Page 44 of The Girls of Pearl Harbor
April went to reply but couldn’t as she burst out laughing herself. They laughed until they cried, sitting on the bed three in a row, until April looked over at Poppy’s empty bed and wondered what on earth their friend was thinking if she was looking down on them.
She was as terrified as the next nurse about being sent abroad. Hawaii had seemed exotic yet still close enough to home to be safe, but then look how wrong they’d been about that. She wondered if Dr. Grey would be sent away, too, and then pinched herself for even thinking about him.
‘I just about got shot out there coming back from work,’ Cassie, a young nurse, said as she stripped down and changed into her nightclothes. ‘The soldiers are all so jumpy, and the one on guard told me to put out my cigarette because I was in breach of the curfew and the blackout!’
‘Did you put it out?’ April asked.
‘I don’t even smoke! It was the moonlight reflecting off my wristwatch! Imagine if he’d shot me for that.’
Grace got up then, and April watched as she went over to Poppy’s bed and pulled something out from underneath it.
‘I think someone would be happy to see us all have a little drink tonight,’ Grace said, grinning as she unscrewed the lid of the whiskey bottle and took a swig. ‘Merry Christmas, Poppy.’
April watched as Eva took the contraband bottle next and took a long, steady sip before passing it to her.
‘Merry Christmas, Poppy,’ they both said at the same time.
‘And to Teddy,’ Grace added.
They all chimed in, repeating Grace’s words, and April couldn’t help but notice the glimmer of fresh tears in her sister’s eyes at the mention of Teddy’s name. He’d been gone a week now, and she worried that he hadn’t had time to come to terms with losing Poppy before being sent straight into the thick of it. But she’d kept her worries to herself, not wanting to worry Grace.
She took her own sip from the bottle before passing it along. Last Christmas they’d been safely tucked up in their family home in Oregon, tonight they were huddled in their barracks in Hawaii, and next year, well, next year they might be on the other side of the world for all she knew.
She reached for Eva’s hand again and sat listening to the other girls talk and catching Grace’s eye every now and again. The whiskey had warmed a fiery path inside of her, and she shut her eyes as exhaustion hit her like a brick.
So much for having the vacation of their lives.
Life as they knew it was over. And she knew it would never, ever be the same again.
PART TWO
CHAPTER ELEVEN
MID-1942
GRACE
‘Well, this certainly isn’t for the fainthearted, is it?’ Grace looked over at her sister and burst out laughing. It was either that or cry, but April didn’t look impressed.
‘So let me get this straight,’ April said, her hands on her hips as she glared at the soldier relaying news to them. ‘We haveactualsubmarines chasing us?’ When April’s voice ended in a much higher pitch than her usual tone, Grace knew that her sister wasn’t coping well with being at sea.
‘Yes, ma’am. We’re at war, so they areactualsubmarines.’ He cleared his throat. ‘We actually saw the dark-gray snout of the emerging sub poking out of the water, but they seemed as surprised to see an enemy vessel as we were, because they quickly submerged, and we managed to outrun them.’
April positively glowered at him, but Grace turned away when she heard Eva come up behind her.
‘What’s going on? What was that big lurch to the side?’
‘Oh, that was just an enemysubmarinechasing us!’ April declared as the soldier stared at the ground, no doubt regretting ever relaying the news in the first place.
‘Oh.’ Eva didn’t look as concerned as Grace had expected, yawning and wrapping her arms around herself. ‘But we’ve gotten away from it?’
Grace nodded. ‘Yes, we’re safe for now, but it means we’re going to be sailing to Algeria instead of Morocco.’
‘Huh-hmm, ah, ladies,’ the soldier said, clearing his throat and looking uncomfortable as he shifted from foot to foot. ‘We’ve actually been avoiding submarine activity for much of the journey. It’s why we’ve zigzagged so often, like a drunken sailor’s in charge. But she’s a quick ship—that’s why we didn’t need a convoy—and she’s known to have the best luck on the water.’
Grace wished he hadn’t told them that. April looked as if she were about to explode, and Eva was sporting the same blank expression she’d worn ever since the day Charlie had died, which was so different from the vibrant, forthright woman she’d been the first night they’d met. Eva just didn’t seem to feel anything anymore; her expression rarely changed, and she got on with everything and completed every task, but it was like no one was there when Grace looked into her eyes. Grace knew she was different now, too—after everything they’d all gone through, they all were—but it was as if Eva had numbed herself to everything somehow.
‘I’ll leave you to it,’ the soldier said, backing away. ‘We’ve had a game of craps going for hours, Grace, if you, ah, want to join us?’
