The Liverpool Nightingales, page 28
‘Well, well, young man,’ she said. ‘It’s Alfred, isn’t it, young Alfred? I think that you have been missing for quite some time.’
As Sister Law walked through the corridor with the boy she kept glancing down at him. She had never come across anything like this before. He had just walked into the hospital, calm as you please. Goodness knew what he must have gone through out there in the city, but he looked calm and he had asked to see Nurse Linklater, please. He had said ‘please’ all quiet and polite. Sister Law had never known a boy like this one. They were usually little scallywags, the whole lot of them, but this one was different. He was very special.
She knew that Nurse Linklater was working on Female Surgical. She knew because she had regular contact with Sister Pritchard, who had been so thrilled by Nurse Linklater’s progress. She was, according to Sister Pritchard, simply the best probationer in theatre that there had ever been. Even though she knew that Pritchard could get a bit carried away sometimes with regard to some of the probationers, Sister Law also knew from when Linklater had been on her ward that she had shown real promise. But as with all things related to nursing or medicine, the probationer would need to work really hard and get more experience if she was to truly become the marvel that Sister Pritchard predicted.
Anyway, Sister Law had seen how Nurse Linklater had taken to this boy, this Alfred. After all, she had been the one who had brought him into the ward and she had visited him every day. Sister Law would never forget someone who dared to sneak into the sluice without permission. She had admired Linklater for that, she had to admit. The girl was very quietly spoken but she had held her ground that day for sure, and the young lad obviously thought a great deal of her to come straight back to her here.
Sister Law stood on Female Surgical with the boy beside her, waiting to get some idea of where she should head. She knew that Sister Pritchard was an excellent and very experienced nurse but she didn’t exactly run what might be called a ‘tight ship’. There were nurses up and down everywhere, chatting away. She even saw one smiling. How could a ward function in this manner? She would never have stood for that kind of thing. And the chatter of the women, the patients on this ward … For goodness’ sake, there was so much tittle-tattle and chitchat she felt like she was drowning under it and still she couldn’t see any sign of Nurse Linklater or her ward sister.
So, reaching down, she took the boy’s hand, and told him to, ‘Come with me,’ and as they walked together down the ward, that’s when she saw the person she’d been looking for. Maud was just smoothing the sheet on a bed, and my word, the corners on that bed linen were perfect, Sister Law noticed that immediately. Nurse Linklater still had her back to them so Sister looked down at Alfred and put a finger to her lips so they could wait for Maud to turn round.
‘Nurse Linklater,’ she said softly, and Maud turned, instantly recognizing the voice and wondering what on earth she could have possibly done to bring Sister Law all the way from Male Surgical. She turned with a certain amount of dread but when she saw Alfred standing beside Sister, his face beaming, she cried out with sheer joy, ‘Alfred!’ and the boy ran into her outstretched arms.
Maud swept him up and hugged him and hugged him, saying thank you, thank you … over and over again to Sister Law, who was smiling – actually smiling – at them. And then Sister Pritchard was coming down the ward and Eddy was there and everything was absolutely wonderful.
When Maud was able to release Alfred from her embrace for a few moments she held him at arm’s length and had a good look at him. He looked absolutely fine: he wasn’t thin, he was reasonably clean, his hair wasn’t matted, he was smiling at her and his blue eyes were shining.
‘Where have you been?’ she said, not able to let him speak properly because she just wanted to hug him over and over again.
‘A man kept me in a room,’ he said, the sound muffled against Maud’s shoulder.
‘A man? Was it Mr Greer?’ said Maud, immediately afraid and holding Alfred away from her body so that she could hear him speak. ‘Did he hurt you?’
‘No, no,’ said the boy, ‘nobody hurt me. They just kept me in a room with the door locked.’
Maud hugged Alfred again and then held him away once more so that she could see into his face and hear him speak.
‘But was it Mr Greer?’
‘I never saw him,’ Alfred said, and Maud saw a fleeting shadow cross the boy’s face before he continued. ‘But Mrs Greer took me from the school. She said I’d best come quietly or else you wouldn’t be finishing your nurse training.’
