First Friends (17 page)

‘What shall I do?' she asked helplessly at last. ‘I need her.'

‘Oh, my dear.' The General put the mug beside her and she looked up at him. Today he looked his age and Kate's heart contracted with terror. One day all those whom she loved and needed would die and she would be left to go on alone. Interpreting her look correctly the General put his hand on her shoulder, his long fingers gripping the rounded bone.

‘Don't dwell on the inevitable,' he said and his voice was firm. It was almost an order. ‘You are stronger than you can possibly imagine and I am here. For the moment that will have to be enough.'

‘I'ear the Rectory's comin' up for sale.' Mrs Hampton put a plateful of aromatic kippers before the General and looked to see the effect her news might have.

‘I'd heard some rumours about that.' The General shook out his napkin. He rarely volunteered information related to the village although he heard a great deal from his old crony, William Hope-Latymer. ‘I don't suppose that the Tanners will be too heart-broken. It's a big place for a middle-aged couple with no children. And, of course, the church can't afford to keep it repaired and I'm sure the Rector can't afford to heat it properly. They'll probably be better off in a smaller modern place.'

‘Old Tukes' place,' nodded Mrs Hampton, making toast. ‘Very nice so I've ‘eard. Everythin' all built-in. ‘Twill be a change but does seem funny to me.'

‘Why's that?' The General attacked his kippers with relish.

‘Rector 've always lived up at the Rectory. Don't seem proper, ‘im livin' in old Tukes' place.'

The General reflected that the new house at the end of the village would probably always be known as ‘Old Tukes' Place.' Old Tukes, a solitary and unsavoury ancient, had lived in a falling-down disgusting shack on that spot for time out of mind. Now that he had been carted off to a modern hygienic institution where, no doubt, he'd be dead within months, the owner of the plot had sold it to a local builder
and in the place of the old ruin, like a Phoenix from the ashes, had risen a sparkling little modern box.

‘Times change, Mrs Hampton.' The General shook his head. ‘And not always for the better. I expect the Rector will be happy enough—happier perhaps. And we may get a young family at the Rectory who can afford to put it to rights, as it should be. It's a lovely house and it would be good to get some young blood in the village.'

‘ 'Tis funny you should say that.' Mrs Hampton busied herself with the coffee. ‘I was sayin' to my Jack only last night, what we need is a nice young family up at the Rectory, just like the General's Cassandra and all 'er little ‘uns.' Mrs Hampton sighed wistfully and peeped at the General out of the corner of her eye. ‘Twould be just the ticket.'

The General had sat bolt upright and, neglecting his toast, was staring thoughtfully at the wall opposite.

‘An' my Jack said,' continued Mrs Hampton somewhat mendaciously, Jack's actual contribution to the conversation having been a series of ‘ar's,' ‘ 'e said, “Can't be right draggin' they children from pillar to post. No settled ‘ome.”' Mrs Hampton shook her head regretfully. ‘An' that little Charlotte. ‘Ow she do love bein' 'ere. Do seem cruel, some'ow. And Kate's twins off to boardin' school next term. She's gonna miss 'em somethin' terrible. ‘Twould be lovely to my mind to see both they girls settled 'ere, close like.' She placed his coffee beside him.

‘Mrs Hampton, you're a genius,' said the General slowly. ‘This is quite the most brilliant idea!'

Mrs Hampton bridled a little at the unprecedented success of her ploy.

‘I wonder who the agent will be?' The General was almost talking to himself. ‘Perhaps William will know? I must speak to Cass. Should be able to get it for a song.'

‘ 'Tis in a terrible way, so I ‘eard,' volunteered Mrs Hampton. ‘Needs lots doin' to it.'

‘That's all right.' The General was pushing back his chair, his coffee
untasted. ‘First things first. Before we do anything else I must sound Cass out. Mustn't look as if I'm trying to take over. Now where have I put her telephone number?'

C
ASS REPLACED THE RECEIVER
and sat for a few moments staring at nothing. Her father's suggestion had come as a tremendous surprise and she needed some time to assimilate it.

It was well worth thinking about. Only recently, she and Tom had been discussing the possibility of buying a house and putting down roots. After all, schooling was likely to become a problem now. Charlotte was already on her second primary school and had made a great fuss about having to leave Meavy school and her friends to come north. She hated Helensburgh and couldn't understand the speech of the local Scottish children and Cass dreaded the next move which would probably plonk her down in Alverstoke to start all over again. Oliver would begin school in the autumn and it would be very sensible to go back to Devon and put them in Meavy school where they could stay until they started to board.

Besides, it would be lovely to have her own home. Cass gazed round the unexciting married quarter and imagined how wonderful it would be to have one's own choice of decoration and furnishings. She was beginning to realise that she could have just as much fun in a settled situation—if not more. After all, Tom would still be going away and as well as naval friends she could at last develop a circle of civilian ones, knowing that she would be staying long enough to make it worthwhile.

Of course
Dolphin
was the best base for a submariner's family to live near but now that nuclear boats were running out of Devonport there would be much more going on. And there was the usual one in three chance of Tom being based there.

She felt quite sure that he would be all for it. Her father's offer was amazingly generous but she was certain that he would not have been prepared to be quite so helpful if the Rectory hadn't happened to be half a mile from his own front gate. And that, too, in Tom's eyes
would be another advantage. There had almost been an incident a few weeks back when he'd come home unexpectedly and found Cass with another officer. Fortunately, everything had seemed quite innocent and the officer had been very quick with an excellent reason for being there. Nevertheless, Cass had felt a tiny suspicion still dwelt in Tom's mind. To have her under her father's eye would be—to Tom—a plus factor. After nine years of quarters and hirings, a large Georgian Rectory with an acre of garden would be quite impossible to resist. And she would be near Kate. Without stopping to think any further, she reached out and picked up the telephone receiver.

