In Sarah’s absence, Jane and Elsa had turned to Jim for help in organising a funeral at the rubber plantation. It was only right that Philip should be buried where he’d been born, and they decided they would also hold a short service for Jock, and place a headstone in his memory.

However, they were soon to discover that this wasn’t quite as straightforward as they’d thought. Philip had been an only son, and both his parents were dead. No one knew if he’d left a will, and who the rightful owner of the plantation might be now. Elsa and Jane had approached every solicitor in Singapore in the hope of finding a will, but had come up empty-handed, so had to assume he’d died intestate. This meant that Jim had had to go through all sorts of legal red tape to arrange for Philip’s body to be released from the hospital morgue and get permission to hold a burial service at the plantation – and find a vicar or padre willing to officiate.

Sarah soon realised he was beginning to feel beleaguered by it all and feeling the strain of having four women relying on him so heavily, so she’d reluctantly given in her notice at the hospital and done her best to help ease the burden by dealing with all the paperwork involved.

It was now the middle of November and they were due to leave for the plantation the following morning. It had taken all of Sarah’s cajoling to persuade Amah to go and rest in her room, for she’d become very frail over the past weeks, and tired easily. They all sadly realised that she was slowly giving up and would soon leave them, and they could only hope that she hung on so they could get her home to the house in Malaya where she’d been so happy.

Sarah had finished her packing and was carrying her case into the hall when she heard a knock, and saw the shadow of someone through the glazed pane in the front door. Thinking it was probably Jim, she opened it to discover it was Jeremy.

‘Oh, my goodness,’ she breathed, drawing him inside. ‘We weren’t expecting you to make the long journey here.’

‘I had to come after I got Jane’s telegrams,’ he said, placing his bag on the floor and taking off his panama hat. ‘How is she?’

‘She’ll be all the better for seeing you,’ said Sarah. ‘But how on earth did you get here so quickly?’

‘I have contacts in the RAF, and hitched several rides out.’

‘Jeremy!’ Jane came hurtling into the hall to throw her arms around him. ‘Oh, Jeremy, it’s so lovely to see you.’

Sarah left the lovebirds canoodling in the hall and went to tell Sybil of his arrival before going to her bedroom and closing the door. She didn’t begrudge her sister’s happiness, of course she didn’t, but the sight of them together reminded her once again of all she’d lost.