Chapters (52)
- Cover
- Margaret Dickinson
- Dedication page
- Contents
- Part One
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Part Two
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Sow the Seed
- Note
- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
- Copyright page
Peggy’s expression softened. ‘You’ll see – she’ll make the world’s best doting grandmother – oh no, wait a bit, great-grandmother.’
How kind they were to her, Kate thought, she was very lucky, but she was saddened by the thought that the coming child’s true grandmother wanted nothing to do with it.
‘Peggy! Peggy!’
Kate knocked on the bedroom door. From inside she heard the squeak of bedsprings and the door opened.
‘What is it?’
‘Pains. I’ve got pains, Peg. Here . . .’ Kate clutched her groin and gasped, doubling over as another spasm gripped her.
‘How often are they coming?’
‘I – don’t know.’
‘Right – back to bed and I’ll . . .’
At that moment the siren began to wail.
Forty
‘I’ll phone for the midwife from next door. Joe’s an ARP Warden so they’ve got a telephone.’ As she spoke, Peggy was already stripping off her nightdress and struggling back into her clothes.
‘What about getting your mother into the shelter?’ Kate shouted above the noise.
Peggy laughed. ‘If I were to get her in, Kate, it would be the first time. She never goes.’
‘Oooh—’ Kate let out a yowl and thought, now I know why Rosie was squealing so much.
‘Is it bad? They’re coming a bit close together for my liking.’
‘No – no – not that bad,’ Kate lied bravely. ‘I just squeaked because they take you by surprise a bit.’
Peggy ran lightly downstairs while Kate staggered back to the big bedroom and heaved herself back on to the bed. She lay there propped up against the pillows, her knees drawn up, her legs apart, trying to remember all the things her mother had instructed Rosie to do.
And all the while the siren wailed.
By the time Peggy’s footsteps came pounding back up the stairs, Kate’s pains had increased in intensity and frequency.
‘About every three and a half minutes,’ Kate told her calmly.
‘Oh dear.’ Peggy ran her hand distractedly through her hair. ‘Kate – I can’t get through. The lines must be down and Joe’s out because of the raid . . . ‘
‘Don’t worry,’ Kate said. Despite the pain, a strange calm seemed to spread through her. ‘It can’t be very different to calves and piglets being born and I’ve seen enough of those.’
‘But I haven’t,’ Peggy wailed. ‘I don’t know what to do . . . ‘
‘I was there when Rosie had . . . ‘ Kate gasped as another pain clenched her abdomen, ‘her – her son. I think I can remember what me mam did.’ For a moment a feeling of intense longing swept over her; oh, how she would love it to be Esther standing beside the bed at this very moment! Dearly as she loved Peggy, she was not at this moment inspiring Kate with confidence and composure. Indeed, it was the patient who was having to calm the nurse.