Chapter 6- 2nd half

“Goodnight”, George yelled after them, “Goodness I thought they would never leave” George moved chairs from sitting across from Annabel to the seat next to her. Anna really couldn’t believe everything that had been happening and she wanted to be fair to George. She knew she could have accepted his offer this afternoon of marriage; lots of girls she knew were getting married to soldiers who were being spent overseas. They said they were doing it to give these boys as much happiness as they could get before they went overseas, Anna wasn’t so sure, she believed a lot of these young women were expecting these poor lads to die over in the trenches and by becoming war widows they would be able to pick up a nice little widow’s pension. When she had said that to Elizabeth, Elizabeth told her she was being too hard on her own sex, but Anna knew that even though she had much more to gain then some of those other girls she just couldn’t do it, especially not to George.
“So are you reconsidering my offer?” teased George.
“What? No! George how can you tease me like that?” squirmed Anna. She stood up off her chair and made her attention focus on the lovely porcelain in George’s parents’ display cabinet.
“Ash, me thinks the girl protests too much”, George teased again. He could see that Anna was becoming flushed and he decided the last thing to do was to get Anna cross with him if he was to have any chance of her reconsidering. It was funny that in just one afternoon he had gone from being single and carefree to vigorously pursuing Anna to become his wife. If someone had of told him that this would be happening to him right now he would have told them that they were nuts and yet here he was seriously hoping that Anna would marry him, and not just one day but as soon as she would be willing. England had not fully declared war yet but it would not be long and he knew that because he was already to go that he would be one of the first over to Europe, he didn’t know what it was going to be like, he knew when he enlisted that there is the possibility of death but George had confidence, not that he thought he wouldn’t die but that he knew where he would go if it happened. But now, things had changed in his head, he didn’t want to die, not until he had been able to be with Anna. Not the way some of the lads had been going around using it as an excuse to deflower some of the local girls. George wanted Anna as his wife, he wanted those things just like any other man but he also wanted to be able to wake up next to her in the morning.
“George, things are just not that simple”. Anna knew it was crazy to be revealing so much about herself and her family but she just felt so different with George.
“Oh Anna, I know that you think I’m crazy and that you don’t feel the same way I do...” George began.
“No George, that’s the thing, I’m surprised and in shock myself but if it were that simple I would marry you”, Anna laughed, “even tonight if that’s what you wanted. But my life isn’t that simple”. Anna wanted to cry, she just didn’t know where to start, she knew that George would be polite when listening to her story but afterwards he would feel differently. Oh why couldn't her life be more simple, she thought. “George...”
“Listen Anna, you don’t have to be upset. You don’t need to tell me anything you don’t want to. That’ the funny thing about the way I feel, I don’t need to know anything about you, I just want to be with you”, George gushed. How was Anna to respond to this, she wanted to tell him her secret but she knew that it would be difficult for someone so young to understand, before it happened to her she hadn’t ever thought of a young woman being so gullible. Now because of that she had been left as a social outcast, many people in proper society tainted her with as a certain type of girl. “I don’t want to put anymore pressure on you tonight, lets just enjoy ourselves. Come on lets go and ask the others if they want to spend the rest of the evening at the music hall. I’m not much of a dancer but I’m dragged along often enough with two sisters to be considered tolerable.” Anna readily agreed; she knew that she would one day have to have the unavoidable conversation but until then she wanted to spend as much enjoyable time with George as she could. Who knew what would happen afterwards, tonight was going to be all about having fun.
 

