Chapter XI

The next day was certainly much better not only for Julia, but for every other new nurse as well. Julia finally got over her fears and doubts and was one of the most optimistic nurses in her day-duty. She eventually started feeling good in what she was doing and everything she did, she did with great efficency and it seemed to her as if she was a nurse all her life. With every day, Julia felt that she was born to help other people, and those soldiers were simply putting their shaking hands in front of her. She started to feel that she achieved one of her main aims in her life, that something from life was completed. She got used to all the sights of dying men, agony, pain and blood, she wasn't afraid of that anymore.

At the end of each day Julia, Olive and Claire used to sit down on the floor in their room and each of them were telling each other stories about their families, interests and hobbies. Olive didn't have a big family, it was just her, her older brother Michael who was serving as a navy officer, and their strict parents.

"They didn't allow me to go and sign up." Olive said one afternoon after the supper when the three of them sat down together on the floor while eating Faith's cookies which she sent to Julia a day before.

"So how did they react to you signing up anyway?" Julia asked while finishing eating the last cookie.

"Mother shut herself in her bedroom and didn't speak to me until the day of my leaving whereas Father quarreled with me for the whole afternoon. But I think, that after all, they both knew I would join up anyway." Olive shrugged as if it was really nothing that her parents didn't agree on her going into nursing.

"I would never disobey my parents!" Claire exclaimed.

"My parents are very understanding and so I don't even have to think about disobeying them." Julia added with a smile, looking at the black-and-white picture of Faith and Jem Blythe standing on her night-table.

"I love your family so much!" Olive giggled and looked at all the frames standing on Julia's night-table with shining eyes "It's so big and everyone seems so much fun!"

Julia laughed at her friend's reaction but agreed with her by nodding "Yes, you're quite right, all of my aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents are really fun." she said and then chuckled again "And so very imaginative!"

"And your brothers are so handsome…" Claire sighed while looking at the picture of Walt and Merry.

Olive and Julia chuckled and looked at each other knowingly "Yes, they are." Julia said eventually, still giggling.

"Do they have any girlfriends?" Claire asked in a hoping tone, raising her brow.

Julia opened her mouth and hit her friend playfully in the arm "Claire!" she exclaimed "If you must know, yes, Walt has a sweetheart in Redmond but Merry... I think that he doesn't have any girl of his own." Julia said with furrowed eyebrows.

"Interesting." Claire whispered and then chuckled with her two room-mates.

"And you Claire?" Olive questioned "Is your family big? You never really talk about them."

Claire grinned sadly and sighed "No, it's just me and my Grandmama Emily and our little house in Birmingham. My parents died in a car accident when I was very small and I don't remember them at all." she told them, absent-mindedly.

Julia sighed and suddenly felt sorry for Claire. It was unimaginable to think that someone can have no family except for a Grandmother, without parents, siblings or even uncles or aunts. She put her hand gently on Claire's shoulder.

"But let's not talk about sad things." Claire waved her hand and grinned "Tell me Julia, do you have any "sweetheart", as you call it?" she asked with a meaningful smile crossing her red lips and a raised eyebrow.

Julia's face darkened and her cheeks turned rosy red "I… um…" she murmured "It's complicated."

"Bath, don't be embarrassed in front of us!" Olive said and patted Julia's shoulder "You can tell us everything."

"Alright then…" Julia sighed and told them her story. How Troy entered her life, how she Blythe kissed, how she got a telegram saying that Troy is dead, how she got a letter from Troy which made her to realise that Troy never loved her and eventually how she came to a realisation that Blythe was the one and only man for her. Olive and Claire listened as carefully as if they were hearing a story from a book. Their eyes were wide open when they heard about Troy's letter and their hearts melted when they heard the sound of Julia's voice breaking when she told them about her feelings for Blythe.

"I've been such a fool!" she concluded and put her hands on her cheeks helplessly.

"You have." Olive agreed and shook her head "But don't you worry, dear Bathsheba." she put her friend in her arms "Everything will turn out the way it should, you'll see." she smiled to Julia who couldn't do anything else but to smile back.

"Oh, Heaven's!" Claire gasped and stood up as if something pinched her "We're late for our supper already!" she said.

Julia and Olive stood up immediately and followed Claire downstairs for they felt that whether Blythe will love Julia back or not, they had to fill up their empty stomachs nonetheless.

Dear Sis,

I'm so glad that you arrived in London safetly and that this horrible Blitz didn't affect you as much as it could have. The description of Olive and Claire makes me think you will have a fun time with them, especially in a city like the dear, old London.

