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to lay the old woman down and offered her a cup of tea. ‘I would appreciate a cup of tea,’ she said, ‘if you can wait to hold the cup. I feel I’ve been to hell and back. What terrible memories came back to torment that precious boy who I held in my arms when he was barely five minutes old? Why wasn’t someone sleeping at his side to protect him from those dreadful dreams? His father should be in there with him. I’ll have to get a small bed into his room so that he’s never left on his own again. Oh, why has the Good Lord decided to strike me down at this time when I could be of such service to the dear boy? Blessed be the name of our God, but there are certain things I’d like to take him to task about.’
    ‘All the same, I don’t think Tom would welcome anyone sleeping in his room to protect him. He’s not a child, Nano.’
    ‘Bring me a cup of tea, Catrin. I want to be fit by morning. Somehow I don’t think you can manage without me.’
    ‘I think we’ll have to manage without you for the next few weeks, Nano. But you shall still tell us exactly what to do, I promise. You’re still in charge.’
    ‘A cup of tea first then and then a cup of tea for Mister Tom, and perhaps a beef sandwich. A beef sandwich with a touch of mustard gives a man great comfort somehow. Even a spot of medicinal brandy will do him no harm tonight.’
    ‘I’ll let him know what you say,’ Catrin said.

    ‘Mister Tom,’ Miss Rees said a few days later, ‘I don’t think I’ve got long to live and if you saw how Dr Andrews looked at me this morning you’d have seen that he agreed with me.’
    Tom was shaken. ‘He doesn’t know how tough you are,’ he said at last, ‘I often heard Mother tell us how ill you were when you had pneumonia, double pneumonia, that time. You weren’t expected to live then, and that was many, many years ago.’
    ‘I am a tough old bird, yes, and I may pull through, but again I may not. And, if not, I’d like to meet that May Malcolm you once told me about before I die. There was something in your voice when you mentioned her and I’d heard that very note once before when my dear Rachel first met your father. You said that she’d written to you very faithfully and that means a lot to me. I want to meet her, Tom. I want to tell her about your dear mother as well as many stories about your early life. Will you write to her this very afternoon and tell her that it’s a matter of some urgency? When the call comes, Tom, a soul has to answer it, not plead for another few days. When she sees me, she’ll understand that there was no time to lose.’
    ‘I’ll write to her this afternoon,’ Tom promised, ‘though she’ll be very surprised by my letter I’m sure. I don’t suppose she’ll think I’ve ever mentioned her to anyone.’
    ‘I don’t know about that. When a person realises that something important has happened to them, they usually like to mention it. I’d be surprised if she hasn’t mentioned you to her mother and father.’
    ‘She has no mother, Nano. Her mother died when she was very young, sixteen I think. And I don’t think you’ll consider her very pretty, either. She’s certainly not beautiful like Catrin. And she’s a bit older than I am too.’
    ‘Poor motherless child,’ Miss Rees said and shut her eyes so that Tom felt he was dismissed.
    ‘I feel very embarrassed,’ Tom told Catrin and Lowri later that morning. ‘Miss Rees insists that she’s dying and that her dying wish is to meet May Malcolm who I’d mentioned to her on my embarkation leave years ago – how many years, it seems like a lifetime. What is the poor girl going to think?’
    ‘She’s going to think that you’d like to see her, and what’s wrong with that? Send her a timetable of trains from London and say your brother-in-law will meet her at any time. Lowri will make one of her famous raspberry tarts and I’ll cook some ham ready for supper. Good old Nano, I say.’
    ‘What do you