CHAPTER TWO A STRANGE MEETING

“Will I be eating sandwiches you made the next time the Canteen serves here?” Brad Mason’s eyes twinkled teasingly as he put the question to Kitty when she returned to the duck pond.

“Maybe.”

“Are you really going to take the Canteen course?”

“I wouldn’t miss it for worlds! And say, I owe you a vote of thanks. If you hadn’t dropped those remarks about the Canteen work I might never have thought of joining.”

“And what a prize they would have missed!”

Kitty flushed as she took Billy’s hand and told him it was time to go home. It was strange how Brad Mason seemed like someone she had always known.

“Wait a minute, now!” exclaimed Brad, pretending to be angry. “You can’t walk out of my life like this. After all we’ve been introduced properly with Miss Pearson as witness.”

Kitty glanced up into his face as she buttoned Billy’s coat. Then they laughed gayly.

“At least you might tell me where you live,” Brad persisted.

“On Palmetto Island near the hospital. My dad works there. He’s a Chief Pharmacist’s Mate.”

“Not really!”

“Maybe you know him, since you’re in the Navy.”

“Why, were as good as in the same family. I work in the registrar’s office at the hospital.”

Kitty thought he was joking and said so. “I don’t remember ever seeing you there.”

“Been on leave for two weeks, and I had a little sick spell before that.”

“Oh, then that explains it.”

“Odd I never saw you before.”

“I came home from college about a month ago. Dad’s been down here two months.”

“Yeah, I know him well. He’s tops!”

“We think so, don’t we, Billy?”

“You bet! He’s the bravest man in the whole Navy.”

Kitty made a move to leave the park, but Brad followed.

“I didn’t parade. I got into town only today. Couldn’t I ride the bus back to the island with you?”

“I came in our launch. I have to wait and meet someone who is coming in on the four-thirty train. But say, if you’re not in a hurry we’d be glad to have you ride back across the bay with us. There’s plenty of room.”

“That’ll be swell.”

The town busses were so packed with people going home from the parade they decided to walk to the railroad station as it was only a few blocks down the street. When Billy got too tired Brad took him astride his shoulders and didn’t seem to care a bit if anyone stared at him.

“Going to meet some girl friend?” he asked when they were in sight of the station.

“No, a new nurse is coming to the hospital. I think she has worked in some hospital with Dad before. He knew all the island busses would be jammed after the parade, so suggested I come over in the launch and bring her back.”

As Kitty had never seen Hazel Dawson she was a little uneasy for fear she would slip through the train gates unrecognized. There were several smartly uniformed women among the travelers, WACs, and WAVES and Women Marines. Most of them hurried by as if familiar with the station and town. Then she saw a brisk-looking Navy nurse, following a redcap loaded with bags. Kitty was still hesitating when the nurse paused suddenly and looked her straight in the face.

“Are—are you—?” Kitty began.

She got no further when the nurse exclaimed, “Why you must be Kitty Carter, or her duplicate.”

“Then you are Miss Dawson?”

“No other. But I didn’t expect anyone to meet me.”

Kitty explained about the parade and the crowded busses, then introduced Brad and Billy.

“This really is an honor. It seems almost like going home to have someone meet me,” said Miss Dawson happily.

They caught a taxi outside the station. After the flurry of seeing about baggage Hazel Dawson seemed tired as she settled back in the car seat. Kitty glanced fleetingly at her face to see a weary, worried expression in her eyes.

“Tired?” she asked sympathetically. Somehow she felt strangely drawn to this older woman. She judged Ensign Dawson to be somewhere in her thirties. Evidently she had already seen real action. On her coat she wore the yellow ribbon for South Pacific service, and two stars indicating she had been in two major engagements. Her eyes held the shadowed, yet kindly light of one who eased much suffering.

“Not too tired,” she replied to Kitty’s question as she forced a smile to her lips. She studied the girl’s face thoughtfully a moment before she added, “So you’re Kitty Carter.”

“They say I look like Dad.”

“You do. I had no trouble recognizing you. Wherever your dad is he always keeps your picture and Billy’s on his desk.”

“Then You Are Miss Dawson,” Kitty Said

“So you’ve served with him before?”

“We worked together several months in the Pacific, and were in the same hospital at Annapolis.”

“I didn’t visit Dad when he was at Annapolis. You see ever since the war began I’ve been cramming, winter and summer, to get my degree. I wanted to get through as soon as I could and join the WAVES.”

