25. Spring 44 (1/2)

chapter xxiv

in may, julia turned twenty-two and couldn't quite believe it. twenty two! she always thought that the time she would turn twenty, she would be a real adult, now she knew that the time changed every theory she created during her childhood, and the day she turned twenty two, she felt that she really was a woman but a hint of her girlhood still remained in her soul.

olive, amelia and niall sang her a "happy birthday" song, and gave her one special present from all of them. it was a first edition of "far from the madding crowd", and julia was simply speechless when she read out the date on the front cover.

"1874!" she gasped "how could you save up so much money to buy me this? and where on earth did you get it from?" she questioned them while kissing each of her friends' cheeks.

"it is our small secret which will remain a secret until the end of time." niall whispered mysteriously and julia would never ask about it again.

"amelia declared to us today that she is quitting her job as a vad and coming back to australia." julia wrote to blythe, at the end of may "she is leaving us becasue her mother developed a depression and she has to take care of her as soon as possible. we are all very sad, and a bit disappointed, but in those circumstances i completely understand her. and i think, to be honest, it will do her good anyway. she looked so pale and exhausted lately, even mrs tate noticed that.

"she will leave in two weeks, and i can already feel tears coming up to my eyes. she has been such a chum to me for those past nine months and although we never really grew as close as i am with olive, she is very dear to me anyway. but, what's done is done, and i will always respect her decision.

"have you heard that both lily and our own cilia are pregnant? isn't it the most wonderful news you can possibly imagine, tell me blythe? and they are both due in fe

uary! what a perfect coincidence! now, i will stop here until i will be completely lost my own imagination. my

other will be a father! i won't believe it until i will see his little son or a daughter lying in his arms, and looking exactly like him.

"the other news from walt is that he has found a home for him, lily and the baby, in kingsport and so they are moving there, it's decided; in the middle of july.

"blythe, don't you think that our generation grew up too fast? it seems as if it was just a year ago when all of us played in 'indians' in our rainbow valley! please, tell me that you didn't grow up too much! and if you did… then just wait until we meet and i'll give you one of my speeches!"

"no, dearest, i didn't grow up at all, i think." blythe wrote back "and i don't intend on growing up in some ways till the rest of my life, i promise you.

"yes, the news are just wonderful. babies are everywhere now, aren't they? but i'm very happy for both walt and cilia. i'm sure they will soon write to me ten-pages long letters just like rose once did, three years ago.

"i'm so sorry about amelia though. from your descriptions of her, she seems like the very image of our aunt una, or luna herself and therefore a true kindred spirit.

"julia, do you plan on going to paris anytime in the near future? if yes, then you really should go there, and visit all of the places i told you about a year ago. now is the time to travel, sheba, especially while you are so near paris now! how i wish i could go and explore paris with you. you would make the whole trip much more intresting than the paris itself."

julia listened to blythe's advice, and both julia and olive decided on taking a three-days-leave in the first days of june, so that they could go and explore paris together, in the same way as they once did back in their dear old london. coincidentally, just a day before julia's and olive's planned leave, amelia was coming back home, to her family in melbourne. the both girls and niall said their goodbyes to amelia, wishing her all the best and promising that they shall all see each other again.

"you will write to us, won't you?" julia asked amelia in a hopeful voice, when she came into a van with two other nurses and six soldiers.

"i'll never stop." amelia replied and smiled to her friends with tears glistening in her eyes. and as soon as she said it, the van started moving faster and faster. and so suddenly, amelia dallas dissapeared into the darkness, away from the war and her friends.

the day after, olive and julia changed for the first time that year into their normal old clothes, said their goodbyes to niall who waved them off with a boyish smile on his face and the two of them caught their train to paris. julia thought that in that moment, she felt like a ten-year-old girl again, and she was smiling so much, her face hurt at the end of the day.

both she and olive joked and laughed and told each other stories from their childhood. they looked so jolly and carefree (not saying beautiful), that many soldiers, either french,

itish, american or even german looked around whenever they passed them, lost in their conversations and admiring the beauty of paris surrounding them.

they visited so many places during those three days that they coudn't even remember all details about their journey. "i will have to thank blythe for suggesting this idea to me." julia said to olive when both of them just sat down in the train which was going back to rouen.

"you have to." olive agreed "it was really the best time of my life!" she said and giggled.

julia smiled at her "yes, we completely forgot about the war for three whole days, didn't we?" julia sighed happily.

"yes, and that's why it was the best three days of my life!" olive whooped and julia chuckled.

"do you think that war will end soon?" julia asked her suddenly, when she noticed outside the train window a few soldiers standing on the platform and saying farewells to their loved ones.

"i don't know, dear bath." olive sighed and looked out of the window as well "at the beggining of the war, my father told me that it will end in less than six months. and now it has been going on for five years." she sighed.

"i always thought it would take more than everyone else supposed." julia said wistfully "but you know, the first war lasted for less than five years and everyone thought it was so long then, and now?" she sighed "i just hope it will end soon."

"everyone hopes that." olive put her hand on julia's arm "but you'll see, it will end, it can't go on forever." she smiled with a smile julia liked the most of all.

"i know." julia whispered and suddenly felt really cold, although it was a warm day in june and the train was crowded and overheated. julia pictured how she parted with merry and troy, and then a few months later with jake and gilly, then when she said her farewells to her family and went overseas herself, how she said farewells to walt and blythe, she even imagined how owen was sent off just a few months earlier that year. "what's the point of it all?" she whispered and looked at the soldier who was kissing maybe his sweetheart, maybe his wife outside on the platform.