You'll Never See Me Again by Pearse Lesley

Author:Pearse, Lesley [Pearse, Lesley]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9780718189358
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2019-06-26T22:00:00+00:00

13

Encouraged by Clara, Mabel wrote to Beatrice Langdon, the psychic in Southampton, soon after they returned from Bath. But because it was nearly Christmas, and there was no immediate response, Mabel put her thoughts about it to one side, and she was soon thinking it was for the best that she couldn’t pursue it.

They spent the Christmas of 1918 and the New Year of 1919 at home, just the two of them. The Spanish flu was raging in the town – as it was all over England, and indeed the world – so it seemed inappropriate to celebrate. It certainly wasn’t advisable to spend time in any crowded place. The churchyard was completely full, and they were transporting bodies to a mass grave far away from the town.

Mabel went up to the camp to help with nursing on several afternoons, but she was even more conscious than before of the importance of keeping her mask on, boiling her aprons after each visit, and endless handwashing.

Gus was still there, and healthy, and it was good to see him. He said he’d missed her and had worried she might have been taken ill too.

‘We are up to thirty deaths now,’ he said. ‘Considering there are over four thousand men in this camp, that’s a pretty low ratio, especially if you compare it with civilian prisons that have a death toll of one in ten. I think it’s because we’ve maintained such good hygiene.’

That first afternoon back, two more men died, and four new cases came into the sickbay. Clearly, the pandemic wasn’t going to disappear just yet.

It was early February when Clara answered the telephone and called up the stairs to Mabel that it was for her.

When Mabel was halfway down, Clara whispered, ‘I think it’s “that” woman.’

Beatrice Langdon sounded a very gentle soul – on the telephone, at least. She apologized profusely for not responding more quickly and said she’d been helping her daughter, who’d had her sixth child just before Christmas.

‘Why don’t you come down on the train to Southampton and we can talk face-to-face?’ she said. ‘Coral spoke so enthusiastically about you that I am a bit worried she might have pushed you too hard.’

‘That would be good,’ Mabel agreed. ‘This is all new to me, and I know I need advice and guidance. I didn’t get carried away by Coral’s enthusiasm.’

‘Glad to hear it. What about if you came one afternoon, stayed the night with me and went home the next day? The trains are still all over the place. And travelling in winter, with it getting dark so early – and the cold, of course – makes it all very unpleasant.’

Mabel agreed she’d come the following Tuesday afternoon, and Beatrice promised to put a little map in the post to her. ‘I live just a five-minute walk from the station.’

‘Well, well, well, that’s exciting,’ Clara said when Mabel related what had been said. ‘Did she sound normal?’

‘Can we judge from a telephone call?’ Mabel laughed. ‘She sounded motherly.

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