Full Circle (26 page)

Lucy was as she left her. She was dozing and mumbling something in her sleep, but woke up as Lily put the thermos down on the table and came over to feel her forehead. Lily was relieved that the fever seemed to be coming down. She helped Lucy get to the bathroom in the hall and then propped her up on some pillows and made her eat a bun. Lucy was surprisingly hungry and she ate a bun and drank some tea. Some of her color was coming back and Lily was sure that the penicillin must be working. Lucy seemed better by the afternoon, so Lily fed her another bun and then told her that she had to go home. Her parents would be worried and Lucy seemed to be out of immediate danger. She was still bleeding, but not gushing blood like she was the night before and her temperature seemed to have leveled off. She left Lucy the thermos with the tea, a glass of water by the bed and one more bun and went home.

Her mother was looking out of the window as Lily approached the house. The door opened before Lily was even up the steps and her mother was standing there with her hands on her hips.

“
Lily, where have you been? We have been worried sick. You ran off with no explanation and have been gone the whole night. What’s happening?”

Lily walked into the house and sat down pulling Olivia into her lap. She looked up at her mother. She had concocted a whole story in her head, but faced with her mother’s worried expression she simply couldn’t bring herself to lie.

“
Mum, I have been with Lucy. She got some leave from the farm and she came down to see us, but she got sick and I didn’t want to come near the baby thinking I might have caught whatever she has. She had a fever and I took some of Dad’s medicine and stayed with her last night. She seems to be feeling better, but still very weak. I’ll go back to see her tomorrow.” Lily hoped that this explanation would suffice.

“
What in the world is Lucy doing here? I wonder if I should telephone Maud and tell her that her daughter is here. She is such a sweet girl. Of course you must go back tomorrow. Give her our regards,” said Martha warmly.

“
Mum, please don’t tell Maud that Lucy is here. She doesn’t want them to know that she got leave and didn’t go to visit them in Truro,” pleaded Lily. Her mother gave her a disapproving look, but agreed not to say anything to Maud and Patrick. Lily breathed a sign of relief to be off the hook. She spent the rest of the evening playing with Livvy and then headed back to the boarding house right after breakfast. Martha had packed a little basket of food for Lucy and sent her regards.

Lucy was still asleep when Lily got to her room. It took her a long while to come to the door and Lily was getting really worried. She was still pasty looking and her lips were dry and cracked, but she looked better and her eyes looked alert, not clouded like the day before. The fever had dropped and the bleeding slowed down to spotting. Lily had decided that Lucy was out of the woods. They had breakfast together and Lily asked Lucy about her plans.

“
I will go back to the farm when the time is up and continue what I was doing. I can’t just desert them,” answered Lucy.

“
What about what you said before about getting back at Peter?” asked Lucy carefully.

“
I don’t think I can bear to even see him again, but I was just feverish when I spoke of revenge. I just hope that I don’t have to see him ever again,” replied Lucy. Lily was relieved to hear that Lucy had given up the idea of revenge. It wouldn’t do her any good, just make her feel worse.

Lucy spent the rest of the week recuperating and soon she was ready to return. She still looked pale and there were dark circles under her eyes, but she felt well enough to travel and didn’t want to let the Thompsons down. She stopped by the house on her way to the station to see Martha and Olivia. Lily saw the look of sadness in her eyes as she touched Olivia’s cheek. Lucy thanked Lily profusely for all her help and promised to write and let Lily know how she was getting on.

The letter came two weeks later. Lucy wrote that she was feeling much better and couldn’t thank Lily enough for helping her in her time of need. Mr. Thompson had assigned her to do the easier work, so she didn’t have to over-tire herself of lift anything heavy. There were more mundane descriptions of her work and news of her family. Lily was about to put the letter down when she noticed the post script on the other side of the page. It was just a few lines, but it sent a chill down Lily’s spine. Lucy wrote in a very cheerful tone that Peter had died last week. It seemed that he had an asthma attack while out alone in the woods and his medicine, which he always carried with him, had mysteriously vanished. He suffocated to death.

“
Did you take his medicine, Lucy?” Lily thought as she crumpled up the letter. “Would you really do such a thing?” Lily didn’t want to know the answer.

Nick came out of the office at Digby Air Field whistling “Don’t Sit under the Apple Tree.” He didn’t particularly like that song, but his friend Hugh was mad for it and he was singing it in his sleep. Nick was in a good mood. He had just had a meeting with his commanding officer, who informed him that he would be given leave after this mission. If things went well tonight, he might be able to get to Penzance by Saturday. The thought of seeing Lily and Livvy filled him with such longing he had to take a deep breath to calm himself.

The September afternoon was mild and it looked like it would be clear skies tonight. He had to report for mission briefing at 19:00 hours and then he would be off to Germany. The last couple of missions had gone very smoothly and Nick was keeping his fingers crossed that tonight would be no different. The tide of the war was turning and the Germans were on the run. Nick secretly believed the war would be over in a few months. The Nazis couldn’t hold out much longer, not with Russians so close to Berlin and Americans giving them hell in the South Pacific.

Nick made his way to mess hall. He didn’t have much time left till the briefing and he might not get a chance to eat later. He met Hugh as he neared the hall and they walked in together. Hugh was humming the same song and they did a little duet before getting on line to get their meal.