‘I
T
'
S GOING TO BE
such fun,' said Kate cheerfully. ‘Lots more things to do, lots of boys to play with. You know quite a few of them already and you'll be playing rugby and football and cricket. Before you've been there five minutes it will be time to come home for the first Sunday out. And then there's exeats and half-term. With me being only ten minutes away across the moor we shall be able to make the most of every minute.'

The telephone rang and Kate picked up the receiver with relief. She felt exhausted.

‘Hello. Oh, hi, Cass. How nice to hear you. How are you?'

The twins raised their eyebrows at each other and, with one accord, rose and strolled out into the garden.

‘I'm fine.' Kate lowered her voice a little. ‘Just doing one of those confidence boosting “of course you're going to love school” chats. I think Guy will. Not so sure about Giles but they'll have each other and they know a lot of the service families with boys there . . . Oh, I know. Mount House is a super school and it's not as if I'm far away, although they're very strict about taking them out. Quite properly . . . I know we did. I tell them that but we were twelve when we went, not eight . . . Yes, I've got the “wonderful opportunity for the best education” bit to go yet. I'm not really worried about them. It's me who will be devastated . . . What? . . . I don't believe it! Oh, Cass, that would be magic . . . Is he? Oh, what a duck he is! When? . . . Oh, I see. Yes,
of course, so you'll be coming down to look over it. It's the best thing I've heard for years. How's Tom? . . . '

In the garden, Guy stooped to tie his shoelace.

‘D'you think we'll like it?' asked Giles.

‘Should think so. Charlie Blackett says it's brilliant.'

‘Yeah. I know.'

‘The Head's got a dog like Megs. He's called Winston.'

‘Matron calls him Poops.'

They began to laugh immoderately, pushing and barging into each other. They started to wrestle half-heartedly and, as suddenly, fell apart.

‘Paul says it sounds like prison. He says he'd hate not to be able to go home to his mum after school.'

‘That's ‘cos he's a sissy,' said Guy nonchalantly. ‘A mummy's boy. Anyway, his dad couldn't afford for him to go. He's jealous, that's all.'

‘Shall we get our bikes?' suggested Giles, feeling happier. ‘Mum will be hours if she's talking to Cass.'

‘M
Y DEAR GIRL, YOU
must be exhausted.' The General brought Cass a drink as she sat in her usual place in the corner of his sofa. ‘What a journey!'

‘Well, it was.' Cass sipped appreciatively. ‘I suppose that it was madness to drive all the way down but Tom's at sea and it was a heaven-sent opportunity to have a little holiday. Scotland is very beautiful but it's an awfully long way from home.'

‘It's wonderful to see you.' He sat down opposite and raised his glass to her. ‘Mrs Hampton was quite beside herself at the thought of seeing all the children.'

‘Well, I must say that if I hadn't known that she'd be here to take over I might not have brought them. Nearly ten hours on the road with three Smalls, not counting the stops, is one hell of a trip!' Cass shook her head. ‘Mind you, Charlotte would never have forgiven me if I'd left her behind. She hates Scotland and school and she misses Tom. I can't think why. Apart from those two years in Chatham, he's hardly
ever been around but, to be fair, he does spend a lot of time with her when he is. Anyway, you look wonderful! Full of beans! This really is a terrific scheme and it's awfully generous of you.'

‘Not a bit. Not a bit. Got something put by for just this sort of thing. Been waiting for the right moment. What does Tom say?'

‘He was absolutely thrilled. He says he can cope with the mortgage and he's more than happy to pull his weight getting the place to rights when he's home.'

‘Well, that's what I want to talk about.' The General put his glass on the slate hearth and felt in his pocket for his tobacco. ‘I want to make sure that the basics are right. It'll almost certainly need rewiring and replumbing. Thank God the church had the roof done when they did—about ten years ago. Heating may be a bit of a problem. It would be nice to fit proper central heating but I'll have to do my sums first. No point you and the children living there in misery. We'll go and have a look at the place tomorrow. You may hate it.'

‘I think that's most unlikely. Have you ever been inside?'

‘Once or twice. The Rector invites me up for a glass of sherry. There's a lovely drawing room and a very cosy study. Haven't seen anything else but it's quite big.'

‘Sounds like heaven.' Cass stretched luxuriously. ‘Shall we leave the Smalls with Hammy?'

‘Probably a good idea. Don't want to raise false hopes. Anyway, you can concentrate better without them.'

‘So what's been going on? What's the gossip?'

‘Well.' The General brought his mind to bear on the few local happenings that might interest her. ‘Young William got married, as you know. He was very disappointed that you couldn't make it. So was I. His father and I travelled up together. Spent the night in my club. Marvellous wedding. You won't like my saying this, my darling, but the Army does that sort of thing so much better than the Navy.'

‘How was, um, what's she called . . . Annabel, is it?'

‘That's right. Abby they call her, for some reason. Such a pity. Annabel's such a pretty name. They came down after the honeymoon
for the weekend. Seemed happy enough. Now, what else? Well, the Rector and his wife are going to be rehoused at Old Tukes' place. They're thrilled at the idea that you may buy the Rectory. She's looking forward to showing us around tomorrow.'

‘Poor them, having to move from a beautiful Georgian house to a ghastly modern box.' Cass made a face and raised her glass. ‘I simply can't wait for tomorrow. Any chance of another one and then I might be in a fit state to crawl upstairs and organise bedtime?'

I
WISH YOU
'
D BEEN
with us. I shall have another look before I go and you simply must come then. It's a super house,' said Cass as she sat on Kate's lawn with Saul staggering around, picking daisies and dropping them into her coffee. ‘Don't do that, you beastly child.'