The Liverpool Nightingales, page 25
‘We could have a look now,’ he said, ‘but it’s a bit late. You can’t see much by gas-lamp. But I’ll keep the sock, and me and the dog, we’ll keep trying. There are so many youngsters living on the street it would be good to be able to rescue at least one of ’em. What does the boy look like?’
‘His name is Alfred. He’s about this high,’ Maud said, indicating with her hand against her own body. ‘He has blond hair and blue eyes, pale blue eyes.’
And then, remembering that she still had Miss Fairchild’s handbill in her pocket she fished it out and gave it to him. He straightened it out and had a quick look at it.
‘And we have good reason to believe that Alfred might have been grabbed by the sweep who he was apprenticed to, a Mr Bill Greer. Him and his wife have a place on Market Street. You can’t miss it. They have a sign in the window: “William Greer, Master Sweep”, and she has a stall outside selling pots and rags. I’ve been down there a few times but they know me so it’s difficult to spend enough time. Also, he was a patient on the ward and he threatened me—’
‘He did what?’ growled Harry.
‘No need to be concerned. It was all dealt with.’
‘I’ll deal with it all right if I lay my hands on him,’ said Harry, raising a fist.
‘Look, there is no need to get riled up over him. All I want is that you keep an eye on that area because that’s where we think Alfred is most likely to be.’
Harry growled again and then lowered his fist. ‘All right then, Maud, and if we find the boy, where do you want him?’
‘It’s best if you bring him straight to the hospital. Take him to Male Surgical, and they will come and find me. Or if you want, take him to Stella’s place, where he’ll be safe. My friend Alice is living there now.’
Maud saw Harry raise his eyebrows. ‘Really?’ he said. ‘Your friend is living there? You do know what goes on at Stella’s place, I take it?’
‘Of course I do,’ said Maud, and Harry cracked up laughing.
‘Maud, you never fail to amaze me. Do you want to come out with me and the dog now? We can have a look straight away if you want.’
‘I can’t. I need to get back before they lock up the Nurses’ Home,’ said Maud, her face tight. ‘And besides, I know you’ve got people to see at this time of night; I know that you are busy.’
‘Well, not that busy that I can’t have a look for a lost boy.’
‘No, really,’ said Maud, ‘you probably need to go back in the pub, get some drink inside you.’
‘Oh, I get you,’ he said, starting to smirk. ‘You’re talking about Nancy, aren’t you? You must have seen us somewhere. We have been out together a night or two.’
‘What if I have seen you with Nancy?’ said Maud. ‘That has nothing to do with me or anything that I might be asking of you. Who you see is up to you. She is your type, obviously.’
‘Now just you wait a minute. Let’s not be getting ahead of ourselves here. I have seen her a few times – she is good to look at, I’ll give you that – but she is not “my type”. What do you know of “my type”, anyway?’
‘None of this is my concern,’ said Maud, raising her voice. ‘I don’t care who you see.’
‘Well, I don’t believe that for one minute,’ he almost shouted back at her. ‘If that is the case then why are you getting into a lather about it?’
‘I am not getting into a lather,’ shouted Maud before she could stop herself. Then she stood silent, shocked at her own reaction, her breath coming quick, her heart racing and Harry just smirking away. Her hands were balled into fists and she felt she could have punched him.
‘Oh, so you’re not in a lather then, are you not, Nurse Linklater? Quiet Maud, with her big, dark eyes and her ladylike ways, you’re not in any kind of a lather, not at all.’
Maud couldn’t speak, she was so furious. She made some kind of noise, dismissing him, and made to walk away but he grabbed her arm.
‘Let go of me,’ she spat at him.
‘Now let me tell you, Maud, let me tell you here and now, I am not some kind of saint. I’m not anywhere near as good and worthy as you would like me to be and, yes, I like the women and I like the drink, but I am not looking for a woman like Nancy. I am definitely not looking for that sort of woman. I am looking for someone like you, Maud, someone who can make me a better person, the kind of man me mother would have been proud of.’
