Staff Nurse in the Tyrol Read Free

She counted out the money carefully. The girl smiled and then pointed at another coin.
    “Pour service.”
    Reluctantly Sonia gave it to her. The remaining coins looked very few and very small.
    “Is Mam’selle in difficulties?”
    Sonia looked up hastily. That man was standing beside her, and the sound of English words broke through her former reluctance.
    “It’s just that I’m not sure how much I’ll need for the porter,” she explained shyly. Would he think she was being silly?
    He looked at the little pile of coins. “H’m, you are cutting it rather fine. If you have a ten-shilling note I’ll change it for you.”
    Belatedly she realized that he was no longer speaking with a foreign accent. “You’re English,” she said. It sounded more like an accusation than a statement.
    His eyebrows went up and then he smiled. “I was born there, so perhaps it is correct to say I am English.” He took the note from her and added some coins to the ones already in her hand.
    Sonia looked at them doubtfully. “It doesn’t make very much.”
    “As six francs makes just over nine shillings, I assure you that I’m not cheating you,” he said stiffly.
    “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude. It’s just that I’m only used to French francs...”
    He laughed reluctantly. “They’re not quite the same. If you are satisfied...? ”
    Sonia was contrite. “Yes, of course I am, and thank you very much.”
    He made a little bow. “In that case, I bid you au revoir.”
    She watched him go with a puzzled frown on her face. Why had he said that? She wouldn’t be seeing him again—or was it just a polite way of saying goodbye like auf Wiedersehen ? She looked around the restaurant again slowly. There was another problem coming up, but her face brightened. She could see the sign Damen.
    That helped a lot. After a good wash with hot water she felt much refreshed. She peered in the little mirror as she put on more lipstick. At least she didn’t look as if she had been up all night. Another hour and she would be getting onto her train. If only she didn’t have to change at Zurich Enge Station ... it would have been so much easier if she could have gone straight through.
    The sun was high overhead as the express began to wind its way down into the valley of the Inn. Sonia drew her eyes away from the spectacle of the mountains on the south side of the valley to gaze at the equally high ones on the opposite side. It had been like that for most of the journey, trying to decide which window to watch first. The passengers in her compartment had changed many times during the journey. There had been the peasant women with their neat print aprons over their dresses, the men in their green suits cut almost like a Uniform, and the bright-faced children who had glanced at her a little shyly. Some had brought out their packages of food; thick slices of crusty bread, smoked sausage or cheese, and the sight had made her realize that her breakfast had been a long time ago. But she had arranged to have lunch with Greta when she arrived.
    The train was down on the floor of the valley now, and ahead she could see the outskirts of a town. Would it be Innsbruck? It was about time they arrived there.
    “ I st Innsbruck, bitte ?”
    There were smiles from her companions. The woman next to her patted her shoulder.
    “Ja, ja Innsbruck.”
    Sonia began to collect her things. Now that her journey was almost over she was sad to leave the train that had brought her through those breath-taking vistas of mountains half-hidden in the clouds and little villages tucked away under the shadows of those great peaks, swept her into tunnels, through the shelter of the snow barricades, climbed with her to the high passes, and was now dropping her at her destination before going on to far-off Vienna. The women watched her with friendly curiosity, and one of the men lifted down her cases. The train was slowing down and she could see the station, the patient