Maggie's Girl by Sally Wragg Page A

would have done. Never listen to a word anyone said, and rush off and do something reckless.
    Well, there she was, part of his flesh and blood, a constant reminder of what might have been …
    Silas nodded wisely at his own reflection. If ever there had been the slightest doubt in his mind that Maggie Bates was Ned’s daughter, this daredevil behaviour proved it beyond all reason.
    *
    It had been a bitterly cold winter sliding into a chill spring, but summer was at last beckoning. Maggie could smell it in the air, and gave thanks for it. Amid the distant thud of guns, the rumble of tanks, the occasional hum of a plane circling overhead , marking their bearings for the next wave of bombers, came the ordinary sense of nature awakening.
    There was blossom on the tree across the road, she noticed. It was extraordinary. Deep down, she’d believed the world would somehow stop, that the seasons couldn’t possibly proceed as usual in the middle of such horror.
    They’d been on the move for weeks, and like everyone else, Maggie was exhausted. They’d set up the dressing station wherever they could, in churches, farmhouses, local dwellings, never staying longer than they were needed. Sometimes they’d leave their last lodgings just before the tanks arrived, edging past civilians intent on escape.
    They’d stopped travelling on main roads weeks ago – too exposed. Maggie knew the drill by now.
    At first sight of a plane, the truck screeched to a halt and everyone threw themselves into the nearest ditch or hedgerow, under whatever cover was available. She couldn’t remember the last time any of them had managed a bath.
    The girls had taken to working a shift system, four on, two off, to give everyone a few hours’ sleep – if they were lucky. They could do little, only patch up the casualties who came under their charge and move them on as quickly as possible.
    The walking wounded returned to their units, if they could find them again on their return. The more seriously hurt were seen as soon as possible by the doctor, and if stabilised, taken on by ambulance.
    She looked down at the stretcher case waiting for an ambulance. This boy, this soldier, wasn’t much older than Holly – whose birthday it was today, she realised. She hadn’t even given it a thought.
    Castle Maine seemed another world, inhabited by foreigners.
    â€˜Ambulance on its way!’ Diana announced cheerily, clumping into the pretty little church. She dropped down on to her knees and ruffled the boy’s hair affectionately, receiving a weak smile for her pains.
    â€˜Not much longer,’ she encouraged. Glancing up at Maggie, she betrayed her anxiety. He needed skills beyond their capacity to give. The doctor was long gone, on to the next casualty station – his care was spread too thinly.
    â€˜About time, too!’ Maggie wondered for the umpteenth time how such a supposedly well-organised manoeuvre could descend so far into chaos. No one had the slightest idea what they were meant to be doing any more. They were working on instinct, living moment by moment.
    It couldn’t possibly go on for much longer, Maggie knew.
    There came the sudden, half expected sound of an explosion nearby. They stopped what they were doing immediately, waiting for the next. It came at too close quarters, a dull thud that shook the ground under their feet. Then they heard the plane.
    â€˜Everyone down!’
    The two women flung themselves over the boy at their feet, covering him with their bodies. There was a terrible shattering explosion and a rushing, roaring sound filled Maggie’s ears.
    Then there was silence.
    â€˜Are we all right?’ Diana asked groggily, and Maggie found she seemed in one piece. People began to rise to their feet.
    She sat up. Dust fell into her lap like snow falling and she coughed and gasped for air. Diana was covered in it, too.
    â€˜Near miss, thank God.’ Diana rose to