Opposite Sides (25 page)

Ellen’s face turned white
and her jaw dropped.

“
I ’ope you
didn’t encourage her in any way, sir. Me mam claims they be the
Devil’s doing but it don’t stop me dad. All that coughin’ an’
coughin’. It can’t be good for you.”

“
You won’t
tell Miss Turner, will you Ellen?”

Ellen shook her head.
That was the last thing she would divulge. The news of it would
lift the house right off from its foundations.

Hans picked up the
sandwich boxes and stacked several together but before he could put
them back on the table, Ellen took them from him.

“
I can
manage, thank you but do you think you could ’elp Mary by putting
those recordings back in their packets, sir?”

“
Certainly,
Ellen.”

He walked over to the
now-silent machine and closed the lid. As he began picking up the
records and sliding them into their paper pockets, he found himself
whistling one of the tunes. He smiled to himself and looked into
the darkness that had now embraced the lawn. The last of the
lanterns had been extinguished and as they packed away the items,
the pale silver light of the rising moon flickered between the
leaves of the surrounding trees.

“Good night, Mary. Good
night, Ellen.”

“
Good Night,
Mister Resmel.”

The rest of the words
dissolved like water bubbles into the darkness of the
night.

CHAPTER
9

The
Picnic

“
Hans, what
are you doing this afternoon?”

The telephone rang and
Ellen had handed him the hand piece. It was Anne’s voice on the
other end of the earpiece.

“
Nothing.”

He sounded a bit low in
spirits.

“
I’ve found a
great place to walk to.” The voice in his ear sounded happy and
cheerful. “I’m sure you’ll love it. It’s such a beautiful
afternoon.”

“
I don’t know
. . . ”

He had been at a loss for
someone to talk to since Heidi had gone. The chirpy voice coming
through the earpiece began to lift his spirits.

“
Look,
Gerald, I and . . ” She sounded so enthusiastic. “Come on! You’ll
love it once we’re there.”

“
But I had
thought . . .”

“
Don’t Hans.
Just come! Meet you after dinner by the back gate. Half one. Don’t
be late!”

“
I’m never
late!”

“
Bye!”

Hans replaced the
receiver and made his way in the direction of the dining
room.

Midday dinner was rushed.
Ellen and Mary had their hands full with all the chores since Heidi
had left. Hans was in a hurry. It was just gone one twenty.
Automatically, he began to stack up his plates as though he would
take them away.

“
Leave them!”
Miss Turner dropped her napkin on to her plate and prepared to
stand up. “Mary and Ellen are quite capable. You have my permission
to leave the table, Mister Resmel. Off you go.” Jan coughed and her
aunt looked directly at her from across the table. “Janine, time
for your piano practise.”

Jan’s bottom lip dropped.
She pulled a sulky face but obeyed. She would be spending the next
hour upstairs in the music room practising on the piano. She threw
Hans a special sour look, especially when she realised he was going
out with Anne and her friends. But her aunt’s word ruled and there
would be no escape for her. Jan’s aunt would be taking her usual
Sunday afternoon nap in the garden. She would have an hour or two
lying in the wicker seat under the shade of her favourite
tree.

When Hans met up with
Anne and Gerald, there was an extra person. Anne had brought
Caroline to make up a foursome.

“
Caroline
meet Hans. He’s been with us at the school. Hans,
Caroline.”

Caroline ran her fingers
through her black hair. The light caught it and made it shine like
the surface of black obsidian which was made even more attractive
by her pale flawless skin. In her left hand she held a sunhut by
its wide brim and she smiled slightly as she placed her white hand
into Hans’ as she acknowledged his greeting. In the next few
minutes, Hans learned not only that that Caroline was left handed
but that she had been staying with Anne for a couple days and
between them, the girls had made up the picnic basket.