Maud stood in front of him breathing heavily. She could feel his eyes burning into her, but she couldn’t move. Her mind was racing over what he had just said and she didn’t like the way that he seemed to think he was qualified to put women into neat boxes. What did he know?
‘Women like Nancy are ten a penny. Like soap bubbles, they come and then they go, pop, just like that. What I want is someone like you, Maud, someone solid and real and good and kind. I want you. I want to marry you. Will you marry me?’
‘No, of course not!’ spat Maud, aware that he was still holding her by the arm and she was rooted to the spot. What was he talking about? None of it made any sense and they needed to find Alfred before she could even think about anything else.
So she looked him straight in the eye, twisted her arm out of his grasp and then said, ‘Just find the boy,’ before marching away without even wanting to glance back.
The next day on the ward Maud was restless. Alfred’s disappearance was pressing on her increasingly, and with Alice moving to Stella’s where she couldn’t readily check on her it felt as if her worries were piling up and something would have to give. Maud could tell that Eddy had some concern about her because she kept looking over and asking her if she was all right. Maud was all right in that she was still performing her duties on the ward to her usual high standard. On the surface she was still Nurse Linklater and every detail of her work was correct, but she wasn’t exactly herself. There was an edge to her that only someone close like Eddy could detect.
As soon as the evening meal was over Maud went straight to her room and changed, then headed out into the city, making her way to Stella’s to check on Alice. She walked quickly through the streets and then she sped past the door of the pub opposite Lime Street Station, just in case Harry was coming out of there again with Nancy on his arm and some ready excuse, no doubt, some easy explanation of how, even though Nancy wasn’t his type, he just bumped into her in the pub and one thing led to another … But just as soon as she was past the door, she had to stop. Cursing under her breath, she knew that there was no way round it, she would have to go in and see if Harry was there. Her need to know whether or not there was any news about Alfred far outweighed her drive to avoid that ridiculous man. So Maud turned briskly and marched back and into the pub before she could change her mind. It was packed out and full of smoke, but she checked all corners of the place. There was, however, no Harry, and, thankfully, no Nancy either.
Once Maud was back outside she lifted her chin, took a deep breath and continued on her way. She was soon past Lime Street and then down into the alley and through the door of the brothel in no time. She was almost breathless when she came through into the kitchen to find Alice sitting on a large wooden chair with her feet up on a cushioned stool. Alice smiled at her as soon as she saw her face but Maud could see that her eyes were a bit red-rimmed, as if she’d been crying. Maud understood without asking. She had cried again herself that morning when she’d seen Alice’s door standing open and the bed stripped, waiting for a new occupant. She would probably always miss having Alice at the Nurses’ Home. After all, they had been together right from the start, from that first day when she had taken Alfred up to the Infirmary.
Anyway, now Alice was sitting in the kitchen of a brothel, with a hand resting on her belly and looking just a bit sorry for herself. Maud went straight over and gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
‘So nice to see you, Maud. Is Eddy with you?’ said Alice, sounding a bit forlorn.
‘No, not yet. She’s gone to see her folks but she’ll be along later. You look comfortable,’ said Maud, pulling a kitchen chair up right next to her friend.
‘I am,’ said Alice, ‘well, as comfortable as I can be with this one kicking around in there and giving me heartburn. And my back’s been aching all day long and now I keep getting a pain in this bump of mine as well. It’s what you’d expect, I suppose.’
‘I would think so,’ said Maud, feeling completely out of her depth but wanting to try and reassure Alice. They could always ask Eddy when she arrived, although Maud didn’t know how much longer she would be.
‘Is Stella around?’ Maud said casually, not wanting to cause Alice any alarm but feeling that she would like to ask Stella about Alice, make sure that everything was all right.
‘No, she’s had to go out on some mission or other. They were all a bit hush-hush about it. Anyway, I did mention that my back was aching and she said that’s what you’d expect from a woman at my stage of pregnancy.’
