Brave Faces

by Mary Arden

  With two of us doing the work, it took half the usual time to feed the hens, ducks and geese, and then collect the eggs. Duncan then surprised me by saying that he had seriously thought about becoming a farmer, but had decided on learning to be a forestry officer instead.

  When I took Duncan indoors to meet the Bridges, Susan told us to sit at the kitchen table, while she made a pot of tea, and within a few minutes, Ted and Duncan were chatting away like old friends. I was amazed at how much Duncan knew about trees, hedging, ditching and the conservation of land, and Ted seemed equally impressed. While we drank our tea, Duncan told Ted that he’d be more than willing to check the spinney at the bottom of the hill to see which trees needed thinning, and at the same time, he’d check both the hedges and the ditches to make sure that they were clear for the winter. Ted was delighted with Duncan’s kind offer and suggested that they take a walk around the farm together then and there.

  After I had changed into my jodhpurs and come back outside, I saw that the two men were now walking towards the spinney, so I went to the stable to saddle-up Star. I then took her for a short ride through the beautiful countryside, and when we got back, I gave her a quick brush down. When I finally got back to the farmhouse, I was surprised to find Duncan and Ted sitting at the kitchen table studying a large map of the farm and the surrounding area. I gathered from their conversation, that quite a lot of work needed doing on the farm: trees in the spinney needed thinning, the hedges required trimming and the ditches needed clearing for better drainage. Duncan suggested that he could show Bobby how to do these jobs; telling Ted that, with supervision, he was sure that Bobby would be able to manage these jobs.

  ‘I’m quite sure it won’t be all that different from what you’ve done over the years anyway,’ Duncan told him, ‘but if I can teach Bobby the way I was taught then it will be one less job for you to struggle with.’

  Ted nodded his agreement and I could see that he respected Duncan and was grateful for any help he could offer him.

  When Duncan and I rode our bicycles back towards my billet that evening, we decided to stop off at a pub for a glass of cider. After I thanked him for coming to the farm to offer his help, he said that he was going to try to book the following Wednesday afternoon off, so that he could get Bobby started, as there was a lot to teach him. He was as good as his word and turned up promptly after lunch the following Wednesday, and immediately began showing Bobby what to do. I could tell that Bobby was really enjoying being taught new skills, and when it was time to leave later that evening, I overheard Duncan tell Ted that Bobby was quite capable of doing everything he was teaching him without any problem.

  That evening we rode our bikes together side by side, and Duncan mentioned that he had found another pub, which served good food and that today’s special was beef casserole with dumplings.

  ‘There may be more dumplings than meat!’ I joked ‘but I must admit that I’m starving.’

  ‘Just as well, because I have booked a table,’ Duncan said grinning. ‘So if you’re not doing anything else this evening, Miss Arden, would you do me the honour of dining with me tonight?’

  ‘I would love to, but do you mind if we go Dutch?’ I asked, ‘I always do, even with my brother and his friends.’

  ‘No problem,’ Duncan replied.

  Actually, there was one problem. I only had half a crown in my pocket, which I always kept on me for emergencies, so I suddenly realized that I would have to borrow another shilling or two off him. Fortunately, Duncan thought this was very funny and agreed to lend me the money, but only if I let him buy the drinks.

  When we arrived at the pub, Duncan ordered us two pints of cider and the landlord said, ‘So you got the young lass to come I see: I hope she’s hungry, as the Missus has kept aside two generous portions for you both!’

  When the landlord cleared our empty plates and asked us whether we’d like some blackberry and apple crumble with cream, I said without hesitation, ‘Yes, a double portion please!’

  Duncan laughed, and told the landlord that he was far too full to have any pudding, but asked him to bring two spoons anyway. For someone who had just said that he had no room to eat anything else, he still managed to eat more crumble than I did, I noticed.

  We had another couple of drinks and then, when it was time to leave, I tried to get up to leave, and my legs nearly gave way. Duncan was obviously having similar trouble.

  ‘I think I must be a little bit drunk, but you won’t tell anybody will you?’ he whispered in my ear.

