War Torn
Page 50
‘That’s it. That’s all there is.’
‘But . . . where we are going?’ asked Dave.
The Cowshed was suddenly still. No one moved a muscle.
‘I don’t know. We haven’t been told.’
‘Well, is it a very large compound? Is there any kind of internal map . . .?’
The boss shrugged.
‘I don’t know. It could be the size of Buckingham Palace or it could be a shepherd’s hut.’
There was a silence. Dave looked at the lads and every face stared back at him.
‘Just take all the weapons you can carry,’ he said. ‘In case it’s Buckingham Palace.’
The boss coughed. ‘One more thing. It has been very hard for the British to retain this operation. The Americans wanted to take it over and run it in their own way with their own forces. We don’t agree with their approach and feel it could be detrimental to our relationship with the Afghans. So we’re doing it, and we’re doing it our way with, apart from the Regiment, only the men we happen to have here on the ground: bussing in reinforcements is the kind of manoeuvre that might alarm the kidnappers. I need hardly tell you, then, that if things go wrong there will be a lot of international mud-slinging. Not just this company’s reputation but the reputation of the British Army is at stake.’
1 Platoon agreed in the cookhouse afterwards that they didn’t care about the reputation of the company or the British Army. They just wanted to find Martyn.
As before any major operation, everyone wanted to use the phone. Twice that evening it was double-booked and fights broke out. Jamie, who had been waiting patiently for his turn, saw that it was not going to come. He walked briskly around the perimeter a few times, trying to walk his worries about Agnieszka out of his system. He faced battle fearlessly. Only his wife could induce this sense of panic.
Finally he went back to his cot. Binns and Bacon were there, just leaving for the cookhouse.
‘Hey, Jamie, we forgot to finish your story. About the frog!’ They did a few frog impressions to remind him.
‘Ribbit, ribbit!’
‘Yeah,’ said Jamie, without smiling. ‘I know. I was never in the mood.’
‘Let’s finish it now,’ they said.
Jamie shook his head.
‘No point. I’ll be seeing Luke in a few more weeks.’
He was delving in his day sack for something.
Binns and Streaky shrugged helplessly at each other.
‘Woman trouble,’ muttered Streaky as they left. As soon as they were gone, Jamie pulled out the cellphone Agnieszka had given him. He had to communicate with her somehow. He had to tell her how much he loved her. And to make sure she knew that, however bad she was feeling, he would soon be there for her.
He switched it on, glancing constantly towards the door as it found the signal. He was about to start his message when the phone told him he had a message waiting. This surprised him. Agnieszka didn’t want him to use this mobile any more for some reason, so it was strange that she had used it herself.
He opened the message.
It said: ‘I love another man now.’
He read it again.
It still said: ‘I love another man now.’
He read it again and then again. The message was written in ice. It was freezing his hand. It was freezing his body. It was freezing his heart. If someone walked in he knew that he would be powerless to switch off the phone and to hide it. Afterwards he found the phone in the day sack. But he could not remember putting it away.
I love another man now.
Chapter Sixty-six
JENNY DROPPED VICKY OFF AT NURSERY AND THEN PUT THE BABY IN HER pram. She was trying to get herself back into shape before Dave came home and had just been given her post-op all-clear. On the days Vicky went to nursery, Jenny aimed to walk three miles a day, and walk quickly.
She liked the crisp autumn air. She liked the way the camp was sleepy on weekday mornings when all the kids were at school. She liked the way the sun shone now: brightly but not oppressively.
The fastest route to the countryside was past Agnieszka’s house and she glanced at the windows and thought she saw the Polish girl’s face there. She waved, but Agnieszka was gone.
Jenny felt uncomfortable. She should have asked Agnieszka to bring Luke in his buggy on this crisp, clear day: she was one of the few mothers who would enjoy a fast, invigorating walk. But she admitted guiltily to herself that she did not want to share her walk with her.
Agnieszka had visited Jenny just once since she came out of hospital and had seemed even more withdrawn than usual.
‘Are you OK?’ Jenny had asked her. Agnieszka replied with one of those tight little half-smiles. You never knew what she was thinking.
Jenny had spoken to Adi about it. ‘Does she ever see anyone or go out?’
‘Oh, yes, I see her around with the buggy,’ Adi had replied. ‘And, you know, you’re too busy to take care of Agnieszka. We’re all too busy.’
Adi had been unusually brisk. Jenny wondered if it was because she had also seen Agnieszka with that man. Well, if Agnieszka was having an affair, it certainly wasn’t making her any happier.
The last houses in the camp were the officers’, large with big gardens and huge, leafy old trees outside them. And then she was in the countryside. It wasn’t wild countryside. It was shared between farmers and tank drivers so the fields of sheep were crisscrossed by warnings, signs and tank guidance posts.