That’s all right then, thought Maud, starting to feel a bit more relaxed and able to rest back on her own chair. It was nice to be in the warm kitchen, sitting by the range, the smell of baking in the air and a scraggy black cat stretched out next to the stove, soaking up the heat. Although it felt strange to be in the heart of a brothel, Maud had started to feel very much at home. She reached over to Alice and took her hand. They didn’t need to talk sometimes, she and Alice, they were so at ease in each other’s company.
After a few minutes Alice needed to shift her position. Her back was still aching and she stood up for a bit of a stretch. Then she sat back down again and turned to Maud. ‘Right, I wasn’t going to tell you this, I was going to save it until you and Eddy were going to the next lecture for nurses, but, well, I can’t keep it to myself.’
‘What?’ said Maud, intrigued.
‘Guess who I saw in here this afternoon, and you should have seen his face when I called him by name.’
‘Who?’ said Maud, completely mystified.
‘Mr Fawcett,’ said Alice. ‘Mr High and Mighty “it’s all about moral standards for you nurses” Fawcett!’
‘Mr Fawcett!’ said Maud. ‘The Mr Fawcett?’
‘Yes, the Mr Fawcett, the man who had the nerve to show all of us probationers those horrific specimens in jars and lecture us on that Contagious Diseases Act, telling us that it was a good thing that women are rounded up off the streets and inspected for disease. That Mr Fawcett.’
Maud was completely shocked. She couldn’t speak for a minute and then she said, ‘I wonder if he’s going to put that into his next lecture – his visit to a brothel. Oh, no, when I go to the next lecture I’ll have to sit there and listen to him going on about moral standards, it makes me squirm just thinking about it.’
‘Wish I could turn up as well,’ said Alice. ‘I’d love to see his face, the hypocrite, the bloody hypocrite.’
Then Maud started to giggle and that set Alice off again, and in no time at all they were crying with laughter and Alice was trying to do Mr Fawcett’s voice: ‘Now, you nurses, make sure that you all visit the brothel once a week …’
Maud hooted with laughter and Alice couldn’t get her breath properly. They were laughing so hard that Stella’s mother, Marie, stuck her head through the door to check that everything was all right.
‘Oh, Alice, that is so funny,’ said Maud when she could at last speak. ‘Wait till we tell Eddy.’
But Alice didn’t reply. Her face had changed, she looked at Maud like she had seen a ghost and then she doubled over, clutching her belly.
‘I think the baby’s coming,’ she shouted, as a gush of what looked like water burst on to the kitchen floor.
18
‘I am of certain convinced that the greatest heroes are those who do their duty in the daily grind of domestic affairs whilst the world whirls …’
Florence Nightingale
‘It’s too soon, it’s too soon for the baby to come,’ yelled Alice. She was standing now, clutching her belly, her face bright red.
Maud did her best to remain calm. She ran over to the kitchen door to call for help before returning to Alice, who was leaning forward on the kitchen table, her breath coming fast as another pain swept through her body.
‘It’s too early for the baby to come,’ said Alice again, her voice thick with emotion. ‘What are we going to do? It can’t come yet, it might not survive. Where is Eddy? When is she coming?’
‘Soon,’ soothed Maud as the realization of what was happening began to settle on her shoulders. ‘She will be here soon, but I don’t know exactly what time.’ And I need her here now, right now, she thought, gritting her teeth.
Maud was a mess of panic inside but she knew that she could not show any of that to Alice. She had to take control of herself, take control of everything.
‘Now, Alice,’ she said, as steadily as she could, ‘if you are in labour, and I think you are, I don’t think that there is anything that we can do to stop it.’
Alice started to cry and ran a hand repeatedly over her belly as if trying to soothe the baby. ‘No, no, it can’t come yet. It’s too soon. I can’t—’
‘You have no choice, Alice,’ said Maud quietly. ‘If the baby is coming we will have to manage as best we can.’ All the time she was speaking, Maud was trying to rack her brain for any bits of information that Eddy had given when she had been talking about her experience on the lying-in ward. Eddy talked constantly and Maud couldn’t possibly listen all the time, but how she wished that she had paid more attention. She knew that labour pains came in spasms and that these were spaced out at first but then got closer together when the baby was about to come. And she’d witnessed that terrible premature birth on the ward … She would just have to use her wits.
