Chapter 17 Stephanie
Stephanie
Present day
‘Honey, I’m flattered you’re asking for my help and of course I’ll do what I can, but I’m not sure I can be of any use.’ Tara held her hands out, as though she was the one begging for support, and shrugged. ‘I’m a bartender, not an artist.’
‘I don’t need you to paint,’ I said, with a chuckle. ‘I just need you to help me paint.’
‘Clean your brushes?’
‘Stop it. You know what I mean. I’m hopeless by myself; I need you to give me a shove when I’m struggling to get started, or to put a sketchpad in my hand.’
‘Shut up,’ said Micah mildly. He was sitting at the table with Tara and me.
I’d summoned them both to an emergency meeting to discuss me getting the grant and actually having to put my ideas into action.
Now he looked at me and shook his head. ‘You’re not hopeless.
You look after all them old people at that home, and your nan.
And you work here and that. And you help me all the time. ’
Embarrassed and touched by his praise I kicked him under the table. ‘You shut up,’ I said with affection.
‘The kid speaks sense,’ Tara said. ‘You’re more than capable of pulling this off alone.’
All the bravado I’d felt when I’d spoken to Mr Yin about my plans had deserted me. I just felt sick all the time so I’d rung Tara in a panic this morning, begging her to help. Micah had appeared in the kitchen as I was talking to her on the phone, so he’d come along with me to The Vine.
‘Shall I get us some drinks?’ Tara said.
I looked at my watch. ‘It’s a bit early, T.’ It was Sunday morning and the bar wasn’t even open yet.
‘I meant coffee.’
‘Oh yes, coffee would be good.’ Probably for the best. I’d barely slept last night worrying about the mural and how I was going to pull it off.
I’d made a list of everything I’d need to make it work, so I could take it to my meeting with the council.
But I’d got scared when I wrote “scaffolding and ladders” and hadn’t written anything else.
And I had absolutely no idea how to do the rest of the project – a notebook for residents to write in I could just about manage, but finding Elsie? I hadn’t a clue where to start.
Tara got up and made us all coffees. The hissing of the machine made it hard to talk for a minute, but as she put our drinks down in front of us, she said: ‘Is Finn coming?’
‘No, why?’
‘Because this whole project is linked with his historical stuff, and he’s cute, and I think he should be here.’
I looked down at the froth on top of my coffee. Tara had drawn a heart in the milk.
‘What did he say when you told him you’d got the grant?’ Tara asked.
‘I’ve not told him yet.’
‘Stevie, why not?’
‘Because he’s busy and I didn’t want to bother him,’ I said. ‘His students have got their exams and there’s a lot of marking to do.’
‘It’s Sunday,’ Micah pointed out.
‘So?’
‘So message him now and tell him. They won’t be doing exams today and he might be glad of a break from marking.’
‘I don’t know what to say.’
‘Oh for heaven’s sake, it’s not you who’s doing an exam.’ Tara picked my phone up from the table and briskly entered my passcode without even asking me what it was.
‘Hey,’ I said. ‘How do you know that?’
‘Sweetie, you always use your birthday.’
‘Max’s birthday,’ I muttered, realising as I said it how ridiculous it was. I didn’t even need Micah rolling his eyes to tell me.
‘There.’ Tara handed the phone back to me.
‘What did you do?’
‘Messaged Finn.’
My heart thumped hard as I opened the message. Tara had written: “Great news! Got the grant so my mural is happening. Having a chat about it all now at The Vine if you fancy joining us. Could do with your help. Coffees and croissants on me.”
‘Are there actually croissants?’ Micah said hopefully, reading the message over my shoulder.
‘Micah,’ I tutted. Then I looked at Tara. ‘Are there?’
‘In the kitchen.’
Micah did a little fist pump and I turned my attention back to the screen. The message wasn’t horrendous. In fact, it was just the right balance of friendly and needy. Way better than I’d have written. Which only made me feel more hopeless.
‘I feel sick again,’ I groaned.
‘Can I have your croissant?’ Micah said.
My phone buzzed and I dropped it like it was hot. Tara swooped and picked it up.
‘He’s coming,’ she said in triumph.
‘Here? Now?’
‘Here and now.’
She showed me Finn’s reply, which was a GIF of a little boy dancing. Underneath he’d written: “On my way.”
‘I look awful,’ I wailed. ‘I don’t want to see him.’
