by Fiona Field
After a couple of minutes Jack returned. ‘There’s no blood and no bodies.’
The shock of the word ‘bodies’ was enough to send Immi over the edge. She began to sob.
‘Shh,’ said Jack, giving her a hug.
As Immi sniffled and blew her nose the two pilots began to examine the scene, trying to work out what had happened.
‘There’s no spare, for a start,’ one noticed.
‘And they’ve got a flat. Maybe this was the second blow-out so they decided to try and walk.’
‘But why were they here? They’re miles off course. It doesn’t make sense. And why didn’t they stay here with the water? You’d never leave your water behind out here.’
The co-pilot went back to the chopper and radioed back the news that they’d found the missing vehicle but no one was around.
‘Surely they’d have stayed here if it had been a breakdown,’ said Jack. ‘Everyone knows that’s the best course of action.’ He began poking around the supplies and baggage in the rear of the vehicle.
‘No rifle,’ said Jack.
‘Stands to reason they’d take it,’ said one of the pilots.
‘Well, someone did,’ said Jack. He pointed to a hole in the back of the driver’s seat. ‘Looks like a bullet made that.’
‘Now, are you sure you’ve got everything?’ asked Jenna as Maddy was helped out to the ambulance. Jenna jiggled Nathan on her hip to stop him from grizzling.
Maddy nodded. ‘And if I haven’t I’m sure someone will be kind enough to bring it over to the hospital. Anyway, I’m not worried about that – are you going to be OK with Nathan?’
‘I’ll be fine. And Susie’s coming back early to lend a hand too. Between us we’ll be fine till your mum pitches up. Stop worrying about things this end and concentrate on yourself.’
Maddy nodded. ‘I wish…’
Jenna knew exactly what Maddy was wishing. ‘Yeah, but he’s not. Although old Milward has promised he’ll send a signal to Kenya to get Seb back as soon as possible. You never know, given how slowly things are going at the moment, he might be back before junior puts in an appearance. I know I’m no expert but I remember my mum’s labour and I remember it being a bit more… well… urgent. On the plus side, your mum’ll certainly be here in time to hold your hand.’
Maddy nodded. ‘I suppose.’
Jenna handed the overnight bag to the ambulance driver, who stowed it by the stretcher in the back as he strapped Maddy in safely. ‘Seb’ll be here as soon as he can,’ said Jenna. ‘It’s not his fault the baby has no sense of time-keeping and wants to pitch up early.’
‘No,’ said Maddy, ‘but I can’t help wondering whether the baby’s decision to arrive wasn’t brought on by You Know Who.’
Jenna shrugged. The thought had crossed her mind too and it was another reason to hate Michelle – as if there weren’t enough already.
‘All set?’ said the ambulance driver.
Jenna held up a squirming Nathan to get a last kiss from his mum for a day or so, before the doors shut and she was on her way, leaving Jenna to deal with a suddenly bawling toddler.
As the ambulance drew away Jenna gave up trying to control Nathan in her arms and laid the kid down on the pavement before she dropped him. There Nathan lay on his back, drummed his heels and screamed. Jenna decided that there was little she could do to console him and it would be best for him to calm down in his own time.
‘You’ve got some nerve,’ said a voice behind her.
Jenna spun round and instantly recognised the new arrival on the scene. ‘Major Milward – how nice,’ she lied. Their previous encounters, back at the old posting, when she’d been having a bit of a fling behind her then-husband’s back, had been more than a little tricky.
‘So what are you doing here?’ said Milward. ‘I wouldn’t have thought that even you would have the brass neck to show your face on the 1 Herts married patch.’
God, thought Jenna, he was still a pompous twat. ‘Maddy asked me to look after her son.’
‘Maddy did what?’
‘You heard.’
‘Doesn’t look as if you’re doing much of a job.’
‘And you know all about coping with toddler tantrums, do you?’
‘And you do?’
‘Yes. I may not have kids of my own but I’ve looked after enough to know what’s what.’
‘So why did she ask you?’
