Soldier's Daughters (44 page)

Colonel Tim Lewis watched General Pemberton-Blake buckle himself into his seat on the airtrooping flight and then turn to introduce himself. He knew exactly who the general was – who didn’t? His picture was in every guardroom in the country, it was on the stairs of the MOD, along with the pictures of his predecessors. On the other hand, Tim knew the general would have no clue as to who he was. Even though he was a senior officer himself, he was still too junior to be on the general’s radar.

‘I’m Bill Pemberton-Blake.’

‘I know, General. I’m Tim Lewis, Samantha Lewis’s father.’

‘Ah, the REME officer missing with my son. They seem to be giving 1 Herts the runaround.’

Tim Lewis was confused. Yes, he’d been up since four for this hideously early flight but he couldn’t be still dreaming? Commander Land Forces’ son – a squaddie in the REME? He opened his mouth and shut it again. ‘But Sam is lost with her driver.’

The general nodded. ‘Indeed. My son.’

Tim wondered what the correct etiquette was when it came to quizzing such a high-ranking officer about why his son had failed to get into Sandhurst. He couldn’t come up with any ideas on the subject so he said, ‘Oh.’

‘Actually, I find he’s not just a driver but he’s actually a corporal in the REME. I gather your daughter is his OC LAD.’

‘Oh.’ God, he had to think of something more intelligent to say than that. The Commander Land Forces would think him a total moron if he carried on like this. ‘I’m sorry, General, but you sound as if you didn’t know your son was in the REME.’

‘No.’

The RAF staff positioned themselves in the aisle and the chief loadmaster began the announcement about emergency procedures. The two officers had both heard it countless times before but knew it was incumbent on them to set a good example to the other soldiers on the flight and so they paid attention. The announcement finished and then there was a gentle jolt as the tow truck began to push back the plane from its stand on the pan.

‘You were saying, General,’ prompted Tim.

‘Given the situation that our children are in, I suppose you ought to know why my only child is a soldier and not an officer.’

‘I… I don’t want to pry, General.’

The plane began to taxi towards the runway under its own steam.

‘I imagine, given that the BBC’s defence correspondent is out in Kenya, attached to the exercise, and given the fact that it’s unlikely that Mr Raven will fail to spot my arrival due to my connection to one of the two soldiers who are in jeopardy, this is all going to be made hideously public in a matter of days – maybe less than that. The whole sorry story of my relationship with my son is bound to come out so you might as well know it sooner rather than later.’

Tim stared at the general. This was seriously uncomfortable. Generals didn’t confide in other officers who were considerably junior to them, did they?

He was about to say to the general that he didn’t have to when the general continued. ‘My son ran away from home. Just disappeared. We had… an altercation. He was expelled from school and I was angry. Maybe in retrospect I was a bit hasty. He protested his innocence but the evidence that he’d played a part in a serious misdeed seemed overwhelming and I refused to believe him. I think I may have been wrong. Anyway, I refused to spend more money on him and said if he wanted to get A levels he’d have to go to the local college. So he upped and left. I tracked him down to begin with. He’d got a job in a bike shop and lived with a lad in the flat over it. I wasn’t thrilled but at least he had a job and a roof and I knew that to force him to return home wasn’t going to heal the rift between him and me. His mother was devastated. Luke knew what he was doing to her because I sent him a letter telling him, but he refused to back down.’

And neither would you, General, thought Tim. Like father, like son.

‘Anyway, shortly after his eighteenth birthday I had a message from his flatmate that Luke had found another job and had left the area. And that’s the last I heard about him till the OC rear party from 1 Herts knocked on my door yesterday evening and put me in the picture.’

‘I am so sorry, General.’

The general shrugged. ‘He’d always wanted to join the army. I suppose he thought that if he joined as an officer he’d be recognised and I’d find out where he was. I don’t think he wanted me to have any influence on his career, for good or ill, intended or not, which I think would have been inevitable.’

‘Certainly it would be almost impossible for that not to happen.’

‘So I suppose that’s why he dropped Pemberton and joined up, pretty much anonymously.’

‘Kids, eh?’

The general nodded. ‘So tell me about your daughter.’

‘Nothing much to tell – boarding school, uni, then Sandhurst.’

‘A model child.’

‘Pretty much.’

‘Lucky you.’

