First Friends (12 page)

‘Oh, yes,' said Cass at once. ‘Four at least, I think. Such fun, isn't it? And people make a fuss of you and dear old Tom gets so pleased with himself. Odd, that, isn't it? After all, animals are doing it all the time, and people of course, but Tom thinks it's a great achievement. Do you like Mark II?'

‘Not much. And I have to say that I think it's too bad of you to make such passes at him.'

Cass burst out laughing. ‘Don't look so po-faced. It doesn't suit you. You're thinking of that party last week on the Norwegian boat.'

‘Yes, I am. You were all over each other and Felicity was nearly out of her mind.'

‘She had George dancing attendance. Parties on submarines are so boring. Dancing round and round the dreary old periscope or being squashed into the Wardroom and having to go to the loo in those ghastly little holes that they call, for some reason, “heads.” And that awful pong of diesel! I had to do something to liven it up a bit. Kate, why don't you just forget to take the pill?'

Kate stared at her blankly.

‘If you want another baby!' said Cass impatiently. ‘It's your life, too. If you want one, have one. Get pregnant before he goes to sea next time and don't tell him before he's well away, when it's much too late.'

‘Too late for what?'

‘An abortion. You don't think he'd let you keep it, do you, after he'd said no?'

‘I'd never have an abortion!'

‘No? Not even if Mark insisted?' Cass gave Kate a strange look. ‘Shall I tell you something? Your Mark is the only man I've ever known who makes me feel afraid.'

‘No, no!' This was something Kate was not yet prepared to admit, even to herself. ‘He's just . . . It's really . . . '

‘Well, it's an idea. That is, if you're really desperate to have another one. Listen. I've got a bottle in the fridge. Why don't we get pissed?'

I
F IT HAD BEEN
left to Mark they would have continued to live at Eastney, with Kate and the twins more cut off from all the social life that was attached to the submarine as well as that relating to
Dolphin
itself.

Once the boat had sailed, Kate enlisted the help of the naval grapevine and sat back to await results. It was a fairly quiet three months. On sunny days she would pile the twins in the car and drive round to Alverstoke. She and Cass would sit in the little garden or take the children to the beach; Oliver lying in his pram, shaded by a parasol, whilst Charlotte and the twins would play quite happily together, building sand castles and making roads on which to run the twins' toy cars. The girls would lie on the sun-warmed rug, drowsing and making desultory conversation.

‘Perhaps,' Kate said on one such afternoon, ‘perhaps Charlotte will marry one of the twins when she grows up.'

‘Mmmmm.'

‘Which one, do you think?'

‘Oh, I think Giles. She likes Giles best.'

‘Do you think so? She's such a sweetie. I'd love a little girl.'

‘Mmmmm.'

‘What do you want, next time, Cass?'

‘I shall have another boy. But just like Tom.'

‘How can you be so sure?'

‘I just can. Be a duck and get the picnic out. I'm dying of thirst.'

Quiet, happy, peaceful days that women share when their children are very young.

Oddly, it was Felicity who found the little house in Solent Way. It belonged to a naval couple who were being sent to Singapore and they were more than happy to let it to another naval couple. The system was that if there were no married quarters in the area to which a naval officer was posted, the Navy would give an allowance towards rented accommodation. If it were more expensive, as it invariably was, the difference had to come out of his pay. Felicity had sung Kate's praises to the couple with whom she had become very friendly and they were prepared to be as helpful as possible over the rent, relieved to have a reliable tenant and confident that Kate would be prepared to move out should they need to come back unexpectedly.

One sunny morning she went round to look at it with Felicity, leaving the twins with Cass. It was a fairly ordinary, comfortably furnished, three-bedroomed house with a long, secluded pretty garden. Kate could see that it was perfect for her. The house would not be difficult to keep clean, there was central heating and the garden would be wonderful for the twins. She let her enthusiasm show, pleasing the owners, and, over a cup of coffee, they struck an agreeable bargain.

‘They're really nice,' said Kate as Felicity drove her back to Anglesea Road. She had been rather surprised that Felicity had put herself out to the extent of finding a house for her. ‘And the house is lovely. I can't thank you enough. It will be terrific to get back to civilisation.'

‘It was no problem.' Felicity shrugged off Kate's thanks. ‘Anything I can do to help with the move, just say the word.'

‘Bless you.' Kate was faintly suspicious at this sudden display of camaraderie. ‘I'm hoping to do it in relays in the car rather than hiring a van. I shall need masses of cardboard cartons. Cass says she'll do a few trips and then have the twins for the day. It will be much easier without them.'

‘Well, I can load up my car, too, if it's any help. It'll be nice to have you a bit closer. For one thing you might be a bit of a restraining influence on Cass.'

Kate's eyebrows shot up in surprise. ‘Heavens! Does Cass need restraining? What's she been up to?'

‘She's getting a reputation.' Felicity changed gear rather viciously. ‘People are talking about her.'

‘People have always talked about her,' said Kate soothingly, wondering if Cass had been flirting with Mark II again and sensing a possible motive for Felicity's goodwill. ‘She's a shocking flirt but it doesn't really mean anything. You know that.'

‘I'm not talking about flirting. There are rumours going around about her and Tony.'

‘Oh, Tony!' Kate sounded relieved. Tony Whelan, who had been at Dartmouth with Mark and Tom, was teaching the specialisation course in
Dolphin.
‘Tony flirts with all of us.'

