Sibbie didn’t give any details about the mysterious posting she and Marjella had talked about, when they’d all seen Daisy and Florrie off. She simply wrote:

Me and Marjella are now settled in new posts and are very happy about them. I won’t be able to write much, if at all, as my work will be intense, and I’ll be based deep in the countryside. But when I can, I will; and, as everyone is saying these days, no news is good news, so don’t worry about me.

Rosie pondered just what Sibbie and Marjie could possibly be doing deep in the countryside that would mean they had no time to write letters. But she couldn’t come up with anything other than deciphering intercepted messages that were in German or French.

How did life change so much? They’d all been so happy, as children.

Drying herself, Rosie checked her watch for the umpteenth time. Still only four o’clock. Sister had said not to go on duty until seven. Donning her dressing gown, she walked to the window and looked out over the stark, late-January winter scene. The trees in the hospital grounds were bare of leaves, and their branches and the normally lush grassed areas were clothed in last night’s frost, which had not yet thawed. It was a pretty scene that did nothing to lift Rosie’s spirits. This ‘not knowing’ is awful. And although I know that for those actively fighting this war there must be a lot of fear to contend with, for those of us left holding the fort, there is both fear and deep anxiety.

The door being flung open brought Rosie out of her thoughts. ‘Here you are! I went to your ward to see you, but they said you were off-duty. How did that happen?’

Freda looked flushed, giving Rosie the feeling that something was amiss. She told her of Sister’s plan.

‘Well, why aren’t you asleep? You’ll be dead on your feet before the night’s done.’

‘I knaw, but so much is going around me head.’

‘Look, I’m off now, and Jeannie is, too. She’s on her way, but you know Jeannie – she had to stop off at the canteen to see if there was anything she could snack on. Anyway, why don’t the three of us go for a walk and have a cuppa in the tea shop. It might help you to forget your troubles for a while.’

Even when they wrapped up in their nursing capes, the freezing air bit into their bodies. The familiar sound of the clanging of the doorbell as they opened the tea-shop door was very welcome. They hurried inside and closed the door before Kath could shout at them, as she stood by her counter and turned round with that look on her face.