All I Have to Give Read Online Free PDF

her, she wondered why she would be needed. Yes, there were one or two cases
that the nurses might have to call her to, but Connie had hinted that there was a greater reason for why she was required – a reason Edith hadn’t yet been made aware of.
    It didn’t take long before the rumble of vehicles made the ground shudder, and grated on her ears. Leaving the tent and turning in the direction of the noise, she found Connie already
outside. ‘Okay, Doctor, ready for the final task of the day? These will be the dead. They collect them at night. They’ll need identifying and certifying. Then the men will bury them.
Nancy will help you.’
    ‘Oh God!’
    ‘Don’t worry, me duck.’ Nancy’s flat Leicestershire tones soothed her. How often she’d heard the gardeners and stable hands of their country home use that
expression. Not to herself of course, but still it gave her comfort, as Nancy continued, ‘It’s been a hard day – the first of many – but you’ve coped. And when we get
ourselves sorted, we’ll find ways of dealing with the horror. In the meantime I’ll help you with this lot. I had one of the men fix up that tent over there to use as a morgue. And
there’ll be an officer with them, to do the paperwork. All must be done with the dignity that the boys deserve, and I know you’ll do that.’
    These last words from Nancy pulled her up. Yes, she would do this last thing for the soldiers, and she would do it keeping their pride and dignity in mind. But the sadness of it wrenched her
heart, as for the umpteenth time she wrote ‘Killed in Action’ and watched the little pile of belongings, with an identifying tag resting on top, being packed away. Another life reduced
to the size of a brown paper bag.
    ‘Well, that’s all done. When I emptied the last bucket, I saw Connie. She’s done the rounds, and everyone is as best they can be. She was laughing, as one of them posh lot has
set to and made us all some cocoa. Bet you could do with some, although I don’t think it’ll taste much better than ditch-water. Bloody hopeless, the VADs are.’
    ‘Oh, I don’t know – she may surprise you. Our nannies were very good at teaching us to fend for ourselves . . . Oh, I’m sorry, I sounded a bit off. Didn’t mean to,
I . . .’
    ‘No, I’ve been around your class of people long enough now to take what you say as the way you mean it. You’re used to different ways, that’s all. I’m for a shower
first. How about you?’
    ‘Thanks, Nancy. It’s nice to know I won’t have to be on my guard all the time and that we’ll get along. You’re a jolly nice sort. And, yes, I’ll take another
quick shower before I tackle that cocoa.’
    Lying on a camp-bed for the first time surprised Edith. It felt very similar to lying on a hammock and gave relief to her aching bones. For a moment she thought of her home in
London, and of lazy days spent resting in the garden. Hammocks would be slung between the trees, and she and her cousins would lie for hours chatting about their future. Well,
she
wouldn’t chat exactly, but she would listen to Eloise and Andrina talking about how they would marry amazing men and throw wonderful parties. Why their heads were full of such stuff, she
couldn’t imagine.
    For all their frivolity, they were intelligent young women; especially Eloise, whom Edith knew would secretly love a career. If only she had the courage to pursue her dream, rather than thinking
it was hopeless to do so. Well, it wasn’t, as she herself had proved. Women were fighting all the time for the right to live their lives as they chose, and to have a say in the politics of
their country. She would do the same, once this was over, but not in the way Emmeline Pankhurst advocated. Becoming an arsonist, smashing windows and serving time in prison just wasn’t her
style. No, her way would be more along the lines that Elsie Inglis, her newfound hero, had taken.
    Edith had found out more about this