Lucy jolted awake, her head lifting from Holly’s shoulder as she tried to figure out what was going on. There was some sort of commotion going on around them, but none of the nurses around her were bothering to get out and find out what was going on, or at least that’s how it seemed.
‘What’s happening?’ Lucy asked.
She looked around, but the other women were all shrugging and shaking their heads, with many of them still sleeping.
‘We’ve been told to stay seated,’ someone said.
‘Something’s going on out there, but Matron told us we were to stay put and wait it out. The officers didn’t want to risk our safety,’ Holly said in a hushed tone.
Lucy sat still, listened and tried to make out what was going on.
‘Is it safe here?’ someone muttered. ‘I mean, aren’t we in danger being immobile on the side of the road like this?’
Lucy stood, not able to sit a moment longer and not know what was going on. Curiosity always got the better of her, and she didn’t like sitting helpless if there was something she could do to help a situation.
‘Excuse me,’ she murmured, making her way to the side of the lorry. They were under canvas to protect them from the elements, but it didn’t take much for her to open the side and look out.
Lucy surveyed the situation, watched as soldiers from their lorry and the one ahead stood and talked. They were chatting like nothing much was going on, although a few of them were standing to attention, guns at the ready.
She climbed down, which was awkward without any assistance, but she managed to do it fine. She cleared her throat, not wanting to take the men unawares and be mistakenly shot in the process.
‘Excuse me,’ she said politely.
At least half a dozen uniformed soldiers turned at her and glared, their faces furious. She gulped, feeling as if she were shrinking before them as an officer pointed to the truck and barked at her.
‘You were told not to move!’ he shouted. ‘Get back into the truck.’
But even as Lucy cowered at his loud voice and intimidating body language, she heard the muffled cries of a child. Her head turned, body snapping around with it. There were three children. She could only just see them. They were in the grass, far enough away that their screams were muffled, the wind carrying them to Lucy and forcing her to listen. Two were on the ground, sobbing, and a third was standing, crying out for help. Further away there were dead cattle in the fields, with the remains of a charred-black army vehicle haphazardly abandoned on the side of the road. Lucy dragged her eyes away from the vehicle, away from wondering whether soldiers had perished or whether their bodies were burnt to a crisp inside.
‘Sir, those children! We need to help them,’ she cried, spinning back to look at him.
She saw a coolness in his gaze that surprised her, saddened her. Surely they weren’t all standing here looking and listening without doing anything?
‘Get back in the truck,’ he ordered.
‘Are you honestly going to leave them there? Young children with no one to help them?’ she pleaded, finding a strength that was coming in such strong waves she knew she wouldn’t back down. ‘Are we not here to assist the French people? Our allies?’
His expression was fuelled by anger now, and she knew it was most likely for her questioning his decision in front of the other men.
‘Look here, little lady,’ another soldier said, interrupting their conversation, maybe trying to defuse it. ‘This place could be crawling with SS for all we know. We’re checking the situation, making sure it’s safe to proceed, then we’ll be on our way.’
She understood safety, and making practical decisions, but she still disagreed with standing by and doing nothing when there were children involved. She wasn’t going to stand for it; they could drag her kicking and screaming back to the lorry but she was going to make her point heard.
‘Let me go to them,’ she said.
‘No,’ barked the angry officer. ‘You are to follow your orders and get back in the bloody truck!’
‘Please,’ she begged, glancing at the other soldier, hoping he might be more understanding. A handful of the men were staring at her now, or more like glaring. ‘Those children could be injured, they need help, and it is my duty to offer it to them. Your men can stay here, but send me. I’m wearing the Red Cross armband; no German is going to shoot me in cold blood if I pose no threat.’
‘They’re bloody pigs those SS,’ a soldier snarled. ‘They’d shoot their own mothers.’
‘This is the last time I’m going to tell you to get back in the vehicle.’
She took a big breath and flashed her sweetest smile. ‘Please let me tend to them. I will be quick, and then it won’t play on your mind for the rest of the day that you let small children bleed out in a field whilst you stood by and did nothing.’ She paused. ‘I will run over to them with a medical bag, tend to their injuries, and then come straight back.’
Lucy looked around. She knew the sensible thing would have been to get straight back in the truck, but that wasn’t the type of person she was. She was a nurse and she knew how to save lives. If she’d stopped to ask questions before running to the burning ambulance, Jack would be dead. She preferred to listen to her instincts, and her instincts were screaming at her right now to do something to help the children calling so desperately for them.
‘Sir, please,’ she tried again.
‘If you die out there, it’ll be your own fault,’ he said, voice gravelly. She wasn’t sure if he wanted her to die or actually cared, but she wasn’t about to stand around asking questions. ‘We call you back? You listen to instructions and follow orders. I’m not risking the life of a good soldier to save you.’
She understood, loud and clear. ‘Yes, sir.’ From what she could tell, he thought her life wasn’t anywhere near as valuable as those of his soldiers, even though she was trained to save those very men should they need her.
‘What are you waiting for?’ he asked.
Lucy glanced over her shoulder, saw some of the nurses were now looking out from the truck, and she was pleased that none of them were trying to talk her out of what she was doing. Or maybe they actually had no idea what was even going on, which was highly likely.
‘May I take my nursing supplies?’ she asked.
‘No.’
His voice was harsh, flat, and Lucy decided not to press him. She would walk calmly, slowly over to the children. Once there she could assess the situation, and then come back and beg for whatever she needed to assist them.
Lucy nodded and started moving. She focused on her breathing and putting one foot in front of the other.
‘I’m coming,’ she called out, trying to make her voice sound as warm and friendly as possible. ‘Bonjour!’ She switched to French, her knowledge of the language limited, but she doubted young children living out here in the country would understand English.
‘Bonjour. Je m’appelle Lucy,’ she called out again, not wanting them to be scared of her.
‘S’il vous pla?t. Aidez-nous!’ the eldest girl cried out.
Lucy understood her words, knew she was begging for help, and she hurried the rest of the way.