Chapter Six- please see note about novel on what a day blog

The back door burst open and in came George looking pleased as punch.
“When have you been?” demanded Mother. She was still reeling over Joseph’s decision to support Maggie in becoming a nurse in the army and she couldn't help but feel a little left out of her children’s lives. Elizabeth and William had told them all about George’s new friend Annabel, with Elizabeth adding that her match making had done so well the first time she decided it was time for George benefit from her generosity.
Even with Mother’s discourteous manner George was more than happy to fill the family on his Saturday afternoon and evening.
“I’ve just had the worst night of my life”, said George with much glee in his voice. Just then there was a soft knock at the back door. “I asked her to wait so I could introduce her”, George had the silliest most infantile smile on his face.
Elizabeth and Maggie looked at each other and started to laugh they had not seen this type of excitement from George since they waited up for Santa Clause one Christmas Eve when they were about eight, ten and twelve. Elizabeth didn’t believe in Santa Clause at this stage but she wanted to be included in on the fun and so she kept that a secret from the others. Well they waited up until it was nearly midnight and to the children’s great delight they heard the jingling of bells coming from outside. George got so excited he was about to run out the front door when Maggie grabbed him by the shirt tails. Maggie was so worried that if Santa had found them out of bed that they would miss out of their presents and she had written Santa six letters asking only for a doctor’s kit so she decided that she wasn’t taking any chances so she pulled George up the stairs much to his chagrin. What was particular humorous was that Father had gone to all the trouble of borrowing a Santa costume and was planning on placing their presents under the tree in front of the children and giving them a wink as he left again. When he arrived and Maggie and George were not there he was about to go and find them upstairs when Mother saw him ascending the stairs and let out a huge scream which then had the whole family running around in a panic thinking that an intruder was in the house. Father thought it would be better to just hide himself inside the broom closet which ended up being the first place that George looked, looking for the criminal in their midst. George pulled ‘Santa’ out of the cupboard and told Santa how wonderful it was to meet him. Even Maggie had realised who ‘Santa’ was by this stage but not George. George was so happy to be meeting the man in red that father didn’t want to speak in case George cottoned on to his voice. So ‘Santa’ patted George on the head, placed the presents under the tree and after giving the much rehearsed wink, Santa left.
Right now George had that same look on his face when he opened the door saying,
“I would like to introduce the woman who turned down my marriage proposal tonight and made it the worst night of my life. Although she did repent and agreed to be my girlfriend which then made this the most wonderful night of my life.”
The family stood there speechless, the only other person in the room smiling was Elizabeth, she loved to be right and she had been spot on with arranging this pairing, although she knew that it was extremely hasty turn of events she was happy to put that aside for the moment and bask in the glory of being right.
“I wasn’t under the understanding that the two of you were even familiar with each other until this afternoon, George” Timothy questioned. This question was not light-hearted and Timothy now considered himself family and therefore felt he was able to look after their best interests. “I would imagine that there is a lot that you don’t know about Annabel” Timothy was eyeing her steadily “and I suppose a lot she doesn’t know about you” he hasten to add when he realised all eyes were watching him out of curiosity.
“What exactly are you saying?” George was looking at Timothy with a red face. “Are you accusing me of hiding something from Anna? Listen here Timothy I may have taken out a few girls here and there but my intentions with Anna are truly honourable. I asked her to marry me for crying out loud!”
“I...I...” Timothy was stumbling for the right words and then decided now was not the time. “Now listen George, I am just a little concerned that you might be rushing things here. I mean look at Maggie and I. We have been courting for three years and only now have we decided that the time is right for marriage. And even then, for the sake of your father, are we delaying the wedding further so that Maggie can serve her country.”
“Look that great that you live your life that way Timothy, but really this is none of your business” George snapped back.
“Now boys”, father interjected and then looking at George “we are all just a little taken back by your sudden...developments.”
“But you are happy for me?” George was beaming with the same smile from earlier towards his father and then to his mother and then on to his sisters.
“Well I think it is just perfect” Elizabeth said. “I never could have planned it to work out any better then this.”
“What exactly are we happy for George?” Mother said. She was still angry at George for various things like escorting Maggie to the war office and deserting his family on his last day for some girl he didn’t even know. However she was slowly coming round and the idea of having all three children married in the near future would certainly be a blessing in her eyes. Elizabeth had filled the family in on a lot of details about Annabel, like that her aunt was married to a Count and that her father who was now deceased was a very reputable doctor or surgeon in London. “Now enough of this silly talk and let us meet this young lady friend. Elizabeth I think as she is your friend it would only be fitting that you introduce us to her, properly”.
George grinned at Mother’s little speech, even though Mother was serious about formalities he could see the glimmer of amusement and joy in her eyes. With all of Mother’s seriousness and formality it was difficult for some to see just how much she loved her children, but she did and George knew that better than most. George had gone through a difficult stage at university when he started spending time with a group of chaps who thought it was there duty to inform the world, especially Christian groups, that God was dead, if He ever existed at all. During this time George and his father said very little to each other. George never actually debated this topic with him but Father had overheard various conversations between George and his sisters. Father never confronted him on the issue; he simply remained silent on the matter. Mother on the other hand, with the help of her two feisty daughters, confronted the matter head on. Mother would not hear of her son espousing atheist ideas or whatever they were as she used to say, Mother told George in no uncertain terms that she was going to help him and that she would never give up on his soul. When George would ask her to leave him alone to think what he liked she would never back away. He once asked her why she wouldn’t, her reply was very definite and George never felt so close to his mother as he did then. Mother said to George that she loved him, and that she could imagine Heaven without him there. Since that time George slowly extracted himself from that group of boys and began life anew at his mother and father’s side at church every Sunday. George then knew where he belonged and he also knew why God had given him such a strong-willed mother, without her and her staunch love George may never have found his way back.
Elizabeth made the formal introductions and everyone agreed that although the circumstances were strange that they were very pleased to meet such a lovely young lady.
Maggie watched how George could not stop smiling and was continuously looking at Anna, and how Anna would sneak peeks at George when she thought no one was watching. It was beautiful to watch a young couple in love. Maggie had always known that what she shared with Timothy was more of a platonic love but watching the two young aficionados it was clear that there was more to relationships than simply enjoy each others company. She watched as George would look at Anna and he would stick out his chest and hold his shoulders back and without thinking Anna too would coyly have her head down but would then look up at George through her long thick eyelashes. Maggie knew it was what her friends had called sexual chemistry, unfortunately she had never felt this way about Timothy and the more she had heard about it from her friends that more Maggie had wondered what it would feel like. She had decided too that it was an absolute must in regards to marriage and that she was not going to settle for anything less.
Thinking about this reminded Maggie that she really could never marry Timothy, even if she had lived an exciting adventurous life during the war. She knew that one day she would need to have the conversation, but not tonight. Tonight was to be George’s last night and even though Maggie would have enjoyed keeping him all to herself she decided to invite Timothy and Elizabeth and William into the sitting room in order to give George as much time with Annabel as he could. Father also picked up on Maggie’s not so subtle exit and told Julia that it was time that they retired for the night as it had been a big day.
“But I wish to spend more time with George and I am only just getting to know Annabel”, complained Mother.
“At this stage I believe it is more important for George to get to know Annabel than us. I’m sure Annabel can come and visit us again in the near future and we can get to know her then. But for now let us leave these two alone, maybe you could join the others in the sitting room if you wish for more conversation”, teased Father.
“Oh, I can talk to them any old time”, mother lamented. Despite her protest though she stood up with Father and kissed George on his head and went upstairs without any further protests.

Chapter 5 (10243 words so far)

