"Come in," called Sister Frances in response to the rapid knocking upon her door.
Sister Hilda slid into the room, quietly closed the door behind her and flopped straight back onto Sister Frances' bed, her legs hanging off the side, her arms encircling her whimpled head. With a mixture of bewilderment and amusement Sister Frances asked, "so, what's happened?"
Sister Hilda righted herself on the bed and Sister Frances, shoving her over slightly, sat down beside her.
"I've just telephoned Sister Julienne," Sister Hilda remarked, "she knows all about Nurse Corrigan and Colette."
"Are you saving the rest of the week's antics for another time?" Sister Frances giggled.
Sister Hilda tried to shoot her a stern glare, but before she could reply, "she is not to find out anymore, I want her to believe I have at least a degree of competence," a smile had cracked her attempt at an icy façade.
"Would Sister Julienne have handled this week any differently?" Sister Frances asked.
"Would you have carried out the, rat incident, if you knew you were coming home to Sister Julienne's wrath as opposed to mine?" Sister Hilda chided.
"Yes," Sister Frances asserted boldly, "yes I would, because I believe it was the catalyst needed in order to spark a change. Trixie is meeting Mr Aylewood about the matter this evening. And I think Sister Julienne would agree with me."
"She would agree with your convictions, just perhaps not your methods," Sister Hilda replied, "And you're right I suppose, she wouldn't have had any more control over such things than I have."
"So, what's happening to Nurse Corrigan and Colette?" Sister Frances enquired. "Doesn't Colette look like her Mum?" she added innocently. "Sorry," she apologised, having watched a flash of pain dart across Sister Hilda's face. She took the elder nun's hand in hers and, after a moment, said, "has this brought back memories?"
"Memories, hopes, dreams, things I wanted, things I can never have," Sister Hilda sighed. She took a deep breath in and admitted, "I went to the churchyard earlier, just to sit and talk to them. I felt awfully silly."
"Did you talk to them about Nurse Corrigan and Colette?" Sister Frances asked."Did it help?" she added in response to Sister Hilda's nod of confirmation.
"It helped me to realise what I would have wanted, if I were in their situation," Sister Hilda sighed, "it helped me to realise what the most loving thing to do would be. To answer your original question," a formality returning to her voice, "Sister Julienne has agreed that Nurse Corrigan can stay here to complete her training, and that Colette will be found a foster home. What happens then, only God can decide."
"I don't suppose you ever had a chance to grieve, for your baby," Sister Frances murmured quietly.
"I was in the military," Sister Hilda replied, "it was all stiff upper lips and carry on regardless. I couldn't grieve, I couldn't even show that I was upset. I was back at work two days after it happened, still in pain, still bleeding, I just pretended to the other girls that it was a bad month when anyone asked. Trying to hide the fact I'd begun to produce colostrum was horrendous," she added, lowering her voice.
"Really," Sister Frances whispered, stunned.
"It can happen after a miscarriage even as early in the second trimester as I was," Sister Hilda confirmed, "Epsom Salts does work, eventually, but, oh the pain was excruciating."
"It's awful that you couldn't reach out for help," Sister Frances murmured sympathetically, "it's just not right that you had to suffer so much in silence." She paused for a moment. Sister Hilda noted the cogs whirring behind her consoeur's eyes. "Were you scared?" Sister Frances eventually asked.
"Yes," Sister Hilda admitted after a moment, "yes, I suppose I was, thinking about it. I'm not sure what I felt at the time other than numbness. But looking back, yes, I was scared, scared of being found out, scared of the truth, scared of what was happening to my body."
"I wonder," Sister Frances continued to muse, "is Mrs Norris scared? Is that why, despite the awful state of Lisbon Buildings, she could not challenge her landlord? Was she just too scared to speak up?"
"Sister Julienne always says that people do things for two reasons," Sister Hilda replied, "one is love, the other is fear. Mrs Norris loves her children and whilst Lisbon Buildings is squalid, damp, and vermin infested, it is a roof over their heads. It is the only home they have. If she complained, she could be thrown out into the street. The fear of that fate prevented her from acting. She could not live with that possibility."
"We need to be there," Sister Frances asserted, "we need to be there for the voiceless, for those who are desperate, for those who have no-one else to turn to."
"I agree. It is why the work of the Samaritans is so important, and so close to my heart," Sister Hilda replied.
"I want to do more," Sister Frances confirmed, "I want to help more people like Mrs Norris. Everyone deserves a warm, safe place to call home. Where they are loved, and they're not scared."
"Yes, yes, they do," Sister Hilda confirmed, a sadness flicking across her face.
