Reckoning by Kate Cary

turned on her heel and swept into her office.
    “All clear!” called one of the patients seated by the table. “At ease, everyone.”
    The other patients laughed heartily.
    “Sergeant Hopkins!” I chided, but couldn’t prevent a smile at his comment as I hurried past him to greet the new nurse.
    She flashed me a rueful grin. “I think Sister must have got out of bed on the wrong side this morning,” she said, holding out her hand. “Pleased to meet you, Mary. I’m Helen Pargeter.”
    “Glad to have you here, Helen,” I said, taking her hand.
    “Come on, Nurse Seward. You’ve got to admit Sister’s a bit of a stickler,” Sergeant Hopkins went on.
    “But I bet under all that starched cotton, there beats a feisty heart!” Corporal Croft crowed.
    “You’re right, Crofty, and I bet you wouldn’t mind loosenin’ ’er apron a bit and findin’ out.” Corporal Tandy laughed.
    I looked at Helen to see how she was taking their bawdy bantering, concerned she might be embarrassed. But she just rolled her eyes.
    “I have brothers just like them,” she told me with a grin. “It’s all talk. Besides, Stella and Becky mentioned there were some shenanigans last night, so I was prepared for these troublemakers today.”
    “Stella and Becky?” I echoed, confused.
    “I share digs with them. They’re new VADs too,” Helen explained. “They both had their first shift last night, and we had a brief chat when they arrived home.” Mischievously she winked over my shoulder at Hopkins. “They warned me about you, Sergeant, and I’ll be having none of your tomfoolery.”
    I smiled, pleased to find my new colleague so good-natured.
    A clatter at my back made me start and I spun around to see Sergeant Hopkins sprawled, laughing, on the floor. “Sorry, Nurse Seward!” he shouted as the other soldiers cheered and whistled at him. “One of these days I’ll get the hang of these damned crutches.”
    Helen and I hurried toward him to help him to his feet. “For goodness’ sake, be careful, Sergeant!” I called anxiously. “We don’t want your wound to open again!”
    L ATER
    “A new face!” Father smiled that night when I told him about Helen’s arrival. “Good, good. Let’s hope she becomes a friend as well as a colleague. It’s high time you got out a bit and had some fun.”
    I nodded but could not help frowning down at my needlepoint. Dear Father. I know he worries about me and fears my life has become too secluded. I wish I could go back to being the spirited, cheerful daughter I used to be. But how can I after all I have seen?
    I must finish writing now and try to get some rest—try not to think of the night beyond my closed curtains that makes panic rise and fall in my breast like the sea pounding on the shore. How envious I am of people who still go about their lives, free from the iron grip of such nighttime terrors, blissfully unaware of the horrors that stalk the earth in the hours of darkness.
    EXETER NEWS
3RD O CTOBER 1918
L OCAL C HILD M ISSING
    Nine-year-old Sarah Harding went missing yesterday evening. She had been sent by her mother to fetch eggs from Harborough Farm but did not arrive home again. As darkness fell, her worried father and brother went out to look for her and found the upturned egg basket in the ditch alongside the farm track. Of Sarah herself, there was no sign.
    If anyone has any information about the girl’s whereabouts or finds any items they think might belong to her, please contact Constable Morley at Chilcomb Police Station.
    Sarah has light brown hair. She is described as a slight girl, not tall for her age, with brown eyes. She was wearing a red shawl, a blue-striped smock over a brown cotton dress, black stockings, and brown boots.

C HAPTER 7
    Journal of
Mary Seward
    3RD O CTOBER 1918
    Tonight at dinner, as Father’s unsteady hand brought his wineglass to his mouth, a trickle of its ruby red contents spilled down onto his beard.
    I leaned forward to dab the