‘It’s going to be hard. We could talk about it. What happened out there.’
‘No. I’m talking to a guy called Brendan. He saw service too. The things I saw don’t go with home furnishings and babies. He said seven point six in a thousand get this.’
‘So you’re not a freak.’
He looked up.
‘Or you could be the point six,’ she said. ‘Not totally shot to pieces, but nearly.’ The silence fell again. ‘Do you want to remember happier times?’ She scrolled to her albums on her phone.
‘You kept the pictures?’ he said.
‘Duh, you chump. We were happy, remember?’ she held up the screen. It was a selfie of them laughing on the water bus on the way back from Granville Island.
He traced his fingers across her face. ‘You’re still cute and beautiful.’
She stroked his hand. ‘We can trust again, Archie,’ she said. ‘Trust we’ll be happy. Not cock it up. Go slowly. Talk.’
‘Can I come home?’ he asked.
‘Soon,’ she said.
‘Soon isn’t a date in anyone’s diary.’
‘When you’ve finished your treatment. I promise.’
‘Will you bring Daniel to see me before then? When I’m released, I’ll probably end up camping out at the City of Jasmine café with Karim and hiding from Brenda.’
‘Who’s Brenda?’
‘It’s a long story.’
‘It’s not to do with that ridiculous Facebook page, is it? It’s made the local paper.’
‘Thanks. I’ve got two hundred new followers. They’re posting their success stories on my page. I’m on YouTube. I’m a guru.’
‘I can think of a different word.’
‘Don’t say it.’
‘I won’t.’ She stood up. ‘I need to go now. Margaret’s been holding the fort.’ She looked into his eyes and bent to kiss him. ‘I can see the old Archie,’ she said. Her lips pressed onto his before he could reply. ‘Don’t say anything,’ she said. ‘I’ll come back tomorrow.’
He listened to her footsteps receding along the corridor. The door at the end banged and to fill the silence he switched on the television and settled down. A photo from the space station showed a comet hurtling towards the sun, a sun so bright it shone red and black through the filter of the camera lens. It was the centre of a poppy. ‘Magnitude measurements are being reported by the Minor Planet Centre and observers using binoculars. No one knows if comet ISON will emerge unscathed from behind the sun,’ said the reporter. ‘It will be December following its perihelion before we know, and scientists may well be relying on amateurs to pick up its trail. This sun-grazer is now thought to be a travelling debris field with no solid core, leaving only a trail of questions in its wake as it passes from the field of view.’
Notes to the text
The history and events mentioned in this book span September 2013 to February 2014. To give a portrait of the time, they have been compressed to show the highly charged political atmosphere surrounding Archie at the end of his military service in September and October 2013.
Sources
Chayes, Sarah. The Punishment of Virtue. Portobello Books, London, 2006.
Davidson, Donald. Truth and Meaning. First published in Journal Synthese, 17:304–23: Springer International, 1967 (for description of theory of truth-conditional semantics).
Du Plessis, Erik. The Branded Mind. Kogan Page, London, 2011.
Earl of Rosslyn. Rosslyn Chapel. Rosslyn Chapel Trust, 1997/2012.
Goleman, Daniel. Ecological Intelligence: Knowing the Hidden Impacts of What We Buy. Allen Lane, London, 2009.
Hogg, James. The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner. Wordsworth Editions, Hertfordshire, 1997. (1824)
Hume, David. On Suicide. Essay, published posthumously c.1776.
Macy, Ed. Hellfire. Harper Press, London, 2010.
McNab, Andy. Spoken from the Front. Corgi, 2009/2010.
Shapiro, F. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing: Basic Principles, Protocols, and Procedures. Guildford Press, 2001.
Southby-Tailyour, Ewen. 3 Commando Brigade Helmand Assault. Ebury Press, UK, 2010/2011.
Glossary and notes
Ace of Spades A set of most-wanted Iraqi playing cards was compiled by the US military to help troops in the 2003 invasion of Iraq to identify coalition targets and their relative importance.
Afghan bee Incoming small arms fire that sounds like a bee.
Al-Shabaab In September 2013, Al-Shabaab were reported to have claimed responsibility for an attack on a shopping centre in Kenya. A bounty was subsequently placed on the head of Al-Shabaab’s leader, Mohammed Ahmed Abdi, by the US.
ANA Afghan National Army.
Anas al-Liby Anas Al-Liby was reported to have been taken by American forces in Tripoli, Libya.
Antabuse (disulfram) Available since 1951, reduces craving for alcohol and makes drinker nauseous if alcohol consumed. Called ‘anti-booze’ colloquially.
bam (ya) Short for ‘bampot’, meaning fool or crazy person (Glaswegian slang).
Bedroom Tax (Under-Occupancy Penalty) Unpopular and controversial 2012 austerity measure imposed by the UK government to limit housing benefits for those deemed to have a ‘spare’ bedroom.
benefits (acronyms) WCA: Work Capability Assessment; DLA: Disability Living Allowance; JSA: Job Seeker’s Allowance; Universal Credit, 2013 benefit with an upper ceiling designed both to streamline and cap benefits system.
Bergen Army rucksack; original models made at Bergen in Norway.
Bitchin’ Betty Apache helicopter’s automatic voice system said to sound like a nagging wife.
Brize Norton RAF station in Oxfordshire.
Carney, Mark Governor of the Bank of England – said of the economic recovery: ‘the glass is half full’ (reported in the Financial Times, 13.11.13).
clarty Disgusting (Scots).
dickers Army slang for look-outs during the troubles in Northern Ireland.
dinnae dis’ it Don’t show it any disrespect (slang).
