Heartwarming and emotional story of one girl's courage in WW2 by Fenella Miller (top 10 ebook reader txt) 📗

If she stood to one side of the window she could see out without being seen. Jack remained oblivious and she wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.

The car pulled up smoothly a few yards from the office and not one, but two men got out. One was medium height, slightly bald and wearing glasses – her pulse steadied. He looked harmless enough. The other one was tall and solidly built and had a broken nose.

Her stomach plummeted again. He could certainly be a villain. She didn’t know what to do. Should she go out and meet them or hide in here? The matter was taken out of her hands. They were heading her way. Good grief! She was being quite ridiculous – the bespectacled man was holding a medical bag.

She reached the door at the same time as them. ‘You must be Jack’s friends. I don’t know if he’s sleeping or unconscious. Thank you for coming I was about to ring for the ambulance.’

She shuffled back so they could come in and there was scarcely room for all four of them in the small space. ‘I’m Jimmy Hunt, medical chap. What’s the silly bugger been up to this time?’

‘Someone shot him last night. I found him when I got here this morning and have done the best I can but I’m sure he needs stitches.’

‘Nige, give me a hand to move him outside. I need to get a proper look and it’s too cramped in here.’

Ellie had expected some sort of reaction when she’d announced that the patient had been shot, but neither of them seemed at all put out by her shocking news. ‘I’ll spread out the rugs on the grass and you can put him on one of those.’

Hastily she tossed them down and watched as the two of them staggered out of the office with Jack. Nige – presumably Nigel – at the heavy end and the doc with Jack’s feet. She stepped aside and they gently put him down.

The doc checked Jack’s vital signs and she was relieved to see him nod as if satisfied with what he discovered.

‘Good. From what I can see he is in no immediate danger. His pulse is strong and steady. He’s asleep, his body’s recuperating from the loss of blood, not unconscious.’

‘I’m Nigel DeVere, and you are?’ The big man with a broken nose smiled and held out his hand.

‘Ellie Simpson. I work here.’ She ignored his gesture.

‘Good show – we chaps need a little woman to keep us in order. Any chance of a cup of tea?’

‘Actually, I need to get an aircraft ready. Although the pre-flight checks are always done by the pilot, it’s better if an experienced instructor does them first.’

He stared at her as if she’d grown two heads. ‘Are you talking about yourself? Surely not? Women don’t fly aeroplanes in my experience.’

How did someone as sensible as Jack have such a twerp for a friend? ‘Then, Mr DeVere, your experience is very limited. Have you never heard of Amy Johnson? There are young men in the RAF today that I taught to fly.’ She pointed to the office. ‘You’ll find the kettle and a paraffin stove in there. Feel free to help yourself.’

She turned her back on him and walked over to speak to Doctor Hunt. ‘Does he need to go to hospital? He was adamant that he didn’t want to.’

‘Gunshot wounds are always reported to the authorities so probably best if he doesn’t go. You’ve done an excellent job patching him up for now. We’ll take him with us and I’ll stitch him up at my surgery. Do you know why someone shot him?’

She shook her head. ‘He interrupted a burglar he thinks was after the cash box. There are a lot of unpleasant people in Romford. I expect they thought our flying club was somewhere a bit smarter than this.’

The doctor didn’t believe a word of it but he didn’t pursue it. ‘Will you be all right here on your own? There’s no chance they might come back?’

‘Not in daylight certainly. I’ve only got one client to deal with today and as soon as they’ve gone I’ll lock-up and go home. It was just unlucky that Jack was here last night,’ she explained and Doctor Hunt laughed.

‘Typical Jack. In case you’re wondering how we know each other, we went to the same school. He kept the bullies at bay and made my life bearable. I owe him a lot.’

‘I take it that Mr DeVere isn’t a friend of his.’ She could hear this objectionable man banging about in the office. She was glad she had the envelope in her pocket.

‘No, he was at med school with me but dropped out. Does something in the city nowadays. I’m sorry you had to put up with his nonsense. I had to bring someone strong enough to lift Jack – I couldn’t do it on my own. Take no notice of Nigel.’

‘I’ve met plenty like him and have learned to ignore them. How long will Jack be out of action?’

‘Once I’ve stitched him up he’ll just need a day or two to recuperate. I’m not sure he’ll be fit to fly, that could take few days. To be on the safe side, I think he’d better wait until the stitches come out.’

‘Do you have to take him to London? Couldn’t you do it in my kitchen at home? You could boil your instruments and then Jack could stay with us until he’s back on his feet.’

‘Are you sure your parents won’t object? If Jack wants to keep this quiet, it might be better if he comes with me.’

Nine

Jack roused himself sufficiently to speak. ‘I’d prefer to go to Glebe Farm. Ellie, you’ll need to ring your dad and tell him what’s happened.’

‘I can’t go home right now as we’ve got someone coming. Once I’ve refuelled and done the checks I can leave