Until We Meet Again (27 page)

‘I’m delighted,’ said William. ‘That is, indeed, the best possible news. Tell Tilly how pleased I am, won’t you? And when I come home this evening we’ll crack open a bottle of champagne. You didn’t know, but I’ve had one hidden away since well before the beginning of the war, waiting for an occasion like this.’

When he had come away from the phone, though, and after sharing the good news with Patrick and Katy, faint alarm bells started ringing in his head. And the more he thought about the situation the louder they sounded. It seemed as though it was a question of mistaken identity; excusable enough, maybe, with the vast amount of deaths on the battlefields and the difficulties of communication. He supposed such mistakes were bound to happen from time to time. But Tommy and Dominic in the same hospital? And Tommy, as they had been told, suffering from memory loss? And then there was the fact that the two young men had always been inseparable. ‘We’re in it together,’ he remembered them saying. He was gradually putting two and two together and not liking the answer that was revealing itself to him. He could be wrong, of course, and he hoped to
God he was, but the niggling doubt in his mind would not be stilled.

His wife was on top of the world with happiness at the moment – so had he been on first hearing the news, thinking of how happy Tilly would be – and he would hate to do anything to burst her bubble of joy. But he felt it was only right that he should warn her, as carefully as he could, that there might be disturbing news coming their way. Or would it be better, he pondered, to wait until more news came through, if it ever did?

William was in a quandary, but he decided, after his thoughts had been driving him mad for over an hour, that he must go and talk to his wife. There was not too much work that day at the yard, so he left Patrick in charge, as he often did, and set off on his bicycle to his home on the opposite bay.

Faith was surprised to see him, but very pleased. ‘Hello, dear,’ she said, looking up from her office work. ‘I feel too excited to concentrate on my work today, although I must try and do so. I expect you are the same, aren’t you? Is that why you’ve come home early?’

‘Sort of,’ said William. He looked at his wife’s happy face and began to have second thoughts, but he knew it would be wrong to let her continue in a state of euphoria when there could be bad
news round the corner. And the more he thought about it, the more he felt sure that this would be the case.

‘Listen, my dear,’ he began. ‘There’s something I feel I must talk to you about. Let’s go into our room where we won’t be disturbed.’ The Moon family had their own small private room – a sitting cum dining room – for their own use. It had originally been known as the morning room, but since the house had been converted to a convalescent home it had sufficed well enough as a living room. ‘I’ll ask Hetty to take over from you in here for a little while.’ Hetty was Faith’s deputy with regard to the running of the establishment and quite often stood in for her.

‘Now, what is it, William?’ asked Faith when they were sitting together on the settee in their own little room. ‘You look rather worried, and I wouldn’t have expected you to, after the good news we’ve heard.’

‘Well, that’s part of it,’ he began. ‘I know it’s very good news about Dominic and I couldn’t be more pleased. But it’s raised a question in my mind. They’re saying he was confused with someone else; it wasn’t Dominic who was killed in action, it was…someone else. I don’t want to frighten or upset you, my darling…’ He realised, however, that he was probably about to do just
that, ‘but I can’t help feeling that it’s strange that we haven’t heard more about Tommy.’

‘He’s lost his memory, William. He can’t write until he remembers who he is, surely?’

‘No, maybe not. But it seems rather a coincidence to me that they’re in the same hospital, and we knew nothing about it till now. You remember what close friends they were, and how they said they were in it together, that they would look out for one another…?’

‘What are you saying, William?’ Faith looked at her husband in consternation. ‘You surely don’t think…?’

‘I don’t know, Faith, my love. I may be barking up the wrong tree altogether, but I’m afraid it seems to fit the facts. We were told that Tommy was suffering from memory loss, and then, out of the blue, we’re told that Dominic is alive, after all this time.’

‘You mean…that Tommy was mistaken for Dominic. They thought it was our Tommy, and all the time it was Dominic? No, I can’t believe that. They could never make such a mistake as that. I’m sure you’re wrong, William. Besides, they don’t look anything like one another.’

‘No, but they were in the same regiment, and we know they used to see one another whilst they were over there in France. Tommy told us so,
didn’t he? And mistakes do happen…’ He stopped as Faith gave a shudder and buried her head in her hands.

‘No, William, no! You’re frightening me. It can’t be true. I just can’t believe it.’

