Read Online A Greater World by Clare Flynn - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Clare Flynn
Tags: Historical fiction, Romance, Historical, Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction, 20th Century, Australian & Oceanian
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good?'
'Aye. It's keeping me gripped enough. And defeating a bunch of alien beings is a change from taking on the Kaiser.'
'I don't know how I'd exist without books.'
'Me neither.'
'Was the War very hard for you?'
He looked thoughtful. 'I had an easy war compared to most. Never went over the top. Had plenty of mates that did. Being a miner, they reckoned to keep me digging underground and that kept me out of the worst of it.'
'I'm sure it was still terrible for you. I can't imagine what it must have been like over there. Did you lose many friends, apart from the officer you told me about?'
'We lost nine men from our little village. That left a big hole. One of 'em was me cousin, Joe. He were me best pal.' Before she could reply he added, 'What about you? Any of your family?'
'My father was involved in planning troop movements. All done from a desk in Liverpool. I have no brothers. But I did lose someone close to me.'
'I'm sorry to hear that.'
'We were engaged to be married but he never came home.'
'Where did he die?'
'In the Ypres Salient. On the Menin Road. His name was Stephen. And do you know I can't even remember what he looked like any more. Isn't that terrible?'
'Mebbe it's how we get over things. How we're able to carry on when summat like that hits us.' As he spoke the words he wished them to be true in his own case but feared they were not.
She carried on. 'I feel guilty. You know. That I don't think about him all the time. Some days I don't even think of him at all. The time we spent together seems unreal, as if I dreamt it rather than lived it. It was another world we lived in before the war, wasn't it? It's all different now and I find it hard to be the person I was before or even to understand the person I was before. Stephen is now just a name carved on a war memorial.' She hesitated, then stretched her hands out in front of her as though appraising them. 'I stopped wearing his ring. It didn't feel right. I gave it back to his mother. It had belonged to his grandmother and I thought his mother should have it back. I don't know why I'm telling you all this. It's like I'm betraying him and yet... I don't really know who he was any more. Am I making any sense?'
He sighed. 'You are and I know exactly what you mean. The chaps I grew up with who died over there are like ghosts, like shadows. Hard to believe they existed. Even me cousin Joe. We were in the same company - signed up together. He caught it early on. Shrapnel. I didn't know it were him at first when I carried him on a stretcher, he were that cut up. But he knew it were me. He must have recognised me voice because he grabbed me hand and said me name as we was lifting him into the ambulance. Died before we got him to the hospital tent. At least I were there with him I suppose. Even though I couldn't do a bloody thing about it.' He banged his fist on his knee. 'I'm sorry. I didn't mean to swear in front of you.'
'When I think about Stephen dying, I like to think that if it wasn't instant then someone like you or some kind nurse held his hand as he died. I don't suppose that's what happened, but it makes me feel better to imagine it.'
'I know what you mean about the war changing everything.' He was gazing out at the water in front of them. 'I were engaged to be married too. We were that close afore the war. Did everything together. We'd known each other since we were bairns. But when I came back after Armistice it were different. We still got on and all. But different things were important to us. She wanted it all to be the same and I knew it couldn't be. She wanted to stay put and I wanted to see the world.' He laughed drily. 'Sounds stupid I know. Now that I'm on me way to t'other side of the world I'm not so sure I want to be.'
'What happened to her?'
He paused for a moment, weighing his words then said, 'She decided she didn't want to be married to me after all.'
'I'm sorry.'
'Don't be. We'd grown apart. She probably saw that afore I
'Aye. It's keeping me gripped enough. And defeating a bunch of alien beings is a change from taking on the Kaiser.'
'I don't know how I'd exist without books.'
'Me neither.'
'Was the War very hard for you?'
He looked thoughtful. 'I had an easy war compared to most. Never went over the top. Had plenty of mates that did. Being a miner, they reckoned to keep me digging underground and that kept me out of the worst of it.'
'I'm sure it was still terrible for you. I can't imagine what it must have been like over there. Did you lose many friends, apart from the officer you told me about?'
'We lost nine men from our little village. That left a big hole. One of 'em was me cousin, Joe. He were me best pal.' Before she could reply he added, 'What about you? Any of your family?'
'My father was involved in planning troop movements. All done from a desk in Liverpool. I have no brothers. But I did lose someone close to me.'
'I'm sorry to hear that.'
'We were engaged to be married but he never came home.'
'Where did he die?'
'In the Ypres Salient. On the Menin Road. His name was Stephen. And do you know I can't even remember what he looked like any more. Isn't that terrible?'
'Mebbe it's how we get over things. How we're able to carry on when summat like that hits us.' As he spoke the words he wished them to be true in his own case but feared they were not.
She carried on. 'I feel guilty. You know. That I don't think about him all the time. Some days I don't even think of him at all. The time we spent together seems unreal, as if I dreamt it rather than lived it. It was another world we lived in before the war, wasn't it? It's all different now and I find it hard to be the person I was before or even to understand the person I was before. Stephen is now just a name carved on a war memorial.' She hesitated, then stretched her hands out in front of her as though appraising them. 'I stopped wearing his ring. It didn't feel right. I gave it back to his mother. It had belonged to his grandmother and I thought his mother should have it back. I don't know why I'm telling you all this. It's like I'm betraying him and yet... I don't really know who he was any more. Am I making any sense?'
He sighed. 'You are and I know exactly what you mean. The chaps I grew up with who died over there are like ghosts, like shadows. Hard to believe they existed. Even me cousin Joe. We were in the same company - signed up together. He caught it early on. Shrapnel. I didn't know it were him at first when I carried him on a stretcher, he were that cut up. But he knew it were me. He must have recognised me voice because he grabbed me hand and said me name as we was lifting him into the ambulance. Died before we got him to the hospital tent. At least I were there with him I suppose. Even though I couldn't do a bloody thing about it.' He banged his fist on his knee. 'I'm sorry. I didn't mean to swear in front of you.'
'When I think about Stephen dying, I like to think that if it wasn't instant then someone like you or some kind nurse held his hand as he died. I don't suppose that's what happened, but it makes me feel better to imagine it.'
'I know what you mean about the war changing everything.' He was gazing out at the water in front of them. 'I were engaged to be married too. We were that close afore the war. Did everything together. We'd known each other since we were bairns. But when I came back after Armistice it were different. We still got on and all. But different things were important to us. She wanted it all to be the same and I knew it couldn't be. She wanted to stay put and I wanted to see the world.' He laughed drily. 'Sounds stupid I know. Now that I'm on me way to t'other side of the world I'm not so sure I want to be.'
'What happened to her?'
He paused for a moment, weighing his words then said, 'She decided she didn't want to be married to me after all.'
'I'm sorry.'
'Don't be. We'd grown apart. She probably saw that afore I
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