‘Oh, please don’t say any more,’ Angela groaned. ‘You’re making my mouth water!’

Holly giggled. ‘Well at least we have a chicken dinner to look forward to. One of the Frenchmen in town who owns a smallholding gave some chickens to the cook. I’ve seen him here a few times talking to one or another of the officers although I have no idea what they could be discussing. But anyway, we’d best be going. Sister won’t like it if we’re late reporting for duty.’

‘I wonder sometimes if that woman is even human.’ Angela pulled her cloak across her shoulders. It was bitterly cold outside and it wasn’t much better in the tent. Some of the other nurses were sleeping, having come off night duty, so the girls slipped out of the tent as quietly as they could and set off across the duckboards. There had been a sharp frost during the night and now the mud beneath their feet was treacherously slippery.

‘It’s a wonder one of us doesn’t end up in hospital ourselves,’ Angela grumbled but then she spotted Harry and Richard heading towards them from the doctors’ quarters and she instantly brightened. Holly, on the other hand, felt uncomfortable. It was the first time they had seen either of them since they had arrived and she’d been hoping it would stay that way.

Harry’s eyes instantly settled on Holly and he smiled as he quickened his steps. Angela meanwhile was batting her eyelashes at Richard, although he showed no reaction whatsoever.

‘Ah, here you are.’ Harry seemed so genuinely pleased to see her that Holly cringed, especially as she was aware that Richard was watching them closely. ‘I was wondering when I was going to see you. We’ve been so busy in theatre that we’ve had no time for anything but catching a nap here and there. We’ve been told that a truce has been called for tomorrow, though, so perhaps we could have dinner together in the mess?’

‘I er … don’t know what Sister’s got planned for me,’ Holly hedged uncomfortably.

‘Well, apart from the ward rounds there won’t be any casualties brought in tomorrow so I’m happy to wait until you’re free,’ Harry told her persistently. She could feel Richard’s eyes boring into her and felt the colour rise in her cheeks.

‘I’ll let you know when Sister’s told us what hours we’ll be working,’ she answered then scuttled away like a frightened deer.

‘Here, what did you have to shoot off like that for?’ Angela said crossly when they were out of earshot.

Embarrassed, Holly shrugged and hurried towards the ward.

The casualties brought in from the field at the end of the previous day had been particularly high so it was late evening before Holly finally made it to the mess to grab something to eat. Angela had been assigned to another ward so she hadn’t seen her all day and there was no sign of her now. However, Holly’s heart sank when she saw Richard sitting alone at a table. Deciding to pretend that she hadn’t seen him, she went to the counter where cold food had been laid out for them and loaded some sandwiches and a hot drink onto a tray. She’d intended to creep to one side of the room but she had carried her meal no more than a few steps when Richard’s voice halted her.