Tim knew he was lucky with Sam. Luckier than he deserved. He’d been a rotten father, he knew that now. Well, maybe not rotten, but not the best. He’d kept her at a distance, afraid to get close to her, while poor Sam had only ever tried to please him. Everything she’d ever done had been to gain his approval, he knew that too. And yet this awful situation made him realise how distant he’d been. If… when… he saw her again he’d have to tell her how proud he was of her, how glad he was she’d done so well. How much he loved her. Maybe they could both take some time off – go on holiday together. Maybe he ought to tell her how like her mother she was. He knew her gran had told her about her mother but maybe he ought to too. He reckoned there were a lot of things he ought to tell Sam. He’d been putting it off for years, waiting for the right moment. No… he’d put it off because he didn’t want to have the conversations. He was afraid that if he started to talk about her mother he’d lose control. It was cowardice that had stopped him from talking to his daughter, not tact. And now he might have missed the chance altogether.

And he couldn’t bear that thought. Not Sam as well. Not as well as his wife and son.

As Tim Lewis’s and General Sir William Pemberton-Blake’s early-morning flight was thundering down the runway at Brize Norton, Seb’s flight was touching down at Heathrow. Now all he had to do was get back to Wiltshire, but before then he wanted to speak to Maddy. He pulled his mobile out of his combat jacket pocket and pressed the buttons and prayed that not only she would be allowed to have her mobile with her in hospital but that she also had a signal.

‘Hello, Seb.’

She sounded groggy.

‘Hi, hon. I’ve landed. Am I too late? Has junior arrived yet?’

‘No, although the sister promises me it’s not too long now.’

‘Is your mum there?’

‘I sent her home to get some sleep. I think she’ll be back in a while. What time is it?’

‘Early. Very early. I’ll get to you as soon as I can.’

‘OK, hon.’

Then he heard her groan and sob and then stifle a protracted yelp of pain and then the connection went. His heart went out to her. Now he had actually heard her distress his memory of the last time came thundering back. He forgot how hacked off he felt at being hauled out of the Kenyan exercise as the realisation that she was coping with labour on her own kicked in. He remembered the last time and how much pain she’d been in and the feeling of utter helplessness as he’d watched the contractions tear her body apart. Being at this distance made matters even worse. He hurried towards the immigration hall, overtaking the sleepy passengers who were stumbling along after the knackering overnight flight. He had to hope that at this hour the queues were minimal and he could get out of the airport as soon as possible. The army had pulled the stops out and had organised a car to meet him. If everything went smoothly and the Monday morning traffic behaved, he might be with Maddy in a few hours.

Andy was heading into the ops tent, a bacon sandwich in one hand and a mug of tea in the other, when he met James.

‘Just the man. I’ve been thinking,’ said James, grabbing Andy’s arm and making him slop his tea.

‘What about?’

‘Why were the sappers on the north bank of the river? Any tactical reason. Because it doesn’t make sense. I mean, logic tells me they should have been on this side.’

Andy sighed. ‘It’s all down to that journalist, Raven. He wanted to be able to access the village and get a piece involving the reaction of the villagers to the new bridge going in. Of course, the MOD press office thought it was a great idea, they reckoned it would get a load of coverage on the BBC news channel. I gather the sappers kicked up a stink about having to trek round miles to reach that spot but the brass were adamant. Why do you ask?’

‘Look, maybe I’m wrong, but supposing you knew that the engineers were building a bridge, and supposing you thought you knew where on the river it was all happening, wouldn’t logic – unless you checked properly – mean that you headed for this position…’ James stuck his finger on the map ‘…and not there?’ He moved his finger a centimetre to the other side of the river. ‘Which in turn would mean that you set out down this route…’ he traced a southerly track on the map ‘…and not this one.’ He pointed at the main supply route.

Andy stared at him, his eyes wide as he took in what James was saying. ‘Which would explain why the Land Rover is on the wrong side of the river,’ said Andy after a second or two, nodding.

‘It would. And it means that if they’re walking, my bet is that they’re going to head for the river and then the main supply route as it would offer their best chance of getting found.’

‘What about crossing the river?’

‘I don’t know. But as they haven’t reached the MSR they might have been held up by it. I’ll get onto the Air Corps and get them to run a low-level sortie along it. We’ll mobilise some troops into the area too.’

