LIKE STEEL || Tommy Shelby

V. PERILOUS MEMORIES

- PERILOUS MEMORIES -

January 31st, 1920

Since the first night they had met, Rose and Grace had become fast friends. Maybe it was that they were both familiar with being strangers in a new city, or that they were both young, hopeful women.

Arm in arm, the two strolled down the high street, basking in the rare, winter sun.

"You should come by the Garrison for a drink tonight," Grace said, looking back and forth between Rose and a shop window.

"What do you mean? I come by the Garrison all the time!" Rose exclaimed.

Grace laughed. "Ya, for a cup of tea. Come by and I'll pour you a pint on the house."

After Rose had suggested it on the night Grace had stumbled through the door of her clinic, Grace had applied at the Garrison as the barmaid and moved in to a flat just down the road from Rose. She worked almost every day, much to the joy of all the pub's customers.

"I'll come if I get all my shopping done," Rose said. Grace just rolled her eyes.

"Well, I better be going," Grace smiled, giving Rose a quick hug.

"I'll see you tonight!" she called over her shoulder as she walked away.

Rose just waved goodbye, watching her friend walk away.

Just as she turned her head back to the shops, the clopping of hooves stopped her in her tracks.

The sounds reverberated through her chest and suddenly she was thrown back- falling through memories as her heart leaped in her chest.

March 18, 1916

The rush had finally calmed when the sun began to set behind the clouds. Any of the men that had stormed the trenches that morning and found their way to her medical tent were now treated and being fed by the other nurses.

Holding her mug of steaming tea up close to her lips, she took a deep breath, watching the sun melt over the rolling hills.

Suddenly, out of the silence, three horses came galloping over the hill. The men atop were shouting and waving their arms. As they got closer, Rose could see men draped over the back of the horses- one on each. The men who were riding them spurred the horses forward. The commotion brought other nurses out of the tent, their eyes widening when they saw the soldiers.

"Nurse," one yelled as they finally got close enough to speak, "you have to help us."

"Where are you coming from?" Rose asked as he dismounted, his feet splashing up mud.

"I don't know, ma'am; we've been riding for hours. They never told us where we were fighting."

She just nodded, surveying the standing men for any injuries. When they were clear, she looked back to the horses. They were covered in mud up to their chests, with blood sprayed across their backs and faces. The men that had been laid across the horses looked no better.

"Help me get them down," she grunted, pulling one of the men with all her strength.

The soldiers and nurses worked quickly, moving all the injured men on to stretchers and in to the tent.

"How did you get in to this mess?" she asked, looking up at one of the soldiers from the regiment.

"The men were injured this morning. We knew you guys were here, but the car broke down about a hundred kilometers north of here. We had to leave the rest of the 58th back at the base camp."