Page 9 of Sisters Under The Rising Sun

‘Well, briefly, I came to Australia from Wales when I was eight, lived in Shepparton.’

‘That’s in northern Victoria, isn’t it?’

‘Yes, farming country, mostly orchards.’

‘Go on.’

‘Always knew I wanted to be a nurse and trained at the Royal Melbourne.’

‘Is that where you were before you came here?’

Nesta laughs again. ‘No, far from it – I was in South Africa.’

‘Wait, where? This I want to hear. Hang on a minute while I grab another chair. By the way, you have a lovely laugh, I’ve been hearing it for weeks now. I think you laugh more than anyone I’ve ever known.’

With a chair placed in front of the desk, Rick leans forwards, all ears.

‘Like I said, I was in South Africa.’

‘Why?’

‘Are you going to let me tell the story?’ Nesta says with a cheeky smile.

‘Sorry, sorry. Do go on.’

‘Don’t get me wrong, I loved working at the Royal Melbourne, but I wanted to do more, use my skills for healing and not just caring for patients.’

‘Ah, so you wanted to be a doctor.’

‘Are you going to let me finish?’

‘Sorry.’

‘I saw a small advertisement in the paper for nurses to work in the gold and diamond mines in South Africa. I had no idea what was involved, but at the time, I was looking to do more, have something of an adventure. I applied, got accepted and went. I worked in a mine in the Johannesburg region.’

‘Bad?’

‘Some days really bad. Wounds from accidents, landslides, mine collapses, beatings. I certainly dealt with injuries I had not previously seen, and there wasn’t always a doctor on the site.’

‘So, you did what you had to do, made your own decisions regarding, shall we say, discharges.’

Nesta laughs again. ‘Something like that. Yes. Anyway, I was there for two years, then, one day, it was a Sunday, we—’

‘Who were the others?’

‘Oh, there were nurses from England and Scotland and some local ones, not as well trained as we were. Anyway, we were sitting around the break room having lunch when one of the English girls picked up the paper that had been lying around and told us that both England and Australia were at war. You have to understand, we got very little news from the outside world, most of us didn’t really want it, we just wanted to do our job, make a difference where we could. I knew immediately I had to go home, that my role was now helping my own people. It took quite a few months, but eventually I got back to Sydney and enlisted. And here I am. Here we are.’

‘You are quite the adventurer, Sister Nesta James.’

‘Thank you for asking and listening, I’ve not told my story to anyone other than Matron.’

‘You should, I’m sure your colleagues would be fascinated to hear of your exploits. I’ll leave you to your rounds, come find me if you need me.’

‘Good night, Doctor.’

‘Rick, my friends call me Rick …’

Dozing, Nesta doesn’t see the beach until her raft runs ashore. She has no idea how long she has been in the water, but it must be the middle of the night; only the stars provide light on this moonless evening. She has a powerful thirst. Scrambling to sit up, she looks beyond the small beach into the black of the jungle. Rolling off the raft, she crawls ashore, collapsing onto the sand. A light catches her eye and, turning, she sees a lighthouse, a beam of light spinning and shining far out to sea.