“Yes. Your father told the you had to change your plans.” Hazel sent an understanding glance toward Billy, sitting on Brad’s lap.

“But I’m going to be able to help after all,” said Kitty eagerly.

“Really? Then you’ve made arrangements for the boy?”

“Oh no. I can help and still keep our little home. I’m going into Canteen work.”

“That’s splendid!”

“I might never have thought of it if I hadn’t met Brad Mason today.”

“Oh, you only met today.”

Brad grinned boyishly. “I thought it was important to get acquainted with her, even if I did have to use Billy as a go-between.”

“Billy as a go-between!” exclaimed Kitty, shocked. “Do you mean you made that sailboat for him with an ulterior motive?”

“I’ll have to plead guilty!” But Brad’s hearty laugh betrayed no sense of guilt. “When I saw you sitting on that bench looking so pensive I said to myself, ‘Now there’s a pretty girl who needs cheering.’”

“And we women have the idea it’s the service men who need cheering,” said Hazel.

Kitty laughed in spite of her chagrin. “Well. I’ll have to hand it to you for being a cheerer-upper,” she admitted.

“How did he stir up your interest in Canteen work?” asked Hazel, entering gayly into their banter.

Kitty gave a sprightly account of their meeting, and ended by saying. “And before I knew what had happened I had practically joined the Canteen Corps and invited Brad to ride home with us.”

“But you can bet she wouldn’t have done it if you hadn’t been coming along. I know Kitty’s kind. She’s a stickler for form.”

“Oh, not really!”

“Just the same it’ll do you no end of good being a Canteen worker,” Brad persisted.

Kitty was about to make a saucy retort when Billy piped up. “Look, Kit, there’s the Red Cross station wagon!”

Sure enough they were passing the park where the station wagon was being loaded again. Miss Pearson glanced her way and waved.

“I think she’s going to be nice to work with,” said Kitty happily. “I can hardly wait till Monday to begin my training.”

“Can I ride in the station wagon with you when you’re a Canteen worker?” Billy wanted to know.

“If they’ll let you.”

At the corner where they had to turn toward the docks, the taxi was held up by traffic. A crowded Palmetto Island bus in front of them was loading passengers. A dozen or more people couldn’t get on at all. Among them Kitty noticed Lieutenant Cary, one of the physicians from their own hospital. It seemed a shame to leave him to wait for the next bus when there was plenty of room in their launch.

As the taxi crept through the traffic near the spot where the young lieutenant stood, she called out to him, “Come down to the dock.” She pointed down the side street toward the bay. “We’ll give you a ride over to the island in our launch.”

He acknowledged her invitation with a dignified bow. When they moved on Kitty turned to Brad and said, “Seemed a shame not to pick him up. You know him of course—Lieutenant Cary?”

“Oh, yes.”

Kitty was surprised to find Brad’s cool tone reflecting some of her own instinctive dislike of the man. She tried to disregard the feeling for she scarcely knew Lieutenant Cary. She had encountered him only a few times in her father’s office at the hospital. Though he made obvious efforts to be friendly Kitty had an unaccountable aversion for him. But she could not let her ungrounded prejudice go so far as to make her pass by one of her father’s co-workers, when she had plenty of room to take him home. Transportation conditions were bad enough, without anyone traveling with unused space.

Brad was most helpful in loading Hazel’s suitcases into the launch. By the time they had loaded the launch and warmed the motor, Lieutenant Cary came sprinting toward them. Brad and Miss Dawson saluted their superior officer as the physician paused a moment on the dock.

“This is really kind of you, Miss Carter,” Cary said, stepping into the launch. “I had no idea there’d be such a traffic jam when I came over.”

“Miss Dawson, may I present Lieutenant Cary?” said Kitty, while Cary still stood beside her in the middle of the launch.

He bowed with what Kitty thought exaggerated formality under the cramped conditions. “You’re the new nurse scheduled to begin work tomorrow, I presume?”

“That is correct, Lieutenant Cary.”

Kitty felt as if icy spray had been dashed into her face at the coolness of the tone.

“You’re no relation of Mate Willard Dawson, I presume?” questioned the Lieutenant.

“I’m proud to say he’s my brother!” Hazel Dawson spoke the words almost with defiance.

