THE LIVES WE LEFT BEHIND an evocative and charming WW1 family saga (The Brannans Family Sagas Book 4) by DOMINIC LUKE

Author:DOMINIC LUKE [LUKE, DOMINIC]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Joffe Books historical fiction wartime sagas
Published: 2023-01-08T16:00:00+00:00

TWO VICTORIES IN THE WEST

BRITISH ADVANCE ON LENS

She had devoured the lines of print, seizing on every detail. The British and the French had launched a joint attack on the German lines. Large gains had been made. In the days since Monday, the newspapers had enlarged on events, and the names of previously unknown places had come to sudden prominence. Hulluch. Hooge. Hill 70. Loos. They were names that sounded to Eloise’s ear unlovely and somehow sinister. She felt certain now that this great battle was what Roderick had been hinting at in his last letter; she felt certain he was involved in it.

In the vegetable garden, old Becket had lit a fire on a patch of bare earth. Dancing flames licked at a pile of dead leaves and cuttings. Smoke billowed and rose high in the still air. Becket, in his cap and apron and his corduroy trousers, poked the blaze with a stick. A little deaf, a little short-sighted, he was not aware of her watching, and he muttered to himself under his breath: ‘I don’t know . . . I don’t know . . . look at this, now . . . what’s to do? Oh, me back . . . me poor back . . .’ He rubbed his back with a gnarled old hand. He peered at the fire. He slowly shook his head.

She wondered if his back often troubled him. He was over eighty. It was a lot to expect, that he should keep these rambling gardens in order; it would have taxed a man half his age. What he needed was another pair of hands, someone with a bit more about them than the village boy Britten, who dawdled about the place, more a hindrance than a help.

It came to her then, as she stood watching Becket poke the fire. Why not Smith?

Well, why not? She’d long been meaning to find someone to share the burden presently shouldered by Becket, but with one thing and another, and staff to replace in the house, she’d never quite got round to it. This was just the solution. Help for Becket. A position for Smith. Something within Smith’s compass. He could be a sort of apprentice. But perhaps he would think it demeaning. It was not what he was used to. Would he feel he was being put out to pasture? Yet he might find it rewarding, if he gave it a try. How best, then, to approach him?

A well-placed word works wonders. Father’s maxim still held good. It was just a case of choosing the right word. As she wrestled with this problem, Eloise slowly returned the way she’d come.

A sound of running footsteps intruded on her thoughts. She looked up, found that she’d passed through the garden door without noticing. She was standing now in front of the house. The spreading boughs of the cedar tree hung like a low roof over her head. The grey-fronted house cast a long shadow on the gravel in the pale autumn sunshine.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.