She walked hard and fast. There was no one around today until, when she was just about to turn for home, a runner approached her. He was moving quickly and as he neared she noticed the sweat dripping from his face before she saw that his left leg was made of metal.
‘Steve!’
He slowed, recognized her, then stopped a few metres past her. At first he couldn’t talk. He bent over, puffing and sweating.
‘Hi, Jenny. I got back last night and thought I’d . . .’ His voice disappeared inside his own breath.
‘Well, just take your time,’ she said. ‘I mean . . . I saw this bloke haring along but I never guessed it was you!’
‘I’m out of breath because I’m out of condition,’ he puffed. ‘Nothing to do with the leg.’
He stood upright then walked over to the pram and peered in.
‘She’s growing. Looks a bit like her dad, though, and that can’t be good. Got a name for her yet?’
Jenny said firmly: ‘Not until Dave’s home.’ She was trying not to peer at the strange, streamlined metal contraption that grew out of Steve’s shorts. ‘It’s amazing you’re running already!’
‘Go on, Jen, stare at it. Everyone wants to.’
She blushed. ‘It looks strong.’
‘Has to be, the hell it’s going to get from me.’
They grinned at each other.
‘It’s nice you’re home for the lads getting back,’ she said.
‘Well, with any luck I’ll be fit enough to run with them.’
‘That’s why I’m out today, too. I’m trying to get my figure back before Dave comes home.’
‘You never lost it, Jen. Unlike some people who never had it.’
She knew who he meant. For a moment she wanted to ignore this but she could not leave her friend undefended.
‘Leanne put on a lot of weight after your accident, Steve. Eating was her way of coping.’
His face changed. She watched the muscles in it rearrange themselves. Usually so big and open, he was darkening suddenly. He looked angry. He gritted his teeth and his jaw sharpened. He was even a bit scary, she thought. He had never looked that way before.
‘Yeah, well, it was a while ago now and she’s had plenty of chance to lose that weight again. But she won’t lose it sitting in front of the TV.’
‘It’s been hard for her . . .’
‘You think it hasn’t been hard for me? The easiest thing in the world is to sit around and be a couch potato but there’s no way I’m giving in to it. She shouldn’t either.’
He looked thoughtful.
‘Goals is a good word, Jen. If we give Leanne some goals that might help her . . .’
She decided to steer the conversation away from Leanne.
‘Steve, how are you going to feel when the others get back?’
His face changed again. Suddenly all the tight, angry lines loosened and he looked less sure of himself.
‘I’d sort of like to be there when the bus gets into the square. So would Ben Broom. Ryan Connor’s not ready for that yet.’
‘Oh, Steve, that’s a fantastic idea. They’ll be so pleased to see you. I know it would mean a lot to Dave.’
‘But he’ll be looking for you. Everyone will be with their family. The lads’ stuff is over for a while when we first come home.’
‘You don’t think Dave’s going to walk straight past you!’
‘Maybe it’s not the right time.’
‘But . . . how will you feel? Seeing them all get off the bus?’
Steve swallowed. Jenny watched him again. She did not remember that his face had ever had this mobility before. She had no recollection of the way emotions passed across it like clouds. Perhaps he’d just been better at hiding them. Now he looked vulnerable. His eyes were crinkling and his mouth was twisting unhappily. He looked as though he might cry.
‘Steve?’
‘I’m not sure I can handle it. Because I missed the whole fucking tour. And they’ve had all these experiences. They’ll have been changed by what happened. Even if they tell me everything, I didn’t go through it with them. I wasn’t there. So I don’t feel as though I know them like before.’
Jenny’s eyes dropped from Steve’s anguished face to the pram where the baby slept peacefully under her white blanket.
‘Steve . . . I know what you mean. Because I feel exactly the same way.’
They walked back to the camp together. When they passed the rec, they paused for a parking car.
‘Mazda MR2, very nice,’ said Steve. ‘I’ve always fancied one of them myself.’
A man got out of it and walked up the road.
‘Who’s he?’ asked Steve.
‘I don’t know,’ said Jenny. But she was sure she recognized him.
Agnieszka had seen Jenny walking and noted the way she stepped out cheerfully in the autumn sunshine. She had decided to do the same. But just putting on Luke’s coat had resulted in such howling protests that she almost gave up. He was still protesting now while she put on her own. Next there was the tedious ritual of pushing and pulling a large buggy through a small hallway. Was it worth it? Was it worth even trying to leave the house?
The bell rang. Probably Jenny, already coming back from her walk. Agnieszka didn’t want to speak to Jenny or anyone else but she opened the door, sighing and pulling the buggy out of the way.
‘Hi, Aggie.’
