‘Did Sister Beatrice ask you to call and see her?’ Rose said as he opened the passenger door for her to get in. The smell of paint and turpentine would have told her that he was a decorator by trade even if she hadn’t already guessed it. His radio was playing something that sounded like skiffle but he switched it off. ‘Are you from Thompsons?’
‘Yeah, that’s me,’ he said and went round to the driving seat. ‘I’m Rob and my brother Nick and me started up about two years ago. We’d both had enough of working for wages so we decided to give it a go on our own. I’m just thankful they took that petrol rationing off. I know they had to after that trouble with the Suez Canal last year, but I’m glad we’re not still restricted. You need a vehicle in this job.’
‘We had rationing for years during the war.’
‘I know, but I wasn’t driving then. I was seventeen when it ended.’
‘And now you have your own business …’ she said as he drew out into the traffic. ‘I know it can be hard starting up on your own. You can’t afford to employ many staff, but that means you have to work all hours yourself …’
‘That’s about us,’ Rob replied without looking at her. ‘It’s easier for me, because I’m not married, but Nick is a widower with two young boys – and his house is mortgaged.’
‘I know what it’s like to worry where the next penny is coming from. My father died when I was quite young and Ma could never quite manage. It took me years to earn enough to look after myself.’
‘As long as the work keeps coming in, we’ll manage,’ Rob said. ‘Nick has gone after a big contract on a new housing estate this morning, and if he gets it, it could make all the difference.’
Rose didn’t say anything to that, but she could understand what it meant to a fledgling business. It was 1957 now and the country had just about shrugged off the hardships of the war; the prime minister said the country had never had it so good, but Rose had known what it was like to be really poor. After their mother became ill and died, Rose had been forced to put her younger sister in St Saviour’s and train as a nurse for very low wages. She’d tried to help Mary Ellen along the way, to see that she had a few treats, but it had been difficult for a long time.
Rose had buried her grief as she trained hard to become a nurse and she’d done well at the hospital. Matron had wanted her to go on and rise to the top of her profession, but Rose had fallen out with one of the senior doctors and left before he had her sacked. She’d been lucky to get the job at St Saviour’s and was enjoying her work. Love hadn’t come her way, but she had friends and she got on well with Mary Ellen and her husband Billy these days, although just now and then she was very aware of the passing years and sometimes wondered if she would ever have a family of her own.
‘Here we are.’ Rob’s voice brought Rose back from her own problems and she realised that she hadn’t spoken to him for several minutes.
‘Oh …’ she said, feeling embarrassed. ‘Thanks so much. I’m sorry; I was lost in my thoughts …’
‘I expect I was rabbiting on too much.’
‘No, of course not.’ Rose smiled at him. ‘It’s just that you talking about what you want for the future made me wonder about my own …’
‘Ah, thinking of getting married and settling down?’
‘No, nothing like that … Just thinking about work and whether I should make a change …’
‘I see … well, good luck whatever you decide,’ he said and jumped out of his van, coming round to open the door for her.
Rose smiled; she liked being treated like a lady. ‘Good luck to you, too,’ she said. ‘I hope you get that big contract.’
‘My brother needs the luck,’ Rob said and smiled too. ‘I’ve just got to hope that Sister Beatrice has accepted our price for the work …’
Rose almost told him that his price would have gone to St Saviour’s Board for the decision, but decided not to mention it. He was a pleasant man and she was grateful for the lift, but she didn’t expect she would see much of him, even if he got the job. Pushing all other concerns from her mind, Rose hurried up to the sick ward to relieve Staff Nurse Wendy. It was Wendy’s afternoon off and she was planning on a visit to the hairdresser and then she was going out for the evening with a friend. They had tickets for The Mousetrap, Agatha Christie’s long-running play.
Wendy had surprised everyone by her continuing friendship with a man some years her senior. They’d all thought her a career nurse but Rose knew that Wendy was considering a proposal of marriage. If she were to marry and perhaps leave, that would leave Rose and Sister Beatrice – which meant that Sister Beatrice would be looking for new nursing staff again.
Rose couldn’t leave her in the lurch at such a time.
‘Oh, there you are.’ Wendy turned with a smile as Rose entered. ‘I’m glad we have a few minutes before I leave. I wanted to tell you about Beth … she seems to have a temperature this morning and I think we should keep an eye on her.’
‘You haven’t called the doctor? What does Sister Beatrice say?’
‘She was in earlier, but Beth was all right then. I rang her office but she didn’t answer … but I’m sure she’ll be back soon – so if you’re worried …’
‘I know she has an appointment with someone just now,’ Rose said. ‘I’ll pop in and look at Beth and I’ll keep an eye on her. If she gets any worse I’ll get the doctor to come and see her.’
‘It’s probably nothing. You know what children are, up one minute and down the next, but she was undernourished when she came to us and I don’t think she eats enough …’
‘We’ll have to see if we can tempt her,’ Rose said and frowned. ‘Muriel used to know exactly what to send for kids who didn’t eat much. I don’t think Mrs Davies is half as good a cook as Muriel was but I’ll ask her to send some strawberry jelly and ice cream … if she has it, or perhaps rice pudding. Muriel always had some ice cream for the kids but Mrs Davies seems to think it’s a waste of money.’
‘Yes, jelly and ice cream might tempt the child. If we haven’t got any in the kitchen, I’ll pop to the corner shop and buy a small block of strawberry and vanilla,’ Wendy said and checked her files again. ‘Otherwise, we’re pretty quiet. I sometimes wonder how long we shall go on like this, Rose. We are busy when we have new children brought in, and now and then we have some of them falling sick – but it isn’t like it was when I first came here. We were much busier then. It was so different …’
‘Yes …’ Rose sighed with regret. ‘Everyone says it hasn’t been the same since they opened the new home in Essex …’ She hesitated, then, ‘Would you go and work there if you were offered the chance?’
Wendy looked at her for a moment and then shook her head. ‘I think if St Saviour’s were to close I should go back to hospital nursing … perhaps try and specialise. I suppose they would make me retrain. Things have moved on since I came here and it would be hard work catching up … and I’m not sure what I want yet …’ She shook her head. ‘You’re not thinking of leaving us?’
‘I’ve thought about specialising in paediatrics,’ Rose said. ‘I thought when I left the London I would be settled here, but it isn’t the same as it was even when I came here …’
‘No, I agree,’ Wendy said. ‘I think I’ve only stayed this long because of Sister Beatrice. If she weren’t here …’
‘The whole thing would close down,’ Rose said and laughed. ‘I sometimes think we’ve outlived our usefulness. The Welfare people have their own centres to take in kids in trouble now, and they pass them on to the permanent homes within days, hours sometimes. Sister Beatrice believes in winning the trust of our kids before they move on, and