‘Yes, there’s a bandstand and we’ll head for that. Mary said she’d make a picnic,’ Edith explained.
Alice hadn’t realised Mary had the afternoon off as well.
‘The more the merrier,’ Edith went on, catching the look of hesitation on her friend’s face. ‘She hasn’t been out all week either. Besides, her mother has sent her some fruitcake and she said she’d bring it. I’ll bring some lemonade.’
‘The shop on the corner had some lovely apples when I went past yesterday,’ Alice remembered. ‘I’ll buy some of those, shall I? They’ll go well with fruit-cake.’
‘Shall I make some sandwiches?’ Edith offered. ‘Just a few. We don’t want to get hungry, do we? I’ll see if Mary can fit it all in her wicker basket.’
Alice stretched out luxuriously beneath the shade of the big tree. The sun had been hot on their faces as they’d sat close to the bandstand, and now that the music was over they’d taken refuge, Edith unpacking the picnic as Mary spread out a red and white checked cloth. From all around came the sounds of children playing, and people were strolling by in all directions. Others were settling on the grass with their own picnics. Everyone seemed to have had the same idea.
Mary produced three tin mugs with a flourish. ‘Look what I found. They were in the back of a cupboard in the service room.’
‘Then we won’t even have to swig from the bottle,’ smiled Edith. ‘We’ll be all correct and proper.’
‘I should hope so,’ said Alice, propping herself up on one elbow. ‘What if any of our patients were to see us? Can’t let the side down by swigging from a bottle in public.’
Mary grinned, pitching up the sleeves of her lilac cardigan before laying the mugs on the checked cloth. ‘I’ll drink to that. Edie, can you pop open that lemonade?’
Edith obligingly did so, with a loud fizz as the stopper came loose. Several heads turned nearby to see what the noise was.
Alice held each mug while Mary poured, but Edith’s attention was caught by one of the groups who had looked round at them. She shook her hair a little before returning her gaze to the drinks.
‘Here you are,’ said Alice, passing her a mug. ‘What’s up?’
‘Oh, nothing,’ said Edith, over-casually. ‘Don’t look now, but I think that man over there is looking at us.’
‘What man?’ asked Mary, turning round at once.
‘Mary! Now he’ll think we’re interested,’ Edith tutted. She deliberately cast her gaze upwards into the branches. ‘Do you reckon that’s a blackbird up there, Alice? I can’t quite see.’ She made a show of peering into the foliage, shading her eyes with her hand.
‘Do you mean the fellow in the green shirt?’ Mary asked. ‘Sitting with several other people and a baby?’
‘Maybe. I didn’t really notice the details,’ said Edith unconvincingly.
Alice took a sip of her lemonade and waited for what would come next. Sure enough, in no time at all a male voice sounded from behind them.
‘Good afternoon, ladies,’ said the voice, and one glance revealed that it was a man in a green shirt. ‘I couldn’t help noticing you don’t have a bottle opener. Would you like to borrow ours?’
Edith smiled up at him. ‘Thank you, but we don’t need one. Anyway, we’ve only brought the one bottle of lemonade.’
The man nodded and Alice had to admit that his looks were eye-catching. He had a handsome face, hair like polished oak, and with his sleeves rolled back and his tie-less collar undone, she couldn’t help but notice he had very well-developed muscles. Edith clearly liked what she saw, because she shifted around, rearranging her flared skirt with its colourful patches of bright flowers, and arched her neck at him. ‘Still, thank you for asking. It’s very hot today, isn’t it?’
‘It is.’ The man was smiling back, his eyes dancing with merriment as he took in Edith. ‘Can I offer you ladies something a little stronger? My brother’s brought some beer with us and we won’t finish it all.’
‘Oh no, really we don’t—’ Alice began, but Mary’s reply was louder.
‘That’s very kind. We could mix it and make shandy. Maybe you’d like some too?’
The man in the green shirt nodded. ‘That’s a good idea. Why don’t you come over and join us?’ He pointed across to the group he had just left: a man of similar age to himself, and a woman with her back to the rest of them, clearly holding a young baby.
‘I don’t know …’ muttered Alice, who had been perfectly comfortable under the tree.
‘Oh go on, Alice,’ said Edith, gathering up her skirts and delicately making sure her lemonade didn’t spill against the tree roots. ‘What harm can it do? We haven’t made many new friends apart from the nurses since we moved here. Maybe they can tell us about the area, give us some local tips.’
‘All right, all right.’ Alice could tell when Edith had set her heart on doing something, and it was usually pointless to resist. ‘Give me a moment. Let me tuck our bottle back in the basket and prop it up with the cloth.’ She arranged the bottle so it wouldn’t empty itself over the grass when moved, and got to her feet, trailing across behind the others the short distance to the man, woman and baby.
She’d missed the first introductions, although it wasn’t hard to see that the other man was related to the first. He wasn’t as strikingly good-looking and his hair was darker, but he had similar features. His expression was pleasant but warier. Alice had the clear impression that he wouldn’t have invited a party of strange women to join his family group on the slight pretext of sharing a bottle opener, but he seemed friendly enough. Then the woman turned around properly and she realised she knew her.
‘It’s Nurse Lake, isn’t it?’ said the young woman, kneeling up and placing her baby on the ground in front of her, where there was a pale yellow knitted blanket. ‘Alice?’
‘Mattie! How nice to see you,’ said Alice, swiftly recognising her first patient’s friend. ‘Is this your baby? Isn’t she a little beauty?’
‘Yes, this is Gillian,’ said Mattie, beaming with pride. ‘And these are my brothers, Harry and Joe. Looks as if you’ve already met Harry.’ She pulled an affectionate face. ‘This is the nurse I told you about a few weeks ago, the one who came to see to Brian after you gave him your cold, Harry.’
Harry stuck out his hand. ‘Pleased to meet you. Mattie told us all about you. Are you all nurses, then?’
‘We are,’ said Edith. ‘So you can believe us when we say that it’s very important not to get too thirsty on a hot day.’
‘And is shandy an acceptable medicine?’ asked Harry, eyes bright with mischief.
‘It is.’ Edith nodded seriously.
Alice turned back to Mattie. ‘And how is little Brian now? I haven’t heard from Mrs Berry again, so I assumed he was better, but you never know.’
Mattie shifted a little so that Alice could sit down beside her. ‘He’s much better. They almost came with us today but then Kathleen had to go to see her mother about something or other. She said he had a bit of a temperature for a few days after you saw him and some sniffles, but it didn’t last long. He’ll be all right.’
‘Good.’ Alice was relieved. ‘And your friend? Kathleen? How is she? It must be so tiring, looking after a baby on her own, especially