  ‘I promish,’ I slurred, and then started to giggle.

  ‘This cider is a bit stronger than I’m used to,’ Duncan admitted, ‘I think we’d better go for a bike ride to sober up before I take you back to your billet, then the effects might wear off.’

  ‘Good idea,’ I agreed, ‘thish Scrumpy makes your legs all wibbly-wobbly!’

  As we weaved along the deserted lanes Duncan sang silly ditties and I laughed until I cried, but when we eventually got near my billet, I begged him to be quiet in case a Wren Petty Officer overheard us, and we got in trouble for being drunk and disorderly. However, instead of doing as I had asked, Duncan made up a rude song about Wren Petty Officers, which made me double up with even more giggles, and I very nearly fell off my bicycle.

  ‘Please stop!’ I begged him, ‘I’ve got a stitch in my side and I’ll be sick in a minute if I laugh anymore.’

  The following evening I wrote to Jane to tell her all about Duncan, how we had met and how he made me laugh so much. I had only intended to write a paragraph but ended up writing four pages. I explained that Duncan and I were ‘just good friends’ but confessed that I was thoroughly enjoying having the company of a man once again.

  Over the next few weeks we worked on the farm together quite often and shared meals at different pubs afterwards; we also went for bike rides and talked about what we had done before we had met.

  Duncan told me that he had joined the Navy within weeks of war being declared, ‘I hardly knew the difference between port and starboard, but I found myself put in command, as a Junior Sub-Lieutenant, of a converted fishing boat and its crew. As my father drove me to Wick, right at the top of Scotland, he gave me some very useful advice, ‘just because of your education you have been fortunate to become an Officer automatically, but that doesn’t mean to say that you will have anything like the experience of the sea-faring men on board the boat that you will be in charge of. There will be men that have spent their lives at sea, so ask them for their help and get them to teach you the ropes, literally!’’

  ‘Did you take his advice?’ I asked.

  ‘Yes I did, and it was just as well, because it was pretty obvious, when I presented myself to the skipper, that he was not particularly pleased to see me, so I decided to be honest with him and confess my lack of experience at sea, and told him that I was surprised as he was to have been put in command. I then added that as far as I was concerned, he was still the boss, when it came to anything to do with his fishing boat, and he was much happier after that.’

  Duncan then told me that the skipper had asked him if he had had any experience with firearms, as they had a gun hidden in their fishing nets but none of the sailors knew how to use it, so Duncan had told him, ‘I’ve shot game and deer, but thank God, so far, no men!’ The skipper had laughed at that apparently and said, ‘That must be why you are here then!’

  The next time Duncan and I went cycling together, he asked me what my life was like before the war and I could tell that he was a bit surprised to discover what a privileged life I had led. He asked me if I was expected to marry into the aristocracy one day, so I told him all about Charles, and how I would have become an Earl’s wife, had he lived. He was very sympathetic when I told him how Charles had died, and afterwards we continued riding side by side in silence for the next few miles, until I said that I needed to stop to have a pee behind a hedge. Duncan then laughed, and yelled, ‘Me too!’

  We propped our b
ikes against a gate, and as I went behind the hedge to relieve myself, Duncan went in the other direction to find a suitable spot to have a pee. When I stood up again, I spotted what I thought must be a lame horse in the field.

  ‘Oh, Duncan, look at that poor horse, he’s hurt!’ I cried out, in distress.

  Duncan appeared immediately, still buttoning up his trouser flies and hurried to my side to see where I was pointing.

  ‘The poor thing seems to have five legs instead of four and one of them is terribly deformed,’ I said now feeling very distressed, ‘is there anything we can do?’

  ‘There’s nothing we can do for the old chap I’m afraid, Mary,’ Duncan said laughing uncontrollably, ‘I am sure that all will be well with him once he has found a mare!’

  I looked at him blankly and he then shook his head in disbelief, as it slowly dawned on him that I was genuinely distressed and was obviously totally unaware of how horses mated. Very quietly Duncan said, ‘Mary, that is not a deformed leg in the middle of the horse’s tummy you silly ninny, it’s the horse’s willy!’

