The House in the Water by Victoria Darke

Author:Victoria Darke [Darke, Victoria]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Boldwood Books
Published: 2024-05-27T00:00:00+00:00

18

ELLEN

5 January 1944

It’s a bright, cold January morning, the kind that draws people outside to worship a teasing sun. Ellen is one such person. She’s standing at the bottom of the front steps of May Day House, her eyes closed, the gentle warmth seeping into her skin.

She’s praying it will heal her, both inside and out. It’s nearly ten days since the bombing, but less than a week since Harry told her about his wife. Her bruises are still colourful, but her whiplashed muscles have finally let go, and she is much more mobile. Her emotional injuries, on the other hand – the damage to her heart, her soul and her armoury of hope – will take far longer to heal.

Rebecca returned to her duties this morning, and Ellen will do the same tomorrow. The sight of such glorious weather on her final day of recovery has persuaded her to don her woollen cape and some leather gloves so that she can wander around the grounds, spotting the first signs of spring. And there are plenty: in the flower bed to her right, she can see shoots of crocuses breaking the soil; the fragile first snowdrops are flowering beside the water’s edge; short darts of bright green beneath the trees signal the eventual arrival of crowds of daffodils. Spring is her favourite season, and although it is still some way off, these signs of the glory that awaits them is the tonic she desperately needs. She needs to believe that things will get better, that her soul’s dark night will end eventually.

She strolls around the perimeter of the island, stopping to enjoy the serenity of a solitary swan at the side of the house, before reaching the back. It’s here she finds Brian. He’s just coming out of the pump house.

‘Oh, hello, Lieutenant Quinn,’ he says. ‘Nice to see yer out again. How are yer getting on?’

‘Much better, thank you. How are things with you?’

‘Well, I’d be better if we could fix the pump. I’ve been at it for ages this morning and I still can’t get it to do my bidding.’

‘Oh. We don’t have any water?’

‘Well, we have some reserves in the tank, but we’ll run out soon if we don’t kick it back to life. I’ve put a call in to an engineer in Guildford, but he says he won’t be able to get here until tomorrow.’

‘So we could be without water tonight?’ Ellen is thinking about the knock-on impact for the patients and the nursing staff. She experienced water shortages when she was in Egypt, and it made her role so much harder. Cleanliness is such a vital part of their work.

‘Well, running water, anyway. We have the well, as yer know,’ he says, pointing to the circular brick well with the tiled roof behind her. ‘If we need to, we’ll have to do it the old-fashioned way.’

‘Oh. That sounds like hard work.’

‘Yer, it will be. But needs must.’

Ellen considers telling Brian that she has a passing

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