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The Song and the Sea

Sister Cecily Carruthers didn’t know if she should be excited or terrified. She had actually resigned from her very secure position at St Egbert’s Hospital, something she thought she would never do! But love must find its way!

Barely four weeks ago, Nick Barrone, her one true love, had asked her to come away with him. He had just secured the lead male vocalist position in the cast of the entertainment troupe for the newest Gold Star cruise ship. “Give up your nursing post”, he begged. “Come with me, we will see the world!”

Though Cecily loved Nick, she was reluctant to give up her secure post. Her step-mother depended on her, and she had promised her father that she would look after her.

Reluctantly, she declined and told Nick that she would wait for him.

However, two events changed her mind: her step mother remarried, so Cecily no longer felt responsible for her feckless step-mother. And Cecily overheard Matron discussing her--the upshot of which was that everyone expected Cecily to stay at St Egbert’s, eventually working her way up to matron! The gossip-fueled reason was that Cecily was too old fashioned and too plain to attract a serious boy-friend. Yes, they agreed there was Nick, but he was obviously toying with her affections.

Cecily shook her mouse-colored hair and blinked her dark lashes (rapidly, to discourage tears). She would show those old biddies! So she gave her notice, gave up her basement bed-sitter and somehow (fairy god-mother perhaps) secured a nurse’s berth on the very ship that Nick would be on. She would surprise him when she showed up.

Ah! departure day! Cecily’s small, slightly plump figure quivered with excitement! She needed to report to the doctor in charge of the ship’s clinic, but she hoped to get a glimpse of Nick before that. Oh-there he was! Cecily rushed off, anxious to surprise him. But as she approached, she noticed the slim, chic-ly clad blonde clinging to Nick’s arm. Who could that be? Cecily was suddenly overcome with doubts; could the gossips have been right? Too upset to continue forward, she turned and bumped into the tallest, broadest, most handsome man she had ever seen. “ Oh, I beg your pardon’, she cried as she pushed past him.

Dr. Marius van der Gulden was momentarily discomfited by the encounter. However, he dismissed it to the hustle and bustle of departure. Filling in for his colleague should give him a nice break from his strenuous work load at his clinic in den Hague.

Betty Barbara