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from my grandmother’s.’ She threw her arms out in a gesture of despair. ‘What am I to do with all this, Mrs Styles? All I possess is one suitcase.’
    ‘Now I may be able to help you there. My hubby has an old trunk we never use out in the shed. I’ve been on at him to get rid of it, so you’d be welcome to have it for say two pounds.’
    Davina was pleasantly surprised by the size and condition of the cabin trunk stored in the tidy garden shed and handed over the asking price before the landlady could change her mind. By dint of pruning down to what she thought she would need at the farm, Davina managed to squeeze everything except clothes for the journey to Switzerland into the capacious trunk. True, saucepans jostled old walking shoes, but to part with these would be madness. Davina had not been raised in a country district without knowing that unmade roads and muddy farmyards were no place for fashion footwear.
    On the day they were to leave for their grandmother’s house, Davina met her sister in at Paddington and after a good meal they made their way across London to catch the overnight train from Victoria. It was due to leave at seven and they arrived in good time to get corner seats in the carriages reserved for students. Catrin looked tired and when Davina turned a questioning glance on her sister Catrin smiled ruefully.
    ‘Yes, I know I look a mess, but a good night’s sleep should put that right. I’ve just finished three months on nights. What can have made me take up nursing? It’s all work with little pay.’
    Davina laughed. ‘You know why. Since we were old enough to play hospitals you’ve never wanted to do anything else. Anyway, it can’t be all bad.’
    Catrin smiled, a secret, almost a self-satisfied smile. ‘It isn’t. Oh, Dav,’ she went on as if words were bursting out of her, ‘I’ve met the most fabulous sailor! He was brought in off a minesweeper with a burst appendix and he’s got the bluest eyes you ever saw. He got some sick leave before he had to report back to his ship and I’ve been seeing him every free moment.’
    ‘I thought you nurses weren’t supposed to date your patients. Medical etiquette or something,’ Davina replied, smiling at her sister’s dreamy expression.
    ‘But I didn’t—see him socially until he was discharged, I mean,’ Catrin replied, her voice quite shocked. ‘In fact I tried hard not to get involved with David at all. But when you’ve nursed a man for nearly three weeks and he’s just your type—well, I simply couldn’t say no when he rang me up. Not that I wanted to. Somehow or other you get to know people much more quickly when you’re with them all night.’
    Davina laughed, genuinely amused. ‘I imagine you must, but don’t let anyone but me hear you say so! It’s the sort of comment very easily misconstrued. Particularly if they don’t happen to know you’re in nursing.’ She paused, then added, ‘I start that job I wrote to you about in about ten days’ time, so when do I get to meet David?’
    Catrin sighed. ‘Heaven knows. He’s off on a NATO exercise at the end of this week and has no idea where his ship will dock after it’s over. I hope he doesn’t come back while I’m still at Grandmother’s.’
    ‘Don’t worry. I know they say sailors have girls in every port, but it can’t be true of them all.’
    But Catrin continued to worry about her new beau and by the time Dover was reached, Davina was growing a bit tired of hearing about his many virtues. She was jerked out of her half-hearted attention by Catrin suddenly asking, ‘What about you? Last year you were seeing that nice Michael, but you’ve not mentioned him recently.’
    ‘Couldn’t get a word in,' Davina said with sisterly candour. ‘Seriously, Mike and I had fun, but when college finished we parted by mutual agreement. It never went very deep with cither of us. The crowd paired us off and we simply went along with it for as long as it suited us.