"Well finally we have a replacement for Reverend Appleby-Thornton!" Trixie exclaimed happily. "Now we just have to name him."
Shelagh turned around from the tea urn her expression turning from confusion to a smile of remembrance as she caught sight of the plastic bag containing a good deal of water and a small goldfish that Trixie had placed on the table among the teacups.
"Where did he come from?"
"Sister Frances won him on the 'hook a fish' stall but I'm not sure that she's able to offer up a name that fits our exacting criteria!" Trixie turned a beaming grin on the young nun standing next to her.
"You have criteria for naming goldfish?" Sister Frances was clearly puzzled. "I know lots of names. Tell me the rules, l'm sure I can think of one that fits."
Trixie and Shelagh exchanged knowing smiles.
"Shelagh, take a break and come and sit with us. I've just spent a perfectly gruelling hour running the coconut shy and I'm sure you are equally in need of a rest and a drink. We can have a cuppa while we explain to Sister Frances the Nonnatus method for fish naming."
"Very well. There's a table free in the shade over there." Shelagh gestured towards a spot under a tree. "I'll bring a tray over."
Trixie nodded, picked up the as yet nameless goldfish and swept off towards the table with Sister Frances following in her wake. Shelagh gathered three cups of tea, a bowl of sugar and a plate of Bourbon biscuits onto a tray then made her way to join them. After placing the tray in the centre of the table she settled into the remaining seat with a sign of relief.
"It's certainly nice to sit down for a moment, it looks like the church fête is going to be a roaring success this year from tea sales alone!"
"Everyone knows that a hot cuppa provides the most wonderful refreshment even on the warmest of days, especially when it's well sugared," Trixie nodded sagely as she added two spoons of sugar to her cup. "Now, it's time to name this goldfish. Care to explain the rules to Sister Frances, Shelagh?"
"Very well," Shelagh turned to the young nun. "A few years ago some of the nurses spent the evening at the fair and Jane, a medical orderly we had working with us at the time, won a goldfish. On their way home the girls exchanged tales of their first kiss and it was agreed that the goldfish should be named after whoever gave Jane that pleasure. Unfortunately Jane was extremely shy and inexperienced so the fish remained nameless until she met and fell in love with a clergyman who came to stay at Nonnatus House. Henceforward the fish was known as Reverend Appleby-Thornton."
"So now all Nonnatun goldfish must be named in the same manner but I somehow suspect that you may not be able to help. Am I right?" Trixie smiled affectionately at the blushing Sister.
"Don't jump to conclusions, Trixie, after all Cynthia confessed to having received her first kiss at just eight years old. In any event, Sister Frances is under no obligation to tell us anything about her life before joining the order." Shelagh took pity on their young companion.
"No, that's ok. I'm afraid Trixie's right, if it's left to me he'll be nameless and that's not likely to change," Sister Frances admitted with a slightly wistful smile, "Someone else will have to give him a name."
"Well that settles it," Trixie turned to Shelagh with a broad grin, "We'll have to call him Patrick!"
Shelagh stared open-mouthed at her friend for a moment before finally saying "Oh no, I don't think that would be appropriate."
"Oh come on Shelagh, Doctor Turner's a good sport. I'm sure he wouldn't mind!"
"I don't suppose he would but unless he was responsible for your first kiss his name isn't suitable." Shelagh sat back in her chair, a slight twinkle in her eyes she sipped her tea. Her gaze rested on her friend as she awaited the inevitable questioning.
Trixie didn't disappoint, after a brief pause to process Shelagh's statement she launched into her interrogation.
"Patrick wasn't your first? Who was? When did it happen? What was it like? Tell us all about it!"
"Calm down, Trixie, there's not so very much to tell. His name was Andrew MacNair, I was seventeen and it was... pleasant."
"That's it, you can't leave it at that. Come on Shelagh, we need details, don't we Sister?" Trixie turned to Sister Frances for support. The young sister nodded eagerly, leaning in closer, anxious to hear more.
"Oh very well," Shelagh took pity on them, "It was the summer before my last year at high school. Andrew was a year older than me, he was working as a delivery boy in my father's shop while he waited for his call up papers. We were still at war and he'd just turned eighteen. I spent most of the summer helping my father, I hated it but Andrew and I spent quite a bit of time together and we became friendly which made it more bearable. In the evenings we would go walking together, we'd talk about our plans for the future, what we would do after the war. We were both anxious to move on with our lives, to escape the life we were born into. He was hopeful that the army would show him something more, I was restless, knowing I still had a year of school before I could train as a nurse. As the summer went on friendship turned into affection and one evening while we were walking along the path by the river he pulled me into his arms and kissed me." She stopped, her eyes misty with memories.
Trixie gave her a moment but then could contain herself no longer.
"So how was it? What happened next?"
"It was sweet and gentle. We shared more kisses over the next week but never anything more. Then he received his call up letter, three days later he was gone. I never saw him again."
"Oh goodness, Shelagh, I'm so sorry! Was he killed in action?" Trixie questioned softly.
"Oh no, nothing like that," Shelagh smiled, "We exchanged a couple of letters and even one long distance phone call but we both knew it had never been serious and we were drifting apart. By the time he returned to Inverurie I'd finished school and moved to London to begin my nursing training."
"Well you're a dark horse, Shelagh Turner! I can't believe you didn't tell me this before. Acting so innocent when I said how sad it was that Jane had no one to name her fish after."
"I said you were talking to a nun, Trixie, I never said that nun had never been kissed."
Shelagh became aware that Sister Frances hadn't spoken throughout her revelations and was now staring at her in stunned silence.
"Why are you looking so shocked Sister? Is it that surprising that I once kissed someone other than my husband?"
"N-no, not at all." Sister Frances stuttered seeming to struggle to find the power of speech. "It's surprising that you were once a nun!"
"Now that's a story worth telling!" Trixie's eyes lit up in anticipation, "Let's take go and find a home for young Andrew here and I'll regale you with the romantic tale of 'Sister Bernadette and the Dashing Doctor'"
Trixie swept up the bag containing the recently named goldfish and set off towards Nonnatus House followed by a somewhat bemused Sister Frances.
Shelagh stood and gazed after them for a moment before turning back towards the tea stall. Memories of the past were replaced with delight in the present when she found herself face to face with her husband. Patrick greeted her with a loving smile before drawing her into into a warm embrace and planting a tender kiss on her lips. This, she decided, as she returned his kiss, was so very much more than 'pleasant'.