When Matron spoke, they all knew to be quiet, and Scarlet gave the older woman her full attention, not daring to speak again.
‘We are travelling today to Sussex. We will be leaving immediately and you will be staying in your two-man tents with the same person you’ve been sharing a bedroom with.’
‘Is it true we’re going to Burma?’ a worried voice called out.
‘You will be advised of any planned destination prior to departure, but for now you should expect to live and work under canvas to prepare for the conditions you will face.’
Once Matron had finished, Scarlet felt a hand close over her arm. It was Ellie.
‘This is it, isn’t it?’ Ellie asked.
Scarlet nodded. ‘I think she knows more than she’s letting on. Surely they know where they’re sending us! Why can’t they say?’
Ellie shrugged. ‘Wherever we’re going—’
‘Excuse me.’
Scarlet looked up, then glanced at Ellie and saw a wide smile break out on her friend’s face, quickly replaced by a more demure expression.
‘Yes,’ Ellie replied.
‘I’m Doctor Spencer Black. I don’t think we’ve officially met.’
Scarlet watched as Ellie stuck out her hand and the doctor gently shook it.
‘Ellie. And this is my friend, Scarlet.’
The doctor turned and Scarlet let him take her hand, too, smiling back at him. His eyes were as dark as Ellie’s, and the way he ran a hand through his hair made him look ever so slightly nervous. Or maybe she was imagining it. She had to agree with Ellie that he was awfully handsome. ‘Pleased to meet you.’
‘Ellie, I’m going to be travelling to Sussex with your unit. My speciality is head trauma and burns, and I’m looking for a nurse to work alongside me.’
Scarlet hid her mouth with her hand, not wanting the handsome doctor to see her smirking. Ellie would be beside herself!
‘I couldn’t help but notice your bedside manner with the patients yesterday, and I need a kind, cheerful nurse to assist me. Someone I can trust and train accordingly.’
‘I’m, well, flattered,’ Ellie said in a quieter voice than Scarlet had ever heard her use before. ‘And I’m truly sorry about walking into you the other day, when we first arrived. That was—’
‘Nothing to worry about, it’s long forgotten. Can I count on you?’ Doctor Black asked.
‘Of course. Thank you,’ Ellie said, blushing. ‘And if you need another nurse, Scarlet here is very skilled.’
He smiled kindly and Scarlet nodded back.
‘If you’d prefer me to ask—’ Doctor Black started.
‘No!’ Ellie looked horrified at how loudly she’d interrupted him. ‘What I meant to say is, I would love to be your nurse. Thank you for asking.’
The doctor looked uncertain, but stepped back and held up his hand. ‘I shall see you in Sussex, then.’
‘So you shall,’ Ellie replied.
Scarlet waited until he was a few paces away before eagerly turning back to Ellie and grabbing her hand. Ellie was so excited she had her other palm clamped over her mouth.
‘I think Doctor Handsome likes you, too,’ Scarlet said, raising her eyebrows at Ellie’s pink cheeks.
‘He doesn’t. It’s probably just because he saw me being nice to a patient.’
‘Ellie, we’re all nice to the patients. Have you seen any of the girls being unkind? We all have a lovely bedside manner.’ Scarlet laughed. ‘He hasn’t exactly seen you do any strenuous nursing work here!’ The patients at Broomfield House had already been patched up before they’d been sent on for further care.
Ellie was biting down on her lower lip and Scarlet wished she was the one falling in love, that her heart was full to brimming with anticipation rather than feeling like it was starting to break in half. But she was happy for her friend – why wouldn’t she be?
‘Do you really think so? That he likes me?’
‘Sweetheart, a doctor just made his way over here and chose you over all these other nurses,’ Scarlet told her, looking around at the dozens of women surrounding them, all dressed in uniform and chatting away as they waited. ‘Who knows if he even needs his own nurse!’
Ellie was still chewing on her bottom lip when Matron called out and they all gathered up their bags to follow her. Scarlet looked over her shoulder, saying a silent goodbye to the old house that had been their home for the first few nights away.
Outside, trucks were lined up and waiting. Scarlet followed the nurse in front of her and climbed into one of the trucks, hauling her things and thinking for the hundredth time how she’d taken for granted having someone to carry heavy things for her in the past. But she was also becoming more aware of just how fortunate she’d been, and what a sheltered life she’d led. If she’d followed her parents’ instructions she would have been hidden from the worst of the war, denied the opportunity to help like this. Thomas had been the original reason she’d signed up, but her resolve to help had strengthened with every day of training. Whether or not Thomas would have approved of her leaving home to nurse, and being sent away close to danger, was another matter entirely. She had a feeling that the answer might be no, only he didn’t have a choice in the matter. She wasn’t his wife yet, and if she didn’t set out to try to find him, she might never be.
Tears prickled her eyes, but she refused to let them fall.
‘Are you feeling all right?’ Ellie asked, interrupting her thoughts as she wriggled closer beside her.
‘Oh, I’m fine. Just thinking about home.’
‘I miss home badly, too,’ Ellie confessed. ‘It’s worse at night when it’s dark and all I have to do is think about my family.’
Scarlet had been so tired each night that she’d fallen asleep the moment her head hit the pillow. It was during the day that her thoughts would wander. ‘We never did write our letters to home, did we?’
‘No. We haven’t exactly had any idle time.’
Ellie was right. They’d been either nursing, learning army etiquette, eating or sleeping since they’d arrived.
The truck began to move forwards and any hope Scarlet might have had of writing in transit was dashed. ‘What will you say?’ she asked, curious. ‘I want to tell my family, aside from that I love them, that I’m so pleased I have the chance to help our men, to do something useful, and to meet so many different people. I feel like before I hardly knew a thing, and now, after all my training, I’m like a different person.’
The truck rattled along and Scarlet looked out, admiring the countryside, wishing she was travelling for a different reason. That she and Ellie were friends exploring this beautiful country, and that they weren’t about to face unimaginable horrors.
‘Why do you think they are so secretive about where we’re going to be sent?’ Scarlet asked, waving to a woman standing by the roadside. The woman had one hand to her chest, the other raised high as she called out and waved to the trucks.
‘I don’t know. Why shouldn’t we know instead of worrying?’