Page 37 of A Chance in a Million
‘Well, I’m glad I never have to go through that again. For now, lead on, captain.’ She said it as a joke but then she remembered the photo in his mother’s bedroom and added a disingenuous, ‘I’m just guessing. What was your rank?’
He was already turning away as she spoke but she heard his answer, delivered in a neutral tone.
‘Right first time, I was a captain… just like you were.’
On the way up the path she mulled over the fact that he had clearly been talking to somebody or they had been talking to him about her. Did this signify simple curiosity, or maybe something more. Either way, at least he was talking.
It took half an hour of hard scrambling up what was no more than a goat track to get to the top of the hill. Just as they got there, Dino suddenly erupted into paroxysms of barking and shot off sideways into the undergrowth. David stopped so quickly that Jane almost bumped into the back of him.
‘He’s spotted a squirrel. I recognise that bark. I’d better go and find him. He’s been known to run miles following the damn things. Why don’t you wait for us here?’
Jane was happy to leave them to their squirrel hunt while she sat down on a rock and wiped the perspiration off her forehead. From up here the view was almost due north over another couple of hills towards the distant Alps with the highest peaks clad in eternal snows. On a hot day like today it was incongruous to think that the snow up there would never melt. She took a couple of photos and settled down to wait for David’s return, pulling out a bottle of water from her pack and drinking gratefully. A few minutes later she was joined by the Labrador who arrived looking jubilant, his pink tongue hanging out as he panted excitedly and did his best to climb onto her lap.
‘Hi there, Dino. Hunt over? Mr Squirrel got away, right?’ She fended him off gently and then glanced around for any sign of his master and, not seeing or hearing him, she raised her voice and called out. ‘David, he’s come back. Dino’s here.’
She had to repeat herself in her parade ground voice before there was a distant shout in response, and then a good five minutes later he reappeared.
‘Bloody dog. He’s got a real fixation with squirrels.’ He wagged his finger at the Labrador and adopted a stern tone. ‘No more running after squirrels, right?’
The dog, unrepentant, jumped up at him to be petted and then settled down alongside them both as his master pointed to a clearing in the trees below them in the next valley.
‘That’s the place. I don’t know much about it except that there used to be a pool with a hot spring alongside it. The locals say the Romans built the pool but there’s no way of knowing now. There are all sorts of legends about the waters having healing properties but when we were kids we often used to come over here for a swim and I didn’t notice anything special.’
‘It would be great if it really did have the ability to heal.’ She very nearly added ‘both of us’ but decided that would sound too personal.
He glanced across at her and for a moment she had the feeling he might be thinking the same thing, but he, too, didn’t comment. ‘The main reason we kids came here was that the water was a damn sight warmer than our lake. Shall we go?’
Jane got up and together they made their way down through the dense forest. The vestigial path they had been following had disappeared and they were soon clambering over fallen trees and between mossy boulders as they headed for the ruins. It was hard work but it was fun and she felt that selfsame lightening in her mood she had felt back on top of Monte Venda. There was something so wonderful about being able to get back to nature, far away from modern civilisation with all its horrors. Scrambling down the hillside, she found herself wondering if David felt the same way and whether his newfound communicativeness would mark the beginning of his return to the happy outgoing man he allegedly used to be. She hoped so for his sake. And maybe for hers too.
The hot spring looked far from attractive. It was surrounded by stinging nettles and a chaos of brambles, and it was a struggle to get close enough for her to dip her fingers in the water. It wasn’t hot by any means but, as he had said, it was definitely warmer than the lake. A dead rat floating in the water didn’t add to its attraction so she hastily shelved the idea she had been harbouring of splashing the water all over her face or even sipping a mouthful. Salmonella or worse definitely wouldn’t help her return to health and happiness.
They retraced their steps out of the brambles and she sat down on a boulder for a rest while he wandered off, leaving the dog sprawled at her feet, tongue hanging out. As he revived his childhood memories, she watched his athletic figure moving about in the undergrowth and was unable suppress the feeling of attraction this produced in her. There could be no doubt about it: something was happening to her and, although puzzling, it wasn’t necessarily bad.
David took a few photos and by the time he sat down alongside her, she could sense he was still in his more communicative mood. She was about to capitalise on this to see if she could get him talking about himself when he pointed towards her leg, just below the line of her shorts.
‘Looks like you’ve cut yourself. Sorry, I should have warned you to wear long trousers.’
She looked down and saw a little trickle of drying blood on her thigh. Removing a tissue from her pocket, she dabbed away the blood and was quick to reassure him with a smile.
‘It’s just a scratch. Probably those brambles.’ What he said next wiped the smile off her face in an instant.
‘It’s certainly far less serious than that nasty scar on your thigh.’ He must have seen the shocked expression on her face and hastened to explain. ‘I’m sorry, it’s just that I noticed it that first day when we met down by the lake.’
Instinctively, she reached for the scar at the top of her leg and pressed her free hand against it, shielding it, although it was well hidden beneath her shorts. Her brain was still processing the fact that in the very few seconds she and he had been together that day at the lake he had noticed the scar and had remembered. She took a deep breath and did her best to provide an upbeat reply.
‘In a different league altogether. I wouldn’t like another one of those.’ But her afternoon of surprises didn’t end there.
‘You’re a very brave woman, Captain Reed. They don’t hand out Conspicuous Gallantry Crosses to just anybody.’
Jane was flabbergasted. ‘You know about that? I’ve hardly told a soul. But how…?’
‘Regimental records and my inquisitive nature.’ She looked up from her feet and got the distinct impression the eyes behind his sunglasses were smiling at her. ‘You gave me all the clues I needed: your regiment, the fact that you left two years ago, that leg wound and, of course, I already had your name. I read all about your career as an outstanding officer and the medal citation told me what happened in Fallujah that day. If you hadn’t defused the IED before the bomb exploded, a whole heap of people in the hospital would have lost their lives. I hope you don’t mind me being nosey. I’ve got so used to online research it just sort of happened.’
She genuinely didn’t know what to say so she burrowed in her bag for a bottle of water. The dog looked up with interest and by the time she had filled his water bowl and then swallowed some herself, a full minute had passed and she had been able to formulate a response. Although her initial reaction had been to feel almost offended that David had started digging into her background, she knew he had every right to do so and she felt sure there had been no malice in his actions. In fact it maybe indicated an unexpected interest in her. She had been readying herself to tell them all about Fallujah any day now so he had only really brought forward the inevitable. She took a deep breath before speaking.
‘Of course I don’t mind. Apart from anything else, I work for your mother and it’s only right you should all know the truth about me. In fact, now that my secret’s out in the open, it’s probably for the best. She knows I was wounded and I’ve been putting off telling her the full story because I’m still coming to terms with it myself.’
‘Listen, Jane, I haven’t said a thing to her or to anybody so it’s not out in the open. I promise to keep it to myself. Nobody needs to know a thing.’ He sounded concerned, apologetic, caring even.