Her heart leaped. It soared. It was suddenly attached to a balloon, which was gaining altitude at an absurd rate. Her heart was light as a feather because it was shedding weight as it flew. The atmosphere up here was thin, her head was dizzy.
‘Ags?’
When she still could not speak he stepped inside. The door clicked shut behind him. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her and she felt herself, without hesitation, return the kiss.
‘Have you missed me?’ he asked.
She closed her eyes. She couldn’t explain to him that it had been snowing since he left, a cold, frozen winter world.
‘It’s OK,’ he said. ‘I’m back now, Ags.’
Chapter Sixty-seven
THE LADS WERE QUIET WHEN THE CONVOY LEFT THE NEXT DAY. Nobody wanted to screw up in front of the SAS men and the wagons were peppered with them.
Dave, in the front, expected them to go into the Green Zone. He had thought it very likely Martyn was held in one of the maze of compounds near the river. But instead they swung towards the desert. His heart sank as he realized they were heading back towards Jackpot. So they were returning to the camp. He’d hoped it would be dismantled by now. They were in the dusty bowl of the desert that led to Jackpot when the convoy suddenly swung left.
‘Christ!’ said Dave. ‘We’re not going to a compound. Or the camp. We’re going to the Early Rocks.’
As they drew closer he began to understand how massive the rocks were. They had looked like stark, strange shapes jutting from the desert sands in the distance but close-up they were more complex. There must be water, because bushes and small trees sprouted all around. And running around the base of the rocks was a ring of earthworks at least two metres high. So the mysterious shrine was a natural fortress.
The massive rocks towered over them as they reached the entrance to the shrine. Built around one rock as though it had grown out of the sand was a tiny gatehouse. The wagons slowed as they reached it and threw out some of the SAS men. The wagons speeded up again and the boss passed on the orders: ‘In sixty seconds we will have the rock circle very loosely surrounded. You will dismount and close in on the circle, scrambling over the bank at the base of the rocks. We don’t know exactly what we’ll find inside except probably underground tunnels and, we hope, Topaz Zero. Your job is to suppress the enemy so that our colleagues can locate him. The enemy will be positioning now. So take advantage of their confusion to debus fast and close in rapidly on the rocks.’
Dave said at once: ‘Fix bayonets, lads.’
The drivers were told to stop one hundred metres from the rocks.
‘Go closer!’ Dave ordered his driver.
‘But the boss said—’
‘Closer! You can move back when we’re all out.’
The driver screamed towards the rocks and stopped about sixty metres away.
‘Everybody out, go, go, go!’ Sol yelled at 1 Section.
The men began to rush towards the rock circle. The weight of their kit was oppressive. It bounced on their backs and their pouches rattled on their bodies. Binns, the lightweight, had been fast as a school kid. Now he was a lumbering animal, staggering and doubled over as he ran.
‘I wish I could take this fucking shit off and really run!’ he shouted to Streaky. But Streaky could not hear him over his own heaving breath.
Angus was still back at the wagon. In addition to his normal rifle, pistol, kit and ammo he had mortars and the sniper rifle too. By the time he had staggered down from the bus the others were halfway across the open ground. He knew he was carrying too much weight but wasn’t sure what to leave. He paused and, before he could decide, the wagon moved off. Shit! Now he would have to take it all. And the others had nearly reached the rocks.
Fire erupted from all around the massive circle simultaneously, in a blaze of light, noise and smoke. The men who were still in exposed positions threw themselves onto their belt buckles on the desert sand, easy targets for the enemy.
All of 1 Section had reached the shelter of one of the massive stone pillars except Angus. They looked back now and saw him.
He lay still, head down, as though he’d already been shot, thinking, Shit, shit, shit. He could feel something like rain, and knew it was rounds. The rough sand bit into his cheeks. He dared to half look up once. All round him the desert danced with bouncing rounds. He put his head back down and knew that one of the rounds must hit him. They could not all miss him. His body was rigid with expectation. He wanted to yell and shout against his helplessness.
He heard helicopters overhead.
‘Thank Christ! Where have they been?’ roared Angus on PRR.
Dave responded.
‘Don’t get excited, McCall. There’s nothing much they can do to help us, not with a hostage trapped inside.’
‘Mo
ve forward, Angry,’ shouted Sol’s voice into his ear. ‘It’s just as safe as lying there.’
‘I shouldn’t have carried so much weight,’ he moaned. He heard his own voice, whimpering a bit. He was going to die. So he might as well die courageously. The Families Officer might as well stand in his dad’s hallway and say that Angus had died a heroic death. He began to stagger to his feet but the mortars he was carrying pulled his left side down and the rest of his body with it. Ping. A round whistled just over his shoulder. Good thing he hadn’t stood up, then, or that one certainly would have got him. Except that now he was stuck here, giving the ragheads some easy target practice.