  ‘What?’ I asked, ‘you mean his, his… thing?’

  Duncan nodded and after coughing in an attempt to conceal his laughter he then said, ‘Hasn’t your mother ever given you a lesson about the birds and bees?’

  ‘Well, yes sort of,’ I replied, ‘but not about horses. Why are their things so much bigger?’

  So Duncan took the next few minutes to explain why, and then when he saw the expression on my face at his graphic descriptions, he couldn’t hold back any longer and laughed until he wept.

  After Duncan had escorted me back to the Inn that evening, he told me that he might not be able to see me again for several days because his squadron was due to go back on operations fairly soon and there was intensive training to be done beforehand.

  Despite knowing that Duncan’s departure was imminent, I thought that I would at least see him the following Thursday at the musical evening, but there was no sign of him. After the concert, as I was collecting my bicycle from the rack and thinking that in future it would be wiser to take the bus now that it was getting dark earlier, I saw Duncan rushing towards me. His face was as white as a sheet.

  ‘Are you unwell, Duncan?’ I asked, quite alarmed. ‘Is something wrong?’

  ‘My squadron has been told to be ready to leave first thing in the morning, so I couldn’t come to the concert, but I didn’t want to go without saying goodbye,’ Duncan said looking deeply into my eyes.

  ‘Will you write to me, Mary, so that we can keep in touch? If you send letters to me at my parents’ address, I’ll ask them to read them to me over the phone when I reach a port. I should hate it if we lost touch; we’ve become such good friends.’

  ‘Of course, I’ll write,’ I promised, ‘often.’

  He handed me a card with his parents’ address written on it and I wrote down my parents’ address for him too, in case I was stationed somewhere else before I saw him again.

  ‘I might not be able to write as often as you Mary, as it’s impossible to do so when you’re at sea, but just remember, no news is good news,’ Duncan said and then taking my hand in his added, ‘Will you miss me, Mary?’

  I was surprised at the desperate tone in his voice and thought it might be because he was fearful about what he was about to encounter.

  ‘Of course I’ll miss you, you silly man!’ I told him sincerely.

  ‘Will you kiss me goodbye then?’ Duncan asked quietly.

  I put my hands on either side of his head and gently pulled him down to my height, so that I could kiss him on both cheeks. ‘Please don’t try and play the hero, will you Duncan?’

  ‘Don’t worry, I’m not going to take any unnecessary risks; I want to live Mary,’ Duncan said quietly. ‘Especially now that I have met you.’

  ‘Goodbye my dear, kind friend,’ I said, and as Duncan walked away, I could feel my eyes begin to fill with tears. Up to that moment, I had resolved not to get too close to anyone again, as I still felt as though I was bad luck to anyone I cared about. However, the fact was that I ‘had’ got very close to Duncan over the last few weeks, and I couldn’t bear it if I never saw him again.

  As I went to collect my bicycle, Duncan’s hat suddenly landed in my basket, and then, before I knew what was happening, I found myself in Duncan’s arms. He kissed me softly at first, and then with more passion. I didn’t resist; it felt so wonderful that I didn’t want him to stop, and when eventually he did, he looked deep into my eyes and said, ‘To hell with being a dear kind friend, I love you Leading Wren Arden!’ He then promptly collected his hat from my basket, and headed back to the airfield without saying another word.

  I was so surprised and breathless by what had just occurred that I was unable to move from the spot for a good few minutes, and when I finally pulled myself together and got on my bike, I realized that I was trembling like a leaf. As I slowly rode back to the Inn, I felt utterly confused: I hadn’t thought of Duncan as anything more than a friend until now, but I couldn’t deny that I had enjoyed kissing him, and it was true that I had a warm glow every time I thought of him. Had I been so busy ensuring that no man got too close to me again that perhaps I had been suppressing my true feelings? I just didn’t know, so I put off writing to Duncan for some time, as I didn’t know quite what to say to him.

  Anne then went on leave for two weeks, which meant that I was now doing four tests a day, instead of my usual two. It was exhausting work but at least it made me sleep like a baby every night, and I didn’t stay awake worrying about Duncan all the time.

