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Chapter 72
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Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 73
Whistles. It always starts with whistles. The high-pitched noise slices through the trenches and cuts away whispered prayers and shared jokes. I close my eyes, but you can't block out the whistle.It only took a matter of days to realise war was not as glamorous or exciting as the posters made it out. Some soldiers, unable to cope, deserted. If caught, they were executed for their cowardice. I lacked even the courage to run and so found my own way to cope.Over the first desperate months, I built a castle in my mind. A strange construction with leaning towers and stairways that ran straight into ceilings and doors that opened onto empty space. Memories filled the many rooms. Some were complex and exotic, evoking all my senses. One lavish room held my first day in Egypt, the walls tiled in vibrant bursts of colour. We stood in the bazaar in wonder, convinced we had been transported to another world and no longer walked the earth. Heavy spices danced on the air and swirled around befor
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 74: October, 1918
I thought that now I had returned, life would revert to normal. Perhaps my mind would heal, my frozen vocal cords would relinquish their grip on words, and I would speak. I was wrong. Again. Events didn't even allow me time to settle back into my old life. War followed us home.Magda fell ill first. Lady Jeffrey's high-pitched screams reached my room out in the barn. She accused the cook of being lazy and threatened to throw her out if dinner wasn't served exactly at six pm. Then the sickness claimed Charlotte.By the time we saw the news in the paper, the pandemic had swept across Europe and crashed into England. If the farm had possessed a moat, Lady Jeffrey would have pulled up the drawbridge and shut out the world. And us. Leaving us to starve and rot in the dirt.From September 1918 the pandemic first reached out for the soldiers and then followed their path home, but the government kept it quiet so as not to spark a panic. I didn't need Lady Jeffrey to point an accusing finger
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 75
There is a comfort in exhaustion, for it gives you no opportunity to think. Ella was determined to do her bit as the nation fell ill, and far from being left to hide in my room, she included me. She devised a plan that kept us both working every single daylight hour and several dark ones as well. It ensured I dropped into bed too tired to even remove my boots.Did she know that the long, quiet hours were the hardest for me to endure? Every night I plunged back into the war, relived the horrors over and over. I awoke exhausted, with my throat hoarse and scratchy from screaming in my sleep. The constant physical exertion of Ella?s new regimen drained my mind and I slept deeply and, for a short while, free of the clawing nightmares.We rose early each day to undertake farm chores. For me, that meant helping Stewart catch up on four years of damaged fences, broken water troughs, fields in desperate need of ploughing and reseeding, and tracking down a small band of sheep that decided to g
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 76
Magda's fever broke first. Charlotte, though younger and healthier, fared worse, and the entire household worried if she would live or die. Days stretched into a week before she too woke from fevered dreams. Both women were terribly weak and still abed, but we all breathed a little easier to know their journey through the darkness had ended.As time passed, worry ate at the back of my mind like a worm through an old apple. Was the Morris family healthy and did they have sufficient supplies?Hazel seldom complained about her odd parents, even after they shut her away. To keep her safe they said, whenever I knocked on that door and asked if she could come out to play. But in private, they made preparatory arrangements to survive the Judgement Day apocalypse they believed was nigh.I understood their concern. I, too, wanted to see her kept safe, and I had worried about her for more years than anyone knew. Ever since she lobbed a rock at my head. It didn't matter I was only seven at the
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 77
Pushing down my disappointment, I grabbed a sack of flour and tossed it over my shoulder. Hazel's slender form retreated, to be replaced by the hulking behemoth of her father. He was a dreadnought shielding a small pleasure yacht."You're not welcome here, Henry." He folded his arms over his chest and blocked my way.I?d thought the bag with FLOUR stamped on the side would be an obvious clue as to the purpose behind my presence. Yet he still barred my way inside. What did he see when he looked upon me? A lad shattered by war and trying to reach out to the girl he left behind? Or a vile creature who would corrupt his daughter and spread pestilence over their farm? From the way he narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists, I suspected the latter."Henry has brought our mail and supplies, father, and I know mother has nearly run out of tea." Hazel's voice came from behind but I couldn't see her. She might as well have spoken from behind a closed door.Mr Morris' scowl deepened for a lo
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 78
October ran out of days and became November. Ella and I still worked all the hours we could, dividing out time between the farm and Serenity House. One day, as I walked across the ballroom floor, Warrens?head swung in my direction and then he crooked a discreet finger to summon me closer. The reserved butler never raised his voice. Wouldn't do to yell."A question for you, Evans," he said in his refined and clipped voice.I placed the armload of clean linen on the tea trolley, now repurposed to carry medical supplies and blankets, and approached."Tell me, lad, can you drive a truck?"I nodded. Once I proved a failure as a soldier, I trained as an orderly and at times drove the ambulance, ferrying wounded soldiers from the battlefield to the makeshift hospital."Good. Our usual driver has succumbed to the influenza." He nodded with his head to the end bed on the closest row. A tall, thin man lay under a sheet, his face covered in the sheen of perspiration. He didn't toss or turn b
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 79
With each day there were fewer reported new cases of influenza. As much as I wanted to isolate Hazel from the slightest waft of contaminated air, I had made a promise to give her one afternoon of freedom, and I would see it through.I made plans for her brief escape from the tower. It needed to be something memorable. Especially since if Mr Morris caught us I doubt we would ever have another chance. He would probably chain Hazel to his leg so she could never be beyond his gaze or reach. I tried to think where to take her that would be enough of an adventure, but far from prying eyes or any chance of lingering contamination. I didn't want to risk anyone breathing on her.The day had finally arrived for me to liberate Hazel, if only for a short time. While I didn't have the most exciting outing planned, I hoped events would be sufficient to break the monotony of her captivity. There could only be one possible fly in my ointment?her parents. To ensure I could extract Hazel from the towe
Serenity House: Ella's Journey Chapter 80
Guy Fawkes was followed by a much larger celebration. Armistice came on 11 November, 1918 and the war was truly over. Relief shuddered through my body as fear slipped away. For months I had worried that if the war continued, I would be sent back to the front. We held a subdued celebration in the kitchen, toasted peace, and tried not to think about Sir Jeffrey upstairs or all those who would never come home.Winter arrived early and by the end of November, tones of grey and brown blanketed the countryside. No new cases of flu emerged, which lightened the mood. As a nation we had collectively held our breath for months, and then let it out as a wintery blast of relief. It seemed at last our battles were over and we could look forward to Christmas.Ella beamed with joy when Sir Jeffrey stopped drooling. I tried to share in her excitement, but it was difficult when his condition was entirely my fault. What I would have given to swap places with him. It should have been me, not our brave
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