nan asked, but he just stared at her. She looked at Nancy, who hung her head but then mumbled something. ‘Speak up, my dear. We want to know who did this to your brother. It wasn’t just a fall, was it?’
‘It was a tramp where we were hiding,’ Nancy said, contradicting her earlier statement. ‘He was drunk. I pushed him over and we ran off and hid somewhere else – didn’t we, Terry?’
The boy nodded his head, seeming almost dazed as if he wasn’t sure what was going on. Sally suspected Nancy was lying to them, but if she didn’t want to tell them the truth there wasn’t much anyone could do.
‘I’ll leave you two to get on,’ Nan said, and went out.
‘Shall I show you how to run the water?’ Sally asked, leading the way to the old-fashioned bath at the other end of the large room. ‘Have you ever used a bath like this, Nancy?’
‘No, miss,’ Nancy said, staring at it. ‘We brought in a tin bath from outside when we had a bath – but we mostly just had a wash in the bowl in the kitchen, miss.’ She stared at Sally and then back at Michelle. ‘Are you all nurses?’
‘I’m a carer and my name is Sally. Nan is the head carer and she looks after us all. She is very kind, Nancy. You can trust her – and all of us. You’ve been brought here so that we can look after you. Once you’ve had a wash you’ll go into the isolation ward for a while, and then Sister Beatrice will decide which dormitories to put you in.’
‘What are they – dormitories?’
‘It’s another name for bedrooms. The girls go one side and the boys another.’
‘No!’ Nancy was startled, a frightened look in her eyes. ‘Terry can’t be separated from me in a strange place. We have to be together … please, you must let us. He won’t sleep and he’ll be terrified. Please, Sally, help us to stay together.’
‘I’ll talk to Nan about it,’ Sally said, ‘but I’m not sure what I can do – we’ve always separated the boys from the girls.’
‘Don’t tell Terry yet. Ask first, because he’ll get upset,’ Nancy begged.
‘Yes, well, you’ll be together for a while anyway. So I’ll see what Nan says. Now, I’m going to stand just here to make sure you can manage everything. If you need help, you only have to ask …’
Angela heard someone call her name as she walked towards the main staircase of St Saviour’s later that morning and paused, smiling as she saw it was Sally. She liked Sally very much because she was the first person to make her feel welcome at St Saviour’s when she’d arrived, feeling very new and uncertain just a few months earlier. Her friend looked happy and cheerful, even though her rubber apron was a bit wet and she’d obviously just come from bathing one of the children.
‘New arrivals?’ she asked, with a lift of her fine brows.
‘Yes, brother and sister,’ Sally said and sighed. ‘They were in a fire. I understand their parents died of smoke inhalation before the fire service got there.’
‘Oh, how tragic,’ Angela said. ‘Only a short time after Christmas and already we have another