Angel on my Shoulder

by Carl Leckey

  While she is reading I remember the diary retrieve it from my kit bag and return to sit alongside her.

  She makes no comment when I explain where the diary came from. I open it with the tiny key and I begin to flick through the pages “Denise I know I speak French not too badly but this is beyond me. Do you want to read it? She takes the diary looks at the first page then snaps it shut. “This diary contains the private thoughts of your Mother Adam. I would resent anyone probing into my diary without permission I think you should return it to her. As for the letter from your friend you should agree to her contacting you.”

  “Oh I don’t know Denise? I can’t forget or forgive the fact she abandoned me as a baby. You should see the way she lives in a large house wanting for nothing? While I was left in a poverty stricken orphanage treated horribly until I was adopted.” “My poor love, don’t condemn her until you know the full story she is the only family you have except for me, my sisters and all my relatives that is.” We laugh when she pronounces this. Thoughtfully Denise adds. “Family ties are precious; sometimes they are a pain especially when you are a kid fighting with your sisters over nothing. Oh! Adam. I wish my Mother was still alive I would forgive her anything. Don’t miss the opportunity to have yours back.” “Oh I don’t know.” I retort still unsure. Denise counters.

  “Alright then if you don’t want to make direct contact I have an idea. You should agree to her writing to you, but let her send the letters through your friend. That way you don’t have to disclose where you are. And Adam, I think you should send that diary back to her.” I consider her suggestions over before replying. “Ok I will take your advice my love. You are very wise for one so young.” She playfully thumps me with a cushion we wrestle and fall to the floor finishing up kissing and cuddling passionately. Although it is difficult to hold back as the feel of her body arouses me I heed the advice given to me by Louise. The first move to have the final sexual act must be made by my wife. On this occasion it does not happen but it will soon, I hope.

  When we are sitting back together again Denise produces a letter. “This was here when I arrived home I was about to show it to you when you brought up the subject of your Mother. This is the first letter delivered directly to us as man and wife. It is from Louise. There is good news and not so good news. I’ll tell you the bad news first. Father Peter is in trouble with his Bishop for assisting us to escape and for arranging our marriage. Of course it’s all to do with the Marquise. She says Father Peter could lose his position as Priest to the village, but he doesn’t appear too concerned.” I explode angrily. “Oh Hell we can’t let that happen to him because of us, how can we help?” I do hope the bad luck we experienced has not been passed on to the good Father by that cursed pendant. Although I consider it is best if I keep these thoughts to myself.

  Denise replies. “There is nothing we can do at the moment. Louise will tell us more when she arrives at the weekend.

  Now for the good news, the school holidays are near and she wonders if we would like to have Daisy staying with us during the summer? Please say yes.” I immediately agree.

  “Of course my love how could I refuse? I love the kid she will be great company for you. You will soon be fed up riding around in the truck with me everyday anyway.” She hugs me excitedly and makes another request. “The next thing is will you teach me to drive this letter has made my mind up. Daisy and I will be able visit the old man, and we can have picnics if I can drive. Of course we will have to get a bed for her. Where will we set it up, in our room or in the parlour? No she will be lonely there. Will she be alright in our room with us?” Denise is as excited as a kid herself, it’s great to see. I offer her my idea. “Why don’t you ask her when she arrives to stay? If she wants to be in the room with us then that’s alright there is plenty of room for another bed. Now let’s talk about this driving?”

  I see the opportunity to tease her.

  “We begin lessons tomorrow. But you must obey me Denise no losing your temper. No tantrums if things go wrong and you can’t cope.” Before I add anymore another cushion fight ensues.

  That night in bed I finally have my Denise completely back. We are having a good night kiss and cuddle before we go to sleep when she whispers. “Adam, make love to me please.” Oh joy!

  Denise’s recovery.

  I take Denise with me again on the truck the next day. Glorious weather is upon us as we drive through the countryside. After I have delivered the load I find a quiet area on an abandoned wartime air field and persuade Denise to sit behind the wheel, she is very nervous but soon settles down. With a little instruction I have her steering the vehicle in bottom gear around the field. She masters it quickly and we progress to changing gear. There is a problem, Denise is short and she is having trouble reaching the trucks control peddles. The first lesson over I take the truck back to the depot where I have parked the Rolls. While Denise has a chat with Harry I explain the problem to one of the fitters. He asks Denise to sit in the Rolls measures the distance between her feet and the pedals. This completed he assures me. “Leave it with us Adam I’ll have her ready by tomorrow.”

  I have parcelled and sent the diary and a covering letter to Toot, agreeing to correspond with my Mother but only via him. Enjoying the summer sunshine Denise and I decide to walk home. When we arrive Yvette is waiting impatiently with Jean to see us.

  They come up to the flat Yvette stands nervously by while Jean addresses us. “As Yvette has no Father I have to ask you and Louise as her nearest relatives. I have proposed to Yvette and she has agreed to be my wife.” He adds hastily. “That is subject to you and Louise giving us your blessing of course.”