‘Because we’re friends, because I’m available, because I’m good with kids.’ Milward stared at her. ‘So,’ continued Jenna, refusing to feel intimidated by him, ‘have you got hold of her old man yet?’
‘I’ve sent the signal requesting his immediate return, yes.’
‘Good. So how long’s it likely to take?’
Milward shook his head. ‘No idea.’
‘Good job we’ve organised her mum to come down, then.’
‘She’ll take over the childcare, I trust.’
‘She’s going to be with Maddy to start with. Maddy needs her more than I do.’ She stared at Milward. ‘I do know what I’m doing, you know.’
Milward responded with a disbelieving look. ‘I can’t believe Captain Fanshaw would approve.’
‘Like I care. I’m doing this for Maddy, not him.’ Certainly not, given what she knew about Seb. She picked up the still-sobbing child. ‘Look, this is none of my business…’
‘So why do you think I’d be interested?’
‘Because it concerns Maddy Fanshaw.’
‘Then shouldn’t it be her telling me… whatever this is about?’
‘I know but—’
‘But nothing.’
‘But she’s not in a position to tell you anything right now, is she?’
Milward sighed. ‘So?’
‘So yesterday a serving female officer came to her quarter and made all sorts of allegations regarding her husband. She was really nasty.’
‘What sort of allegations?’
‘That’s he’s having an affair with her.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ blustered Milward. ‘As if an officer like Seb would behave like that. And as for a female officer behaving as you’re alleging…’ He turned to go.
‘I was there,’ snapped Jenna. ‘I witnessed the whole thing.’
Milward turned back and stared at her, apparently weighing up her credibility. Jenna looked him right back in the eye. ‘This woman said that Maddy’s marriage to Seb was over because she’s having an affair with him.’
‘And is she?’
‘How the fu… how am I to know? Or Maddy, for that matter. All Maddy and I know is what this woman said. She got nasty so I threw her out. It was a bit of a catfight but I won.’
Milward’s eyes boggled.
‘Anyway,’ continued Jenna, ‘I made Maddy promise to tell you this on Monday because I don’t think this other woman is the full shilling and she needs to be stopped. She’s obviously a nut-job and suppose she did a number with a petrol bomb or something.’ Jenna saw Milward’s incredulous expression. ‘Well, things like that happen. I read about a case like that only the other day.’ A jilted lover’s revenge on her ex’s family and the tragic consequences had been all over the media only a few days before and Jenna could tell from the look on Milward’s face that he knew about that news story too.
He nodded. ‘True. So who is she – this other woman?’
‘She’s called Michelle and apparently she’s a friend of Sam Lewis’s. Given that Captain Lewis has only just been commissioned I’d bet a pound to a penny they were at Sandhurst together. The thing is, though, neither Mads nor I know whether what this Michelle woman is saying is true or not so, whatever you do, you’ve got to be really discreet. Get someone to read the riot act to her about pitching up at Maddy’s but don’t let on about the affair, understand? The last thing Mads’ll want is the whole army knowing about this.’
‘This is all most irregular.’
‘Irregular or not, I want you to sort this out, get
it stopped. Trust me, if you don’t and something happens to Maddy… well, you’ll have me to answer to and it won’t be pretty.’
30
Seb was still having a problem believing everything that the CO had told him. That Maddy had been whisked into Salisbury Hospital, her mother had been informed and a family friend was looking after Nathan and it was all happening six weeks early.
He rammed a few more items into his Bergen, his emotions in an equally sorry state as his packing. He had been looking forward to this exercise and now he was going to miss it and, by the looks of things, the birth of his second child. He wasn’t sure which was causing the greater disappointment.
Beside his tent was a Land Rover and driver, waiting to take him to Nairobi airport to wait for the next available flight. If he was lucky he might get shoved onto a scheduled flight to the UK; if not he’d have to wait for the next airtrooping one, whenever that was due in. Seb had to hope that his luck was in, otherwise he might have to wait at BATUK for ages. And how dull would that be? While everyone else was enjoying the fun of live-firing and thundering around the bush, he’d be stuck in a camp in the arse-end of Nairobi, missing the fun and the birth. Bollocks.