"Are you thinking of Nancy and Colette?" Sister Frances deduced.
"She must have been so scared," Sister Hilda replied, "I cannot imagine being pregnant at only sixteen. And neither of those girls have ever really had a loving home. Have I done the right thing?" she asked, looking to Sister Frances for reassurance, "Could I have done any more? I did the most loving thing I could think of."
"You did what a mother would do," Sister Frances whispered.
"Don't say that," Sister Hilda squeaked, uncomfortably.
Sister Frances stroked Sister Hilda gently up and down her back. Sister Hilda blinked back the hot, prickly feeling in the corner of her eyes. After a moment, Sister Frances continued in a voice barely above a whisper, "nothing can, or will, replace the love you would have had for your baby. But you have so much love to give, and what you have done for Nancy and Colette only confirms it. You know something of what she went through, far more than any of us ever will. We need to use our experiences to shape the world around us into a better place. You have, and I will."
"Thank you," Sister Hilda replied appreciatively, patting Sister Frances' nearest knee. The two nuns shared a look of affection and understanding before Sister Hilda continued, kindly, "You've grown so much this summer. Where the girl I welcomed into the Mother House once stood, now stands proud, a woman."
"My eyes have been opened. I have seen the world," Sister Frances replied. "Do you think Sister Julienne will let me take something else on?" she asked, changing the subject.
"I know not the thoughts and whims of Sister Julienne," Sister Hilda purred, "you'll have to be a big girl and ask her," she teased, "owww!" she squeaked as Sister Frances poked her in the ribs.
"I'm going to," Sister Frances giggled.
"On a serious note, however," Sister Hilda replied, straightening herself and her habit up from where she'd recoiled from the poking, "go to her with a plan. Do your research, see if there are any organisations you can help out with. You can't do this alone," she advised.
Sister Frances nodded thoughtfully, her mind already deep in thought, considering the possibilities that might be open to her. Leaving Sister Frances to her thoughts, Sister Hilda slid off the bed and heading in the direction of the door said, "I have a few things I need to address before Vespers."
"Have you told Nurse Corrigan the good news?" Sister Frances asked.
"No, not yet," Sister Hilda replied.
"Why ever not?" Sister Frances scolded, "she must be worried sick."
"She knows that here she is safe, and that she is loved," Sister Hilda replied, "today she is a mother, reunited with her child. I cannot take something that precious away from her or anyone. Tomorrow is another day. She will be Nurse Corrigan once more. There is a time, and a place, for everything."
Sister Frances sat looking thoughtful for a moment and then asked, "can I borrow the telephone directory from the office?"
"Yes," Sister Hilda replied, "but whatever for?"
"As you just said yourself," Sister Frances observed, "there is a place for everything."
"What are you up to?" Sister Hilda asked.
"Exactly what you told me to do, I'm making a plan to show Sister Julienne," Sister Frances replied, a widening grin spreading across her face, "now, I think we both have work to do," she finished, motioning to Sister Hilda to leave her cell.
The two nuns left the cell and headed down the stairs and towards the office, Sister Frances in an excited scamper, Sister Hilda in a more sedate glide. The former stole ahead into the office and began to rummage through the desk drawers. By the time the latter had arrived, she had located what she was after, and several half-empty, pink-and-white-striped paper bags; these, she pulled out, and waved them under Sister Hilda's nose, and accused, admonishingly, "You've been hoarding penny sweets, and not sharing!"
"There's only a certain amount of coffee a woman can drink," Sister Hilda shrugged, innocently, "oi!" she added as Sister Frances poured herself out a handful of dolly mixture then rummaged in another bag and placed a flying saucer on the end of her outstretched tongue. "Return my sweets please," she added, in an attempt at fierceness.
Sister Frances swiped a rhubarb and custard before placing the contraband in Sister Hilda's outstretched hand, and then disappeared out of the office, telephone directory in hand, and skipped back to her cell.
Sister Frances spent the next hour pouring over the telephone directory. She wasn't really sure what she was looking for, she was rather hoping that something would leap out at her from the monochrome pages in front of her. The pile of stolen dolly mixture had long since been consumed and she knew the bell for Vespers would soon be tolling. An inkling of self doubt began to creep into her mind, but she batted it away forcefully. Eventually, much to her delight and surprise, the name of a promising looking organisation caught her eye. A passionate fire suddenly began to burn within her. She got up from her chair and strode purposefully out of the room and down the stairs towards the telephone in the hall. With a sense of nervous excitement and anticipation, she began to dial the telephone number.