Maggie was sat at the kitchen table with Timothy standing over her on one side and her mother on the other like she was being interrogated. This she could handle, well at least handle better, it was the sight of her father sitting across the table looking at his daughter silently that really shook her nerves. Maggie and her father had a wonderful relationship and in these past two days it appeared to all become unravelled. Maggie had wanted to blame Timothy for this but she knew deep down that it was her own choices that had led to the relationship’s breakdown.
The noise had died down in the last few minutes and she had noticed that William had gone and so Elizabeth. This in its self was such a relief. She thought that as her sister that Elizabeth might have been more sympathetic but she Elizabeth had told her that it was such an irresponsible thing to do. She had also told her that she was so selfish, which cut quite deeply as Maggie knew that it was true in this case. When Maggie had made this decision she was only thinking of herself and what she had wanted to do and what she didn’t want to do. It was somewhat of a trait of Maggie’s, she would often do what she wanted and then get herself into trouble and then have to apologise for it later. She had once bought herself a Great Dane and called him Hercules after she had found out that she was accepted into Nursing school. She thought it would be wonderful to have this grand dog to walk through the streets of Windsor with. What Maggie did not think about was the concept of living with such a beast. He had to be feed, walked twice a day and be kept amused for the rest of the day and most importantly a dog that size needed to be toilet trained. Because the family did love animals that allowed Maggie to keep Hercules at first, as a puppy though the signs were there that he was not a dog for a city house. He grew at twice the pace of most puppies and he ate like a small horse. Maggie had also just started her classes at school and so she was out most of the day which left Mother at home to care for the dog. Before long Hercules was chewing furniture, eating all the family’s food and leaving unpleasant surprises around the house, it was when he left one of these unpleasant surprises in Father’s study hidden behind a book case that he had signed his own leaving orders. It was a mystery as to how Hercules even fit behind the book case in order to do his business, the real problem was that nobody could find where it was. For the first day Father was perplexed as to where the smell was coming from thinking that it was the open window and the smells coming in from outside. When he closed his window that night and the next morning opened the door to his study that he realised that the stench was closer than he thought. It took the family the rest of the day to locate the refuse and by the end of the day Father had arranged for a family member who lived on a rural property to take possession of Hercules. Unfortunately this had not been enough of a wake up call for Maggie and she continued to make bad decisions based on her own desires at the time.
Maggie looked at her father searching his eyes for some sign as to how he was going to react. She could see that he was thinking, and praying, he would look down at his hands, he would close his eyes and he would look straight at Maggie and then repeat the process again and again.
Father had always been a deeply religious man and had always tried to lead by example for his family. It wasn’t always easy for him but he was the most wonderful example of a Christian that Maggie had ever known. Maggie was now looking at her father praying and wished that she had of been mature enough to had prayed on her decision to join the Nurse’s Army. It may not have changed her decision but it certainly would have made her feel more resolute now.
Father arose from his chair and stood in front of his wife.
“Julia, I want you to leave me alone with Margaret now”, Father said softly. “I understand your feeling on this situation and have taken them on board. I need to talk to Margaret now and try to understand why she made this choice.”
Julia wanted to say some more things to Maggie but she knew what was right and that she needed to respect her husband’s wishes. She knew that he needed to be trusted to make the right decisions even when she struggled with those. Maggie had often been a point of contention, Julia knew though it was that she just never understood Maggie the way she did Elizabeth. She also knew the father-daughter relationship between them was so strong and that she had sometimes felt jealous of that relationship.
Julia did not want Maggie to go into the Nurses’ Army, but she had also not wanted her to join the Red Cross either, all Julia had desired was for Maggie to settle down and marry Timothy. It wasn’t that she had wanted her daughter to marry any man but she knew that Timothy would make an excellent husband and that he would look after his family.
Julia looked towards Timothy expecting him to leave the room as well but he sat down on the chair next to Maggie. Julia was surprised but decided that she needed to leave now as she was feeling tired from all the emotions she was feeling.
Father looked at Timothy with a little annoyance in his eyes. “I’m sorry Timothy but I would really like to talk to Maggie alone.”
“I’m sorry Joseph but Maggie is now my fiancée and I believe it is important for me to be a part of this conversation” Timothy stated.
Father cleared his throat, not wanting to immaculate Timothy but it was clear that father needed to pull rank on him. Maggie was still his daughter after all. “Timothy this is my house and Maggie is my daughter and therefore I am still responsible for her and her choices.”
“But Maggie is a grown woman and she makes her own choices” Timothy started to say.
Oh no, thought Maggie. She had a sinking feeling that this was where the conversation was headed. She had wanted to spare Timothy’s feelings but all she wanted to do was be alone with her father to make him understand how she felt and why she wanted to do this.
“I think Maggie should decide if I should stay or not” continued Timothy “I think Maggie would want me to be here and...”
“I think you should go” Maggie blurted out. She didn’t want it to sound so definite, she had tried to make it sound like she had had to deliberate it in her head for a while but she had run out of patience and it was her father whom she trusted and respected most of all in the world.
“I’m sorry you feel that way Maggie, I thought we had a special bond. I thought that you would want to talk to your fiancée and explain to him why you have made such a harsh and foolish decision”. Timothy was hurt and Maggie knew that he had a right to be. She may not have loved Timothy in the romantic sense but she really did have a genuine fondness for him. He was a good man and it did make her distressed to have to see him so wounded. She would talk to him later and once she had sorted out her choices, the good from the bad, she would work things out with him.
“I love you Timothy” Maggie did not feel completely honest in saying this, “But as I am still under my father’s roof I need to honour him first”.
With all that had happened Joseph was unable to let this affect him the way it once would have. He now questioned his daughter’s words and wondered if they were said just to placate him. In any case they had a positive influence upon Timothy who told her that he respected her family values and that he hoped that one day their own daughter would offer him the same honour. And then he finally left them alone.
Watching Timothy finally leave and give them the privacy that they so desired actually brought with it a feeling of awkwardness and discomfort which was not common to them. Neither knew what to say or who was to speak first. Generally in this situation Maggie couldn’t help herself and would begin clumsily chatting about anything and everything or she would start apologising about every failure that she had caused. This time though Maggie was biting her tongue and praying for wisdom. She loved her father and wanted to honour him even though everything she had done up to this point had showed the opposite.
“Margaret” her father started. Maggie had never known her father to use her full name like this. She had been named Margaret on her birth certificate but no one had ever used it, even Mother had not used its formalness saying that a child as silly as Maggie was could never be given the adult-like name Margaret.
“It’s time you explained your actions to me. Help me to understand why you would do something like this that first of all puts your life at risk, secondly upsets your mother and most importantly...” Father was almost choking with his emotions, “takes you away from me”.
Until this point Maggie had been keeping her emotions in check but she could not withstand seeing her father so close to tears. She put her head on the table in front of her and sobbed. It was not like the sobbing she did last night, this was different, she wasn’t crying for herself, this time it was for her father.
Joseph was a physically affectionate father, and Maggie had never known him to cry but today Joseph put his arms around Maggie and cried with her. They cried because they both knew that this decision was one that Maggie had to make on her own. And they both knew that Maggie was not going to change her mind. Maggie was going away, his baby girl was going out to make her own way in the world and even though the decision was first made with frivolity in mind, it was a noble and self-sacrificing decision to help your fellow man and Joseph knew that as a Christian that is what we are called to do.
After they had regained their emotions Father took Maggie by the shoulders and looked straight into her eyes. “Maggie, sweet daughter of mine, I am not able to protect you anymore, out there in the world, it is hard and you will need courage, intellect and most importantly you need to know who you can trust.”
Maggie nodded her head she knew what her father was about to say.
“You need to put your trust in God. He is the only one who provides true protection and He will always be there for you.”
Maggie nodded her head again, she had never had the same understanding or even faith that her father had. As a nurse she had struggled seeing bad things happen, but she did believe in God she just didn’t know Him.
Holding Maggie’s hand her father prayed for her and for her brother George and for Mother and Elizabeth and that God would guide and protect them all all the days of their lives.

