Tony Littlejohns: The Hoffmann Plague

Introductions were made, they all shook hands and stood chatting for a while. One of the women had been a nurse at the camp and she recognised Megan from her stay there, saying how well she looked. Jamie told them that the two Majors, Maria and Karen were just down the road from them and that they saw them all the time. The army guys said to pass on their regards and tell them where they were living, saying they should come and visit.

There were eight of them altogether – four couples who had paired up during the year since the plague – and they had found places close together in Cooden, near the golf course, as they’d all agreed that they wanted to be near the sea. They gave Jamie the location and he said he’d pass it on. The other woman asked them if they knew anywhere where they could get seeds for vegetables and salads. Jane grinned, pointing behind them to B&Q, saying there were plenty in the garden section there. She also told them of the pet and garden supplies shop by Sainsbury’s and the garden centre at Bulverhythe, on the road to Hastings. The woman thanked them and said they would go there next. They said goodbye shortly afterwards and drove back to the farm.

By the third week of February the temperature had risen further. The morning frosts had almost stopped and the ground became a bit more workable. Bill and Jamie gave a few of their seed potatoes and other vegetables to their army friends down the road to get them started with planting their own crops, for which they were grateful. They repaid the kindness with a couple of pheasant that Maria had shot.

One thing that had irked Jamie about their new home since moving in was the lack of a bathroom. So far they had made do with heating water and washing in the sink, and he had installed a bathroom lock on the door for privacy when they were washing, which would have to continue as there was no room for a separate bathroom. He was thinking of Jane now, though, and thought it would be nice for her to be able to have a bath of sorts, so she could soak in hot water to ease her aches. He thought of several possibilities, like a horse trough or similar, but discounted them as being a bit too ugly to have in the kitchen! He knew the sort of thing he wanted, but not where to find one. He spoke to Bill, who told him of a reclamation yard outside of Bexhill, on the Ninfield Road, where he might find something. He told Megan of his intention and she thought it was a great idea, saying she would come with him to help him look.

They set out one morning, telling Jane they were going to the bungalow to check the salt evaporation and leaving her resting on the sofa. Jamie took the Land Rover and drove into the village, then turned right onto the road to Ninfield.

‘Dad, do you think Mum’s going to be okay with the birth, now that there aren’t any hospitals? I’ve been worried about it recently as we get nearer.’

He was worried, too, but he didn’t want to pass that on to Megan. ‘Of course she will, sweetheart. We’ve got Tom and Karen now, and both of them have experience of births from their time in the army. You mustn’t worry, honey – everything will be okay.’ Megan seemed a little happier by the fact that Jamie didn’t seem worried and was confident.

At Ninfield they cut across back onto the Bexhill road and found the place after a mile or so, pulling into the yard and parking the truck. They got out, Jamie with the sawn-off over his shoulder, and stood listening for a while, but it was as quiet as a graveyard.

They walked around the yard looking at all the pieces of architectural salvage there: flagstones, cast-iron roll-top baths, doors, old log-burning stoves and many other interesting pieces. They couldn’t see anything suitable outside so went into a large building where there was more stock. Jamie was just thinking it was a wasted trip when Megan called to him from the other side of the building. ‘Dad, look at this!’

He went over to her. She had lifted a tarp and underneath was an old copper bathtub. It was dirty and full of cobwebs, but was just the sort of thing he had been hoping to find. He smiled at Megan. ‘Perfect! I wasn’t expecting a lovely copper one, though.’ She grinned back at him. He found a broom and brushed out most of the cobwebs and other debris. It was about two-thirds the size of a normal bath and much thinner and lighter, with high sides. You certainly couldn’t stretch out in it, but once filled you could have a good soak with your knees up. It was heavy but he was able to pick it up on his own so he carried it outside and put it in the truck.

He drove to the hardware store in Bexhill next and got some tins of Brasso metal polish, before heading back to the farm. Megan looked through the window and could see Jane sleeping on the sofa, so she gave a thumbs-up to Jamie and he carried the bathtub from the truck into the barn. He spent a couple of hours cleaning and polishing it to a high shine before going back to the house.

Later in the afternoon, as it was getting dark, Jane said she was going over to the farmhouse for a natter with Emma, which she often did at around that time. They knew she would be at least half an hour, and as soon as she had gone Jamie brought the now-gleaming tub from the barn and put it in the kitchen. They put more fuel in the range and stove to stoke them up and heated kettles and pans of water. As it neared the time when Jane would return they filled the tub and Megan added some bubble-bath then lit candles around the kitchen. They sat down on the sofa to wait and Jane came back shortly. She walked in and looked at them sitting there, knowing instantly that something was up.

‘Okay you two scoundrels, what have you been up to?’ she asked with a smile on her face.

‘Well… You know how you’ve been wanting a bath for ages?’ said Jamie. ‘Have a look in the kitchen.’

Jane opened the door and gasped. ‘Oh my God! Where did you get that?’

‘Oh, we just found it somewhere,’ said Megan, grinning.

Jane got all weepy, then hugged and kissed them both, saying how beautiful it looked. Jamie went upstairs and got her bath robe for her. She closed the door, got undressed and sank into the tub, laying her head back and revelling in the luxurious feeling of hot water covering her body for the first time in over a year.

Jamie wondered if it was time for Megan to learn how to shoot so he broached the subject with Jane one night.

‘I don’t see why not,’ she said, ‘but why not ask her what she thinks? She’ll soon tell you if she’s not ready or doesn’t want to.’

He spoke to Megan over breakfast the following day, making it clear that it was her choice, but she thought it was a good idea and was optimistic.

‘I mean, I’ve got to learn sometime and I already know how to strip the guns down, anyway.’

The next day, Jamie took her out with one of the lighter 20-bore shotguns. They walked two hundred yards from the farm and set up some pieces of plywood as targets. He gave her a good talk on gun safety and showed her how to tuck the stock tightly into her shoulder to prevent any bruising, and the first time she fired she gave a little squeal and grinned at him. He showed how the shot pattern spread with distance and the size of shot being used, and she could see the effects on the sheets of plywood, teaching her the effectiveness of the gun at different distances.

At one point she looked thoughtful and turned to him. ‘I understand now how I survived the shooting, Dad. If they’d been closer, or if I hadn’t been moving, I would have died, wouldn’t I?’

‘Probably, honey – or we both might have. It was a very brave thing you did and you almost certainly saved my life.’ She hugged him and he kissed the top of her head.

‘What happened to them, Dad? Did you kill them?’