Andy Bailey returned to the command vehicle and his CO.
‘The good news is that the RMP have confirmed that the missing Land Rover the Army Air Corps found is definitely the right one. But the bad news is there’s no sign of Blake and Lewis. I can only think that poachers stole the Rover and drove it till it broke down or ran out of fuel. The question is – are Blake and Lewis with the poachers, or were they abandoned in the bush?’
‘Or…’ said the colonel with a significant look.
Andy nodded. He really didn’t want to think about the other, awful possibility. Poachers in Kenya had a bad reputation for being ruthless but they had to hope that even they wouldn’t resort to cold-blooded murder.
Colonel Notley sighed. ‘We can’t leave it any longer. We’re going to have to start notifying the next of kin. It’s coming up for twenty-four hours that this pair have been missing – their folks have a right to be put in the picture. Get the chief clerk to contact the rear party and get the wheels put in motion. We can’t possibly afford to cut any corners here – especially as Raven knows exactly what’s going on. Why the hell he had to be in that bloody helicopter when that vehicle was found…’ The CO stopped and shook his head. ‘If he puts the wrong spin on that story, my career…’
Andy bit his tongue. Wasn’t the safety of Lewis and Blake a million times more important than Notley’s next promotion? Instead, all he said was, ‘I’ll get onto it.’
‘And get back to me as soon as you hear back from Milward.’
‘Sir. Let’s hope he’s not too busy holding Maddy Fanshaw’s hand to find the next of kin.’
Colonel Notley snorted. ‘God, I hope not. Mind you, I should think that Milward’s the last person young Maddy wants faffing around her if she’s about to give birth. Any news on that front, by the way?’
‘Seb’s reached BATUK. They think they can get him on this evening’s flight to Heathrow – apparently there’s one going out with a few spare seats. As for Maddy… not a dicky-bird, I’m afraid.’
‘I’ll get a message through to Mrs N. to ring the hospital in the morning,’ said the CO. ‘I gather Maddy’s mother is on her way to be with her daughter, so that’s something.’
Andy nodded. ‘Right, Colonel, I’ll get onto the UK and get the next of kin sorted.’ He left the colonel feeling stressed. Talk about never raining but pouring. As if he didn’t have enough to contend with with this bloody exercise and the theoretical, tactical problems the directing staff threw at them to test the battalion, without the real-life stuff to do with missing troops and a wife in premature labour. Still, if you can’t stand the heat…
He found the duty signals officer and organised a signal back to the rear party at battalion HQ. Andy had to hope that in both cases the next of kin were going to be easy to get hold of. The sooner they got the news, the sooner the MOD press office could let Raven off the leash and let him report the story he was dying to get on the airwaves and the less time he’d have thinking up some spin to put on it.
‘Daddy,’ said Michelle, letting her father into the officers’ mess. ‘Good to see you. Good journey?’
‘Average,’ came his brusque reply. They kissed each other on the cheek, awkwardly and stiffly. ‘How’s life here?’
‘All right,’ said Michelle.
Her father stood back and appraised her. ‘You’re looking peaky.’
‘Really? Can’t think why,’ she lied, slickly. Her sleepless nights and obsession with a married man were no concern of her father’s.
‘Hmm.’ He didn’t sound convinced. ‘You ought to get out more. Take up a sport. It’s not healthy, hanging around the mess all the time.’
‘I don’t. Normally I’m very busy.’ She changed the subject and looked at the holdall at her father’s feet. ‘Is this all your luggage?’
He nodded.
‘I’ll show you to your room, then.’
She led the way to the stairs. ‘I’m afraid there wasn’t a major’s suite available for you but I guessed that as it was just for one night you’d be all right in a junior officer’s room.’
‘That’s fine.’
‘So you’re just along the corridor from me.’
‘Grand.’