‘Pull yourself together.’ Tara looked stern. ‘You look fine. It’s fine. Everything’s fine.’ She narrowed her eyes at me. ‘But maybe drag a brush through your hair.’
‘Tara!’
‘I’ve got some bits in the office. Go and check your makeup, do your hair, and I’ll sort the pastries.’
‘All right,’ I said. ‘Thank you.’
Feeling jittery, I headed to the office where Tara had a mirror on the wall.
My reflection wasn’t as disastrous as I feared.
The eyeliner I’d put on before I left home was still in place.
I brushed my hair and then tied it back when it went frizzy because I’d brushed it too much, then took it out again because it was too severe and my ears stuck out.
By the time I’d found a stretchy leopard-print headband in one of Tara’s desk drawers and put that on, I could hear laughter coming from the bar, and smell pastries. Finn must have arrived.
I took a deep breath. This was ridiculous. I had a silly crush on him – that was all. He’d come to hear about the mural, not to see me, and I had to get a hold of myself.
But when I walked into the bar and saw him sitting there, my stomach flipped over in a most alarming way and I felt my cheeks redden.
‘Hi,’ he said, looking at me with what seemed to me to be approval. ‘I like your hair.’
‘Oh, thank you,’ I said, flustered. ‘It’s Tara’s.’
‘Your hair?’ Finn frowned and I rubbed my nose, feeling silly.
‘No, the headband.’
Finn laughed and I felt better.
‘I was telling Finn that you’re having a meeting next week about the mural,’ Tara said as I sat down in the only empty seat, which happened to be next to Finn even though it was where Micah had been sitting before I’d gone into the office.
‘I am,’ I said, grateful of the distraction from the knowledge that his long legs were only inches from mine.
‘With the council people.’ I told him all about the meeting and my plans, and Micah chimed in with some surprisingly useful suggestions.
Finn listened intently, nodding along and asking some thoughtful questions, until I ran out of steam.
‘That’s it, really,’ I said eventually.
‘It’s amazing,’ he said. ‘Honestly.’
I fiddled with Tara’s headband. ‘Do you think so?’ I said. ‘I’m worried I’ve bitten off more than I can chew.’
‘Absolutely not.’ Finn looked straight at me and I felt my face flush again. ‘You’ve got this.’
Flustered, I bit into a croissant, dropping flaky pastry down my top.
‘I actually brought something that might help,’ Finn said, as I brushed the crumbs away. He reached down under the table and brought out a box, like the type companies store old files in.
‘Moving in?’ Tara joked.
Finn chuckled. He took the top off the box and gestured for me to look inside. ‘It’s the book,’ he said triumphantly.
‘You showed me that before,’ I said, a little confused. ‘Remember?’
‘Well, yes, but I thought you could keep it while you’re making your plans. It’s easier to read the real thing than the scans on a screen.’
‘Are you serious?’ I couldn’t believe he was trusting me with them. ‘Isn’t it valuable?’
‘Not in a monetary sense,’ Finn said. ‘But as long as you don’t spill anything on it, or set fire to it …’
‘Or lose it,’ Micah said helpfully. ‘Or leave it on the bus.’
I glared at him. ‘I’d love to look at it,’ I said to Finn, overwhelmed by the gesture. ‘If you’re sure?’
‘Of course.’
‘I’ve been looking at the messages online but I think it’ll be easier to get a proper sense of Elsie from the real thing.’ I was beginning to get excited. ‘How long can I keep it for?’
‘I’m still in the middle of marking exams, so a couple of weeks?’ Finn said.
‘Perfect. This is so kind of you, Finn.’
He pushed his hair away from his forehead and smiled at me.
‘Will you be all right getting it home?’ he said. ‘It’s quite heavy. Are you on your bike?’
I’d not thought about that. I screwed my nose up. ‘I am and I don’t have my rucksack with me.’
‘I’ll give you a ride,’ Tara said. ‘No problem.’
‘Thanks, Tara.’
Finn looked at his watch and, worried he was going to leave and I wouldn’t know when I’d next see him, I said: ‘Perhaps it would be easiest to keep the book at Tall Trees? I could put it in your cupboard and then if you do need it for some reason, you’ll know where to find it.’
‘Sounds good,’ said Finn.