‘I'm not talking about flirting,' said Felicity again. ‘Jenny said that she went round the other day, rang the bell, no reply. The car was there so she went round the back and peered in and banged on the back door. And Cass appeared at the bottom of the stairs—you know how you can see them through the glass—doing herself up, Jenny said, hair all over the place. Anyway, she let her in, very casual, and then Tony appeared. Cass said he'd popped in to borrow a book on navigation that Tom had promised him. Tony said he must be going and went. Jenny said that Cass looked as if she was going to explode with laughter.'

‘And did he have a book?'

‘Well, he did as it happened. Had it in his hand when he appeared, cool as a cucumber, Jenny said.'

‘Well, then.'

Felicity swung the car into Anglesea Road and pulled up at Cass's gate. ‘The point is that while Tony was saying goodbye, Jenny managed to get a good look at the title.'

‘And?'

Felicity turned to look at her. ‘And the book just happened to be
The Wind in the Willows!
'

‘B
UT IT IS, DARLING
!
The Wind in the Willows
is absolutely packed with information about navigation. Dear old Ratty, up and down the river all day long, showing Mole how to steer and things. Surely you remember?'

‘I remember perfectly well and I can't imagine for a single moment that Tom would give Tony a copy of
The Wind in the Willows.'

‘Lend, darling. Only lend. Heavens, Kate! For a moment then you looked just like dear old Nanny. Now, promise that you're not going to become all stuffy or I shan't be able to tell you things. Look, Guy has drawn you a lovely picture of a submarine—just what you need!—and Giles has made you a plasticine man. Now come and have a drink and tell me all about it. Charlotte's done you a picture, too. It's your new house and these are all the flowers growing around it. They've all been so good and quiet.'

Kate admired all these works of industry and imagination with great enthusiasm and followed Cass through to the sunny little terrace at the back of the house. The children, delighted by her appreciation of their efforts, suddenly became very noisy and excitable and rushed out on to the lawn where various outdoor toys stood. They began to throw themselves about, shouting and showing off. Kate put the drawings and the little figure on Cass's garden table and sat down in one of the wicker chairs beside it. Oliver's pram stood at the far end of the lawn, beneath the flowering cherry. Presently Cass joined her, carrying a bottle and two glasses.

‘So what's the house like? Tell me all. Do I gather that Felicity thought that she might be polluted if she came in?'

‘The house is great.' Kate began to laugh rather helplessly. ‘Oh, honestly Cass!
The Wind in the Willows!
Couldn't you do better than that?'

‘Well, to be honest, it was all rather spur of the moment stuff. There was old Jenny, ringing and hammering away, and Tony couldn't find his knickers and we were dashing about, thinking up reasons why he'd come and the book was just lying there. Charlotte often comes into my bed in the mornings and I read to her for a bit. Thank goodness I'd taken the paper cover off but even so. Old Eagle Eye Jenny must have been really peering. Thank God it wasn't Beatrix Potter!'

They both rocked with laughter.

‘But Cass, Tony . . . '

‘He's such a sweetie. He just popped round, you know, being friendly and the children were asleep and it was all hot and sleepy and sexy. You know the sort of afternoon. We had a little drink and, well, I'm sure you can imagine the rest.'

‘But what if Tom finds out?'

‘Well, he won't! Don't start going all dreary. Remember, it's me who's Cassandra and supposed to foretell gloom. Not you!'

Kate sighed. ‘OK. But every time I look at Tony now I shall imagine it.'

Cass topped up their glasses. ‘I found his knickers when I went to bed that night,' she said, musing. ‘All wrapped up in the sheets. Thank God Tom didn't come home unexpectedly! Now! Do tell me all about the new house and then we'll have some lunch.'

O
N HIS ARRIVAL BACK
in Gosport, Mark was delighted to find that all problems had been solved and that Kate and the twins were installed in a jolly little house in Alverstoke. His relief at not being called upon to take any of the decisions—or to do any of the work—made him quite expansive. The boat was now alongside for a maintenance period and for the remainder of the summer they were able to enjoy the social life as much as possible, given that Mark was by no means a social animal and
always made some difficulty or other about every event. Kate met the rest of the Wardroom and persuaded Mark, after quite a round of parties, that they must give one of their own. He became very taciturn until Cass suggested that they make it a barbecue. She would lend the equipment and Tom, who cooked a mean steak, could be assistant chef.

That did the trick and Mark was able to anticipate the event without too much anxiety. It was a great success although they held it not a moment too soon for that September was the wettest for many years and there was a tremendous amount of flooding.

Kate, guided by Cass, had started to pay more attention to her appearance, which she had neglected in Devon. She let her brown curls grow longer and wore pretty cotton shift dresses, although she clung to her jeans for ordinary daily wear. Having the twins to look after kept her slender and by the time the summer was over she had almost as many admirers as Cass. Felicity, not to be outdone, had a Mary Quant haircut and wore very short miniskirts that looked well with her thin, tanned legs. With her almost black hair and eyes she was an excellent foil for Cass's tall, fair voluptuousness.

The boat was due to sail to Gothenburg just after the twins' third birthday and there was the usual end of maintenance party on board. On the way to the boat, Kate found herself puzzling as usual as to why submariners were so keen to hold parties on board. She had got used to going carefully down the gangplank—purgatory in high-heeled shoes when sober and hell after a few drinks—on to the casing of the inboard submarine, crossing by another gangplank to the next and so to the host boat. She let Mark precede her down the hatch and then climbed down herself by means of the vertical ladder which only descended so far before she had to turn to step across the hatch so as to continue down the other side. This procedure, accompanied by the threat of diesel oil—death to evening clothes—had now become part of her life and, as such, familiar.

Descending into the warm and smoky atmosphere humming with voices, Mark standing at the bottom of the ladder so that no passing sailor could look up her skirt, Kate felt the usual small thrill of anticipation.