Glass in the Sugar: Anna's Story , livre ebook

Glass in the Sugar: Anna’s Story
Val Greathead
Austin Macauley Publishers
2020-05-04
Glass in the Sugar: Anna’s Story About The Author Dedication Copyright Information © Acknowledgement Part One A Foreign Land Chapter 1 Cape Town, January 1900 Chapter 2 Three Weeks In Chapter 3 We Move to Bloemfontein Hospital Chapter 4 Joy Chapter 5 Major Oliver Anna’s Diary Chapter 6 Lady Maud’s Plan Part Two In the Veldt Chapter 7 Anna’s Plan Chapter 8 The Meyer Family Chapter 9 Hostage Chapter 10 Escape Chapter 11 Imprisoned Chapter 12 The Rescue Part Three The Refugee Camp Chapter 13 Arrival at the Camp Chapter 14 Tent Twenty-Eight Chapter 15 The Birthday Party Chapter 16 A Surprise Chapter 17 Not a Glengarry Bonnet Chapter 18 The Compassionate English Woman Chapter 19 Conspiracy Chapter 20 A Gift Chapter 21 Undesirable Part Four Mining for Diamonds Chapter 22 Ripponden House, Kimberley Chapter 23 Henry’s News Chapter 24 Decisions Chapter 25 The Journey South Chapter 26 Return to Cape Town Chapter 27 Captain Dawlish Chapter 28 A Little Morning Rain Chapter 29 Counting the Hours
About The Author
Val Greathead grew up near Halifax in West Yorkshire. She worked as a costume designer for Tyne Tees Television and Central Television before joining the Arts University, Bournemouth, where she became head of the School of Performance. During this period, she contributed to books on costume and fashion illustration and on learning and teaching in higher education. Val lives in Wiltshire with her husband, Tim, and this is her first novel.
Dedication
For my parents, Brenda and David Reid, who instilled and encouraged my love of books.
Copyright Information ©
Val Greathead (2020)
The right of Val Greathead to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781528932325 (Paperback)
ISBN 9781528967006 (ePub e-book)
www.austinmacauley.com
First Published (2020)
Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd
25 Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5LQ
Acknowledgement
Without the love and support of my husband, Tim, I would never have achieved what I set out to do. Thank you for being there for me.
I would like to thank my family for their love, help and encouragement; my son, James and his wife, Ally; my stepdaughter, Georgina and her husband, Ben; my sister, Heather and my brother, John; my brother-in-law, Richard and sister-in-law, Katie; and my lovely mother-in-law, Mavis, who sadly died without having been able to read Anna’s story . And of course to my parents, David and Brenda Reid, to whom this book is dedicated.
I would like to thank Doctor Gabrielle Malcolm for her excellent mentorship, coffee and laughter throughout the writing process. It has been the best experience. Also, thanks to Jayne Woodhouse and our group of writers for those wonderful Wednesday mornings. Thank you to Stephen West for helping me visualise all the characters. His drawings inspired me. I would also like to thank the team at Austin Macauley for their help and support.
Thank you to Peter and Fleur Nell for insightful and practical help during my research. I will never forget the South African veldt-style barbeque served in their back garden in Wiltshire. Thanks to Robin Hodges, whose military knowledge is staggering. Thank you to Grace and Lynnie Reed and Annie Jeanes, because until I asked them, I knew very little about horse-behaviour. Thank you Monaya Abel for helping me to better understand one of my characters.
I would finally like to thank my special girlfriends, who have tirelessly listened, contributed their specialist expertise, advised when asked and generally put up with me. So, thank you to Fiona Ffoulkes, Alison Sankey, Charlotte Edwardes, Sharon Ibbotson, Joanna Crawford, Lalla Hitchings, Jenni Sundheim, Fran Lailey, Ellie Nixon and all my gym gang.

