Free Lauren's Dilemma by Margaret Tanner Page A

maimed.” She wouldn’t have cared, just so long as he came back to her.
    “Dad, read
this.” She waited while her father skimmed through the contents. “They want me
to go down to visit him.”
    “Helen is
the one who should go to him. I understood they were engaged.”
    “They were
supposed to be, but once Blair left for the war she never even bothered
answering his letters. She's cruel and selfish.”
    “Laurie.”
    “She called
Danny a lout.” Laurie stamped her foot.
    “Danny's
gone, he's not coming back, and you have to resign yourself to the fact. You're
young. You might not believe this now, but you’ll find someone else one day.”
    “I'll
always love him,” she vowed fiercely.
    “All
right.” Matthew patted her shoulder. “Don’t upset yourself. I think you should
go down and see if you can help Captain Sinclair. You could stay with Richard.
Catch the morning train, there’s no need to write. They'll be happy to have
you.”
    “You want
me to go down to Melbourne?”
She couldn’t believe the words coming out of her father’s mouth.
    “Yes, you
might be able to help him.”
    “I
would?   What if Danny comes back? He'd
come here first.”
    “Laurie,
Laurie.” He picked up one of her hands and clasped it between his own. “He
won't be back.   Like thousands of others,
he's dead. He's gone. Blair Sinclair is alive and wounded. Danny would want you
to help him.”
    “You didn't
want me to go down to Melbourne
before. Danny always said you thought he wasn't good enough for me. You
wouldn't let me go to him, yet you’re encouraging me to visit a virtual
stranger.”
    “Please,
Laurie. I wasn't desperate before,” his voice broke, and she was shocked into
silence. He looked old and drawn, he eyes sad and fearful. Did he think she
might try to follow Danny to the grave? She had been too engulfed in her own
misery to notice her father’s anguish.
    “Dad, I'm
sorry.” She kissed his cheek. “I’ve been selfish, thinking only of my own loss.
All right, I'll go. If I can help Blair, I will.”

 
    * * *

 
    The train
to Melbourne
was late and Laurie, now she had made up her mind, wanted to be off. She paced
up and down the platform dodging around luggage trolleys, mail bags, milk cans
and an assortment of other items awaiting transportation to other stations
along the line.
    “What a
nuisance, Dad. Imagine the train being late today. I hate waiting around.”
    “Don't
upset yourself, dear. It will come in due course.” He gave her hand a
reassuring squeeze. “I'm proud of you for going down to Melbourne like this. It's a Christian act.”
    After what
seemed like another couple of hours but was in reality only a few minutes, the
train steamed in to the platform.
    “Goodbye,
dear, take care.” He followed her into the carriage, so he could put her case
in the overhead luggage rack. “I'm not happy about you traveling alone, but…”
    “I'll be
all right.” She smiled. “Hope you can manage the store without me.”
    “I'll
survive. In this heat who would want to shop anyway?” He mopped his damp brow
with a white handkerchief.
    To please
her father she wore a pretty white frock and a straw hat trimmed with green
ribbon.
    “Goodbye,
Dad.” She kissed him three times in quick succession. Then she stepped to the
open window and leaned out, watching him walk up the platform towards her.
    “I'll write
as soon as I arrive, don't worry,” she called out. She didn’t stop waving until
the train took a bend in the line and the station disappeared.
    She took
off her hat the moment she got seated then glanced around the carriage to see
who the other occupants were. A young woman sat opposite, holding hands with a
soldier. Laurie bit her lip on noticing that one of his sleeves hung empty. He
was not the first soldier she had seen without a limb and wouldn’t be the last,
either. God, why don't you stop this wicked war before it kills or maims all
our young men?
    She closed
her eyes