Miss Nightingale's Nurses by Kate Eastham

Author:Kate Eastham
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781405935906
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2018-05-21T16:00:00+00:00

14

‘I think one’s feelings waste themselves in words; they ought all to be distilled into actions … which bring results.’

Florence Nightingale

Lampeter did not say a single word to her or even look in her direction during their journey over the roughest road that Ada had ever ridden. It seemed like the longest six miles of her life.

The ground was rock hard and riddled with ruts from all the other vehicles, horses and men that had passed over it during the wet season. It was so dusty that it was difficult for Ada to see much of the terrain they were travelling through and she needed to hold her shawl over her nose and mouth at times. It looked open, empty and barren.

She remembered what Tom Dunderdale had told her about this road, how it could be frozen solid in winter, or, after heavy rain – even in summer – thick with Crimean mud that sucked and dragged man and beast knee-deep to a complete standstill. She knew that things had improved a great deal since the new railway had opened in March to carry supplies up and wounded men down. To think that they’d brought the track, the sleepers and the locomotive all the way out here and built it from scratch in next to no time. It had made Ada feel proud to be British.

As they finally approached the white tents of the camp, Ada saw a soldier waiting for them at the guard post. He gestured for them to stop, then spoke to Lampeter, telling them to be as quick as they could. They both leapt down from the wagon and another soldier took their horse.

They followed the man through a maze of tents until they could hear the sound of what could only be a woman in labour. A blood-curdling scream pierced the air and a terrified-looking man wearing a red jacket winced as he stood outside the tent. The man’s eyes widened when he saw them and his face cleared a little; then he begged them to help.

‘Are you the father?’ asked Lampeter.

‘Yes, I am, I am,’ said the man with tears in his eyes. ‘She’s been going on like this for too long, too long. You have to do something, doc.’

Ada saw Lampeter grip the man’s shoulder, trying to give some reassurance. Then they both ducked their heads and almost bent double to get into the tent.

Once inside Ada could stand up easily and Lampeter had more room than expected but it was still very cramped. Ada was shocked, not only by the darkness and heat inside such a confined space but by the salty, pungent smell of childbirth. The woman was lying flat on her back in an area inside the tent that was dug down into the ground. She was lying on the bare earth with only a filthy blanket under her. Another woman was in attendance but she was panicked and crying.

Ada took off her shawl and asked the crying woman what had been happening.

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