The Uncertain Years (13 page)

‘I don’t know where the summer’s gone, Alice.’ Becky shivered in the cold wind. ‘It doesn’t seem long ago we were looking forward to Christmas, and it will soon be here again.’

‘I know. I’ve only got three days’ leave this year, so I’ll make a quick visit to Anthony’s parents and then go to see my parents. What are you doing?’

‘I’m staying on camp this year. My family’s disappointed, but I can’t expect to have every Christmas at home. If I can get out for a couple of hours I’ll see Mr and Mrs Hammond, just to wish them a happy Christmas and take a couple of small presents I’ve bought them.’

‘Hmm. Have you heard from David lately?’

‘I write regularly because he said he wants to know how I’m getting on, but I’ve only had a couple of short notes from him.’

‘Pity. I thought at one time there might be something between you two, but it seems not.’

‘There never was a chance of that.’ Becky shook her head. ‘An officer doesn’t associate with a girl in the ranks. Think of the raised eyebrows that would cause. He’s a career soldier and wouldn’t risk it.’

‘No, I suppose not. Try not to get too fond of him then.’

‘Too late for that piece of advice, but don’t worry, Alice, I’m well aware of the situation. And I accept it.’

Alice nodded, and changed the subject. ‘Have you heard from the boys?’

‘Not for some weeks. I expect a pile of letters will all arrive at the same time.’

‘Adams!’ the sergeant called. ‘Report to the office at once.’

‘Yes, sir!’ Becky grinned at her friend. ‘Another officer stranded somewhere, I expect.’

‘You’re getting a lot of driving jobs these days. They must be impressed with you.’

‘Maybe.’ She shrugged. ‘I do enjoy it, and I’d better not keep them waiting. See you.’

The captain in charge of transport looked up when she walked in. ‘London this time again. There are two officers at HQ who need to come here for a meeting. I see from your record you’ve been there several times before.’

‘Yes, sir. I know where it is. Who do I ask for?’

‘Major General Villiers. The car is outside and ready to go, so don’t dawdle. This is important.’

‘Sir!’ Becky took her paperwork, saluted smartly and went out to the car, wondering what had made the captain
so animated. He was usually a rather dour person, with a bored expression as a permanent feature of his face, but there was no sign of that today.

She made good time and went up to the soldier on duty. ‘Transport for Major General Villiers,’ she told him.

After making a quick phone call, he said, ‘He’ll be down in around ten minutes. Wait over there.’

‘Will you give me a nod when he’s coming? I haven’t seen him before.’

‘Right.’

Twenty minutes passed and Becky amused herself by watching the various people coming and going – civilians and military. It didn’t take her long to notice that the officers were all high ranking, and there was more than usual activity. Something was going on.

Unable to contain her curiosity, she wandered over to the soldier at the desk. ‘He’s late. I haven’t missed him, have I?’

‘No, I’ll let you know when you’re needed.’

‘There’s an awful lot of top brass around. What’s going on?’

‘A war,’ he said sarcastically. ‘Hasn’t anyone told you?’

‘Very funny.’ She didn’t laugh. ‘You know very well what I mean. I’ve been here several times over the last few months, but today is different. The atmosphere in here is fairly buzzing.’

He opened his mouth to say something when the phone rang. ‘Yes, sir, your driver’s here.’ Then he said to her, ‘Two minutes.’

She looked pointedly at her watch.

‘That’s him coming down the stairs now.’

‘Gosh, that was only a minute.’ She looked up and stared at the two officers walking towards her, unable to move.

‘Jump to it,’ the soldier said under his breath.

She did just that, stepping forward and saluting. ‘The car is right outside the door, sir.’ Then she saluted the other officer and walked out to the car, holding the rear door open for them.

Without so much as a flicker of recognition she got in the car, started it smoothly, and pulled away from the HQ. He looked exactly as he had when she had first met him, and she was sure he’d given a slight wink as he’d climbed into the car.

She took a deep breath and tried to keep her expression serious, but in truth she wanted to smile. It was good to see David again, and looking so fit. She had visited his parents several times, but this was the first time she’d seen him in months.