He put his arm around her, drawing her close to him, wondering now if he had made the wrong decision. She was so precious to him and he would never forgive himself if he had distressed her unnecessarily. ‘I’m sorry, my darling. As I say, I might be wrong, but I felt it would be better for you to be forewarned, just in case we receive some bad news.’

Faith did not speak for several moments. She was sitting as though in a daze, her head resting against William’s shoulder, when Hetty came into the room.

‘There’s someone to see you,’ she said, ushering a man dressed in army uniform into the room. She departed just as quickly, closing the door very quietly behind her.

‘Mr and Mrs Moon?’ said the stranger. He stepped forward to greet William, who had risen from his seat. His wife remained where she was, looking dazedly at their visitor.

‘I’m Captain Alec Johnson. I’ve come from the War Office in London,’ he said, shaking William’s outstretched hand. ‘I’m very sorry, but
I’m afraid I have some bad news for you.’

Faith gave a cry. ‘Oh no!’ She began to shake her head frantically. ‘No, no, it can’t be…’ Then, in a voice that could scarcely be heard, ‘You were right, William, weren’t you?’ she murmured.

‘Sit down,’ said William gruffly, motioning to an armchair whilst he resumed his own seat. He put his arm around his distraught wife. ‘I think we may have already guessed what you have come to tell us, Captain Johnson. Is it about our son, Thomas Moon?’

‘Yes…it is,’ replied the captain, looking down at the floor for a moment, obviously in some distress. Then he looked up at William, regarding him steadily. ‘I’m sorry, Mr Moon, Mrs Moon; we are all more sorry than we can say, but there has been a dreadful mistake. You say you have already guessed… We were given to believe that a young soldier, Second Lieutenant Dominic Fraser, had been killed in action; on a night patrol we have heard recently, just before the offensive on the Somme. But I’m very much afraid that it was a question of mistaken identity. We know now that it was your son, Thomas, who was killed, and not Dominic Fraser. May I say again how sorry we are for the error, and we all offer you our most sincere condolences.’

Faith did not speak, and at that moment she
was dry-eyed. It was William who asked, a trifle abruptly, ‘And may we ask how this happened. Have you any idea?’

‘Yes, we have,’ replied the captain. ‘Far be it from us at headquarters to want to shift the blame, but it very much seems that the question of mistaken identity was due to a mix-up caused by the young men themselves. Apparently your son, Thomas, and Dominic Fraser ended up with the wrong tunics, hence the wrong identity papers. They were friends, I believe?’

‘Yes, that’s right,’ agreed William. ‘The best of friends.’ He gave a sad smile. ‘I must say that sounds feasible. Yes, that would be typical of Tommy and Dominic. They were inseparable when they were at school together, then they were in the school training corps, and they joined up together.’

‘Yes, Dominic was like one of the family,’ added Faith. She was still managing to hold herself together and William was glad now that he had been able to forewarn her of what might be to come. ‘He was engaged to be married to our daughter, Tilly. She’s Tommy’s twin sister. And she has been believing all this time that Dominic was dead, until we heard otherwise this morning. Was it only this morning, William?’ she asked, looking rather bewildered.

‘Yes, it was, my dear,’ he answered, ‘although it seems as though we’ve lived a lifetime since then. Hearing the good news and now…this. Tilly was over the moon – as we all were – when she heard about Dominic. And now she will have to be told that she’s lost her twin brother, not her fiancé.’

‘Yes, it will be a shock, a bitter blow to her,’ said Captain Johnson. ‘I must say again how very sorry we are. That is why I felt I had to come in person to let you know. A letter or a telegram would not have been enough, under the circumstances.’

‘You’ve come all the way from London today?’ enquired William. ‘And you’re going back there tonight?’

‘Yes, I’m afraid so,’ said the captain. ‘It’s necessary sometimes, in a case such as this.’

‘Then we must offer you some refreshment before you go back,’ said Faith. ‘Some tea or coffee, at least, and a sandwich, perhaps?’ William wondered how she was managing to keep going without giving way to the grief she must be feeling. It would come later, he supposed. At the moment she must be in a sort of trance.