Kitty, standing between the two wondered what all this meant. Their antagonistic attitude was most unaccountable. She glanced at Brad to find a strained, embarrassed look on his face.

Kitty deliberately raced the engine to end the awkward moment. As she slowly and skillfully steered the launch through the harbor traffic, she wondered what all this meant. Who was this mysterious Willard Dawson, and why should Hazel be so stiff-necked in her assertion that he was her brother? Fortunately Hazel was in the prow, while Lieutenant Cary sat in the stern with Brad. Billy always wanted to stand in the prow, so Nurse Dawson kept a protecting arm around him while Kitty ran the boat.

Kitty’s father had said many times that she had been born with the salt of the sea in her veins, like all the Carters. Two generations of naval officers had been preceded by a great-grandfather who was captain of his own sailing vessel, so Kitty had only been following the family tradition when she aspired toward the WAVES. But she decided that afternoon as she headed back toward Palmetto Island that serving the Canteen was the perfect substitute under the circumstances.

The noise of the motor made conversation difficult, and she was rather glad of it, for the afternoon had been so eventful she had much to think about. First and foremost was her delight in making a service link. And meeting Brad—that was something she would never forget! And Hazel Dawson, too. She sensed it was the beginning of a new and different sort of friendship. She wondered why the thought of Dr. Cary chilled her ardor. Did Brad know why these two seemed to freeze on meeting? She meant to ask him when she had a chance.

Hazel caught her attention, waving toward the receding shores. “Beautiful country—marvelous!” she exclaimed, above the noise of the motor.

“You’ll love it here.” Kitty told her. “I’ll take you boat riding, even if we have to row to save gas. You must see these intriguing marshes, and the beautiful shore lines with the wonderful live oaks draped in Spanish moss.”

“This is my first trip south, in my own country,” Hazel told her.

Palmetto Island now came into view with its many smokestacks marking the sky line. A fringe of palmettoes farther east was lost in the mists where the inland waterways met the sea. Kitty pointed to the western shore where a large white building stood on the point.

“There’s the Bernard General Hospital,” she said to Hazel. “Our house isn’t far away, and the Marine Base is farther east and south.”

“A lovely spot!”

Kitty thought she caught a wistful note in Hazel’s voice, and her eyes were almost sad as she drank in the beauty of green marshes, the blue sky, and the bluer sea.

On reaching the island docks Kitty phoned her father as they had previously arranged to send down a car. When she came out of the warehouse where she had used the phone, Lieutenant Cary was gone.

“We could have taken him up with us,” she said, embarrassed that she had failed to invite him specifically before she had gone to phone her father.

“He said he had to stop on the way up to see a friend,” Brad explained. “He left his thanks to you for giving him a lift.” Then to Kitty’s amazement Brad added in a low tone through almost closed teeth, “Good riddance, if you ask me!”

That night at supper Kitty gave her father an account of her unusual afternoon, the main point of which was to tell him she wanted to begin Canteen training.

“I’m proud of you, Kitty, that you wouldn’t give up till you found some way you could serve under the circumstances,” said her father.

“Then you do think I can do it?”

“Of course. There’s nothing to prevent it.”

“We’ll have to pay Jane extra to stay with Billy the nights I’m on duty. Can we afford that?”

“Certainly, my dear. I’ve been thinking we might fix up that room behind the kitchen so Jane can be here all the time.”

“That’s a swell idea, Dad. I’d think she’d be glad to have a place rent free. Last week she had to borrow money to pay her rent.”

They talked over further details of the new arrangement for their combination nurse and cook. But even while they discussed their domestic problems Kitty’s mind kept going back to the meeting between Lieutenant Cary and Ensign Dawson.

Finally she blurted out, “Dad, did you ever know Willard Dawson, Hazel’s brother?”

He glanced at her sharply. “No, he left before I came. I was sent to take his place.”

“Then he worked a while with Lieutenant Cary?”

“Of course. Cary has been here six months. But why do you ask?”

Then Kitty attempted to give him an account of the meeting on the launch, and the animosity she felt existed between the two strangers.

Her father tried to brush her suspicions aside. “You mustn’t get the habit of attributing motives to every little thing people do, Kitty. Often people are merely tired or preoccupied, and their coolness has no significance at all.”

But Kitty was not satisfied with this explanation. She felt that her father knew much more about the mysterious Willard Dawson than he had revealed.