Chapter 4

George was standing out on the footpath, he could hear the sounds of raised voices inside; oddly it was Timothy’s high pitch that carried the furthest. George could almost laugh if the situation had not been as serious as it was.
It was hard to remember just how many times George had sat outside on the front porch while chaos erupted inside, it wasn’t that he had an exceptionally volatile family, it was just that he had sisters; and an extremely high spirited mother. On rare occasions George was known to go inside and ‘stir the pot’ as the saying goes. First he would encourage Maggie that she was right in her argument and that she needed to stand up for herself. He would then quickly change sides and tell Elizabeth that as the older more mature sister that she had gained more wisdom and life experiences and therefore would be correct in her argument. The coup would be to remind his mother that she carried he sisters for nine long months and then gave birth to them and feed them and clothed them...From that point he could stand back, like the devil himself would have done, and watched the pandemonium. George’s father had caught George doing this once and had told him that it wasn’t Christian behaviour to rouse the women like that and then he whispered that he couldn’t help but find it slightly amusing though. From that point Maggie would often be seen running from the room and slamming the door behind her, Mother would then cry out like she had been about to have a heart attack and Maggie would scamper back into the room apologising for everything she had said (even if she had been right in George’s opinion) and beg forgiveness of anybody and everybody.
George was caught up in considering whether or not to go inside, knowing that it would be a long time until he saw his beloved family again, when he heard a woman’s voice calling out to him.
“Excuse me, but do you not think that it is quite rude to be eavesdropping on private conversations?”
“Do you consider that noise to be private?”
“Well...no. But surely this family must be in some crisis to be so...vocal in their ...discussions”.
“Not really” George smiled at the woman “This family often has, as you delicately put in- vocal discussions” George could hardly stop his heart from beating faster. Women certainly had an affect on him but none had caused such an immediate response. She was beautiful but it was the detail that she was chastising him on his moral behaviour that really impressed him, many girls that he knew would have probably listened in with him and giggled at the family’s unfortunate events.
“So you are a regular listener then?”
“Well you might put it that way but this family is certainly more interesting than your average radio program”. George could see from her annoyance that it was time to let her in on his circumstances. “This is my house and those very sweet voices are that of my sisters and mother and my sister’s current fiancée.”
“Really?” The woman looked suspicious of his story, but just as luck would have it William opened the front door and came out.
Looking sheepishly at George he said “I thought it might be better to make myself scarce. Poor Maggie is really getting it. What do you think about her decision?” William then caught sight of the stranger. “Oh I’m sorry I didn’t realise there was someone else out here with you George. I might just take a little walk, if Elizabeth is looking for me you can tell her I’ve gone to get some Ice Cream to cool us all down” William smiled at George as he walked past. Once past the woman he turned around again and raised his eyebrows to George. George responded
“Actually I have no idea who this delightful young lady is”.
William smiled and kept on walking while the young woman looked down in embarrassment.
“You weren’t to know that I lived here”, George offered as the last thing he wanted was for the woman to be uncomfortable in his company.
“I had better be going”. The woman turned to leave through the open gate.
“Please don’t go yet, I don’t even know you name” George grabbed her hand to stop her and found that he didn’t want to let it go. She looked down at her hand which George released quickly as he didn’t wish to offend her. She slowing raised her eyes to his and said
“My name is Ann Thackery. And the truth is that I have come here to see your sister.” Ann confessed.
“Maggie? Is it something about the Nurse’s Army?” George’s demeanor changed from chirpy to serious.
“Oh no, I’m a friend of Elizabeth’s from the university. Has Maggie joined the nurse’s army? That’s wonderful; she is so courageous to get involved.” Ann replied with confidence in her voice which George found charming.
“Unfortunately for Maggie other people don’t seem to think the same. What exactly are you here for?” George wanted to know more about her and yet realised with all the sounds from coming inside it still wasn’t appropriate to take her in to Elizabeth.
“Elizabeth told me that Timothy and Maggie are engaged and that they were having a little get together this afternoon to celebrate.”
“Oh were they? I didn’t know that it was already public knowledge about Maggie and Timothy.” George enquired.
“Oh Timothy had told Elizabeth that he was going to propose last night and Elizabeth told me. Timothy was very excited, as was Elizabeth and they had planned this little get together last week.” Ann confirmed. Ann was feeling a little concerned now. Had she got it wrong or had Maggie said no?
“Really?” Was all that George had wanted to say but in order to put Ann’s mind at ease he revealed more. “That’s right Timothy had proposed last night and Maggie had said yes, well sort of, but then Father told Maggie that she needed to first join the Red Cross and work for them before she got married.”
“Oh, I understand why I can hear Timothy then”. Ann smiled much to George’s relief, she clearly must have understood Timothy the way he did.
Elizabeth poked her head outside the door only seeing George.
“George you have a lot to answer for, taking Maggie to the registry office. Timothy is so upset. And so is Mother and Father. Mother wants to see you...Oh Annabel, I didn’t see you there. What are you doing here. Oh my goodness I forgot all about the afternoon tea, I’m so sorry but we have had a little bit of a family crisis”.
“Yes, George has told me that Maggie has signed up with the Nurse’s army”, Ann said.
“Did he now” Elizabeth said with a slight annoyance, she didn’t enjoy her family business known outside the family. She liked Ann but she had always felt that Ann had looked down on her a bit because she was a secretary at the university while Ann was there studying to become a Botanist. Ann often commented on how clever Elizabeth was but Elizabeth for some reason felt like it was a put down rather than a compliment. Elizabeth had told Ann that it is wonderful that women were able to work in different fields and could go to university but that she was happy being a wife and looked forward to the day she could give up work and have children.
“I’m sorry I am clearly intruding” Ann said and made to leave when George quickly jumped up to her side.
“That sounds like a good idea, I might join you if that would be alright” George said.
“But aren’t you needed inside” Ann said. She felt obliged to say those words when in actual fact she was quite pleased at the idea of spending more time with Elizabeth’s brother.
“I am certain that they can all get along fine without me. Well maybe Maggie could do with a little support, but she did get herself into this situation. And besides this is my last night at home for some time and I truly do not wish to spend it arguing with my family. And if you would permit me I would much rather spend it in the company of a beautiful woman such as yourself”.
Ann eyed George suspiciously wondering if he was he was mocking her. She was relatively sure that he was sincere but he certainly sounded like a modern day Romeo with his sweet words. She looked to Elizabeth to confirm his story.
“Oh yes George, it is your last day. Listen I’ll tell Mother that you had already gone. Ann you must accompany him, it really is his last night tonight as he is finishing his final training and expecting to head for Europe next week. Please I feel so bad that Maggie’s silly idea has ruined your last night. Go on, off you two go”. Elizabeth smiled to herself. Well at least one of her plans had come to fruition today. She had invited Ann over to met George expecting her brother to fall madly in love with Ann. She knew that George had often dated girls at a lot lower intellectual capability than himself. Ann would challenge him and Elizabeth knew that was exactly what George needed in order to settle down with someone, he needed a challenge and a chase and Ann was exactly the type of girl to provide it.
George practically ran down the path to the gate so that he could open it for Ann who smiled shyly. Elizabeth could almost hear the sound of both of their hearts pounding as they walked down the street.
“Oh where has William gone?” Elizabeth called down the street after them.
George had forgotten to pass on his message. “He’s gone down to the Ice-Creamery on the High Street. He thought everyone needed some cooling down”.
That’s a clever man my husband, thought Elizabeth, I think I might join him. She waited a few minute until George and Ann had gotten far enough down the street in front of her so as not to intrude and started walking in the direction of the High Street.
 