Dorsey, Jack One of the founders of microblogging service Twitter. Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori ‘It is sweet and seemly to die for your country’; Horace, Odes, Book 3, No. 2, 1:13.
EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) Therapeutic treatment often used for stress, based on aspects of various complementary therapies.
Fitch Indicator A measure calculated by the Fitch global financial ratings agency (invoked here as a crisis was narrowly averted after President Obama and the Republican opposition in Congress clashed over debt levels in the US economy).
Friends of the Meadows and Bruntsfield Links, Edinburgh See www.fombl.org.uk.
Google map balloon Icon used on Google maps to show location.
Hawking, Stephen ‘The Beginning of Time’ lecture, found at: www.hawking.org.uk/the-beginning-of-time.html.
‘I’m forever blowing bubbles’ Song composed under the collective pseudonym of James Kenbrovin, which first appeared in 1918 in a Broadway musical.
ISAF International Security Assistance Force established at the Bonn Conference in December 2001 to help the Afghan Transitional Authority, and defend Kabul. ISAF’s leadership was taken over by NATO in 2003 and its mission expanded across the country (see www.isaf.nato.int/history.html).
jirga A meeting of village elders in Afghanistan.
Kajaki Dam Project Article by Heidi Vogt (see www.huffingtonpost.com, 23.3.14).
Karzai, Hamid President of Aghanistan during the period covered in this novel.
Lady Justice Hale’s ruling on duty of care/psychiatric stress Ministry of Defence: ‘Synopsis of Causation: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder’: ‘3.12. Employers generally have a “duty of care” to their employees, and in relation to PTSD this would demand that they provide a safe working environmen
t for their employees, be alert to the possibility of them developing the condition, and treat them appropriately should the condition occur. Lady Justice Hale set out sixteen propositions relating to an employer’s duty of care in her 2002 judgement on four cases of stress-related psychiatric injury.’
leakers Army slang for combatants escaping, or leaking, from a killing zone.
Marine Trial of Marine A, accused of shooting an insurgent in Afghanistan. Defence of combat stress was proposed.
O’Brien, Cardinal Keith Archbishop Emeritus of St Andrews and Edinburgh, left office in February 2013.
Ochberg, Frank MD on PTT (Post-Traumatic Therapy Work), The Counting Method; YouTube, posted 16.11.2012.
on stag British army slang for sentry duty.
Operation Herrick Codename for UK operations in Afghanistan.
Prince Albert’s ‘Great International Exhibition of Science, Industry and Arts Held on the Meadows in Edinburgh in the summer of 1886. Gate-posts were commissioned, and the whale-bone jaws of Jaw Bone Walk presented by the Zetland and Fair Isle Knitting Stand.
‘Red Ed’ In September 2013 Ed Miliband proposed a power price freeze policy, taking on the big energy companies.
Rouhani, Hassan President of Iran during the period of this novel. samsara As used here: denotes the helicopter-like seed of elm tree and other species.
Saughton fag Saughton is Edinburgh’s prison and a Saughton fag is a thin roll-up made with minimal tobacco.
Schiehallion Mountain near Glen Lyon, in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, said to be enchanted.
Schumacher, E. F. Discussion re the economist E.F.Schumacher (1911–77) and consumption: Daily Politics Show, BBC 2, 8.11.13. Schumacher wrote a collection of essays: Small is Beautiful: A Study of Economics as if People Mattered, Harper Perennial, 1989.
Shapiro, Francine American psychologist who developed EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing), a form of psychotherapy that helps patients alleviate the symptoms of trauma and other disturbing events.
Snowden, Edward US intelligence insider who leaked classified documents in June 2013.
SSRI These antidepressant medicines are slow acting but may have a faster effect on some individuals. The story assumes they were faster acting on Archie but that he often failed to take his medication.
‘Stan’/‘The Great Afghan Fuck All’ Troops’ name for Afghanistan, and the desert/empty spaces of the country.
TB Abbreviation for the Taliban.
‘The miserable have no other medicine but only hope.’ Shakespeare: Measure for Measure.
US Military Cadence Calls Used in training. The manuscript quotes one called ‘Superman’. See: Christopher Howell, YouTube, for examples.
Warrior Armoured vehicle.
‘You’re my Judy’ LGBT term of endearment referencing Judy Garland.
Quotes of interest
‘In an age of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.’ George Orwell, quoted on BBC Radio 4, Thought for the Day, 20.2.14.
Comet ISON: www.earthsky.org. Deborah Byrd wrote, ‘Comet ISON is now thought to be a traveling debris field with no solid nucleus or core.’ Blogs/Human World/Space 6.12.13.
About the author
Victoria’s first novel, A Capital Union, was published in 2013 and shortlisted for the Historical Writers’ Association Debut Crown, 2014. She is an Associate of the Museums Association and has a life-long love of history as a result of her work in museums and galleries. She has also volunteered for homeless charities and writing, therapeutic and community gardening projects. Victoria graduated from Nottingham University in Art History and German, and has an MSc in Creative Writing from Edinburgh University.
Copyright
Published by Saraband
Suite 202, 98 Woodlands Road
Glasgow, G3 6HB, Scotland
www.saraband.net
Copyright © 2015 Victoria Hendry
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without first obtaining the written permission of the copyright owner.
ISBN: 9781910192085
ebook: 9781910192092
Editor: Alison Moore
All characters and organisations in this novel should be understood to be entirely fictional, with the exception of historical or public figures, whose names have been kept. Geographical place names have not been changed. The news events included here were reported in a variety of news media from September 2013 to February 2014, but were not critically examined by the author. The opinions expressed by the characters in the novel should not necessarily be considered to be those of the author.
The Last Tour of Archie Forbes Page 24