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None of the houses close to it showed any signs of habitation, and he thought it was more than likely that this one had been chosen because it was as far away from the officers’ billets as it was geographically possible to be.
    Blackstone’s room was furnished with a camp bed, two army blankets, an oil lamp, an enamel bowl and jug, a table and two rickety chairs.
    â€˜It ain’t up to the standard of the Ritz – but then neither are you,’ Corporal Johnson said.
    â€˜Just put my bag on the bed,’ Blackstone told him.
    Johnson looked down at the carpet bag in his left hand, and a puzzled expression came to his face – as if he were suddenly asking himself how the hell it had ever got there in the first place. Then he dropped the bag on to the floor, and a cloud of dust flew into the air.
    â€˜Are all the surviving members of Lieutenant Fortesque’s platoon in St Denis?’ Blackstone asked.
    â€˜As far as I know, they are,’ Johnson replied, indifferently.
    â€˜I need to talk to them,’ Blackstone told him. ‘I’d like them brought here within the hour.’
    â€˜Would you now?’ Johnson asked. ‘Well, it can’t be done – not without Captain Huxton’s permission. And he doesn’t like making hasty decisions. Sometimes, he’ll think about them for days.’
    â€˜In other words, he’ll block me any way he can,’ Blackstone said.
    â€˜We’ll all block you any way we can,’ Johnson replied. ‘I told you before, we don’t want you here.’
    â€˜You are aware that I’m the personal representative of General Fortesque, aren’t you?’ Blackstone asked.
    â€˜I did hear something about that.’
    â€˜And that if I have to send a telegram to the General, there’ll be consequences.’
    Johnson chuckled. ‘The General’s not as powerful as you might think,’ he said. ‘Captain Carstairs will jump through hoops for him – because they’re from the same regiment. But Captain Huxton works for the Provost Marshal’s office, and he’s not quite so easily bullied. He might have to give way in the end, but he can stall for days, if he has to.’
    â€˜Ah, I see!’ Blackstone said, as if he’d suddenly realized there’d been a misunderstanding. ‘You thought the telegram that I’d send would be about Captain Huxton.’
    â€˜Wouldn’t it?’
    â€˜No, it would be about you .’
    â€˜Me?’
    â€˜That’s right. I’ll say that you haven’t been cooperating with me, and ask him to use his influence in the War Office to have you transferred from the redcaps to something a little less pleasant – say, the sanitary engineers.’
    â€˜You wouldn’t!’ Johnson gasped.
    â€˜I would,’ Blackstone countered. ‘And do you seriously think that there’s anybody in the War Office who’s prepared to stand up to a general, just to save an insignificant little corporal from spending the rest of the war shovelling shit out of cesspits?’
    â€˜I  . . . what if the captain finds out?’ Johnson asked worriedly.
    â€˜He won’t find out,’ Blackstone assured him. ‘He’s the kind of man who couldn’t find his own arsehole, even if you gave him a map.’
    â€˜But if he does find out,’ Johnson persisted, ‘you will tell him I had no choice in the matter, won’t you? You’ll say that you ordered me to bring the men to you?’
    â€˜I’ll tell him I held a gun at your head, if that’s what you want,’ Blackstone replied.

SIX
    S itting at the table in his new billet, Blackstone heard the sound of heavy footfalls in the corridor outside. Then the door was flung open, and Corporal Johnson entered the room, followed by two other redcaps, who had another man – a private – sandwiched between them.
    The prisoner – and a