Half an hour later, they
were eagerly making their way along one of the main walkways that
led away from the town and into the countryside, when they took the
narrower left-hand path that led up the main hill and arched around
the back of the town. They climbed over a stile and then progressed
up the hill in Indian-file, following the winding track between the
hedgerows and nettles. The narrow track skirted around the rear of
several fields before coming out onto the slope of a wide grassy
area. As they neared the top, they walked under the shady trees
that grew in small, dotted copses until the hill steepened just
below the crest. The climbing had made them all puff.

“
I found this
path myself last month.” Hans paused and breathed deeply. “Here,
take my hand, Caroline. I’ll help you up. Here, can you take this
for a while, Gerald?”

Hans handed over the
picnic hamper and took the rolled-up rug and they scrambled up the
track a little further. They discovered a clearing in the trees, a
grassy knoll to one side of where another chalky pathway
disappeared off into the distance. They found they could sit with
their backs to the bank out of the wind and still see the
surrounding landscape. They also had a good view across the
Channel. On good days, the copper-sulphate sea sparkled with
diamonds and, when the sky was clear, ships could be seen
travelling slowly in parallel directions between London and the
Atlantic Ocean. Hans knew that just beyond the far horizon line was
Europe: another chalky coast in France.

As they neared the
clearing, the long wispy grass tickled their legs and the sea
breeze blew away their words. White daisies pushed upwards with
their small faces, watching the sun move slowly across the
sky.

“
Can anyone
find a hollow where we can sit and eat?” asked Anne.

Gerald pointed out a
small, low ridge that appeared to drop away on one side.

“
There’s one!
Must be. What do think, Hans?”

Anne spread the rug out
over the shallow sloping hillside and pulled the hamper into the
centre. They gathered around like eager children and then all sat
down in unison on the rug. Gerald pulled out a silver cigarette box
from his pocket and proffered one to Hans.

“
No thanks,
not today, Gerald.”

Gerald inclined his head
away from the others and commenced to light up. A whiff of white
smoke rose from between his lips into the air.

“
Look. Can
you lot see that smoke?”

“
What, off
the end of your cigarette?” Anne asked in a surprised
tone.

“
No, silly.
Over there!” Gerald pointed out to sea. The others strained their
eyes and after a while they were able to see a faint plume of smoke
rising up into the air and drifting eastwards. “Looks as if it’s
heading out into the Atlantic.”

“
Could be a
passenger ship,” Caroline commented.

“
Agreed.
Maybe they’re going to New York.” Gerald sucked on the end of his
cigarette and began helping Anne unpack the hamper.

“
Would you
like to go there, Hans?” Caroline removed her sun hat and shook out
her jet-black hair that Anne had spent time straightening to make
it look more modern.

“
I think
that’s too far for me,” he replied. “I’m not a sailor. It was bad
enough just crossing the Channel.”

Gerald turned his head
and looked directly at Hans.

“
I don’t care
much for the water, either. I’d much rather be up there.” He
indicated with a flick of his head that he meant the
sky.

“
No good. We
can’t get to America by aeroplane just yet,” said Hans.

“
Now that the
Atlantic’s been crossed once, it won’t be that long before
aeroplanes will be doing the crossing.”

“
It’ll take
ages!” Hans exclaimed. He crossed his legs, Indian style and
gripped his ankles. “We’ll all be old by then. No. So far as I can
see, aeroplanes are only any good for short rides.”

“
Sorry, I
disagree. You wait and see, Hans. One day it will happen. And I
don’t think it will take too long, either.”

“
Well,
Gerald, if you want to get to America by air you could try one of
those dirigibles. That would be something like flying in an
aeroplane.”

“
What would
you boys like to eat?” Anne butted into the boy’s conversation.
“There’s a lot to choose: cucumber sandwiches, small meat pies,
tomato and . . .” She held up a couple of plates brimming with
picnic delicacies.

Gerald chose two and
handed the plate on to Hans.

“
Thanks. Ever
been up?”

