The Secret of Summerhayes. Merryn Allingham

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СКАЧАТЬ 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.

Chapter Five

      ‘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.’

      Jos felt annoyance grow and tried to subdue it. ‘Okay. She messed me up – for a while. But now I’m definitely unmessed and that’s the way I intend to stay. And I’m fine with women but we’re fighting a war, remember, and they’re an unnecessary complication.’

      ‘They’re one of the reasons we’re fighting,’ Eddie said mildly. ‘Anyway, you needn’t worry about Beth Merston. We hardly see her. C’mon, we go this way.’

      For someone Eddie hardly saw, he appeared remarkably friendly with Beth Merston, but Jos kept this reflection to himself. Eddie’s success with women was legendary and it was unlikely Miss Merston would remain immune. Few women did.

      ‘No,’ his friend continued, as they started along the gravel path that wound its way to the left of the truck park. ‘She’s nearly always up there.’ He jerked a shoulder towards the house. ‘The old lady keeps her busy; she needs a lot of looking after by all accounts.’

      He was glad to hear it. Whatever he’d said to Eddie, meeting Bethany Merston had given him a jolt. Something about her had reached down and tugged at his soul, and he needed to stamp on the feeling instantly. Sylvie had led him a merry dance, lying and cheating her way into his life, lying and cheating her way out of her husband’s. The husband of whom Jos had had no idea. He was over that, well and truly over it, and Eddie was wrong that Sylvie had soured him. In the end she’d not been СКАЧАТЬ