Northfield Chapter 2
Meeting Timothy and other Poplar residents
By and by, Shelagh was learning the Nonnatus House routines and schedules. There were from six to eight guests at a time, and the meals, prayers and the community life were open to any people at Poplar who wished to take part in them. She had learned how to keep the community life going: the garden tended, laundry taken care of, logs available for the fire, food for kitchen bought at the local shops and the handicrafts and needle work kept in progress. Quiet hours at the chapel were her recreation; singing hymns together seemed a blessing, an oasis in the middle of busy days.
There was also nursing work in the district which occasionally fell to her. Last, but not least, there were the surgery hours, working together with the enigmatic Doctor Turner.
On her second full day at the Nonnatus House, Shelagh learned more about him in a series of quickly escalating events.
She had entered the hall in the first floor to see Sister Monica Joan knocking on the door to a cleaning cupboard.
"Please, Timothy, come out of there! Your elevenses are waiting."
A voice came from inside the cupboard. "Wait a minute, Sister, I haven't finished the development yet. The photos are at a delicate phase."
Sister Monica Joan harrumphed and turned away waving her hands in the air. "That boy should have kept to his drawing and water-colours. This photograph business is getting out of hand."
Laughing, Mrs. Fairfax appeared at the door of the kitchen. "No chance there, Sister. The boy has his father's tenacity. And photography runs in the family."
Mrs. Fairfax beckoned Shelagh to the kitchen' "Come here, Nurse Mannion. Have one of my rolls, they are just out of the oven."
Shelagh took a seat at the kitchen table where Sister Monica Joan was already tasting the rolls. Mrs. Fairfax poured a cup of tea for Shelagh. "Have a little snack, Nurse. You look like you do not eat enough. You need some fattening up."
Shelagh took the cup and a buttered a roll. "Who was that in the cupboard, Mrs. Fairfax? I thought it was a cleaning cupboard.
"It is indeed. But we have given young master Timothy Turner a permission to use it as a studio for the development of his films. There is a sink, and he has put a red lamp bulb there. That is why the Sister here calls it a Red Room."
"I would not be astonished if it does not in the end produce events of unpleasant horror similar to those of its illustrious namesake. I of course mean Jane Eyre's Red Room, Sister Monica Joan smiled innocently at Shelagh. "A most extraordinary heroine."
"Who is Timothy Turner?" asked Shelagh.
"Oh, he is Doctor Turner's son. You didn't know he has a son?"
"Is there a Mrs. Turner?"
"She died after the war, in 1945. Tuberculosis, I have heard. I originally come from Birmingham, as do the Parkers, Mrs. Turner's family, and as does the good doctor himself. I know old Mrs., Parker slightly and she asked me to be their housekeeper when they moved here in 1948. I never met Mrs. Turner, though."
At that moment, the door of the closet opened, and a slender, brown-haired, boy with a dazzling smile came out. "Hey, look at these. My photographs of the last school outing in the New Forest turned out really well. There is Jack and me by the trail head. That one I took with the self-timer. And I managed to take a very good one of Dad leaning against his car."
"Timothy, this is Nurse Mannion who has just started working here. Say hello."
The boy shook hands with Shelagh. What a sweet child, she thought.
"Can I have my elevenses now, please, Mrs. Fairfax?"
"Yes, you may."
While he was eating, the boy chattered on about the school trip and all the aspects of the photos he had taken there. How different from his Father he is, Shelagh mused.
Sister Monica Joan intervened in the chatter: "Tim, you should show Nurse Mannion your water colour works. They are more tasteful than those snapshots. There is the fine one based on the photograph of your Mother. "
Timothy went to the living room and came back with a portfolio. "I keep my portfolio here instead of home," he said in a tone of conspiracy to Shelagh. "To tell the truth, there is always a much better audience here than at home. I think my Dad gets sad with my pictures. Perhaps I remind him of Mum too much."
Shelagh was shown both the original photo and Tim's water colour version of it. Tim's hand was very good for a child of his age. Shelagh could see a likeness between mother and son. Mrs. Turner seemed to have had the same brown hair as Timothy as well as the same delicate chin and nose. She had been a stylish woman.
"I have to go," Tim said, closing his portfolio, "Jack is waiting for me. Goodbye Sister, goodbye Nurse Mannion. See you later Mrs.F."
And he was gone. When it came to moving rapidly, he was his father's son, Shelagh thought, smiling a little.
"Poor boy." Mrs. Fairfax sighed. "A fine character, I think, but in need of more adult supervision. His father is too busy, and men are not naturally inclined to child-rearing. "
"How old is Timothy? Isn't photography an….expensive hobby for a boy so young?"
"He is twelve. The camera was a gift from his grandmother. The Parkers are an eccentric, but a fairly wealthy family. The old Doctor Parker was the head of Northfield Hospital. I think these kinds of artistic interests are not unusual in their circles."
A week later, Shelagh had another opportunity to get acquainted with Doctor Turner and his character. It was Sunday supper, a small affair after the big Sunday lunch. Mrs. Fairfax had taken the evening off and Maureen Warren, an 18-year-old dark-haired girl with a very sure manner in the kitchen had taken her place as cook.
Doctor Turner and Timothy were present, Timothy having turned down his Dad's offer of fish and chips. Doctor Turner related this news himself in a happy manner.
There was a large congregation around the table, eating leftovers from the weekend.
Shelagh sat between Doctor Turner and Sister Monica Joan. Sister Monica Joan made her opinions heard aloud, while Doctor Turner preferred to talk to Shelagh in a low voice. He was introducing her to the life stories of the people there.
It seemed there was a recently discharged couple from The Countess of Irby hospital, Victor and Ellen Tenby. Then there was a retired Methodist pastor: according to Doctor Turner, he was forced to retire because he was suspected of embezzling from his church. His wife was there too, with long dark hair and saintly eyes. She had been a novice at the Order of St. John when she had met her husband.
At that news, Shelagh turned to him and asked if he was absolutely sure it was true. "It happened before my time, you may have heard that I arrived here with Timothy in 1948, but yes, I think it is true. Ask Sister Evangelina, if you do not believe me." He had a slightly mischievous look.
The young cook was bringing out the desert leftovers: jelly, cake and vanilla custard.
"Our temporary cook, Maureen, is from a famous Poplar family. She is the eldest daughter of Conchita Warren, the heroic mother of eighteen children," continued Doctor Turner.
"Eighteen?" repeated Shelagh in disbelief."
Sister Monica Joan joined the conversation, "I remember when she came to Poplar from Spain. Mr. Warren, Len, took her home with him from the Spanish Civil War. She couldn't have been much older than fourteen at that time." Her voice was loud, and Sister Evangelina was making gestures to Shelagh to make her lower her voice.
"That sounds…scandalous." Shelagh said haltingly.
"Len was always the odd one out, wasn't he, Sister Monica Joan? " Doctor Turner gave a sideways look to Shelagh. "He always knew his mind and didn't stray. He has become a model of a family man. His sons are now helping him with his booming carpentry business. And the girls are all bonny and bright, like Maureen."
"Oh yes. I think most men would have been pleased with enemy binoculars, but he had to have his girl. "Sister Monica Joan showed her wonderful capacity for drollness.
Shelagh laughed. She couldn't help herself. Doctor Turner looked at her with astonishment and grinned widely. "You have a good sense of humour, Nurse Mannion. You will need it in Poplar."