Michelle led him to the door of his room and pushed it open. The room was bland and boring with standard issue furniture: a large wardrobe; a dressing table; a bureau and a single bed. In the corner was a cubby hole with a basin in it. From what she’d learned about the army in her short time in it, single accommodation for officers had barely changed since Wellington had stopped being the GOC. Her father would probably be right at home and have happy memories of when he himself had been a junior officer.
‘This is fine, just fine.’
‘Good. I’ll leave you to unpack and sort out. I’ll give you a knock on the door in about an hour and we can go and find some tea. Oh, and the bathrooms are down the corridor on the left and the loos are opposite.’
‘I’ll find them.’
Michelle turned to go back to her own room and was surprised to see the duty officer heading her way.
‘Michelle,’ he said.
‘Yes.’
‘Can I have a word?’
‘Of course.’
‘In private.’
Michelle felt a jab of fear. This didn’t sound like one of her recruits having a problem – this sound altogether something more personal. Shit, that stupid Maddy-cow hadn’t bleated about her visit? What a tart.
Michelle glanced over her shoulder and saw her father watching. She gave him a smile, brimming with confidence she didn’t feel.
She ushered the duty officer into her room and shut the door. ‘Yes?’
‘There’s been a complaint about your conduct.’
‘Really?’
‘Yes.’
‘Who made it?’
The duty officer shrugged. ‘I don’t know the details. All I know is that the commandant wants to see you.’
‘Today?’
‘Now. And I think number two dress might be appropriate.’
Michelle suddenly felt very sick indeed. Another thought swept through her mind – what if her father found out?
Sam was beginning to feel light-headed – the combination of lack of food and water and the heat, she supposed. She wondered how long they could keep going. What was the Foreign Legion’s motto? March or Die, that was it. They had a point. She concentrated on not licking her lips, not that she had anything to ‘lick’ with. She wondered how dehydrated she was. One thing she knew was that she hadn’t had a pee for over twelve hours now; she didn’t think that was good and there was a part of her that wished she knew how dodgy it was. But maybe it was as well she didn’t.
She also wished she knew how far they’d walked. To distract her from the misery and t
he heat she tried to work it out: guessing they might have been moving at a mile and a half an hour, knocking off the hours they’d stopped to rest properly, the minutes they’d stopped for breaks… A mile and a half an hour seemed horribly slow but the reality was that picking a path through the scrub was tricky and the heat was such that even dragging one foot in front of the other was exhausting. And, as Luke had pointed out, to move faster was to risk sweating even more and they couldn’t afford to do that. The pace he set was the one he reckoned was optimum – it kept them going but used the least energy and would probably result in the least amount of fluid lost through perspiration. Sam trusted him; after all, he’d been here before. Maybe the SAS could yomp it in double quick time but both she and Luke knew that if they over-exerted themselves they’d wind up with heat exhaustion. Better slow and steady than fast and dead. She totted up the hours and the miles and reckoned that the most they could have covered would have been about twenty miles – still nowhere near the river and then they had to find the crossing place. Luke reckoned they’d be able to ford it if they didn’t. And if they couldn’t?
She glanced at her watch and saw it was gone five: not long now till sunset and relief from the blazing sun. The shadows were stretching long and the edge had come off the temperature but it still had to be up in the high thirties or even the low forties. Moreover, at sunset they would allow themselves another break and another sip of water; the second mouthful they’d each allowed themselves since they’d given up trying to sleep and set off again, trudging through the bush, keeping the sun over their left shoulders and hoping that this meant they were heading roughly north. They didn’t have the energy or resources to afford mistakes – like trekking the wrong way. As it was, they both knew that it was going to be a close-run thing to get to the main supply route before the water ran out – even if they didn’t make any errors.
They hadn’t discussed their precarious situation but they’d each observed the other taking smaller and smaller sips, trying to eke out their water as much as possible. Setting out before dusk wasn’t part of the original plan. That had been to only move after dark when the temperature would be a shade lower but, as Luke had argued, they were sweating buckets lying in the shade, not going anywhere. With a fair amount of logic he’d pointed out that they might as well move and sweat as lie still and sweat and Sam had been too knackered and hot to argue.