  The request throws us, we knew they are getting closer since the incident but this is sudden. Denise hugs her sister and says. “I give you my blessing without hesitation but you will have to consult Louise as she is the eldest. I’m sure she will approve. Oh I am so happy you two have finally got together. Yvette when you are married the threat from the Marquise will be no more.” I kiss Yvette wish her well and shake hands with Jean. We settle down for a talk. Jean is about ready to test drive the smallest of the coaches. To do this we need a horse, Alec is due back at work Monday he has promised to sort this out for us. I advise Jean to carry on with the renovation of the coaches until then. We discuss the future use of the coaches. Denise comes up with the idea of using them for their own wedding. They intend to live in the flat over the stables. They have been mending and cleaning the flat when we arrived. “Right you two I have an idea I know my partner Oscar will approve. Do you think you could set up a business using the coaches for weddings etc as we visualised?” Yvette replies. “We have been discussing that very thing Marguerite reckons we could. As you know she makes wedding dresses and the business is really booming so much she has to take on another seamstress.

  She and Alec have talked about expanding into catering for weddings using the café. It will need to be modernised of course the coaches could fit in with that plan.” I consider her reply before answering. “Alright then this is what I propose. You do your homework, consult Marguerite and Alec of course if your plan makes sense and we approve. The coaches will be our wedding present to you both. We will have to come to an agreement about the premises as Oscar owns the property and I will have to investigate that aspect. I feel pretty certain there won’t be a problem letting or selling it to you. The happy couple are overjoyed with the offer.

  Thursday is not only pay day for the lads. Since Harry has taken over from Alec he has established a regular weekly meeting on that day to review our progress. Normally the three of us attend but as Alec is on holiday there is only me and Harry today. Harry gives me a report on our financial state and explains he has introduced his own style of book keeping. “According to my figures Adam you will be pleased to hear that the debt we owe to the Gastoyne bank is settled. I have a statement delivered by messenger from the Gastoyne bank. I have just opened it and I haven’t had to time to go through it in
detail.

  It seems the probate on the estate of a lady named?”

  Harry consults the papers. “A Mrs Edith Conway has been settled and Oscar has his inheritance. Phew!” Harry whistles with amazement. “Look how much has been paid into your account by Oscar?” He shoves the paper in front of my nose excitedly. “Are you aware you are a very rich man?” I respond. “I did know Mrs Conway briefly I presume the money comes to me from Mrs Conway via Oscar.” I have to smile when I remember her as the Madam running the brothel very successfully it appears. Harry explains “ I hear from you Oscar is pretty smart, he has had the probate pay the money into your account for a reason. Believe me I would have done the same thing under similar circumstances.”

  “It’s a long story I will tell you sometime. You may not believe this Harry? I’m not that worried about how much I am worth. I just want to see the company succeed. I knew we were getting close to settling with the bank. Alec made me aware of it a month or so ago. Ok Harry, arrange a meeting with them when Alec is back and we will sort it out. To be honest I will be glad to have them out of our business. I’m not too keen on them it was my partner Oscar that got us involved with them although it was necessary at the time.” He questions me concern in his voice. “Why what’s the matter with them. They appear to be very efficient to me?” I reply with a chuckle. “Oh they are ha ha, wait until you meet em.” “There is another thing we need to discuss. Billy has developed the long distance business to such an extent he is away more than he is here.

  In my estimation we need at least two more trucks maybe three to have a reserve and we will need more drivers to go with them. Two of the English lads are moving out of the billet shortly. They have found alternative accommodation with their girl friends. Another one is returning to England, he told me he has family problems. He needs to be at home to sort things out. I don’t think he will be back. But we will keep his job open for him for say a month.” “Right Harry you will have to advertise. But be careful make sure you have Alec in on the interview not that I don’t trust your judgement but we had a bad experience with a French driver. We made a decision to only hire ex army and people with recommendations from the lads. About vehicles there are some good trucks coming on the market. These army vehicles are heavy on petrol anyway. I want the fellows in the fitter shop to look at building trailers. I used a makeshift one a long while back. It worked out well. I reckon we could nearly double our carrying capacity without taking on any more drivers and using the present fleet of trucks. The drivers mightn’t like trailers they are a bugger to turn around in tight places, but of course we will give the drivers that accept them extra pay.

  Billy has given me idea as well we should think about getting hold of some self tipping trucks.

  They would be ideal for building work and delivering bulk loads to farms. Investigate it Harry and let me know if there are any suitable ones on the market.

  By the way how’s that new fellow Marcel working out in the fitters shop?” Harry beams, “He is a good choice Adam. The guy is a workaholic and he is improving every day. He has even been driving again, only around the yard as yet but that’s progress eh? One more thing and you have to face it. Jeans wages, on the books it doesn’t make sense. He is not earning for the company, it is causing me problems with the taxation. I know you did it out of the goodness of your heart but it is not very businesslike.”