James Rosser left the tent and started walking towards the mess tent. He would dearly have liked to join in with the search party but realistically he was too far away from the area to be involved. He might as well get some breakfast and then go back to the ops tent and see how everything progressed. He had to hope that Sam and Corporal Blake were still alive.

As he crossed the scrubby ground he saw Corporal Cooper sitting on a chair in the shade of an acacia tree, her leg, heavily bandaged, resting on a crate.

‘Hello,’ he said. ‘You look like you’ve been in the wars.’

‘Hello, sir. It looks worse than it is. Well, that’s how it is now. It was nasty when I got casevaced here. The medics pumped me full of penicillin and now I’m pretty much better. No more light duties for me.’

‘That’s good.’

‘Sir?’

‘Yes?’

‘You don’t know anything about Lu… Corporal Blake and Captain Lewis, do you? Only Jack… Jack Raven… says they’ve notified their next of kin. That means it’s serious, doesn’t it?’

James nodded. ‘I’m afraid it does. But I can assure you everything possible is being done. We’ve got to hope it all turns out for the best.’ And at the moment that was all they had – hope.

Seb put his head round the door. ‘Mads?’ he whispered.

He saw his wife yawn and then open her eyes. ‘Hi, hon,’ she said sleepily. ‘You missed the main event. You’ve got a daughter.’

She looked so beautiful, he thought. Perfect. But also exhausted. Under her eyes were huge dark shadows. She’d been through a lot in the last couple of days and she hadn’t had him to help. But as always she’d got on and done it. No complaints, no retribution. She was such a star, such a great wife. How… how on earth –
why
on earth – had he ever found Michelle attractive? What had he been thinking about? As he looked at his wife, once again he was reminded that he’d made the most appalling cock-up. The conversation he’d had with Sam, back before Christmas, flashed into his head; how on earth had he ever thought he could get away with having an affair in an organisation as close-knit as the army? He’d made up his mind, back then, to do the best he could to be an ace husband, and now, seeing his beautiful wife looking so utterly wiped out, he knew he must never, ever, go back on that promise. His heart was filled with love as he bent forward and kissed her gently on the forehead. ‘It’s a girl?’

Maddy nodded. ‘Yeah. Four pounds ten ounces and with blue eyes. And I think she’s going to be a ginger.’

‘Like her mum. Great.’ He looked around the side ward. ‘Where is she?’

‘Special Care for the time being.’

Seb’s eyes widened in horror.

‘Just a precaution, to make sure she’s feeding OK – and to allow me to get some sleep. Some of us have been up all night.’

‘Yes, we have.’

They smiled at each other. Maddy reached over to her bedside locker and picked up her phone. She pressed some buttons with her thumb. ‘There you are,’ she said as she gave the mobile to Seb.

There on the screen was a picture of a very tiny bundle with a red, wrinkled, scrunched-up face.

‘She’s beautiful.’

‘There speaks a doting father. I think she will be in a day or two. Right now, I think she looks like a tortoise.’ Maddy heaved herself up in bed and winced.

‘Sore?’

‘Not too bad.’

The door to Maddy’s room opened again. Maddy saw Seb’s eyes pop as Jenna entered.

‘Oh… hello, Captain Fanshaw,’ she said. ‘Hello, sweetie,’ she said as she bent forward and gave Maddy a peck on the cheek. ‘I’ve come from SCBU. Isn’t she a honey?’

‘Jenna!’ Seb turned and stared at Maddy. ‘Jenna?’

‘Jenna has been a complete brick. She held the fort with Nate so Mum could be with me,’ said Maddy firmly. Whatever Seb thought of her friend, she wasn’t going to let him express it in front of Jenna. Not after all that Jenna had done for her.

‘But… but…’

‘Jenna’s partner is a REME sergeant with the LAD here,’ said Maddy, wondering if she ought to tell Seb to shut his mouth. He was looking spectacularly gormless.

‘You didn’t tell me,’ said Seb accusingly.

‘No. Well, I didn’t think you’d be interested.’ Maddy turned to Jenna. ‘Is Mum all right?’

‘She’s fine. Susie’s got Nathan so she can get her head down.’

Seb shook his head – thank goodness for the patch camaraderie; army wives were brilliant when it came to a problem like this, with everyone rocking in to help or lend a hand.