Mother sent me a picture of you in the uniform; Gosh, you look so fromal it's hard to imagine that you're still our Bathsheba! But in a way, I think that the nurse-uniform really suits you and I'm so very proud of you, Sheb, I really am.

You ask "how is our trench-life"? Well, very uncomfortable I must say and definitely not as adventurous as I thought it would be when I joined up. I don't think you would like it, I don't think anyone would have liked it, it's so muddy and rats are everywhere… But I'm very glad that Jake and Marshall are here with me, however annoying they might be sometimes, I'm so happy that they are in the same place as me.

I managed to make some new friends as well but I try not to (which is very hard, as everyone is very nice around here) because you never know if they will survive till the next morning. Enough of the sad things, did you know that they want me to get promoted to become a Captain? I don't know if I'm ready yet for such a big step-up so I'm asking you: what do you think? Do you think I should accept this offer?

Anyway, tell me more about how you're feeling about… well, what you see in the hospital? Are you really fine, as you said in your last letter?

I have to go now, darling. Jake and Marshall are sending you their love.

And so will I, you dear sister o'mine,

Your brother and a friend,

Lieutenant Meredith Blythe

Dear Bathsheba,

I'm more than happy to hear that you're "a happy nurse in the heart of London"! I was worried for you, I was worried that in the end you will be too scared and will want to come back home; but it only proves how foolish I was to think so. But nevertheless, please be as careful as you have been till now because what I hear about the Blitz is really terrifying to hear especially when I know that you're in the very centre of it.

I'm looking forward to hearing more about your Olive and Claire, they both seem extremely very different from each other but because of this fact I think you three will make a brilliant clan.

I have never thought that I will say something like this but there you go: I'm so glad that I have so many exams at school! Revising is really tiring and therefore makes me not to think about the war so much. Especially all of the poems I have to study are making my life so much more interesting, as you probably know already.

It's so very different without Jake or Gil around, although they were never loud or trying to make themselves visible, it seems as if our "little circle of friendship" as Gil used to call it, is missing something. I suppose it will be even harder when we will go back to Glen for Chrismtas and this time you will be missing too… To be honest I just realised that you will be missing! You, Julia! Oh, now I know it will never be the same Christmas without you singing Chrismats carols in your wonderful voice which is so perfect for our favourite "Winter Wonderland". Do you remember when about four years ago, you and I both went together to Rainbow Valley on a Christmas Day and sang so loudly that Mother shouted out to us to be quiet "for Heavens' sakes!"? There we go, I'm sighing again.

Do you have any plans for your Christmas in London? Are you going 'to town'? Or maybe you and other nurses will have your own lovely supper with other soldiers?

You ask me about Rose and her relationship with John. Well, I think I don't have to tell you that she's experiencing being in a state where love is a complete blindness. She spends her every evening with John because he is thinking about enlisting after Christmas. I can understand that she is scared for him and that she wants to spend more time with him before he goes but, Julia, I'm afraid that her grades are affected by this relationship and this really isn't good. Walter and I tried to talk to her but... you know Rose, she won't listen to us and says that her grades are doing just fine "as always".

If you could maybe tell her in your next letter that she should think about her grades more often, that would be very proper in this situation. You are the only person she can at least 'try' to listen to.

I'm sending you my new bunch of poems which I will try to publish next week in "The Journal". Tell me, before I'll go to do it, if they are good enough or not. Shoot straight through me, Sheba.

Oh, you also ask me about Cornelia. She's doing just fine. She's sending me new socks, jumpers and scarfs every single week! She really is a darling and her knitting skills are pretty wonderful. I sometimes wish that I could take her to those dance clubs which she adores and see a smile on her face once again. And so I do intend to take her for a dance when I'll be back in Glen. She deserves some fun and I suppose I do as well. It will do us both good.

Now, dearest, I have to say goodnight.

Write to me as often as you can, and do send me more photos of you in your uniform in which you look positively splendid.

Goodnight,

Yours,

Blythe Ford

Julia, after three weeks of working in London's hospital could almost say that she was used to the night's bombing. She was using her time in the shelter to write back to her family, which always took a very long time to do. Her small night-table was overfilled with paper, letters, envelopes, stamps, Blythe's poems and Cee's drawings.

Claire was really trying her best not to be selfish or rude to either Julia or Olive and indeed was making progress because she could see how much Julia loved Olive and Olive loved Julia. She was very jeaolous of their friendship.