Chapter 3

That next morning brought with it a dark and gloomy mood, not unlike the rain pouring down outside. Maggie thought that because of the rain it might give her some leniency in going to the Red Cross office in London but Father made it very clear that it was his intention to go ahead with his plans when he had Henrietta bring Maggie her breakfast not long after six. Being the end of summer it was light at that time but with the dark rain clouds it gave the day a gloomy appearance which made Maggie want to pull her covers over her head and just wish the day could be at the end rather then the beginning.
Please Lord; don’t let this happen to me. Why do I have to join the Red Cross? I want to help but can’t I just do it from the comfort of my own home.
When Maggie came down the stairs George was already dressed in his uniform and on the phone. He was nodding a lot and writing a few things on to a scrap of paper. When he saw Maggie coming towards him he hastily said
“Thanks very much Gregory, I think I understand a bit better now. I’ll be sure to let you know what comes about.”
Maggie was intrigued as to know what was so important that George should be out of bed early on his last day before he had to report for duty. She was about to ask him but then remembered that today of all days she did not care what was going on in anyone else’s life all she cared about was that today would be her last day before her life was all over. She knew that she would be working her fingers to the bone, which didn’t bother her so much but she was also expected to give up her social life for the good of the organisation. She would be spending her time looking after the sick and wounded but then she would also be expected to spend her time sorting through endless boxes of clothes, blankets and food stuffs that was to be sent to the boys at the front. It would hardly be a very exciting life. The more she thought about it the more distress Maggie started to become again. What kind of life am I about to begin? First I am going to be stuck in run down hospital watching death and destruction all around me, then I’m losing all my friends because I will have to use all my spare time doing other chores for the Red Cross. And then after the war I will probably be stuck with marrying Timothy and live a boring life until I am old and decrypted and just waiting to die to relieve my boredom.
Maggie knew that she was sounding like a spoilt child but she was young and she wanted to do fun things like her friends and George was doing. George was going off to see the world; at least Europe would be a new and exciting experience. Why couldn’t she be doing something like that? And just then a thought occurred to Maggie. She closed her eyes thinking, maybe there was a way to still help like her father was demanding of her but also a way of her going out and having some fun along the way. If she could carry out her plan then she might even be willing to come back and marry Timothy after the war. That was it, Maggie decided, while she was young she would live the exciting adventurous life, why was it necessary to stay in Berkshire or even England for that matter to help ‘the boys at the front’, if she was going to be seeing death she was prepared to run head first towards it.
Now there was just the small matter of getting around her parents.
This turned out not to be as difficult as she first thought it would. Well the getting around them part. She had convinced her father that she had come around to the idea about helping out during the war and that if it was okay she would like to spend the day in London with George, who would then help her register.
George was more difficult to handle as he thought her plan to join the army was at first a joke and then secondly a fool-hearty idea. Maggie asked him why it was such a bad idea for her when he had already done the very same thing himself.
“Because Maggie, I am an engineer, they need my expertise. It won’t be so hard for me because I won’t be at the front fighting, I will be behind them repairing”.
“And that is exactly what I can do too. You can repair machines and tanks. I can repair the men who drive them”.
George was becoming very frustrated with his young sister. He knew that she could be as stubborn as their father and George could feel himself losing the arguement. He disputed that joining the army was not what Father had had in mind and that Father would not let her go and so she would be wasting everyone’s time. Maggie made it very clear
“I am over eighteen years old George, if I join the army there will not be a thing that Father could do about it”. And with that Maggie quicken her steps down the street towards an all too familiar building. This was where George had signed up, when he first entered the building a few months ago he had no idea that a woman’s army even existed let alone Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Service.
One the day that George had signed up he remembered a young couple arguing on the footpath outside the building. It wasn’t hard to guess that what the arguing was about, the young man was probably no older than eighteen and it was clear he was about to enlist in the army and what was also very clear was that she did not want him to. She was weeping without any care as to who was watching, she had his arm and was pleading for him not to go inside. One older lad made a jibe towards the young man about how once he joins the army he won’t have to worry about being so hen-pecked by his girl even though her whines were very loud they wouldn’t reach to Europe.
At this the young man rifted his arm away from the poor young girl and he marched into the building. She just stopped and watched him go, it was clear to her that he was not going to back down now. But what really surprised George was what had happened next. He could see her light blue eyes squinting towards the door as if she was trying to read very small writing. It was hard to describe the look that her face then relaxed into. She suddenly seemed very sure of herself; he would hardly have believed her to be the girl he had just seen sobbing not more than a few minutes ago. She pulled her hair back out of her eyes and smoothed down her smart green suit, she then did something that to George made it very clear was her intentions were, one finger at a time she took off her white gloves and folded them over and put them into her purse. George knew from personally experience that whenever a woman took off her gloves that she meant business. With one last deep breathe in she marched up the stairs and in to the building. George by now was watching the action without any polite social constraints and he ran up the steps after her to see what was going to happen next. He could see that her boyfriend, if that was what he was, looked towards her with a pleading look in his eyes thinking that she was about to cause another great commotion, it was then that he realised that she was not walking towards him but that she was walking towards another part of the room, towards another queue.
By now it was all too clear to George what this head strong girl was about to do and he hastily joined the end of the queue that enlisted those who were signing up to be Lieutenants or above. He didn’t need to turn around to see the look of horror on the poor young man’s face when he realised that she too was going to enlist her services to the country.
George was now imagining that look times by five once the family and Timothy had found out what Maggie was doing. Mother would probably have a nervous break down throwing her hands up in the air and screaming for God to take her now because her baby girl was going to die out on some dirty battle field and that she didn’t want to live to see it. Mother would have made a great actress if she had been given the opportunity and her hysterics were an all too familiar scenes that most in the family never really paid them much mind. George was most concerned with his father’s reaction.
George had just one last chance to change Maggie mind and so he ran up the stairs and into the building searching out signs for the QARANS. When he found the door he saw her, she was sitting there in her Sunday best suit, the brown one with the ever so slight black and red checking through it. Her back was up straight and she was studying the papers in front of her. George called out
“Maggie, are you sure this is what you want to do?”
Maggie turned around looking deep into her brother’s chocolate coloured eyes, she loved her brother and she knew that his intentions were good. Maggie had made her decision, she wasn’t going to let the world go by and not live a life that held some excitement and adventure beyond marrying Timothy.
“I’ve made my decision George”. And with that Maggie signed her name across the bottom of the paper.