Pleased, I leaned back in my chair as there was a knock on the door of the bar. Tara got up to let Barney, the chef, in. He’d arrived to get the Sunday lunches started.
‘Just going to sort the menu, honey,’ Tara said, disappearing off into the kitchen after him.
‘Oh my days,’ Micah said suddenly. ‘I need to go. I’m meant to be going to watch my sister play football. Will you be okay?’
‘Of course,’ I said, touched that he’d checked. ‘Go. I’ll catch up with you later.’
He pulled his hood up, even though it was a sunny day, and put his earbuds in. Shutting out the world as he was heading outside, I thought. It wasn’t easy being a teen these days.
He slouched off, giving me a cheery wave as he walked past the window of the pub.
And then there was just Finn and me.
‘So,’ he said.
‘Yes?’ I looked at him, fighting the urge to brush his hair off his face.
‘You said you needed my help?’
‘Oh,’ I was flustered suddenly. ‘Yes, I did. I want to find out what happened to Elsie. I think it would really help give the project legs, you know?’
Legs? Oh, Stevie.
But Finn smiled. ‘I’ll make a historian of you yet.’
‘Well,’ I admitted, ‘I don’t have a clue how to begin. I know you said you didn’t have a death certificate. I wondered if you could show me how to look for stuff like that?’
‘Of course.’ Finn’s eyes shone. ‘I brought my laptop just in case.’
He got his computer out and I watched as he brought up a website called .
‘Like I said, I did a bit of research into Elsie ages ago when we first got the book, and found her birth certificate and her employment record, but I’ve not looked her up since.’
‘Could the information have changed?’
‘Maybe,’ said Finn. ‘But I doubt it.’ He typed in Elsie Watson and hit return and up came the results.
‘There are a few,’ he said, ‘but obviously you can discount the ones whose dates don’t match, and then it’s easy enough to find our Elsie because she was born round here.’
‘In South London District Hospital?’ I said, wondering if Elsie had entered the world in Tall Trees. But Finn shook his head as he clicked on one of the entries.
‘At home, actually. Here she is. Elsie Watson, born 28 August 1919. Place of birth: 17 Cedars Road. Parents: Agnes and Anthony Watson.’
‘I know where Cedars Road is,’ I said, delighted. ‘It’s near my dentist.’
Finn laughed.
‘So we have her birth certificate, but nothing else?’ I said, frowning at the screen. ‘No marriage certificate? No children? No death certificate?’
‘No.’
‘And is that strange in itself?’
‘It is a bit.’ He sighed. ‘She might have moved abroad.’
‘When did she leave the hospital? Did you say you had her employment record?’
‘Here.’ Finn typed a few words, then he pulled up another page on his screen. ‘See, it has the same address: Cedars Road. Her next of kin is her brother William Watson. She trained at the hospital between 1936 and 1938, when she qualified.’ He pointed to the screen. ‘She left in 1941.’
‘Is there like a central database of nurses? Could we see if she went to another hospital in England?’
He shrugged. ‘There is, but it would just show that she was a registered nurse, not where she worked.’
Disappointed, I felt my shoulders slump. ‘I’ve hit a brick wall already.’
Finn shook his head. ‘Not necessarily. The interesting thing about social history is there’s always another way round. Maybe the direct route hasn’t worked, but you’ll find another way.’
‘Do you think so?’
‘I know so. It’s happened to me loads of times. And you often find out all sorts of other interesting stuff while you’re looking.’
‘Where should I start?’
‘Perhaps find out more about the history of the hospital? See what you can find out about its role during the war?’
‘Can you help me?’
‘There’s nothing I’d like more,’ he said with a grin, and again I felt my stomach flip. ‘But, I can’t.’
‘Work?’ I tried to sound casual and not show how disappointed I was.
‘Exams and assessments. But I’ll have more time in a couple of weeks. So how about you get started and I’ll help when I can?’
‘Sounds good,’ I said.
Finn checked his watch again. ‘I have to go, I’m sorry. I’ve got a rescheduled tutorial, even though it’s Sunday.’
‘Every day’s a work day,’ I said with a smile.
He got up from his seat, and patted Elsie’s book. ‘I’m sorry to leave because I’d loved to have gone through the book with you.’
‘I’d have liked that too,’ I said, hardly able to believe my own boldness. ‘When you have an hour spare, drop me a message.’
Finn held my gaze a fraction longer than was necessary. ‘I will.’