He gave me a sulky look. ‘I’m getting better. Nurse says I can get up for a while tomorrow. Promise you’ll come and visit, help me to walk with one leg. Don’t leave me to lie in an empty room wondering where you are, and who you’re with.’

‘I will, of course I will. We’ve been through a lot together, haven’t we, you and I?’ I had to make him think well of me, not blame me for his loss of limb. ‘Really, Corporal Perkins, I couldn’t believe it when I saw you in the sea and got them to pull you into our boat. You were almost gone at that point, you know? If I hadn’t insisted on your rescue, you wouldn’t have lasted another two minutes in the sea.’

‘It really was you?’

I nodded. ‘You’d lost too much blood already. It’s quite remarkable the way you’ve recovered, despite the influenza and everything. You’re a very lucky man.’ Desperate to change the subject and not talk about the ship, or make any mention of his leg, I went on. ‘I’ve just sent a carrier pigeon home; well, not all the way to England exactly, but to Athens, so my parents will know I’m all right. The mayor attached a little note to its . . . um, wing.’

‘Wing?’ Josephine cried. ‘That’s unusual. They usually fix it to the . . . erm.’ We exchanged a startled glance.

‘Would you like a cup of tea, Corporal?’ the nurse asked. ‘I’m just about to make one.’

Perkins nodded and I continued hurriedly. ‘Anyway, the bird’s flown off and my parents will receive the message tomorrow. Isn’t that amazing? What about you, Corporal Perkins, do you want to send a message to your family?’

‘No, I don’t want them to know anything, not yet. I’ll be out of the army soon. My arm’s healed, and the stitches come out of my head wound later today. Almost as good as new, aren’t I?’ he said cynically, before glancing down the bed. ‘When I arrive home, I want to walk through the door on two legs. They didn’t even know I was on the Britannic. My mother and father think I’m still at the barracks fixing army vehicles. Who knows, perhaps I’ll get that job back, I mean, you don’t need two good legs to be a mechanic, do you?’ He frowned as if thinking about it.

‘You’re right, of course,’ I said, realising the irony. He would free up another able-bodied soldier for the front line, too.

Chapter 23

CHAPTER 23

SHELLY

Greek island of Kea, present day.

ALTHOUGH IT WAS HER LAST night in Kea, Shelly had decided to sleep alone. There were so many things she wanted to think about before she headed home.