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No, Duckworth had observed But for theun to pull down his haht try for some sleep before his next watch
‘No, Nicol,’ ca about slipping in there for a quickie later Need to save your uffawed ‘Besides, she’s a bit better-looking now Bit e you a fortune’
He had thought he ht hit him Some irrational part of him had wanted to do the same to her Instead he had pasted a wry sed in some sort of betrayal, and disappeared into the wash cubicle
Night had fallen Victoria pushed forward in the black waters, oblivious to the tiaries of her inhabitants, her vast engines powering obediently beneath her Frances lay in her bunk, listening for the now familiar sounds, the last pipes,footsteps that spoke of the steady settling of the ship’s passengers to sleep, the sniffs and grunts, the slowing of breath that told the same story of the two other women in her cabin The sounds of silence, of solitude, the sounds that told her she was free once again to breathe The sounds she see for
And outside, just audible to the trained ear, the sound of two feet shifting on the corridor floor
He arrived at four a to the other uard, the muffled echo of the other man’s steps as he went to some mess, or to sleep She listened to the hts before
Finally, when she could bear it no longer, she rose fro women on each side of her, she tiptoed towards the steel door, her footsteps sure and silent in the dark Just before she reached it, she stood still, eyes closed as if she were in pain
Then she stepped forward, and quietly, carefully, laid her face against it Slowly she rested her entire length, her thighs, her stoainst it, pal the cool own, its immovable solidity
If she turned her head, kept her ear pressed against the door, she could al
She stood there, in the dark, for some time A tear rolled down her face and plopped on to her bare foot It was followed by another
Outside, apart froines, there was silence
17
A the 300 different items the Red Cross has put aboard for the use of brides are bed linen, towels, stationery, medical and beauty preparations, and tons of tinned fruit, cream, biscuits, meat and boxes of chocolates It has also provided 500 canvas folding deck-chairs and a special book onHerald, 3 July 1946
Twenty-six days
A ing-post for most of the war years, can safely be assuates Guns, armoury, foodstuffs, silks, spices, troops, traders, holy texts and foul waste had all passed through, eliciting little co of the six white tigers confined to crates en route to the hoold dolorious European head of state More recently, for several weeks the harbour had hu five thousand bottles of sickly perfuht of soht the traffic at Alexandra Lock to a standstill The wohtly coloured sus, their voices filled with the energy of three and a half weeks spent at sea Hundreds of children ran along either side of the dock, their ar to the woboats, hovering beneath the great bow like satellites, noisily dragged Victoria round, pulling her into position alongside the quay As the ship glided gracefully into place, e ship could fit through the lock; others exclai white handkerchiefs to their glowing faces And all along the quay eyes lifted to the great aircraft-carrier that no longer carried aircraft Men and wohtly coloured robes and saris, troops, dockyard workers, traders, all paused to watch the Ship of Brides ether and stay in theto be heard over the clamour of those desperate to disembark ‘And you must return by twenty-two hundred hours at the latest Captain Highfield has made it clear he will not tolerate lateness Do you all understand?’
It was only a matter of months since the Indian sailors’ ainst their living conditions How this had escalated was still a matter of some debate, but it was indisputable that it had erupted into a fierce gun battle between English troops and the mutineers that had lasted several days There had been several heated discussions about the wisdoiven that they had remained aboard at Coloer The officer held up a clipboard, wiping her face with her free hand ‘The duty officer will be taking na the to the side of the ship, wishing, as the crowd pressed and writhed around her, that she could find so on tiptoe, shouting back what she could see, one hand shielding her eyes against the bright sunlight
‘We must do the Gateway of India Apparently everyone does the Gateway of India And the Willingdon Club is meant to be lovely, but it’s a few ot tennis courts and a swiet a taxi?’
‘I want to find a nice hotel, and put aret They had stood watching for almost the two hours it had taken Victoria to drop anchor, and the oppressive tearet’s ankles to swell
‘Plenty of tiaret Us ladies in the family way must do our best to keep active Ooh, look! They’re about to let us off’
There was a queue for the gharries, the little horse-drawn carriages that would take the women to the Red Gate at the entrance to the dock Those who had already plank were clustered around thes and sunhats, pointing out the distant views of the city
Through the gate, Margaret could see wide, tree-lined avenues, flanked by large hotels, houses and shops, the pavements and roads thick with iddy after so long at sea, and several ti, unsure whether it was due to heat or sea-legs
To oversized baskets of fruit on their heads with the same nonchalant ease as the brides wore their hats They whispered to each other, covering their aret watched, one spied soht, she stretched out a bare foot, picked up the object with her toes, took it in her hand and pocketed it