Chapter Two- not happy so much with this (nevermind)

Hours later Maggie was still standing still, looking wide eyed as deer caught in the headlights, her eyes were burning not just from the lack of blinking but also from the endless tears.
When Father first made the announcement Maggie was unsure of it implications. She had simply thought that it was a way for her to get out of the engagement, now after listening to the many words that followed she realised that in fact not only had she not gotten out of the engagement but now she also had to sign up as a nurse for the army and would be daily looking at death and destruction.
It sounded silly at first, Maggie had trained as a nurse for the past few years and she was not only adequate but she was considered extremely able at her job. She even found that she enjoyed going to work in the morning or at other strange hours that her shifts would start. She would hear the other nurses on the wards complaining about the early mornings or being placed on night shift for three straight weeks but scheduling was never a real issue for Maggie as she was happy doing her job and not to mention that by being placed on a night shift meant she was able to get out of a date or discussion with Timothy.
She had gained a reputation for being not just a caring, helpful nurse but she was also exceptionally skilled when it came to the treatment whether on the wards or in surgery. On numerous occasions she had been able to diagnose a patient when the doctor had been at a lost, although after blurting out the answer the first few times, thinking she was helping the doctor, she had received a severe reprimand and was not placed on the same ward as the doctor. After that she was always very careful to point the doctor in the right direction by giving them a few careful constructed questions or even listing numerous maybes.
No the problem with joining the Red Cross was not the work as a nurse it was the patients. During Maggie’s training she has seen numerous deaths but these were still not the common part of her day. Those dying patients that she did witness were often elderly and she knew that they had lived long lives. Maggie struggled when it was a younger person, she felt so powerless. As a nurse she was able to help heal, help make people feel better, when a young man, woman or child came into her ward or theatre and the doctors would be unable to save the patient she would feel such a great sense of grief knowing that a life had been cut short. Maggie knew that she could not cope with the sight of such losses, how could the young handsome soldiers of war be her only patients.
Mother and Father had just shown Timothy, Elizabeth and William to the door and Maggie was left alone for the first time that evening. Mother had been in hysterics while Timothy had at first seemed calm but as he realised that it would be a few more years until he could acquire his bride he became irate and even accused Father of standing in the way of true love.
Mother was less reserved and was yelling things like
“Why would you need to send your daughter to war? Haven’t we done our part by sending our only son? Why do they need our daughter? She could marry Timothy and serve in one of the hospitals nearby like Ascot or even Slough if she needed to, then she could finish work when she falls pregnant.”
Even William spoke up in Maggie’s defence suggesting that it might be putting Maggie’s life at an unnecessary risk. While George was torn, all his life he had idolised his father and he felt that it was his job to believe every decision his father made was right, but he also had an extremely close and loving relationship with Maggie and the thought of something happening to his little “Queenie” was difficult to substantiate. George ended up coming to the conclusion that Maggie was such a good nurse that once the hierarchy discovered this she would be placed at a safe hospital where she would be treating Lieutenant Colonel’s rashes in strange places. These words seemed to placate most of the party still there which was why Maggie was now standing alone when he father re-entered the room.
Maggie could hardly look at her father; she knew it would be a long time until she could look him in the eyes again. She was ashamed of all that had gone on in the past hours, she could hardly believe she had acted so childishly, especially when Father had gone to so much trouble to show her that now she had finished her training he would be treating her as an adult. Maggie was nineteen years old but as she was the youngest child of the family she knew how difficult it was for her father to give up thinking of her as ‘his’ baby. Father had taken the family and Timothy to the most expensive restaurant in Windsor, he had said that he was so proud of Maggie and wanted to celebrate her achievement and there was no better place then looking down towards the Thames on one side and Windsor Castle on the other. Maggie had thought the night was one of the greatest in her life; it was just before the war was declared and Father had bought French champagne and toasted his three beautiful and successful children. Afterwards they went to a performance at the Theatre Royal where they laughed so callously at a truly dreadful performance that Timothy was continuously hushing them and chiding them for their immature behaviour, even Father was finding it difficult to muffle his laughter.
Everything had now changed in just one short evening. All Maggie wanted to do was to blame Timothy for this whole mess.
If he had asked her such a ridiculous question, if he hadn’t tricked her into saying yes.
Maggie knew deep down that she had to take the responsibility upon her own shoulders but why did her Father now have to send her away, it just didn’t make sense, she thought that she was his little girl and now he was sending her away. When the news had sunk in that she would have to leave her home, leave her family and may finally end up having to leave the country, the tears had poured out of her. She wept and sobbed to try and change her father’s mind, Timothy had tried to comfort her all the while thinking that she was crying because she was not able to marry him. She didn’t have the strength to tell him that it wasn’t for him that she cared but she knew also that it would have made her mother more supportive of sending her away.
Father looked at Maggie, he was finding this more difficult then Maggie would ever know. He had watched Maggie grow and mature but there was always something in her demeanour that concerned him. She was a princess, and although this bemused and delighted him in so many ways he knew deep down that in order for her to become the woman that she was capable of being, she would need to change. The confusion that she had found herself in with Timothy was a prime example of how she would get herself into trouble and then expect a knight in shining, namely her father, to then get her out of the trouble without too much bother for herself.
“Maggie, I understand how you must be feeling” Father began, he was determined for Maggie to listen to his words and to not ignore the wisdom he knew he was sharing with her. He looked into her large, round brown eyes, which was hard because she was not one to cry easily and yet tonight he had caused her to cry more then he had ever seen her cry before. Her long eye lashes still bore the tears she had cried and he could see that there were more tears just under the rims waiting to burst forth.
Then why are you doing this to me.
Father let out a deep sigh, he could have guessed her very thoughts, and he then knew that he was not going to get her to understand his intentions tonight.
“It’s time you went to bed; tomorrow we are going to head into London and get you enlisted with the Red Cross”.
With those words Father left Maggie sobbing harder then she had all night, pouring her tears onto the green velvet cushion that sat on the dusty old burgundy sofa.
George watched his father close the door to his study, he had desperately wanted to talk to him, to understand his reasoning for sending Maggie away but he could see by his father’s downcast head and his slumped shoulder that now was not the time.
George then walked over to the entry of the drawing room but he stopped short of entering as he could hear the sobs and hiccupping of his sister. He could only remember seeing Maggie cry on one other occasion. It was when she was getting ready for school but she didn’t want to go because some of the other girls had been picking on her because she had been playing football with the boys at lunch time. They had told her that she would turn out an old lonely woman because although the boys thought she was fun when they all grew up they would think she was too much like a boy to marry. It was purely by chance that George actually caught sight of his sister that time because he would normally have already been at his work but he had not been woken by Henrietta the family’s housekeeper as she had been sent on an early morning errand by his mother. He was quite shocked to see her tears and the sight of her mouth in a frown. Maggie was such a cheerful girl and she would very rarely have anything but a smile upon her mouth. When he had asked her what was wrong she was so quick to stop the tears but she gave away her sadness with the occasional hiccup.
He could hear from Maggie’s sobs that this was going to be a difficult time ahead for her. He would not interfere with his father’s plans but he would be sure to help ease her pain and suffering in any way he could. He had not been in the army for very long but he had been fortunate in his new acquaintances and he was sure that one particular friend could ensure that Maggie was placed away from any danger and be kept in relative comfort. He would call Gregory in the morning and get his own plans in to action. Looking in on his sister he could see from the way her long black hair was strewn all over the sofa and the gentle rising and falling of her round shoulders that she had fallen asleep from exhaustion although every few seconds though he could still see her hiccupping just like she did as a child.
George moved into the room and was going to wake her up to take her up to her room when something struck him. It had been a long time since he had really looked at her, the way her hair although long was now cut to a fashionable length rather than the long flowing mane that she had as a child. He could also see that she now wore make-up and that her face which would once been called plump was now only slightly rounded. He could see that Maggie was no longer the little sister who he needed to watch over and protect, Maggie was a woman. George looks over towards his father’s closed study door and realises why their father has made his decision. It was time for Maggie to grow up, but as her brother he could still make it a gentler path to maturity.
George leans over and picks Maggie up in his arms, she lets out a little groan but then lays her head on his shoulder as a small child would. Tonight Maggie acted like a child but tomorrow she would be starting a new life as an adult; even if her family had to drag her kicking and screaming.