  Two months later, I received a call from Commander Lewis telling me to come to his office, as Surgeon Captain Timpston was on the phone for me.

  ‘Commander Timpston don’t you mean, Sir?’

  ‘No, he’s been promoted,’ he confirmed. When I reached the Commander’s office he motioned me to the telephone on his desk and left the room.

  I picked up the receiver, ‘Good morning Surgeon Captain.’

  ‘You’ll have to call me ‘Sir’ every other word now Mary!’ he teased,’ and do everything I say.’

  ‘As if I haven’t always!’ I said, giggling down the telephone, ‘Did you ring me up for a friendly chat or are you going to promote me as well?’

  ‘I wish I could,’ Daddy-T replied, ‘but I’m afraid that I still haven’t managed to get your category upgraded to a commission.’

  He then went on to tell me that he wanted me to leave HMS Heron and go to another air station based in Scotland.

  ‘The name of the station is HMS Condor. It’s a very pleasant naval airbase near a pretty little town called Arbroath. I will arrange private billeting, if it’s at all possible, but I’m afraid you may have to buy yourself some winter clothes, as it’s pretty cold up there’ he warned.

  ‘When would you like me to go, Sir?’ I asked.

  ‘When did you last have any home leave?’

  ‘I haven’t taken any since I have been here, Sir,’ I told him.

  ‘In that case, I suggest you take two weeks leave before taking yourself up to Arbroath.’

  ‘Yes Sir,’ I replied, and then added cheekily, ‘If you insist Sir, Thank you Sir!’

  ‘Good girl I knew you wouldn’t make a fuss!’ he said chuckling at my insolence. ‘Now don’t forget that I’m still here if anything needs seeing to or for that matter, if you need permission to rewire the whole naval air station, should your electric kettle fuse the communications in your region!’ he added, laughing out loud.

  I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry: I wanted to laugh because I thought that there might be a possibility of seeing Duncan if he went home to Scotland on leave, but I also wanted to cry because it meant leaving all my dear friends at Heron. I told Commander Lewis about my new instructions, which he already knew about He said with true feeling but in a matter-of-fact way, ‘Well, Mary, we’ll all miss you.’

  ‘Thank you, Sir, I’ll miss you all too,’ I replied.

&n
bsp; A few days later, while I was sorting through my things, it dawned on me that I might not see the Fullers again until after the war, so I sat down and wrote Margaret a long letter thanking her for her friendship and hospitality during the summer. I told her where I was going and that I would forward the correct postal address as soon as I was settled.

  The day before my departure, I set off to see the Bridges and Bobby. It was awful having to say goodbye, I would miss them all terribly. As Susan and I hugged each other, I promised her that I’d stay in touch. I then returned to the NVT office to say a final farewell to Anne, and as I put the kettle on, she wailed, ‘What if I don’t get on with the new girl?’

  ‘Well, you’ll jolly well have to,’ I said firmly, ‘I’m sure Daddy-T will have chosen well, and I expect she won’t be as scatter-brained as I am.’

  We both cried for a while and then Anne regained her composure and said, ‘Right then, the kettle must have boiled dry by now. How about a cuppa?’

  I knew then that she would be all right.

  On the morning of my departure, I was delighted to see TNT’s car waiting for me outside the Sick Bay. We arrived at the station in good time and TNT kindly waited with me on the platform until my train was ready to leave.

  As I boarded the train TNT asked me if I would be seeing my young man again soon. Gossip obviously travels fast on this air base, I thought.

  ‘I hope so,’ I said quietly, ‘I really hope so.’

  It was bliss being at home again, and for the first few days I did nothing but talk to my parents about everything that I’d done since my last visit and spend part of each day with Kay and her children. My goddaughter Julie was now trying to walk, which was a joy to see. I also managed to visit the Derwents several times. Things had changed little for them over the year, but the boys were still alive and well, which was all that mattered.

  My parents had received very few letters from my brother Peter, who was still in Burma but William had managed to get home-leave for the weekend, and told me proudly that he was now shaving, but he was still the same giggly little brother that I loved so much.