Merryn Allingham - The Secret of Summerhayes

Noise and bustle were all around. Troops were still arriving, each truckload of men making their way to an adjoining farm where they’d pitch the tents that would be their home. Given the vagaries of the English weather, it wouldn’t be a particularly comfortable home, and he hoped that his own billet was nearer to hand – in the gardens, perhaps, despite their dilapidation. The closer he was to the house and offices, the less wading through mud he’d have to do if it rained hard.

Ralph had stopped and was looking back at him. ‘Eddie’s this way.’

He was a smart kid, Jos thought. It was a new camp with a completely different configuration from the previous one – the forward party had arrived only three days ago – yet the boy already knew his way around. Several young soldiers saluted as they passed and he managed a ragged salute in reply. The backpack was to blame.

Ralph looked up with another big smile. ‘Are you an officer then?’

‘A very junior one, kid. Eddie is too.’

‘I know. He told me. He’s in the outbuildings. We have to go this way. Have you known him long?’

‘A fair time. We joined up together when we weren’t much older than you – we’re both from the Toronto area. That’s eastern Canada.’

‘I know where it is. I’m good at geography. Well, sometimes,’ he added, evidently remembering his problem with Cheshire. ‘Have you been together ever since?’

‘We’ve been posted to different regiments in between time, but when Canada joined the war we ended up in the same battalion again.’

‘Have you been fighting together as well?’ The boy’s face sparked with excitement.

‘Oh yeah, fighting too.’ And that was some fighting. Italy. Monte Cassino. He’d been so very glad to have Eddie alongside.

A young man was shambling towards them, blond hair glinting in the spring sunshine and his gold flecked eyes warm with welcome. ‘He’s here!’ Ralph forgot his dignity and jumped up and down as Eddie came into view.

Eddie Rich wore his uniform as though it were something he’d found by chance while rummaging through a forgotten trunk, but when you looked again, Jos thought, you noticed the straight back, the sinewy arms and an expression that didn’t quite disguise a sharp intelligence.

‘Well, Ralphie, just look who you’ve found.’

‘He was lost.’

‘If he’s walked up from the depths, I bet he was.’ Eddie put his hands on Jos’s shoulders and gave him a quick hug. ‘Great to see you, pal. But what were you doing in the badlands?’

‘That’s what he calls the bottom of the estate,’ Ralph explained.

‘I was dropped off at what must have been the rear entrance, though I guess it’s not been used for a century. I tried walking up from there.’

Eddie pulled down the corners of his mouth, but his eyes laughed. ‘Not so great. Ralph to the rescue, eh?’

‘Ralph to the rescue,’ Jos agreed. ‘So when did you get here? How are things going?’

‘I came with the advance party, but the rest of the guys arrived today. They made pretty good time from Winchelsea, but as always, it’s chaos. You know the drill. How about you? How was that jewel of a town?’

‘The same as when we left it four years ago. And a completely wasted journey. Someone – God knows who – had already ordered what was left of our equipment to be sent on here. Has it arrived yet?’

‘Not that I know of, but it’s early days. So you didn’t hang around?’

‘We’re talking Aldershot, Ed. Mind you, this place doesn’t look much better.’

‘It’s seen grander days, for sure, but it’s okay. The house is kinda nice, or it was once. The colonel gets to sleep there, of course. We’re over here. I’ll show you the way. We’ve been given the Head Gardener’s office, would you believe?’

‘No tent? How did you pull that one?’

‘Don’t get too excited. We’re sharing with Wilson and Martel. And the office is twelve by twelve.’

‘We’ve still gone up in the world, I reckon. Lead on!’ He turned to Ralph who was looking uncertainly between the two men. ‘You better scoot now, but thanks for rescuing me.’

‘Before he scoots,’ Eddie put in, ‘I think a reward is in order, and I might have just the thing.’ He fished in one of his trouser pockets and brought out a small bar of chocolate.

‘Chocolate,’ Ralph breathed ecstatically.

‘He can have that later, when he’s finished his lessons.’ The voice was no nonsense but vaguely amused.

Jos turned and saw a girl that he wanted to keep looking at.

‘Hi there, Miss Merston,’ Eddie said. ‘You weren’t by any chance intending to bribe this young man with my chocolate?’

‘I might be, if it helps get him to his books.’ She turned towards Ralph. ‘Mrs Summer is asleep right now and we can do some work before she wakes.’

The boy pulled a face. ‘Must we?’

‘Yes, we must. Or I’ll have to tell your father that you’re not studying as you should, and you know what that means. He’ll hire a tutor who’ll make sure your nose never leaves the grindstone.’

Ralph looked deflated and seemed ready to leave, but at the last moment went for delay. ‘This is Jos. He’s just arrived.’

‘Hey, sorry,’ Eddie chimed in. ‘I should have introduced you guys. This is my buddy, Jos Kerrigan. Jos, this is Bethany Merston, school marm extraordinaire.’

Jos hadn’t taken his eyes from the slim figure that stood close by. She wasn’t pretty, in the conventional sense, but she had a liveliness that enchanted him. Everything about her shone: her deep-brown hair glossy beneath the April sun, soft brown eyes sparkling with a hundred different lights. She wore a faded cotton print, the dress so well washed and mended, it was a wonder it still held together. He’d seen first hand the privations suffered by the civilian population, but here they mattered not a jot. Bethany Merston transcended them.

He had to stop. He couldn’t think like that. No involvement with the natives, that was his motto. Particularly the female natives. Those kind of affairs had been left behind in Canada. It had been work, work, work since he arrived in England. He was a professional soldier with a job to do and he needed no entanglements. Entanglement meant feelings and feelings meant loss and he’d had enough of that to last him a lifetime – however long that proved to be.

‘Good to meet you,’ he said stiffly.

He didn’t sound as though he thought it good. Eddie was looking at him curiously but the girl merely nodded in reply, a curt little motion of her head. ‘Come with me, Ralph, time is precious and we mustn’t waste it.’

Slightly bemused, the boy followed after her.

‘That wasn’t too friendly.’ Eddie looked across at him, his forehead puckered. The hazel eyes held a puzzled expression. ‘In fact, it was pretty darn rude and not like you, Jos, not like you at all. What’s up?’

He felt his shoulders tense involuntarily. He didn’t need an interrogation. ‘What should be up – other than I’m hot and tired and I’ve just got back from a wholly useless mission?’

‘I know it was a bad call, but still… you didn’t have to be quite so abrupt. Bethany Merston is a nice woman, real nice.’

‘I’m sure she is, but right now all I want is to offload a kitbag that’s breaking my back and get some food. I haven’t eaten since six this morning.’

Eddie made no reply but remained where he was, fixing his friend with a hard gaze. It seemed he was trying to puzzle something out. Finally, he said, ‘It’s still that woman, isn’t it? The one back in Toronto. Sylvie. Wasn’t that her name?’ His eyes had lost their questioning look and were now shrewd and measuring. ‘Gee, that was an age ago. She must really have messed you up. You just don’t like women any more.’