Chapter 1

What have I done?

Maggie knew that she was in the room, she knew that she was currently been hugged and pressed into and congratulated by people who have just sprung from no where.
No there’s been some mistake. Tell him, tell him now. How can I tell him now in front of all these people? Who are these people and what are they doing here.

Oh please God tell me what to do.

Timothy was smiling like a Cheshire cat. Maggie should have seen this coming from a mile away. It was just that she thought he would have waited now that war had broken out. She thought he would have enlisted and once the war was over he would have done this, not now. So much was running through her head. If she could just somehow think of a way to go back and tell everyone that it was all just…what on earth would she call it- a mistake…an accident…

A misunderstanding! That was what this was a simple misunderstanding. All I need to do is explain what happened and we can all have a big laugh about it and forget that it happened.

Thinking back to the last twenty minutes and what had taken place she knew that she had been foolish and not really listening to what he had been saying. That was one of her grievances with Timothy he just talked and talked so much, how was she to know that this was going to happen.
Timothy had started it almost like every ‘serious’ conversation they had. They had had quite a few as Timothy liked to make lists as to certain faults, or ‘attributes’ as he would call them, about how Maggie could improve herself.
He sat her down on the old burgundy sofa in the front parlor, one she would avoid sitting on at all times for this very reason, even though it was her own sofa in her own house. He took out that dreaded notepad from his inner jacket pocket and started flipping through the pages. She could remember thinking how she would love to get a hold of that pocket book one day and tear every single page out, it wouldn’t matter if they had been written on or not, by ripping them out now she would be able to stop him writing words such as ‘cross at the ankles’ or ‘less laughing at other gentlemen’s jokes’.
Once he stopped flipping through its endless pages he had clearly come to the page he wanted and then commenced his speech. Maggie remembered trying to avoid this conversation here and tried to jump up to see why she could hear so much hushed tones. She now knew that it was all the interlopers presently gathered around her telling her what a lucky young lady she was.
Of course Timothy told her that it was not important as he wished to discuss a very important matter with her and that he would consider it respectful if Maggie would not interrupt him or talk until he had finish his few words.
This was when Maggie switched to auto pilot and unfortunately started her nodding. She had always found things went smoother and more importantly faster when she appeared to agree with what Timothy said. She had tried arguing once or twice but then Timothy had brought her mother into the discussion and mother was so quick to defend Timothy and chastised Maggie so much afterwards that she had decided it was far better this way.
Timothy had actually started off complimenting her on her recent achievement of finishing her nursing qualifications. Saying that he thought it had been an excellent use of her time leading up to this point. And that he was sure that it would help her enormously in her mothering abilities. The he gave her this look which she could only describe as highly optimistic because she knew deep down that becoming a mother was the very last thing she had wanted. Especially children with Timothy, she could almost see their faces looking disapprovingly at her when she would try to change their nappy or when she would offer them ice-cream before dinner just like her dad and her would secretly feast on if mother was running late.
Timothy was certainly acting peculiar by giving her compliments but his next choice of words put her back at ease as they were much more customary and so she continued to nod as he told her how he was disappointed that she had shown so much interest in the war as it was really something that the men need to concern themselves with. She had to bite down hard on her tongue as with these words she desperately wanted to make it clear that it was of her concern as her very own brother had joined the army as a lieutenant in charge of the engineers and mechanics in a small but important division. She knew that it wouldn’t be long until her brother would have to go to France as the tanks and other heavy vehicles would be needed without much delay. She had thought that her brother was so heroic for enlisting at the first sign of Hitler’s deceitfulness when Timothy was still calling him an excellent economist.
Timothy must have felt her objection as he quickly changed to subject to how he was not able to join the war effort himself as his expertise was needed at the communications office. He would of course be taking part in the war effort and that he had even been asked to take part in a series of tests to see if he was able to break certain communications codes. Maggie inside laughed at Timothy thinking that he was probably only being asked to work as a telephonist as all those men has enlisted in the army like true heroes such as her brother George. Timothy told her that his career choice had seemed an odd one at first but that technology was going to one day be the way of the future and that he would one day be a very wealthy man. Maggie knew where this speech was going, this speech came out nearly as often as these talks did. Timothy would go on to talk about how he was going to work on things called computers and that these computers were going to change the world as we know it, and by Timothy knowing all about these computers when no one else does he would be able to make his fortune. Maggie really never understood why it was so important for Timothy to make his own fortune. His parents were very wealthy and affluent in the London social circles and many of her girlfriends had continually reminded her of how advantageous it had been for Maggie to have caught the eye of such an eligible bachelor. Maggie would always smile and agree but she knew that it was never her that first caught his eye. It was true that Timothy was absolutely devoted to Maggie but if it hadn’t been for her sister Elizabeth they would never have met and Maggie would not have been in this terrible situation. Elizabeth had been working at the university just prior to her marriage to William as a secretary to one of the professors. Her typing speed was unequalled in all of the university and she would often take on extra work typing the assignment of the students in order to pay for the wedding to William. William had also been from a wealthier family and Elizabeth knew that Father was not able to afford the type of wedding that William’s family expected and so she had worked day and night to make a great contribution. This was when she first met Timothy. Timothy had often typed his own work but when the end of the semester brought an extra workload Timothy had asked his professor about getting some help. The professor had recommended Elizabeth knowing that Timothy could well afford her fees and that Elizabeth could use the extra money. Elizabeth had always told the story about her first encounter with Timothy like she was telling the story of her meeting with her true love, which always made Maggie wonder what if Elizabeth had met Timothy before William, if things might have turned out differently. She said Timothy came crashing through the office door with ten or twelve books in his arms which then came crashing to the ground. She said she was about to reprimand him when he looked up at her with his great big puppy dog eyes and apologised. She went on to tell everyone about how generous Timothy was because he paid her almost double her going rate. Timothy would joke in return it was because he knew that she had such charming family. William would generally look at me and smile because the two of us knew it was because he thought that Elizabeth herself was charming and that he thought it would be a great way to impress her. He was right and it did impress her so that she asked him over for dinner with the family. Elizabeth was not silly enough to tell Mother that she was interested in another man besides William and so from that moment on Timothy was for Maggie. Lucky Maggie, to have such a wonderfully clever sister to introduce her to such a delight as Timothy Mother would then joke but we all knew that deep down Mother believed it to be the truth.
Mother had always loved Timothy from the very start; she could almost recite word for word Timothy’s speech about his prospects to become independently wealthy and what promising potential he had. As Timothy was sitting before Maggie droning on about how he would make an excellent provider she continued to nod her head in anticipation of the conversation coming to an end with the well worn line- I’m so glad that you see things my way, Maggie. And then he said it and so Maggie nodded her head once more looking away and starting to stand when Timothy utter one last line. Maggie couldn’t hear the words because Timothy was bent down on his knee looking for something or so Maggie thought and she simply smiled her head at Timothy and nodded getting ready to head into the kitchen to get away from Timothy’s constant chitchat.
That’s when it all happened. Timothy yelled, quite unlike himself, into the next room.
“She said yes”.
This leads to the nightmare in which she now found herself.

