Page 55 (1/2)
Feould have noticed that during so to one woman in particular, that when he had said, ‘You are not alone,’ his gaze er than on anyone else But it was irrelevant There was a brief silence, and then the woradually the applause and cheering had ignited the entire rooratefully at the blur of faces It had not co not to smile as much as he wanted It had come from the men ‘What did you think?’ he murmured to the woman beside him, his chest still puffed with pride
‘Very nice, Captain’
‘Not a great one for speeches, generally,’ he said, ‘but in this case I thought it appropriate’
‘I don’t think anyone here would disagree Your words werebeautifully chosen’
‘Have the girls stopped staring at you yet?’ He spoke without looking at her, so that fro the steward for his plate of food
‘No,’ said Frances, taking a forkful of fish ‘But it’s quite all right, Captain’ She didn’t need to add: I’lanced at Dobson, two seats doas evidently not yet used to it Having squinted at sea for alood as it had been But even he could discern the words e from the XO’s downturnedafuriously into his damask napkin ‘It’s as if he’s set out to turn us all into a laughing-stock’
The lieutenant beside hihfield felt the ship lift under him as it broke another wave
‘Glass of cordial, Sister Mackenzie? You sure you wouldn’t like anything stronger?’ He waited until it had ridden out, then lifted his glass in salute
It would only be for twentyto It hole pounds And Davy Plu to sit down there by hiine room while every matelot froirls parade in their swiot back to Blighty What were they going to make him do if they found him off duty for once? Make hies that needed to be checked, ran a cloth over the arette underfoot and, with a swift glance behind hiway and towards the exit hatch
The votes were in and Avice Radley had lost The judging panel, which comprised Dr Duxbury, two of the woreed that they had wanted to give the prize to Mrs Radley (Dr Duxbury had been particularly impressed by her rendition a week earlier of ‘Shenandoah’) but felt that, given her extreht, heranswer to the question, ‘What do you land?’ (Irene Carter, ‘Make the acquaintance of my mother-in-law’; Ivy Tuttle, ‘Raise money for the war orphans’; Avice Radley, ‘I don’t know’) and her immediate disappearance after it, there was only one choice for overall winner
Irene Carter wore her hand-sewn sash with the cooing, tearful delight of a new mother It had been, she announced, the finest trip she had ever undertaken She felt, frankly, as if she had made at least six hundred new friends And she hoped they would all find the happiness in England she was sure they deserved She couldn’t begin to thank the crew enough for their kindness, their efficiency She was sure the whole rooree that the captain’s words had been a real inspiration It hen she started thanking her forhfield intervened and announced that if the officers and men would like to clear the tables to the sides of the room, the Royal Marines Band would provide !’ chirruped Dr Duxbury, and several wo near the back of the bandstand, glanced in disgust at the handwritten betting slip Foster had given him not two days earlier, screwed it up and thrust it deep into the pocket of his overall Bloody women For all those fancy odds, that one couldn’t have looked any worse with a paper bag over her head He was about to return to the engine roo in the corner They whispered soout the sides of his overalls
‘We ondering if you were going to dance,’ said the setting us all oily’
‘Ladies, you have no idea what a stoker can do with his hands’ Davy Pluotten
He was, after all, an opti cereave Frances aleway and pick up the photographs of the Australian General Hospital that Captain Highfield had asked to view Her photograph album was in her trunk down in the hold but she always kept a few of her favourite snaps – the first ward tent, the dance in Port Moresby, Alfred, in a book by her bed She ran lightly along the corridor that led fro the wall to keep her balance
Then she stopped
He was standing outside the dorarette frolanced sideways at her The way in which he did this told her that her appearance was no surprise to hiun turret with Tiht the suspicion that he had avoided her since then, had several tier ht watch
She had pictured him so many times, had taken one side in so many silent conversations, that to see hi Even as her feet took her towards hiuely at her skirt
She paused at the door, unsure whether to step inside He was in his dress uniforht they had danced, in which she had been held against that dark cloth ‘Want one?’ he said, holding the packet towards her
She took one He held the flame towards her so that she didn’t have to bend to him as it lit She found, as she ducked, that she could not take her eyes off his hands
‘I saw you at the captain’s table,’ he said eventually
‘I didn’t see you’ She had looked Several tie She drew on her cigarette, conscious that however she stood she felt aard
‘Quite unusual for him to invite one of the women to join hirees ‘I wouldn’t know,’ she said carefully
‘I don’t believe he’s done it once this trip’
‘Is there soot her previous aardness ‘Surely what you’re asking is why I, of all people, was seated at the captain’s table?’
He set his jaw For the briefest ht have looked as a child ‘I was justcurious I came to see you the other afternoon And then I saw yououtside the captain’s--’