The three planes took off after sunset and flew towards Germany. Tonight they were bombing the enemy and Nick was flying alone. Hugh and Alistair were to his rear in their respective planes and all they had to do was drop their lethal load over the target and return back to base. They reached Germany without incident and headed towards Berlin. Nick could see the outline of the city glowing orange on the horizon. Several buildings had been hit already and plumes of smoke spiraled towards the sky from numerous fires. Nick wondered if the bombs had been dropped by their own or by the Russians. He detonated his load right over the center of the city and turned his Spitfire towards home.

He could see Hugh and Alistair behind him and hear their banter on the radio. He wasn’t joining in. He just wanted to get back to base and leave for Cornwall as soon as possible. He couldn’t wait to see Lily. He imagined her naked body in his arms and his pants got uncomfortably tight as his body responded to the image. He tried to distract himself by thinking about Livvy. She would be almost a year and a half by the time he saw her. He wondered if she was running by now and if she would recognize him. Probably not. She was too small when she saw him. They would have to renew their acquaintance, he thought with pleasure. He couldn’t wait to caress her fiery curls and feel her weight in his arms. Maybe Lily would get pregnant again when he came home. It would be wonderful to have another child.

Nick looked down at the black water of the Channel. The moon made a silvery path on the surface and Dover was already visible in the distance. He would be home soon.

Nick spotted the enemy planes before they saw him and opened fire. There were three and they were coming at him in formation. Hugh and Alistair seemed to have fallen behind and Nick was on his own. He watched with satisfaction as one of the planes was hit, but didn’t have much time to gloat. The Germans were firing furiously and Nick was rising and dipping trying to avoid their fire. He was glad to hear that Hugh and Alistair had joined the fight and managed to finish off the crippled plane. Nick concentrated on the other two, firing steadily.

The first bullet ripped through the side and hit his leg. He felt blood pouring out of his thigh, but continued to fire on the Germans. Several more bullets tore through the fuselage and Nick felt the heat of the flames behind him. His only option was to try and outrun the Germans and crash on English soil. He might have chance then. He turned towards home. The flames were getting closer and the engines were beginning to sputter. Nick let go of the controls and touched a photograph of Lily and Olivia on his dashboard. He knew he wouldn’t make it in time. The flames were getting closer to the fuel tank. Nick closed his eyes and tried to picture Lily’s face as the fuel tank burst into flames behind him, plunging the plane downward in a steep spiral. Nick was dimly aware of being engulfed by water, but then everything went dark.

Chapter 4
4

The summer went by quickly and the children started getting ready for school. Edward would turn eighteen in September and they all knew it was just a matter of time before he walked into the nearest recruiting office and enlisted. George and Martha prayed that he wouldn’t be sent out right away, but spend a few months training somewhere. Maybe the war would be over by the time he was ready for active combat.

As September rolled around Lily’s days changed once again. All the children were back in school and she did not visit the Rectory as often. They had their lessons to do after school and by the time they finished it was time for their tea. Since Molly was not available to watch Olivia, Lily had to rely only on her mother to stay with the baby while she went to the hospital. There were a few patients who had asked for her often, but she tried not to play favorites. She usually stayed for two hours and then went back home to relieve her mother of Livvy duty.

Lily was coming back from one of her visits to the hospital when she met the postman coming up the street. She gave him a cheerful wave, but he averted his eyes. “I just gave the mail to your Mum, love. She went down to the beach with the baby.” He hurried away before Lily could reply.

Her mother must have changed her mind about going to the beach because Lily saw her coming up the street a few minutes later. Livvy was sitting in her pram and humming a little tune to her dolly. Her mother seemed preoccupied and did not even notice that Lily was there until she was almost upon her. She seemed startled when she saw Lily and looked away.

“
Mum. Is something wrong?” asked Lily concerned.

Her mother did not reply immediately, but the pity Lily saw in her eyes answered her question. Martha slowly handed Lily the yellow envelope. Lily grabbed on to the wrought iron railing for support. This couldn’t be happening again. She had already gone through this. It wasn’t fair. She did not open the envelope until she came inside. Lily went to her room and closed the door. She sat on the bed for a few minutes, staring at the offensive piece of mail before she finally found the courage to rip it open.

This time there was no doubt. He wasn’t missing. He was dead, permanently, irrevocably dead. There was also a letter from his commanding officer, which Lily was finally able to read a few days later after her grief subsided and her tears seemed to have run dry. He expressed his condolences and his grief at Lily’s loss. He said that Nick had been an ace pilot and a great friend. He wrote that Nick had been shot down when he was returning from a mission and his comrades had seen his plane get hit and plunge into the waters of the Channel. They had not recovered his body, but there was no doubt that he had perished. Lily tore the letter to shreds.

“
So, it was our last goodbye, after all, my darling,” said Lily to his picture which stood on her dresser. “I just didn’t realize it would be forever.” Lily wiped the tears away and left the room. She didn’t even have a body to bury or a grave to visit. If it wasn’t for Olivia, one might say he never even existed.

Edward joined up the next day. He had always dreamed of being in the Royal Navy, but he was turned down because of some technicality. He ended up in the Infantry instead and was promptly sent out to the front. Edward was bursting with excitement and impatience and he had no sympathy for their worry. He couldn’t wait to be a hero. He endured their hugs and kisses and pleas to stay safe and jumped on the train as soon as he could decently get away. He did not look out the window to wave as the train pulled away, but they waved anyway until the train disappeared from view.

Two months after getting the dreaded telegram Lily made her way to the Rectory to see the children. There was an air of excitement as she approached and she found the lot in the study talking animatedly.