Every time she looked across at the great flotilla of ships to port and starboard, fore and aft, her sense of security grew stronger. She was never weary of watching the sea and those other ships.
In spite of their drills and regulations they had much real leisure, which was most welcome after so many weeks of rigorous training. Most of the small discomforts of the crowded transport could be endured, but Nancy did feel the pinch of their limited water supply. With so much water all about them it seemed strange to be rationed on water, but on such a packed ship the water supply was a real problem.
They had to line up for the bathroom, then each nurse was allowed only a basin full of water for bathing and clothes washing. The girls had to dodge about their cabins to avoid the lines of clothes constantly drying. However, most of them stayed in their cabins only for sleeping and dressing, so could make the best of what could not be helped.
For dinner the first evening they changed to their summer beige suits, for there was to be dancing afterward. There were numberless men for every girl, so none lacked for partners. Nancy was surprised about ten o’clock that first evening to glance around and discover Major Reed asking her for the next dance. This was the first time he had spoken to her since Tini had vanished from their midst.
“Oh, you!” she exclaimed eagerly.
She gave him her hand and they moved on to the floor, but the place was so packed it was like trying to dance on a dime.
Nancy laughed and said, “It’s impossible!”
“And the air’s thick enough to slice,” he added. “Why endure it when there’s so much grand fresh air on deck?”
“Do let’s go outside,” agreed Nancy. “I’ve been wondering what the stars are like out there.”
They escaped to the deck by a side door and finally worked their way to the prow. The black-out on the ship made the spangle of stars a thousand times more brilliant than Nancy had ever seen them. They stood at the rail a few minutes, watching the brilliant points of light swim crazily in a dome of purple velvet.