‘Oh, Alfred,’ gasped Maud, ‘I am so sorry that they used our friendship against you. Did they harm you? Where did they put you?’
‘She took me to a house. I think it was somewhere near Greer’s place. There was a man and his wife there and they pushed me into a room with one small window high up and locked the door. I think Mr Greer had sold me to them or something. I heard the man say that he was going to make me climb chimneys again and that made me feel afraid. Then one day I heard them talking outside the door after they’d been in with some food. They were saying that they’d have to leave it a bit before they could put me to work. The man said that he’d seen some notices up round the city with my description and they didn’t want to risk anything so they’d have to wait.’
Maud heaved a silent sigh of relief and gave thanks to Miss Fairchild for sending out those notices.
‘Then ages later I heard them again, the man and his wife. They were angry and shouting, and she said that they would never be able to use me now and they’d have to get their money back. It took a while after that, but today the woman came to me and she pulled me out of the room and marched me to Mr Greer’s house. I tried to get away from her but she had me held tight with a leather strap around my wrist.’
Maud glanced down and she could see a bright-red mark and the beginnings of a bruise around Alfred’s left wrist. Tears sprang to her eyes and she lifted his small arm to kiss it better.
‘It’s all right, Maud, it doesn’t hurt much.’
‘It hurts me,’ said Maud, ‘to know that you have been held against your will and treated so cruelly.’
Alfred reached up and wiped the tears from her eyes with his small hand and then calmly continued his story. ‘Well, she went up to Mrs Greer on that stall and they were shouting and screaming at each other and almost ready to claw each other’s eyes out when Mr Greer came out of the house and gave the woman some money and she handed him the leather strap. So then Mr Greer was shouting at Mrs Greer and then he said something about taking me straight down to the docks to see if one of the ships needed a cabin boy. He thought he might be able to get some money for me like that.’
Maud now had tears streaming down her cheeks. She couldn’t bear to think what might have happened.
‘Well, he was dragging me along and by that time I was really starting to struggle and trying to get free and I was shouting out as well. I thought I had nothing to lose. So we were pushing through the people on the street and they weren’t taking any notice and Mr Greer was still dragging me. Then, from out of nowhere, a dog came bounding through, straight at Mr Greer and it was growling. It came right at him and he tried to bat it away but it went behind and bit him on the backside. He screamed out and let go of the leather strap and I ran as fast as I could after the dog. Then another man grabbed me and at first I kicked and struggled, but then he mentioned your name and pulled this out of his pocket …’
‘What?’ said Maud, as the boy fished in his own pocket and then held out a single brown sock.
‘That was Harry. So it was him that found you in the end,’ cried Maud. ‘His dog sniffed you out.’
‘Kind of,’ smiled Alfred. ‘The man, Harry, said he’s been looking for weeks and you had told him to keep an eye on Market Street. He had been letting the dog sniff the sock as well, but Rita hasn’t much idea about tracking. Then as soon as he saw me with Greer, he knew who I must be straight away and he told the dog, “Go get ’im,” and she did. Oh, and Harry said to say sorry that he couldn’t come in with me, because of the dog, and he’ll be waiting outside the Nurses’ Home at the usual time.’
‘Oh, Alfred,’ said Maud, hugging him again and never wanting to let him go, ‘I have been so worried about you, and Miss Fairchild has as well. I can’t wait to tell her that you are home safe. Now I don’t want you out of my sight again, ever, do you hear?’
Sister Pritchard had made it clear that Maud was free to go as soon as she was ready, and she gratefully accepted the offer once she’d finished her immediate duties, taking Alfred with her. The whole ward had rejoiced after hearing the news. All of the patients had wanted to hear the story and even Sister Law had not been able to stop smiling before beating a retreat back to Male Surgical, where she was sure that the staff and the patients would be running absolute riot without her governance.
