they’ll need us for reinforcements.”
In the muggy heat of a Cairo street, Amy shivered with cold dread.
They could be in the thick of battle within weeks.
Chapter 4
Amy spent a quiet Christmas in camp with the other nurses as both Guy and Mark were out in the desert, training with their battalion.
“It isn’t fair. Just because a few troops misbehaved, everyone has received extra duty,” Millie complained, as they sat outside their quarters fanning themselves with folded newspapers. “Dick said it took weeks for him to get a proper tent. He shared a hole in the ground with two others, and they had to cover it with an old piece of canvas.”
“Well, at least he’ll have his Red Cross parcel and a nice Christmas card,” Amy consoled, brushing away the hordes of flies swarming around her eyes and mouth.
“Let’s hope the troops fared better than us. A lousy tin of cocoa, a tin of milk, some Havelock tobacco,” Millie rattled the items off scornfully.
“You forgot the fruitcake, and what about the six packets of Capstan cigarettes?”
“We don’t even smoke. How can you be so cheerful, Amy?”
“It is hard sometimes.” Amy giggled. “Did you hear the orderlies talking about some French dance? The Can-Can I think they called it. I blushed just listening.”
“Dick didn’t mention anything about it, but he’s only got a couple of leaves since arriving here. Because a few of the troops are morally weak, haunting those terrible places,” Millie went on furiously, “all the men have to suffer.”
“Cheer up. Perhaps you can see him for New Year. If Guy and Mark get leave, we could all go to a New Year’s Eve party in Cairo.”
“Dick’s only a lieutenant.”
“Why should it matter? Say, Mill, did you really like those turquoise goblets I picked up in the suqs?”
“Yes, they’re beautiful. I wish you could remember which bazaar you went to. I could get another six and make up a full dozen.”
****
An urgent summons from their Matron, Miss Steadman, interrupted Amy and Millie as they rested in their quarters. Hurriedly dressing, they rushed over to the hospital.
“Sorry to call you in so early, ladies, but things are chaotic at the moment. I’ve been ordered to muster as many of you as I can find before the ambulances arrive. The stupidity of it all!” Matron paced her office, taking short mincing steps. “Marching troops in full winter battle dress for thirty miles in this heat. Soldiers are strung out for miles over the desert, collapsed where they stood, some of the poor devils. If the New Zealanders hadn’t come out on horseback and with camels to bring in the worst cases, dozens would be dead. I’ve never seen Major Vincent so angry. He wants a Military Court of Enquiry, and mark my words, heads will roll.”
On arrival at the hospital Amy gasped at the shocking sights and smells that met her in the overflowing wards. Dozens of soldiers lay on stretchers in the passageways. Boys with burned and blistered faces crammed every ward. Dry foam coated their lips, their uniforms bleached hard and white by sweat and sand. She wanted to cry but couldn’t allow herself the luxury. There was just too much to do.
Working without a break she sponged down fevered bodies and applied cooling salve to burnt skin. One boy in particular, a redhead, was so badly burned he looked as if he had fallen into a fire. She held a cup of water to his lips and he gulped it down. “Here, not too quickly, or you’ll make yourself ill.”
“It was awful, Sister. I nearly died. If Captain Tremayne hadn’t rigged up a shelter for some of us, we’d have been goners.”
Amy fought to still her trembling hands. Was Mark all right? And what of Guy? Her heart slammed against her ribs, but she had to put the welfare of her patient ahead of her own fear and worry.
“Don’t talk. You’re safe now,” she soothed, stroking back a damp tendril of ginger hair.
“Your hands feel so lovely and cool,” he
In the muggy heat of a Cairo street, Amy shivered with cold dread.
They could be in the thick of battle within weeks.
Chapter 4
Amy spent a quiet Christmas in camp with the other nurses as both Guy and Mark were out in the desert, training with their battalion.
“It isn’t fair. Just because a few troops misbehaved, everyone has received extra duty,” Millie complained, as they sat outside their quarters fanning themselves with folded newspapers. “Dick said it took weeks for him to get a proper tent. He shared a hole in the ground with two others, and they had to cover it with an old piece of canvas.”
“Well, at least he’ll have his Red Cross parcel and a nice Christmas card,” Amy consoled, brushing away the hordes of flies swarming around her eyes and mouth.
“Let’s hope the troops fared better than us. A lousy tin of cocoa, a tin of milk, some Havelock tobacco,” Millie rattled the items off scornfully.
“You forgot the fruitcake, and what about the six packets of Capstan cigarettes?”
“We don’t even smoke. How can you be so cheerful, Amy?”
“It is hard sometimes.” Amy giggled. “Did you hear the orderlies talking about some French dance? The Can-Can I think they called it. I blushed just listening.”
“Dick didn’t mention anything about it, but he’s only got a couple of leaves since arriving here. Because a few of the troops are morally weak, haunting those terrible places,” Millie went on furiously, “all the men have to suffer.”
“Cheer up. Perhaps you can see him for New Year. If Guy and Mark get leave, we could all go to a New Year’s Eve party in Cairo.”
“Dick’s only a lieutenant.”
“Why should it matter? Say, Mill, did you really like those turquoise goblets I picked up in the suqs?”
“Yes, they’re beautiful. I wish you could remember which bazaar you went to. I could get another six and make up a full dozen.”
****
An urgent summons from their Matron, Miss Steadman, interrupted Amy and Millie as they rested in their quarters. Hurriedly dressing, they rushed over to the hospital.
“Sorry to call you in so early, ladies, but things are chaotic at the moment. I’ve been ordered to muster as many of you as I can find before the ambulances arrive. The stupidity of it all!” Matron paced her office, taking short mincing steps. “Marching troops in full winter battle dress for thirty miles in this heat. Soldiers are strung out for miles over the desert, collapsed where they stood, some of the poor devils. If the New Zealanders hadn’t come out on horseback and with camels to bring in the worst cases, dozens would be dead. I’ve never seen Major Vincent so angry. He wants a Military Court of Enquiry, and mark my words, heads will roll.”
On arrival at the hospital Amy gasped at the shocking sights and smells that met her in the overflowing wards. Dozens of soldiers lay on stretchers in the passageways. Boys with burned and blistered faces crammed every ward. Dry foam coated their lips, their uniforms bleached hard and white by sweat and sand. She wanted to cry but couldn’t allow herself the luxury. There was just too much to do.
Working without a break she sponged down fevered bodies and applied cooling salve to burnt skin. One boy in particular, a redhead, was so badly burned he looked as if he had fallen into a fire. She held a cup of water to his lips and he gulped it down. “Here, not too quickly, or you’ll make yourself ill.”
“It was awful, Sister. I nearly died. If Captain Tremayne hadn’t rigged up a shelter for some of us, we’d have been goners.”
Amy fought to still her trembling hands. Was Mark all right? And what of Guy? Her heart slammed against her ribs, but she had to put the welfare of her patient ahead of her own fear and worry.
“Don’t talk. You’re safe now,” she soothed, stroking back a damp tendril of ginger hair.
“Your hands feel so lovely and cool,” he
Similar Books
