Page 51 of Sisters Under The Rising Sun

‘I know what you meant, it just hit me how hard it must be for you seeing her with me all the time. But, Norah, I’m glad Sally’s not here with us, we don’t want her living like this. God knows we don’t want June living like this. None of us should be here.’

‘June definitely shouldn’t be here, you’re right. And it’s up to us to care for her until she can get back to her father – if not her mother.’ They both know it’s unlikely June’s mother survived the sinking of theVyner Brooke. Norah pauses, her eyes drawn to the opposite side of the street. ‘Hello, Nesta,’ she calls. ‘Out for a walk?’

‘Oh, yes! I needed some time to myself. You two look very serious, though, everything OK?’

‘Yes, we’re fine, just talking about the men in our lives and how much we miss them,’ Norah says.

‘John and Ken, is that right?’

Ena nods. ‘And you? Is there a special man in your life?’

Nesta smiles. ‘No, not really.’

‘Aha, that smile tells me there is someone. Care to tell us?’ Norah says, smiling warmly.

‘He’s not someone special; our relationship never really got off the ground. But he’s someone I enjoyed being with and, well, who knows, if things were different, if we hadn’t had to flee Malaya, then maybe …’ Nesta drifts off. What’s the point in maybes out here?

‘Do you want to tell us his name? Just saying it might give you something to hold on to.’

‘Dr … Er, Rick, his name is Richard, but everyone calls him Rick.’

‘And he’s a doctor?’

‘He is. We often found ourselves sharing night shifts and, well, you know, we had all those hours with nothing to do but sit and talk.’

‘Look up at the stars, Nesta,’ Ena says.

All three women look skyward.

‘We are all under the same sky, and who knows? Maybe somewhere John is looking up and thinking of Norah, Rick is somewhere thinking of you and Ken is somewhere thinking of me,’ Ena muses.

For several minutes, the three women gaze at the brilliant overhead display of southern stars.

‘You know what?’ says Ena.

‘Tell us,’ Norah says.

‘I’m going to sit in the garden and by the light of the full moon I’m going to write to Ken. It’s our anniversary, you know.’

‘Oh, my darling sister,’ Norah says with feeling. ‘I’m so sorry I didn’t remember.’

‘Don’t worry, it’s fine. Will you keep an eye on June?’

‘Of course – take all the time you need.’

The next morning, Norah finds a scrap of paper beside Ena’s sleeping mat. She reads the first line before folding it up and tucking it under her sister’s pillow.

My darling Ken,she has written.Eight years ago today we were married …

‘Look what I’ve got,’ Betty whispers to a few of the nurses as they sit outside.

‘It’s a piece of wood,’ Vivian says, bemused.

‘Well, I wondered whether we might work together to make a gift for Nesta.’

‘You want to give our senior nurse a piece of wood?’

‘No, I want to take this piece of wood and make it into something.’