‘Can you get us to Aldershot by two o’clock, driver?’ the major general asked. ‘We’re running a touch late.’

‘Yes, sir.’ She pressed on the accelerator. They were in a hurry, and if David had been on his own she would have asked him what the rush was all about, but with the other officer in the car she had to speak only when spoken to.

They were talking quietly in the back, but so softly she couldn’t hear what was being said. However, part of her job was to be discreet and not repeat anything she might overhear while driving officers around, so she concentrated 
on getting them to their destination as quickly as possible. If anything important had happened, she would eventually hear about it on the news.

They arrived ten minutes before the appointed time, and she jumped out quickly to open the door. The major general was the first out, and after telling her to wait, headed straight for the building in front of him.

When David got out she held her military pose, but did allow a slight smile to touch her lips.

He reached back in the car for his case, and said softly in her ear, ‘Japan has attacked the American Fleet at Pearl Harbor.’ Then he was gone.

Stunned by the news, she took her polishing cloth out of the boot and began removing any marks she could find on the car. Not that it needed this kind of attention, for it was pristine already, but it gave her something to do while she waited and pondered this momentous news. It was a terrible thing to have happened, and what would America do now? The world seemed to have gone mad, with almost every country wanting to fight someone. She longed to dash off and seek more information, but didn’t dare leave her post. She had been told to wait, and that’s exactly what she would do.

It was a good job she had resisted the temptation to dash off for a few minutes because they were back in just under half an hour.

‘Take Colonel Hammond to his home,’ the major general instructed. ‘He’ll give you directions, and then drive me back to HQ.’

‘Yes, sir.’ She stood to attention as she held open the car
door for them, wondering how David was going to handle this.

As she drove through the camp gates she decided to give David an opening. ‘Where to, Colonel Hammond?’

He played along by giving her detailed directions.

‘Thank you, sir. I know the road.’

She drove right up to the front door, and was out of the car in an instant, making sure she faced away from the house. The last thing she wanted was for Sara to spot her and come running out calling her name.

‘Thank you,’ he said as he got out. ‘You are to come for me at eight hundred hours tomorrow. I shall be returning to London.’

‘Eight hundred hours, sir.’ She closed the door, struggling not to break into a huge smile. They might get a chance to talk if he was the only one travelling with her to London.

After dropping off the major general, Becky headed back as fast as she could, and found the camp buzzing with speculation.

The news of the attack was now coming through, and the loss of ships and men was devastating. It had been an attack carried out without warning, and the American fleet had been caught unprepared. Everyone agreed that it was a cowardly thing to do. Becky had been kept too busy and was hearing the details for the first time from Pete and Alice.

‘Dear Lord.’ Becky shook her head in disbelief. ‘What a terrible thing for the Japanese to do, and without a declaration of war.’

‘There will be now,’ Pete said. ‘Drink up, Becky, we’re two beers ahead of you. Where have you been all day? As soon as the news broke I came looking for you.’

‘I’ve been driving a Major General Villiers back and forth to London. And David was with him,’ Becky told Alice. ‘I have to take him back to London in the morning.’

‘Oh, how is he?’

‘He looks good, and there’s no trace of a limp. We had to pretend we didn’t know each other, of course. The major general wouldn’t have been amused if I’d greeted David like a friend, but it was good to see he’d recovered so completely. The next drinks are on me.’

The next morning, right on time, she pulled up outside the Hammond house, and waited by the car, as she was supposed to do.

The door opened almost immediately and David strode out, followed by Sara, the dog, and his parents. Becky held her military bearing as she saluted him and held open the car door for him.

When it looked as if his family were going to leap on Becky to say hello, he stopped them, but couldn’t stop a smile turning up the corners of his mouth. ‘You and the dog will have to behave yourselves, because if my driver’s uniform is messed up, I’ll have to put her on a charge.’

Sara shrieked with laughter. ‘Oh, Daddy, you wouldn’t!’

‘Perhaps I’d make an exception in her case.’ He swung his daughter up and hugged her, then handed her over to her grandfather. ‘I don’t know when I’ll be home again.’

