“It’s not often you see a woman in a position of power,” she remarked as she paused at the door of a room with wide barred windows. “I always say women can be just as strong and intelligent as men, if not more so. I think we should have a woman for a prime minister, after Winnie goes, of course. Fat chance of that, though.”
“I quite agree,” Elizabeth said as the nurse opened the door. “Most women would agree with you, but just try convincing the men of that.”
The nurse smiled. “That’s the whole problem, isn’t it? They think of us as the weaker sex, and think the only thing we’re good for is cooking meals and taking care of babies. The war’s changed all that though, m’m. I think the men are in for a big shock when they come back from the war. Women aren’t the same as they were when the men went away. They’ve had to stand on their own two feet, and they like it.”
“Indeed. I understand there are far more women working full-time jobs now than ever before.”
“We’ve had to, haven’t we.” She ushered Elizabeth into the room and closed the door behind her. “Not enough men to do it, that’s for sure. The women have taken over, and they’re not going to give that up just because their hubbies are coming home.”
Elizabeth felt a familiar pang of misgiving. The war had indeed changed things. No matter how much people wanted things to go back to the way they were before, that was extremely unlikely. She couldn’t help wondering how they would all adapt to this brave new world that was emerging.
She followed the nurse across the room, past smiling, nodding patients who either played board games at small tables or sat knitting or reading in comfortable chairs. These people seemed happier than those in the hallways, and Elizabeth felt a little better, until she saw the young girl seated in a wheelchair.
She sat by the window that overlooked the grounds, her body so still it was hard to tell she was alive. Her eyes were open, though vacant, as Elizabeth approached.
“Can she understand if I speak to her?” Elizabeth asked, reaching out to touch a motionless hand.
“Hard to tell.” The nurse gently leaned the girl forward and plumped up the pillow at her back. “Sometimes I think she can. Now and then I see a tiny movement of her lips, as if she’s trying to smile. Sometimes she cries. No one knows why.”
“How sad.” Elizabeth felt like crying herself. “It must be dreadful to sit here day after day, without hope of a normal future.”
“Oh, there’s always hope,” the nurse said quickly. “Scientists are working hard all the time to find out why the brain shuts down like this but leaves the body working just fine. Sheila breathes on her own, and the doctors think she could move her arms and legs and even learn to walk again if she really wanted to, but they don’t know how to make her want to try. They just keep moving everything for her and hoping that one day she’ll want to try it on her own.”
“Well, I certainly hope that happens soon,” Elizabeth said, giving the girl’s hand a gentle pat. “A young life is such a terrible thing to waste. I wonder if she recognizes her father when he comes to visit. It must be heartbreaking for him to see her like this.”
“Oh, she hasn’t seen her father since it happened.” The nurse patted the pillow in place.
Elizabeth stared at her. “But surely you must be mistaken. I was talking to him just this morning. His wife mentioned he was here last Monday.”
The nurse looked puzzled. “He’s home? I thought he was fighting somewhere abroad. I keep records of all the visitors that come in here, your ladyship.
Everyone has to sign in the register, just like you did. I can assure you, Mr. Redding hasn’t set foot in this sanitarium since his daughter was admitted two years ago.”
CHAPTER 12
Pumping wildly to keep up with Sadie, Polly started getting nervous when she realized the thief was heading away from the village and out into the country lanes. The mad chase had already led them through the High Street at heart-stopping speed. Sadie had barely missed a frightened housewife who just happened to be crossing the street with her shopping bags, and Polly had almost fallen off her bicycle when a large dog bounded in front of her wheel.
As they’d toiled up yet another hill behind the fleeing figure, Sadie waved an encouraging arm at Polly, both of them too breathless to speak. Now they were racing along the downs, heading in the direction of the Manor House.
Before they got close, however, the thief veered off the coast road and plunged into a lane. Sadie, who had shortened the distance behind him, overshot the opening and had to brake. Polly caught up with her as she turned into the lane.
Her breath came out in painful gasps but she managed to form a few words. “Where-the heck-is he- going?”
Sadie shrugged, shook her head, then took off after him. Polly pulled in a resigned breath, then started after her. It was more difficult to see the rider ahead of them now. The lane curved and twisted through trees and high hedges, and even Sadie disappeared from Polly’s view now and then.
She hurtled around a bend, intent on catching up with her friend, but then swerved as Sadie suddenly appeared in front of her, standing astride her bicycle with an odd look on her face.
Going too fast to stop, Polly crashed into the hedge. Her bicycle twisted away from under her, and she landed on her elbow in a prickly bush. “Ow!” she yelled, and then let out a muffled protest as Sadie clapped a hand over her mouth.
“Shush! He’ll hear you!” she whispered fiercely. Slowly she took her hand away from Polly’s mouth and whispered, “He’s on the other side of the hedge.”
“What’s he doing?” Polly mouthed, her sore elbow forgotten.
Sadie shook her head and lifted her shoulders. Placing a finger over her lips, she crept down the hedge to where it joined up to a gate. Moving an inch at a time, she poked her head around the bushy shrub.
Polly held her breath, then let it out in a rush when Sadie straightened up.
“He’s flipping gone!” Sadie hung over the gate, looking right and left. “I don’t believe it. Where’d he go?”
Polly groaned. “There go my knickers. Don’t tell me we went through all that for nothing.”
“He can’t have got far or we’d see him. He must be hiding somewhere.” She pointed with her finger. “Over there. I bet he’s in the windmill.”
Polly got up gingerly and brushed bits of leaves and twigs off her skirt. Joining Sadie at the gate, she peered over it at the weathered building across the field. “Are you sure?”
“It’s the only place he could be. He couldn’t have reached the trees on the other side before I looked over, so he must be in the windmill.”
“Maybe he’ll leave the knickers there and go off somewhere,” Polly said hopefully. “After all, he can’t live there, can he. He must live somewhere else. Why didn’t he take them home with him?”
“Coz he knows we was following him, silly. He’s waiting to see what we do next.”
Polly hadn’t thought of that. “So what are we going to do now?”
“Go in after him, of course, and get our knickers back.”
“What if he’s waiting in there with a knife or something?” She shuddered at the thought. “You said we would just go back and tell George we know where he is.”
“I know I did,” Sadie said heavily, “but by the time George gets back here the thief won’t be here anymore, will he. And we don’t know who he is or where he lives, so there’s not much point in telling George about him, is there.”
“I suppose not.” Polly shivered, in spite of the sticky warmth of the afternoon.
“Besides, he’s not very big, is he. The two of us should be able to manage him.”
“I don’t like the idea of going in there after him, though. It’s so creepy in there. There’s rats and spiders and everything.”
“Don’t be such a baby.” Sadie squared her shoulders. “All right, we’ll leave the bicycles here and we’ll cut around through the trees to the other side. That way he might not see us coming.”
“But what if he does?”