Alfred had tagged along with Maud and he’d had his hair ruffled and been kissed and hugged many times. He’d even been given sugar mice by one of the patients. Even Mr Jones and Dr McKendrick had been given the whole story as they made their way through the ward to check some new equipment in the theatre. Mr Jones had picked up Alfred and swung him round, so delighted was he by the whole outcome. It was simply overwhelming, especially for Maud, who just liked to get on with the work and make sure that she quietly blended into the fabric of the ward. So that was another reason that she was glad to accept Sister Pritchard’s gracious offer to leave early, even though it meant walking by the stretcher as Michael Delaney and Stephen carried Alfred in triumph through the hospital.
‘Yes, that will be fine, Michael,’ said Maud quietly as she insisted that they leave Alfred at the main entrance and not carry him down the street to the Nurses’ Home. ‘That will be absolutely fine. We can manage very well from here, thank you.’
Stephen Walker looked very disappointed not to be able to continue the journey with the boy. Maud had never seen the man so animated, but still she held her ground and the two men made do with ruffling Alfred’s hair a final time and then heading off to their quiet corridor for a cup of tea and a smoke.
As soon as the orderlies were gone Maud looked down at Alfred’s feet. ‘Oh, but you’ve no shoes,’ she said. ‘Maybe I should have let them carry you after all.’
‘Oh, no, Maud, don’t worry about that,’ said Alfred. ‘I’ve walked all the way through the city like this. I will be fine.’
‘But your poor feet,’ said Maud, almost on the verge of tears. Before she could say any more, however, or let the tears flow, Alfred had taken her hand and started to walk with her the short distance to the Nurses’ Home.
As they came in through the entrance to the building Miss Mary Merryweather and her sister happened to be leaving the office. They both stopped in their tracks and were also delighted to see Alfred.
‘Is this the boy that went missing?’ said Miss Elizabeth, with a wonderful smile.
‘Yes,’ said Maud, wondering how they knew. As far as she could remember she had never spoken of Alfred to either of the sisters.
‘This is a very happy day indeed,’ said Miss Mary, reaching into her pocket to find a shilling to give to Alfred.
‘Yes, it is,’ said Maud. ‘I just need to take him up to my room so that I can get changed. I know you don’t like—’
‘Boys are welcome in here,’ said Miss Mary. ‘It’s just the full-grown men we try to keep out.’
Maud didn’t tell the Miss Merryweathers that she was due to meet a ‘full-grown man’ outside the building in about an hour, but then they probably knew all about that as well. After all, they seemed to know everything.
Harry was already waiting with Rita at the bottom of the steps when Maud stepped out through the door, closely followed by Alfred. She saw him turn and he beamed a smile, and the dog started frantically wagging her tail.
‘Hello again, young man,’ said Harry as Rita bounded up to the boy and licked his face.
‘That’s a good sign,’ said Harry. ‘Rita doesn’t like all that many people. I’ve never seen her greet anyone like that before. As you know, me and Alfred are already acquainted.’
‘Thank you so much,’ said Maud, grabbing hold of Harry, and in that moment not caring who saw as they stood outside the Nurses’ Home. ‘I can’t bear to think what might have happened to Alfred if you hadn’t been there.’
‘Well, you told me where to look,’ said Harry, ‘and I just kept looking. Besides, it’s all down to Rita really; she’s the one who saved the day. I was as shocked as anyone to see how she flew off like that. She’s never bitten anybody before but she went straight for Greer and bit him right on the arse.’
Maud laughed. ‘I would have loved to have seen that.’
‘He was like this,’ said Harry, breaking away from her and running with his hands on his backside, yelling, ‘ “Keep that beast away from me!” The good thing is as well,’ he continued as he came back towards them, ‘is that Mr Greer doesn’t know me from Adam, so there’s no way that he would link Alfred’s rescue to you. I told him I was going to report him to the police for child cruelty under the Chimney Sweepers Act. I shouted that at his back as he was running down the street. He glanced round so I know that he heard me. He looked petrified. Anyway, so long as the lad keeps well out of the way, I don’t think you’ll hear any more from the sweep or his missus.’
‘Thank you, Harry,’ said Maud, grabbing hold of him again and smiling up at him.
