She glanced at her lap where the napkin that came with her coffee was in shreds. ‘Tsk! Silly me.’

‘Thanks for telling me all this. I can understand why you were reluctant. It can’t have been easy.’

‘There’s more, but time’s going by and I ought to go through to Departures. Give my love to Dad. Feel free to take my room. Have a nice time.’

‘You too.’

They both stood, then Shelly slung her arms around him and hugged. ‘Thanks for bringing me in.’

‘Safe journey, Mum.’ They smiled at each other, hiding the heartache of lost years, and still enjoying the novelty of their new-found relationship.

Chapter 38

CHAPTER 38

GERTIE

Greece, 1917.

THIS WAS IT. THE ONLY reason they would want us both back in England would be to take part in an inquiry related to the sinking of the Britannic.

Walking along the main road towards HMS Gabriel, it occurred to me that, as far as I knew, the only person who survived Lifeboat 1, and therefore knew it was I that opened the portholes, was Corporal Perkins. Before we left for the port, I hurried to the mail room and explained I wouldn’t be distributing the letters and parcels anymore.

There were letters from home for me and Josephine, so I gathered them and hurried to catch up. With our pillow-bags slung over our shoulders, we marched boldly towards the port. Several battleships were moored to the quayside, and many more were anchored out in the bay. We were ten minutes early arriving at the ship, so we sat on the quayside and read our post before boarding. My letter was from Victoria Pimlet, a fellow VAD I’d met while training. I hadn’t seen her since the evening before the sinking and feared she had gone down with the first lifeboat. Therefore I was shocked to get a letter from her, which told me of events that affected the Britannic survivors.

Dear Gertie,

I hope this letter reaches you, as nobody seems to know where you are. All the medical staff, and the wounded, picked up by the battleships stayed in Athens until 27 November. We were ordered to write an account of the sinking. I was lucky to survive Lifeboat 1 after being pulled under by the propeller and hit on my head. The doctor said my long hair saved me, because it was braided and piled up, then pinned down by my veil. I came up in the turbulence, and some firemen rescued me. I still get headaches, but I am alive. Athens was amazing. We saw all the ancient sites then we worked in the Russian hospital in Piraeus. Eventually, they shipped us home. We docked at Southampton on Boxing Day. How happy we were to get off that ship!

I went to see your mother to see if they had heard from you. They made me terrifically welcome. They thought you had drowned and were pleased to get your telegram.