Bomber Overhead

by Graveyard Greg

  Chapter 11

  After Mrs. Lewis had made certain he was all right and that he'd be able to get home, she gave him a second piece of cake to eat as he walked. "You look a bit on the skinny side," she told him.

  The road back to his billet and temporary home led past the bottom of the woods. He worried that Thorne would be waiting along the way, but there was no sign of him. He did, however, meet Gordon.

  Gordon must have been hiding in the woods, because he came up behind Jeffery. "Wait, Jeffery," he called.

  Knowing the voice and expecting the worst, Jeffery stopped and turned. Gordon was alone and looked worried.

  "Are you OK, Jeffery?" He wanted to know.

  "No," Jeffery snapped. "My neck hurts, my eye's black, and my clothes are torn and dirty. Is that OK?"

  Gordon moved ahead and then walked backwards, a few steps ahead of him and beckoned. "Let's get home. What you going to tell Mum?"

  With a shrug Jeffery kept walking, staring angrily at Gordon. "Don't know yet, do I?"

  Gordon turned and dropped back alongside Jeffery. "She'll beat the daylight out of me if you tell. You've seen her when she gets angry."

  Indeed he had, and at those times he'd actually felt sorry for Gordon. It never happened when her husband was around, but every so often, when she was in a bad mood, Mrs. Burnett grabbed the bamboo cane she kept handy for the purpose and whipped her son. The usual routine would be to corner him and start whacking with the cane and screaming at the top of her voice. Mrs. Burnett's voice at those times was always hoarse and quite difficult to understand and Jeffery was never able to fathom a reason for the beatings.

  One time in her rage she'd turned to him and screamed, "Do you want some, too? There's lots here," before returning to the attack on her son who wouldn't try to run but just stand his ground and plead for her to stop.

  "Serve you right if she did beat you. You should have stopped him."

  Gordon shook his head. "I couldn't. You don't understand. He's crazy. I never know what he's going to do."

  "So, you was going to let him go ahead and strangle me. You was with him. They'd have sent you away, too, if he'd killed me. And right it would be."

  Gordon stuffed his hands in his pockets and, head down, shuffled along beside Jeffery until they reached home. They entered through the kitchen where Mrs. Burnett was preparing the evening meal. She stopped, speechless for a moment and then threw up her hands.

  "What have you been up to, Jeffery Frazer? You're dirty and where did you get that black eye?"

  Jeffery's eye had started to hurt worse; his throat felt sore and when he answered the words came out almost as a croak. "Three boys attacked me."

  "What three boys? Where?"

  Gordon had circled around and now stood behind his mother. Jeffery glanced at him before answering. "Never seen them before. I think they maybe came up from Rucksford."

  "Well, what would Rucksford boys be doing up here?"

  "Don't know. I went up to see Arthur, but Colonel Bartleby had taken some of them on an outing, so I went for a walk in the Bluebell Woods." He put a hand up to his eye. "Then, when I came out on the road at the bottom, they were there and they started pushing me around."

  From there on he mostly told the truth, interrupted now and then by a question or remark from Mrs. Burnett until at the end of his story she said, "Well I suppose boys will be boys and you must have done something to annoy them. You evacuees have all sorts of irritating ways with you." She seemed suddenly to remember her son and swung to look at him. He lowered his eyes to look at the floor. She turned back to Jeffery. "And where was Gordon all this time?"

  "Don't know. I met him on my way home."

  "Oh, did you?" she said. "And where had he been?" She turned her attention back to her son.

  "I went down to the river to see if the fish were jumping. Thought I might go fishing tomorrow, if the weather's nice." Gordon said.

  "That's hardly likely, fish jumping at this time of year. Never mind. Jeffery, go and change and bring me those dirty clothes and that jacket. I'll have to mend it before church tomorrow."

  Feeling themselves dismissed the two of them left the kitchen and went upstairs. At the top Gordon whispered, "Thanks."