Timeline of the Anglo-South African or Second Boer War 1899–1902
1899
31 May–5 June: Conference at Bloemfontein fails to maintain the peace.
9 October: Boers issue ultimatum.
11 October: Ultimatum expires and war begins with Boer invasion of the Cape and Natal.
13 October: Boers besiege Baden-Powell at Mafeking.
15 October: Boers besiege Kimberley.
30 October: Boers besiege Ladysmith.
10–15 December: Black Week-Battles of Stormberg, Magersfontein, Colenso.
17 December: RMS Dunottar sails for South Africa with Field Marshall Roberts, new Commander in Chief of British Forces on board.
1900
10 January: RMS Dunottar arrives at Cape Town.
23–24 January: Battle of Spion Kop.
15 February: Relief of Kimberley.
28 February: Relief of Ladysmith.
March: British begin erecting blockhouses.
15 March: Roberts offers amnesty to Boers prepared to surrender (so-called ‘hands-uppers’).
5 April: Action at Boshoff.
17 May: Relief of Mafeking.
24 May: Orange Free State annexed to British dominions as Orange River Colony.
5 June: Roberts occupies Pretoria.
16 June: Roberts issues proclamation on burning of farms.
15 July: Boer General de Wet flees Brandwater Basin with thousands of Boer civilians and commandos.
31 July: Remaining Boers capitulate to the British in Brandwater Basin.
September: Announcement that refugee camps for Boers who surrender will be set up at Pretoria and Bloemfontein.
22 September: Refugee (concentration) camp established at Bloemfontein.
25 October: British annex Transvaal.
29 November: Kitchener replaces Roberts as Commander in Chief.
27 December: Emily Hobhouse arrives in South Africa to visit concentration camps.
1901
28 January: Campaign to round up Boers in the Transvaal.
10 February: Boer General De Wet invades the Cape.
28 February: Abortive peace talks open at Middleburg
July Committee under Millicent Fawcett appointed to inspect concentration camps.
25 December: Action at Tweefontein.
1902
28 February: Extensive British drive culminates with success at Lang Reit.
11 April: Battle of Roodewal.
6 May: Action at Hulkrantz.
31 May: Treaty of Vereeniging signed; Boer forces surrender.
Part One

A Foreign Land
Chapter 1

Cape Town, January 1900
I grip the guard rail to steady myself against the rolling motion of the ship and away from the commotion below. My nerves begin to settle. The salt tastes sharp and the sea air cools my cheeks, hot from re-arranging my uniform and the contents of my luggage. From the promenade deck, I have an uninterrupted view of the giant continent as it rises majestically from the ocean, and as Devil’s Peak looms and duty beckons, I savour the final sights and sounds of our long voyage. In the certain knowledge of Britannia’s supreme rule, the ship slices through the water and the waves tumble apart, gulls cry out their welcome overhead and small white terns plummet from dizzy heights then flash into the gunmetal sea. And there I see them. A mass of military vessels moving through the water. Balletic, they seem to glide in time, as if to music. Purposeful, co-ordinated, confident.
Table Mountain glowers over this uninvited display of British military might amongst which I recognise the troop ships because they have great painted numbers on their sides. They remind me of toys, and I am transported back to the Round Pond in Kensington Gardens and the outings my brother and I so enjoyed with our grandparents when we were small.
Thousands of miles away from London now, I think of Henry, and how fine he looked in his uniform when we waved him off with his regiment late last summer. Because he has inherited our mother’s fine features, porcelain skin and blonde hair, whereas I am tall, dark and olive-skinned like our father, we are the subject of raised eyebrows when people meet us for the first time and discover that we are not merely siblings, but twins. Twenty-one-year-old twins, identical only in height. Most important, in our playful rivalry, I am the oldest by five minutes , as I often remind him when he is trying to take charge, which he usually does.
Now, however, Henry’s regiment have been in the thick of the action up country and I wonder about his involvement in the bloody battles that have been the subject of much gloomy talk on board.
“Quite something, isn’t it?” says a voice, startling my thoughts back to the present. I swing around to face him and find myself looking up into unfamiliar, bright, hazel eyes. I nod. Indicating towards the shoreline, the uniformed stranger returns the smile that I finally manage.
“Hard to believe what’s going on there,” he says, and for a fraction of a moment, the spark vanishes from his eyes, then is reignited when he asks, “Do you know which hospital you will be at?”
Refusing the cigarette he offers, I shake my head this time, pull my red cape tight around my shoulders and silently reflect on the whirlwind events that saw me board the RMS Dunottar Castle, bound for Cape Town on 17 December 1899, just one week after enrolling into the Princess Christian’s Army Nursing Service Reserve, and two months after the outbreak of the South African war.
The stranger holds out his hand towards me.
“Robert Dawlish. Captain. In the Yeomanry. About to join my lot at Maitland Camp, just outside Cape Town.”