18. News (1/2)

chapter xvii

april 1942 was a month in which three very different news were

ought to julia. each of them gave her (and her family as well) a very different feeling and each of them will be remembered by her till the rest of her life.

in the first week of april, julia, olive and claire were switched into the day-duty and by this time julia was determined to take at least two days leave and explore london, and just take some good rest. with an exasperated look on her face, mrs ashby agreed on the idea and so julia, olive and claire were strolling together down kensington and westminster for the whole two days.

"i will never believe that germans really wanted to destroy this beautiful place." olive said on the last evening of their leave while walking down the kensigton's queen's gate with her room-mates by her side.

julia shook her head "nor will i." she agreed "in my opinion kensington is the nicest area in london, although i do love the entire london so very much, even though it's been damaged so dreadfully during the blitz." she sighed.

"i was born in kensington, you know." claire added, absent-mindedly.

"really? you never mentioned this to us." olive said with twinkling eyes.

"i never did because i don't remember living here." claire continued "my parents and i lived here till i was two years old and then… well…" she gulped suddenly "they were killed in the car accident and my grandmama

ought me back with her to birmingham."

julia and olive looked at each other and then back at claire. oh, such a dreadful, horrible story! poor claire! julia put an arm around her friend's shoulder and squeezed her hand, with a warm grin on her face. claire grinned back.

"would you like to live here again?" julia asked her.

"yes, it's so lovely and all the buildings are white and look very royal to me." claire smiled and looked at the houses around her.

"they do look royal." julia agreed and smiled dreamily "would you, girls, like to live in a castle or a palace? like the king?"

"oh, yes!" both olive and claire said at the same time and the three girls laughed merrily.

"i think it would be so 'swell', like michael used to say, to live in, for instance, the buckingham palace. and to feel so rich! and important!" olive said and waved her hands theatrically.

julia and claire giggled "you know what?" julia said "i wouldn't like to live in a castle or a palace."

"why not?" claire asked a bit surpised.

"i don't think i would feel comfortable in such a big house with servants and everything." she replied "although it would feel good to know that you are important."

"talking about feeling important." claire started and her cheeks flushed with red "my the most important person in the world, lewis, has been moved to a position of a general." she said proudly.

"well, congratulations to him!" olive said enthusiastically.

"and what about your merry, julia?" claire inquired "did he get moved up again?"

"yes, he will be announced commandant meredith blythe next week." julia said ardently "how exciting is that to have a

other as a commandant?"

"very, i agree." olive said and smiled at her gently.

"girls! it's half past six!" claire exclaimed when she looked at her wrist-watch "we should be getting back!"

"let's run then!" julia said and grabbed her friends' hands quickly and started to run and laugh, making the two other girls agree that julia was and always will remain nothing else but crazy.

dear julia,

i have very exciting news to tell you and they're regarding my new location for the next month. i am in toronto now and (surprise, surprise) i started my training for a vad! yes, i am signing up as a nurse and i will join you in your 'english adventure' in june.

oh, sheba i am so thrilled! nervous as well, i'm not as bold as you are after all, but still very very excited. mother and father don't mind at all although i could see regret in their eyes. after all, they will have just one of their four children left at home. owen decided on not going to redmond until next year. he wants to stay at home and be there for both of our parents. he is such a darling boy, my

other is!

i don't suppose i have to describe to you things that i learn here in toronto, you know them far too well yourself. i find it all very interesting, not as interesting as you always used to find it though. but i can't say i'm not scared of going... yes i am a coward, i know. i just hope that i won't freak out when i'll arrive in london. silly me, of course i won't; i'll have you, my dearest friend by my side!

i'm looking forward to june and seeing you and meeting your olive and claire!

i'm going back to my duties now!

see you in early june,

love you always,

nurse-to-be leslie ford

julia was over the moon. she was so incredibly happy that leslie would join up and come to her hospital. they were always very close and quite simmilar in their personalities although leslie always seemed more scared of things and undecided than julia was. everyone in her family also agreed that leslie's idea of going is very wise and

ave, and no one actually worried much, especially because she would be in london with julia. either ways, leslie was signed up to go overseas on 3rd of june.

in the middle of april, during julia's day-duty, mrs ashby called her out in a surprisingly warm and worried voice: "nurse blythe! could you have a second, please?"

julia smiled at the soldier whom she was nursing "i'll be right back, sir. could you wait a minute?" she asked him nicely, looking at his bandaged arm.

"of course, nurse." he replied with a small grin on his face which was covered in scars. julia nodded at olive knowingly who was helping a soldier on the next bed and went to mrs ashby's office. what does she want from me, julia thought. her mind was quite blank but her heart was telling her that something must have happened, it wasn't casual for mrs ashby to be so polite and nice.

"there is a telegram for you." mrs ashby said and handed julia the small piece of paper "it just arrived."

julia looked gravely at her matron. she could feel how her heart was going up to her throat and for a moment she thought that she couldn't

eathe at all. she looked down on the telegram and unfolded it quite slowly. she didn't know why but she read it outloud: "gil is wounded and missing. i still have hope and so should you. - blythe ford". julia felt as if the world around her started whirling around. she put her hand on her forehead and sat down on the nearest chair.

"are you alright, nurse blythe?" mrs ashby asked and looked at julia seriously with a furrowed

ow.

"no, i'm most certainly not, matron." she replied

eathlessly.

"gil is missing." julia wrote down in her diary that night, knowing that she won't be able to sleep anyway "he is wounded and missing. i always thought that if news like that will arrive, i won't believe in them, but i do.

"oh, god, i can't even think properly! i know that he is not announced dead but this is even worse! you don't know if he's dead or not. i think, although it will sound cruel, but i would rather know that he is dead than not to know anything at all… now i realise how mother and grandmother blythe and all the others felt like when they learnt that father was missing in the first war.

"when will this nightmare end? when will this war end? this devastating war! those poor men! i am able not to think about them, even after my duty, but i always pray for them, even for the german soldiers. i pray for their safety.

"these men who are all someone's

others, sons, cousins, friends, sweethearts, husbands… this is just crazy! how could god allow war to happen? one nurse told me today that "war is a god's will and is needed". needed for what? for what? for a heart