‘Alice, if you are in labour you will get another pain in a few minutes and then the pains will keep coming. I’m here and I will help you.’
‘I have nothing ready. I have nothing yet, not even a crib,’ wailed Alice, the panic rising in her voice.
‘You need to take a deep breath and calm down,’ said Maud, ‘and I’ll go and call for help.’ There must be someone else here, she thought, whilst frantically looking around the kitchen for things they might need, but all she could see were pots and pans and a bucket of coal.
‘Now, Alice, maybe you should sit down before the next pain comes.’
As she spoke, to her intense relief, Marie appeared at the door. ‘What’s up?’ she said, her face impassive as always, something that Maud usually found disquieting. Seeing the woman now, however, Maud could have hugged her there and then.
‘We think the baby is coming,’ she said, trying to stay calm but finding herself almost shouting.
‘What!’ said Marie, instantly frowning and moving over to Alice’s chair faster than Maud had ever seen her move before. ‘It’s too soon for the baby to come – are you sure?’
‘I know it’s too soon,’ said Alice, starting to cry again.
‘Now then, I want you to tell me what’s been happening.’
Seeing that her friend was incapable of speech, Maud filled Marie in.
As Maud held Alice’s gaze she saw her face change again as she clutched her belly and leant forward in her chair and then, whoosh, another gush of water came on to the floor.
‘Well,’ said Marie, placing a calming hand on Alice’s shoulder, ‘I don’t know much, but from what I can see, that baby is comin’ all right.’
Alice started to wail and cry, and then she stood up and leant forward on the table again, sobbing her way through the remains of her pain. Maud held on to her, trying to soothe her.
‘Is there anybody here who knows what to do?’ said Maud, hiding her desperation.
‘None of the women in tonight have that kind of experience, as far as I know, and I’m not much good. I only ’ad one of me own. But you’re a nurse, aren’t you? Don’t you know?’
‘Well, I am but …’ Maud could see the way that Alice was looking at her, the pleading in her eyes.
‘Yes, I’ve seen one or two delivered, so I think I can manage,’ she said, trying to smile and putting a firm hand on her friend’s shoulder, but inside it felt like an empty space was opening up inside of her and her legs started to feel weak. She had no idea what she was doing. She had only seen the one delivered on her first day on the ward: Lil’s baby.
But she would just have to get on with it and do her best. So she took a deep breath. ‘Right then, Marie, could you find some towels and, and … something to put the baby in, a drawer lined with a blanket, something warm? We will need to keep the baby warm … And I need to wash my hands,’ remembering what she would do if she was in theatre.
‘Right you are,’ said Marie. ‘I’ll go and organize that lot. There’s a bucket of cold water down there with a ladle and we always have hot in that big kettle on the range, and an enamel bowl there,’ she said, pointing. ‘And some carbolic soap and a brush right next to it.’
‘Thank you,’ said Maud, going straight to the bowl and washing her hands then drying them quickly on a small towel folded neatly at the side.
She threw the towel down straight away, though, as she saw Alice’s face begin to contort again as the next pain hit her. It looked stronger than the last and Alice cried out a little with the effort of it. Maud could only stand by her friend’s side and hold on to her, telling her to breathe, to breathe in and out, just breathe. She knew that breathing like this always helped her in theatre when she was feeling anxious and she had seen the doctor with the chloroform tell patients to do it too.
‘We can do this,’ said Maud, sounding resolute. ‘We can do this together.’
Marie was soon back with one of the other women. They brought in a pile of towels and a cupboard drawer lined with what looked like a sheepskin and a soft, fleecy blanket neatly folded. The woman with Marie stood wide-eyed for a minute watching Alice as another pain hit her, seeing how Alice’s body was consumed by all that was happening to her.