“
Up?”

“
In an
aeroplane.”

Gerald had been
interested in aeroplanes since an uncle of his had been in the
Royal Flying Corp. Hans had noticed several large posters on
Gerald’s bedroom wall.

“
No,”
answered Hans. “And I don’t have any intention of doing
so.”

“
If God had
meant you to fly,” said Anne, “he’d have put wings on your
back.”

“
Be an angel,
Gerald, and pass me a sandwich.” Caroline laughed as she looked
intently at Gerald to see his reaction but he was far away high up
in the sky flying his aeroplane to notice what she had said. Hans
found the situation amusing.

“
What was
that? Did someone say something?” Gerald had landed. He wiped his
wind-blown fair hair out of his eyes. “One day I’ll get my wings.
Then you’ll see! I can just see Anne sitting here looking up at me
doing my loops and rolls.” Gerald stubbed out the remains of his
cigarette and picked an apple from the basket. He threw it lightly
in Anne’s direction.

“
When do I
get my sandwich?” Caroline’s question was almost a plea.

“
Sorry,
Caroline. Here.” Anne handed over the plate. “Gerald’s back out
flying again. You won’t get sense from him until he comes down to
earth again.”

“
I saw one of
those aeroplane shows last year. You know, the ones where the girls
stand on the wings.” Caroline spread out her arms and almost hit
Hans in the eye. “Ooh, sorry. I didn’t mean . . . “

“
That’s all
right. It was a near miss, not a hit.”

“
I wouldn’t
do that.” Anne handed Hans another sandwich.

“
Do what?”
asked Gerald.

“
Stand on a
wing and let you, or anybody, take me up in the sky.”

“
Especially
you,” Hans laughed.

“
Yes, I’d be
tempted to do a loop. Up and round and over we go.”

Caroline
protested.

“
Stop it,
Gerald. You’re making me feel quite sick!”

Gerald laughed wickedly
as the others held their sandwiches halfway between the mat and
their mouths.

“
Eat up and
put a lining in your stomachs.” Gerald took a large bite and
demolished half the triangular sandwich. For a while the
conversation ceased as the others followed his example. “You girl’s
have made a scrumptious lunch.” Gerald bit into his fourth sandwich
and immediately returned to his cockpit as the others helped
themselves to some fruit.

“
Can you see
France from here?” Caroline looked out across the sea.

“
I don’t
think so.” Hans scraped a bothersome piece of apple that had become
stuck between his teeth.

“
I think it’s
too far away.” Gerald had parked his bi-plane and could now rejoin
the conversation. “You can see it from Dover, though. On clear
days. If I could fly, I’d be there in an afternoon.”

“
Off you go
but you’d be by yourself,” returned Hans.

“
And after a
few more hops, I could take you to Germany.”

“
You’d still
be on your own.”

“
Will you be
going back now that you’ve finished your studies?” Anne
asked.

“
I’m not
sure.” Hans reached forwards and took another apple out of the
hamper. He rubbed it on his pullover.

“
What are you
thinking of doing in the long term?” Caroline asked. She had the
most beautiful grey-blue eyes Hans had ever seen.

“
Uncle says I
should try the diplomatic office, or something. If I did do that, I
could stay longer in England.”

“
You like it
here?” asked Caroline.

“
I do now.
It’s grown on me or I’ve grown on it.”

He shrugged his shoulders
and gave a short laugh, for as yet, he was still not a hundred
percent sure of his feelings for this country.

“
You wouldn’t
think of going into the military, like Anne’s older brothers?”
Caroline asked. Anne had once told Hans that most of the men in her
family had been in the military some time in their lives. It was
considered to be good training for a young man who might later want
to go into business. Anne’s father said it gave the men discipline
and dignity. However, since the mess of the Great War, many
middle-class people did not think the military was such a good
option any more. Hans was inclined to agree and had said he was not
enthusiastic about such a career.