Olive and Julia were always singing and dancing in the shelter together, even though they could hear the near explosions and the shaking of a lamp above their heads. All of the soldiers and nurses loved the two of them and started calling them "their two stars of the shelter". Julia and Olive could bring the feeling of joy even when the world around them was falling into pieces. Even their Matron, Mrs Ashby, enjoyed their duet and that was regarded as the biggest compliment anyone can ever get.

Julia's portable radio was in constant use in her room. She, Olive and Claire listened to all the war-news and Winston Churchill's speeches every evening while sitting nervously on Julia's bed. It was definitely the best thing after their duty, when they listened to all the war-new, and later listened and sang along to all the songs they knew so well and made them feel almost at home.

At the end of October, the Battle of Britain was over; the Allies won. Julia immediately wrote to Gilly asking him if he could meet up with her for just a few hours, however by the time he got her letter Gil was already on his way towards Greece. "At least he's safe and sound." Julia thought that night "Now he is. But he's going to Greece and anything can happen to him there. And I won't be around to help him." But she pushed the thought away and wrote to Gil beautiful and cheerful Christmas wishes.

Christmas was getting closer and closer and Olive was supposed to go to Surrey for a two weeks' leave. "Oh, I don't want to go!" she outbursted and tapped her feet on the floor like a little girl "But I have to, I promised Michael." she clasped her hands together and sighed.

"So that leaves you and me together for Christams." Julia said with a small grin on her face, looking at Claire knowingly.

Claire looked at Julia meaningfully and then looked back at her newly polished nails "We'll have fun, won't we?" she said, smiling a bit shyly.

"Of course you will!" Olive said enthusiastically and then after few seconds she sighed once again "Oh, I really don't want to go!"

But she went, whether she liked it or not. But before Olive went to the Victoria Station, she gave Julia and Claire Christmas presents; Julia got an envelope full of photos which Olive took on their one-day leave in November, when they were walking around London together; and Claire gained a new set of nail polish. Julia gave her "dear, crazy girl" a packet of hair clips in many different shapes which Olive immediately put into her hair. Claire got a copy of "Romeo and Juliet" from Julia who knew that she would buy it for her ever since Claire said that she has never read any poetry whatsoever. "I can allow you wearing make-up but I can't allow you, not ever, not to read poetry and being my friend at the same time!" Julia said to her while giving Claire her present on a Christmas Day.

The Christmas Day was a normal day at work for both Julia and Claire, apart from the Christmas tree standing in the reception and Christmas decoration around the patients' beds. "And then we had a very lovely Christmas supper." Julia wrote to Walt that afternoon "The meal wasn't as good as if Mother or Grandmothers would do it, but even though it was very nice of the cook to give us some "turkey" (which we knew wasn't an actual turkey for it is far too expensive to buy because of the rationing) and the Christmas pudding. And thank Goodness, we can sleep peacefully this night, the bombing from both sides has been postponed till the 27th."

Three days after the Christmas Day, the post came and Julia got quite a big package which she knew wasn't just a letter. She grinned when she saw the fammiliar hand-writing at the front of it "Oh, it's from Blythe!" she said, her eyes almost dancing from excitement.

"Goodness, you got so many Christmas presents from your family!" Claire said half-sighing when she opened the small envelope from her Grandmother Emily. Julia humphed and started opening the package quickly, excited with the thought about what she could possibly get from Blythe.

"Oh…" her voice broke when she saw what was inside. In Julia's hands there were withered roses which Julia completely forgot about. Three years earlier, Blythe and Julia found mysterious little garden full of roses, right in the middle of the forest, near the Four Winds. Julia picked up the flowers and gave them to Blythe, making him to vow to send them to her on the Christmas of 1940. They never discovered the little garden again and that's why she didn't even think that he would remember this promise.

The roses were so fragile, yet breathtaking as they still smelled like roses, but their scent was so much sweeter, so much more… alive somehow, Julia thought when she put her face into the flowers, trying to remember the exact smell of them.

Julia noticed that there was something between the withered roses. She put her hand deeper into the small bouquet and found the copy of "The Journal". On the third page there was a Blythe's published poem called "Roses of the Blue Sky" which he sent her just two weeks earlier to receive her opinion about it, which of course was extremely positive.

And with seeing this poem and reading it all over again, Julia sinked down in her bed and felt how slowly and gradually the small tears flowed across her cheeks down onto the roses lying on her legs.