All Lessons Learned by Charlie Cochrane

Author:Charlie Cochrane [Cochrane, Charlie]
Language: deu
Format: epub
Published: 2011-04-14T20:57:35+00:00

"I know." Lavinia held him tight again, drying her tears on her brother's coat. "It's been hel for us too."

The sound of George shrieking with delight, chasing his sister along the beach and shaking a large crab at her, caught their attention. Lavinia pointed a shaking finger at her offspring. "Especialy for them. They worshipped their Uncle Jonty, stil do. How could you be so calous?" The shock was starting to ease, the relief at finding she stil had a younger brother was being overtaken by a growing sense of anger and injustice.

"Calous?" Jonty's voice faltered. "I didn't think..."

"No, I don't suppose you did. Why couldn't you let us know you were alive?" Lavinia's tears began anew.

Ralph and the children looked up from the beach, as if they could tel something was wrong with their mother, but she put on a brave face, waving her handkerchief--

Jonty's handkerchief--as if she'd got it out just for that purpose. "Look at them. If you couldn't do it for my sake why not for theirs? I know mistakes happen in war but we were al so sure you were dead."

"I was dead. A walking death, where nothing realy seemed to matter anymore." Jonty took Lavinia's hand again. "Not even them." They couldn't face the children yet, not until they'd bridged this seemingly unbridgeable void. "Wil you let me tel you my story? At the end you can tel me to go away and never come back, if you want, but please let me say my piece."

Lavinia nodded. Her words may have been harsh, but stil she clung to him.

"I went out to check on the smel of petrol."

"From the leaking tank. I know that." Lavinia clung to what few certainties she had. "The story we had was that there were two of your platoon there, smoking."

"Not quite. There were two of my men there, and one of them was in a shocking state. Lost his head completely. He'd taken off some of his uniform, even flung down his discs. Hadn't lost his lucifers, though, and the idiot was trying to light a cigarette. Boyce--I think the other lad's name was Boyce--was trying to stop him."

Jonty rambled on, as if forcing Lavinia to understand and then forgive him. "We couldn't have stayed there--I had a feeling a bombardment was going to start at any moment and we needed to get back to the main trench.

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