  “Ah that has worried me for a while to be honest. I know Alec was concerned as well. Jean is a great worker I have a suggestion. They are about to start a business of their own.” “To Whom are you referring ?” Harry enquires. “Oh Yes you didn’t know did you? Jean has asked Yvette to marry him. They are putting a business plan together using a couple of horse drawn coaches I already have in my possession. Harry, pay him out of my personal account until they get going. He will be family soon anyway. Besides you have just told me I can afford it.” He looks slightly dubious but agrees adding. “You should think of investing your excess money somewhere. If the worst happened and the company got into trouble you could lose everything.” I come back with.

  “Harry a year ago I wasn’t worth a carrot, I have been poor before I’m not going to lose any sleep about it.” He smiles and counters. “Ah but you now have family responsibility. You should heed what I say. Land is always a good investment if you don’t trust banks. Land very rarely loses its value.” I reply wearily. “Ok Harry you have convinced me I shall think about it, is that all?” I am about to leave when to my surprise Alec arrives in his car. “Am I too late for the meeting?” He asks. “It’s alright Alec we didn’t expect you anyway.” He replies “No, no. I wanted to catch you two together. It’s something personal I just want to have a word with you and I need a bit of advice from Harry here.” “Come in of course we have time for you what is it?” I invite him to join us. As soon as he is seated he begins to explain in an unusual excited voice. “Well you know Marguerite and I have been on holiday we have been up the coast a way stopping at a hotel? Well we have found another one it has been boarded up since the end of the war unused. It was a holiday hotel pre war and some kind of senior officers club in the war. Anyway it has been repossessed by a bank. The owner couldn’t keep up with the mortgage payments, no holiday makers yet you see, but there will be.” He adds hurriedly.

  “My misses and I looked it over I reckon it would be just the job for us. We could open a fancy restaurant there. Something my partners from the café will approve of. We could leave the café as it is for the dock workers and drivers. I have had second thoughts about expanding there.

  I think it is in the wrong district to attract posh diners. Part of the plan would be to hold wedding receptions and honeymoons in the hotel. It would mean us selling the house here in town to raise the finance but I really want to have a go. Bloody Hell fella’s I am so excited it’s something I have dreamed of for ages. Not that I haven’t been happy here with you Adam. I am very grateful for the start you gave me after the war. It’s just I fancy living by the sea and running my own business. I don’t want to let you down though Adam. I’ll stay on until you get a replacement. Huh I will need the pay until we get going anyway.”

  “Hey Alec mate don’t you worry about that, anything I can do to help let me know. I’m made up for you.” Alec looks relieved and enquires. “Harry will you give me some financial advice? I’m a bit too close to it I need an impartial expert to assess the potential.” Harry replies. “Of course I will Alec. I’m as excited as you. I’ll tell you something this is a coincidence. I’m looking for a house myself, it’s alright in the billet but it’s not for me. Things are a bit primitive, know what I mean? It was alright when we were in the army and had to put up with it. Hey we had no choice then but now? I like my privacy especially with this thing.” He taps his artificial leg. “Harry I hope you don’t take offence but I have wanted to ask you this for ages, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. You can tell me to mind my own business if you like I won’t be offended.” “Out with it Adam is about my tin leg? He answers with a smile. “Yes it is. How did you stay in the army with er, a er” “A peg missing?” Harry finishes my sentence when I hesitate. “Do you want me to start at the beginning it’s quite a long story?” He enquires. I settle down and request. “Put the kettle on Alec I love a good story.” Harry begins to relate the back ground to the loss of his limb.” One upon a time there was a poor little rich boy whose Father was a banker and a wizard at investment on the stock market. He sent his little boy to all the most expensive boarding schools to get the best education money could buy. He had plans for the boy you see? He was to follow his Father into the family business as his Grandfather had and his Father before him. The little boy hated it, he hated the posh school, but hated the idea of being stuck in a stuffy bank for the rest of his life even more. The boy had ideas of his own but there was no escape. That is until the war came along he saw the opportunity to get even a temporary break from his Father’s world of money grabbing. He tried
talking to his Father about enlisting. Needless to say the Father went off his head. There was no way he was going to risk his investment in the future due to a stupid war. He pointed out there was even more money to be made during a war than in peacetime. The boy threatened to run away and enlist. Finally after many rows and threats his Father consented to him joining up. Without consulting his son he made arrangements for him to be an officer.

  He would be serving in a safe number in the army pay corps, home based of course.”

  Harry pauses enquiring. “Have you had enough?” “No go on I am intrigued.” I reply impatiently. “I want to know how does a pay Corp officer lose his leg?”

  “You might guess the next part. I went to a different town and joined an infantry regiment as a private. I loved it, I loved being with down to earth men who scraped their pennies together but had a great time and enjoyed themselves to the full.

  I had more fun with them in the short time I was with them than I ever had with all my so called friends.

  After training I was posted to France with the BEF. Because I was athletic and considered intelligent I was made company runner serving a great officer Major Sanders. He was more like a friend than my commanding officer it was an honour to serve him.”