‘That’s very kind of you, Mrs Moon,’ said the captain. ‘I had something to eat on the train, but that would not go amiss. I have been told that you are running a convalescent home here, and
I can see what a splendid job you are doing. We are most appreciative for people like you who are helping in ways such as this. The poor lads have suffered so much over in France and Belgium. They must be truly thankful to be somewhere like this, a home from home, I should imagine.’

‘We do what we can,’ replied William. ‘At least, my wife does. I’m not really involved; I’m in a different line of work altogether. This is very much a family affair. Three of our daughters help on the auxiliary side, and Tilly – Tommy’s twin sister – is nursing here now. Would you like to have a look round, Captain Johnson, before you go? Several of the men are up and about, relaxing in the lounge, or if they’re not feeling too good they stay on the ward. I’m sure they would be pleased to see you. We take all ranks, commissioned and non-commissioned, and some are privates who were wounded soon after they enlisted. My wife insisted that we should not discriminate.’

‘That is very good to hear,’ said the captain. ‘Yes, I should certainly like to see what you are doing here, if it’s not too much trouble.’

‘I’ll get Maddy or Jessie to show you round,’ said William. ‘Our eldest daughter, Hetty, is working in the office; she’s the one who showed you in.’ He had realised that the captain was not a young man; approaching sixty, he guessed, and
too old for active service. He would, therefore, be unlikely to get the patients’ backs up, as a younger man might do, whom they would consider should be fighting on the front line as they had done. Besides, Captain Johnson seemed to be a very humane and compassionate sort of fellow.

‘And when you have been round, perhaps you might like to stay and have a meal with the men?’ Faith suggested, to William’s surprise. ‘Rather than just a cup of tea. They dine at five-thirty; quite early, but it’s more convenient for the kitchen staff. Or would it make you late for your train?’

‘I think that’s a splendid idea,’ said the captain. ‘Thank you very much indeed. I don’t know the times of the trains, but it doesn’t matter. Even if I have to travel overnight I won’t mind. I’ve become quite used to it.’ He stood up and went over to Faith. ‘I will say goodbye then, Mrs Moon, in case I don’t see you again.’ He shook her hand, smiling sadly in a way that showed he really cared. ‘I’m sorry to have been the bearer of such bad news. You are being very brave. God bless you, my dear.’

‘Thank you, Captain Johnson,’ she murmured. William was aware that she would not be able to hold herself together much longer.

‘I won’t be long, my dear,’ he said to his wife. ‘I’ll find Maddy or Jessie to take care of
Captain Johnson, then I’ll be right back.’

‘Find Tilly, will you, William?’ she said. ‘Ask her to come here. She’ll have to know as soon as possible.’ Her voice was wavering a little and he could see that her eyes were shining with threatening tears.

He nodded. ‘Yes, of course. I won’t be long, I promise.’

He found Maddy and introduced her to the captain, saying no more at that moment than that he was a visitor from the War Office and would she please show him round. Then he found Tilly, in conversation with the young man, Steve Ashton, who had turned out to be the brother of Sophie, her nursing friend from Bradford.

When they returned to their private room William was not surprised to see that Faith was weeping quietly. Tilly sat on the settee next to her and put her arm around her. ‘What is it, Mum? What’s the matter?’

It was William who answered. ‘I’m afraid, Tilly, my dear, that following the good news this morning, we have now had some very bad news. A captain from the War Office has just come to tell us; in fact Maddy is showing him round now.’

‘To tell you what? What is it?’ asked Tilly. Already the awful thought that had been there at
the back of her mind was coming to the fore. ‘Is it about…Tommy?’

‘Yes,’ said her stepfather. ‘I’m afraid it is, my dear. How did you know?’

‘I’ve been putting two and two together,’ she answered. ‘Was it Tommy that was killed…and not Dominic?’

‘Yes, I’m afraid so,’ said William. ‘We’ve heard a lot about this mistaken identity. And like you, I had already started to work it out for myself. It was Tommy and Dominic who were mistaken for one another. Apparently they were wearing the wrong battledresses…’

‘And so they had the wrong identity papers,’ concluded Tilly. She burst into tears. ‘Oh, poor poor Tommy! But how like them to cause such a mix-up,’ she murmured through her tears. ‘Oh, Mum, I’m so terribly terribly sorry. I’m glad Dominic is alive, but I wouldn’t have wanted this to happen, not for the world.’