Harry pulled her closer to him and whispered in her ear, ‘You’ll have to marry me now, Maud. Will you marry me?’
Maud pulled back straight away and she was instantly looking around to make sure that no one had witnessed her moment of abandon, right outside the Nurses’ Home.
‘So that’s a no, then,’ said Harry quietly.
‘I’m sorry,’ said Maud as she stood holding his hand, ‘I just don’t know how we could do that right now. I would have to leave my work, you know I would. And I can’t, I just can’t.’
Seeing how forlorn the man looked, Maud knew she had to do something so she put her arms around him once more and said, ‘Look, Harry, you know how I feel about you. Just give me some more time, will you?’
Harry pulled her close again. ‘I will,’ he breathed. ‘I will.’
‘And right now, Harry,’ said Maud, stepping back from him again, ‘I want you to help me take Alfred to Devonshire Square. Miss Fairchild needs to know straight away that he is safe and she has always said that as soon as he turns up he can stay there with her. They can find him some work as a boot boy or something, just until proper arrangements can be made.’
‘Right,’ said Harry, still staring at her.
‘He has no shoes; his feet are bare.’
‘Right,’ said Harry.
‘Harry, you need to carry him.’
‘Of course I do,’ said the man at last, sweeping the boy up into his arms and setting off very purposefully.
‘Not that way,’ said Maud, laughing. ‘Just follow me.’
Maud’s final placement as a probationer took her back to Male Medical. As always, she was not as comfortable working with the men, but at least she was grateful to be nurtured in the bosom of Sister Cleary’s ward. After all, she’d been lucky: Mr Jones had put in a special request for her to extend her time on Female Surgical so that she could continue to gain experience in theatre. So, fair enough, it was right and proper that she move on now. She was a probationer and she needed a full range of experience. Eddy had, at last, been given Female Medical and the dreaded Sister Fox, but she was making the absolute best of it, even saying occasionally that ‘old Foxy’ wasn’t so bad after all, only to be miserably late off the ward the next day because she’d been kept back to give all the bedpans an extra polish.
Nancy was riding high on this, her last placement. She had been given Female Surgical and Eddy swore that she could already tell that Nancy Prancy thought she was the queen of surgery.
One day, while Maud was fighting to apply a bread poultice that had been made with a little too much milk to a nasty skin infection on a patient’s leg, Miss Houston appeared at the bottom of the bed. Seeing that Maud was struggling with the sticky bread mixture she came around to help support the leg and then held it steady whilst Maud applied a bandage. Once they had together settled the patient and made sure he was comfortable, Ada took Maud aside.
‘I need a word, Maud. Can you come up to my room? I’ve spoken to Sister Cleary so she is fully aware.’
Maud felt stricken; this was completely unexpected.
‘Don’t worry,’ said Miss Houston. ‘Go and wash your hands and then come up. I’ll see you there.’
Standing outside Miss Houston’s door took Maud right back to when she had been there after Alfred went missing, and then when she had stood with a tearful Alice.
‘Come in,’ called Ada after she had knocked lightly on the door.
It made Maud feel a little sad not to be greeted by the dog, Bob, or see him stretched out on Ada’s bed. But there was still a nice warm fire lit in the grate and a lovely smile from Miss Houston. Whatever it was, at least Maud knew that Miss Houston would be kind and fair.
‘Sit yourself down, Maud,’ said Ada before slipping into the chair opposite. ‘I’ll come straight out with it. I don’t wish to pry, but it has been brought to my attention that you are involved with a young man who has been a patient at this hospital.’
Maud felt winded. She’d had no clue what Ada was going to say and for a split second she wondered how she could have found out. But then, of course, it was obvious. It had to be Nancy who had told.
‘Yes, it is true,’ said Maud, feeling her face start to burn, not with embarrassment but with anger. She knew that Nancy had been furious when Maud was given extra time on Female Surgical and she had gone around telling everyone that it wasn’t fair. She had been her usual spiteful self and there was no getting away from it: for whatever reason, Nancy hated her.