Please Lord; help me to find a way out of this.

Maggie looked around at all the faces in the room. Her Mother’s smile was beaming from ear to ear. Mother was a beautiful woman no one could ever believe that she had three grown children. She would tell anyone who would listen that her beauty didn’t come without effort and that she would moisturize morning, noon and night to keep her skin looking youthful and glowing. Maggie theorized that it was simply down to good genes from her grandmother, which unfortunately for Maggie she did not receive.
Elizabeth on the other hand received Maggie’s extra measure and she still looked like a teenager even though she was twenty-six. Her soft blue eyes still reminded Maggie of a child although tonight Maggie thought she saw a tiny tear roll down her cheek. Maggie couldn’t be sure as Elizabeth’s masses of blonde curls fell down around her face when she looked over at William and then back to Timothy. She then took on a different persona and hurried over to give Timothy a kiss on the cheek and a hug saying welcome to the family.
Those words caused Maggie’s heart to start racing, bringing her back from her diverted thought and nearly causing her to fall to the ground in distress. Just then both her father and brother George were at her side virtually holding her up.
“It’s going to be ok”, whispered George.
Maggie didn’t know how it would ever be. Maggie looked over to Timothy and her mother frantically chatting away about details for the wedding and her life thereafter.

Please Lord.

Maggie could feel her father running his hand down her back. He used to always do this to Maggie as a child, especially when she had hurt herself. It reminded her of the time she was sitting on the faded grey leather bed in the doctor’s office. The room had smelt so clean and sterile, even though she wondered how the room could actually smell sterile. Maggie had fallen out of a tree and split her head open at the side and her father was called home from work to be given the job of taking Maggie to the doctor as her mother had always gotten sick at the sight of blood. In fact her mother fainted when she had seen Maggie so that Maggie had to administer first aide to herself and get the smelling salts to wake up her mother. Her mother said she wouldn’t look at her and rang her father at work telling him that he need to come home to take care of that troublesome daughter of his. Father rushed home and was surprised to see how unfazed Maggie was about the size of her wound and took her straight to the doctor. Kind old Dr. Fowler was more worried about scarring on Maggie’s lovely face than any brain injury she might have sustained. Maggie had insisted that she been allowed to hold up a mirror to watch Dr. Fowler put the stitches in and her father had rubbed her back the whole procedure. Up and down, side to side, round in circles Father knew that she was a brave girl, especially as Maggie had wanted to watch, but he also knew that she liked to feel his presence and he wanted her to know that even though things would hurt he would always be there for her.
That is what her father was doing for her tonight, letting her know that he knew she was in pain. Maggie felt some relief, surely her father would get her out of this misunderstanding.

Daddy, please help me.

Maggie was right, her father had sensed that Maggie had not wanted to say yes to Timothy but he also knew that Maggie should have been more cautious and not gotten herself into this situation. He looked over at Timothy and his own wife, he knew that this was not a situation that could be resolved easily, hearts would be broken and he knew that as much as he wanted to protect his youngest daughter from this it was not for him to do. Maggie would have to find a way to tell Timothy they would not marry. Father thought some more about the situation and decided that he would do one thing to help Maggie in her situation, of course Maggie may not see it as helping but Father prayed that this plan would be the best for Maggie, he prayed because he knew her life was at risk.
Mother looked over at Father with her still beaming smile and said
“So Father, do you think, like Timothy, that they should have a June wedding?”
“Well I have a plan” said Father, seriously.

Thank-you God, Father is going to say Timothy and I can’t marry.

“I’ve been thinking about Maggie’s future and although I would love to see you in it, Timothy” Father paused, weighing his words carefully as he could sense his wife’s shock and Maggie’s relief at the same time. “I think it is important, now that the war has started, for Maggie to serve her country. I want Maggie to enlist in the Red Cross”.