‘We understand, David,’ his mother said.

He turned his attention to Becky. ‘Same place as yesterday, and you will be on duty all day.’

‘Yes, sir.’ She waited for him to settle in the back of the car, and then closed the door. Before getting in the driver’s seat she gave Sara and Mr and Mrs Hammond a quick little wave, making them all laugh. She winked at the dog, sending him into ecstasy, as he tried to get at her, but Mr Hammond had a firm hold on the animal. Without wasting any time they were driving out to the road and heading for London.

She glanced in her rear-view mirror and saw that he was engrossed in some paperwork, so she remained quiet. After about half an hour she heard him sigh and toss the papers on the seat beside him.

‘Do you enjoy driving us around?’ he asked, breaking the silence.

‘Yes, very much, Colonel. Do you enjoy working in London?’

‘No, I damned well don’t. I’m a soldier, not a diplomat or politician. And we’re the only ones in the car, so you can stop being so formal for a while.’

She nodded. He was not in a good mood, and no matter what he said, she wasn’t going to get careless. If she started to be too informal with him, she might slip up when others were around, and that would never do. She intended to keep her record clean.

‘Will we be in London for long …?’ She left off the ‘sir’ with difficulty.

‘You will probably be needed all day. The major general will give you your orders when we arrive.’

‘Very good, sir.’ Blast!

‘What did I just tell you?’

Now she was getting cross. ‘Well what am I supposed to do? You’re an officer and I’m on official duty. I can’t treat you informally in this situation. I just can’t, sir!’

‘I’m sorry, you’re quite right. That was thoughtless of me.’

She was so hurt. It was very clear that a relationship between them – even friendship – was fraught with difficulties. She was beginning to be sorry she had visited his family after they’d seen Will’s letter. She should have stayed away, but what could she have done? They had asked to see her, and she hadn’t seen any harm in it at the time. Of course, it was always easy to be wise in hindsight, and becoming so friendly with his family had been a mistake. She was a naive fool to have allowed herself to fall for him – and that’s what she had done.

‘You can talk to me,’ he said gently.

‘The Japanese attack on the American fleet took everyone by surprise,’ she said, choosing a safe subject.

‘It was, and that’s why the casualties were so high. Your brother’s on his way there now.’

‘What? How do you know that?’

‘I know a great many things since they tied me to a desk job.’

‘If you dislike it so much, can’t you get a transfer?’

‘I’ve been trying, and now the tide of war has taken a dramatic turn, I’ll have more chance of getting back to active duty. By the way, I bought Sara two more charms to go on the bracelet you gave her. We have a job to get
her to take it off even when she goes to bed.’ He laughed quietly.

‘I’m glad she likes it.’

‘What are you doing for Christmas?’

‘I’m on duty.’

‘Your parents will be disappointed. Would you like me to see—?’

‘No, sir!’ She stopped him quickly. There was no way she was going to allow him to try and get her a pass for the holidays. His recommendation that she be sent to a transport division was in order because he had interviewed her at the recruitment office, but this was different. ‘I’m quite happy to stay in camp this year. Some of us have to stay behind and I did have last Christmas at home. Will you be able to spend time with your family?’

‘For a couple of days, as long as another part of the world doesn’t erupt into war.’

Becky was relieved when she pulled up outside the HQ. She had been looking forward to the journey this morning and seeing David on his own for a while, but it had been awkward, to say the least. She got out and opened the door for him.

‘You’d better come in and find out what your orders are for the day. They will have been left with the reception.’

She watched him take the stairs two at a time, and then turned to the man on duty. ‘I believe orders have been left with you for me. I’m Major General Villiers’ driver.’

He handed her the written instructions, then nodded
towards the stairs. ‘Your last passenger’s a brave man, from all I’ve heard.’

She didn’t comment, but studied her duties. ‘I’m going to be needed all day, so is there anywhere I can wait?’

‘There’s a room set aside for drivers.’ He pointed to his left. ‘Wait in there and I’ll call you when you’re needed. There’s sandwiches and tea provided.’

‘Thanks.’