Snippets of Downshire Life – The Queen’s Birthday Parade

 

Downshire is a relatively small English county but like a pocket battleship it packs a lot in, a short but beautiful coastline, a channel port, the Ancient forests of Dancingdean and Pepperstock, the craggy ridges and manmade lakes of the Pepperstock Hills National Park, the rolling hills of the Downshire Downs, the beautiful Finchbottom Vale and the home of the Downshire Light infantry, Nettlefield.

 

The Herriott’s and the Issacs’s had lived in Nettlefield for many generations and both families had been well represented in the Downshire Light Infantry over the years, and the latest were Sgt Martin Herriot and Lance Corporal Emma Issacs.

The pair were not entirely unknown to each other, even though they were in different battalions and there were more than four years difference in their ages, because Martin had briefly dated her older sister, who was also in the Downshire’s, but Martin and Emma hadn’t seen each other since they broke up, until the day of the Queen’s Birthday Parade.

 

The parade was held on the same day as the Trooping of the Colour by the Household Guards.

It was performed with less pageantry and was less grand than its London cousin, but was nonetheless as important, especially to the Downshire’s. 

 

On the day Martin was dressed in his best regalia complete with gleaming sword as he was part of the Honour Guard for the Colours, the Guard being formed by members of his own battalion but the flag bearers were not, and they were late, well late by his standards at any rate, so he went to hurry them up.

He passed two of the bearers leaving the block as he went in.

“Come on get a move on you lot” he barked “Where’s the other one?”

“Still inside Sergeant” one of them replied

He went deeper inside the block without breaking stride and burst into the room and then stopped in his track.  

Emma was four years older than she had been the last time he saw her, but he recognise her instantly, she was always an absolute stunner with a lovely figure, but now she was even better.

She was beautiful like her sister but taller with longer shapelier legs, but that wasn’t what caught his eye, it was that Emma was only partially dressed, she was wearing her blouse and a tie, and underwear and tights and nothing else.

Martin stood staring at Emma’s lovely semi dressed figure far longer than he should have but he struggled to draw his eyes away.

Until he realized she was just standing there smiling at him, then he went pillar box red and blurted out,

“I’m sorry, I didn’t think, I’ll wait outside”

 

He was outside in the corridor muttering to himself when the door opened suddenly and Emma stepped out immaculately dressed in tailored skirt and tunic, brass buttons and polished belt, peaked cap and regulation tights.

“I’m…” he started to say but she put a finger up to her lips gesturing

him to silence.

“Don’t apologize I’m pleased I’ve finally got you to notice me”

“You are?”

“Oh yes” she replied and before he could speak again she took her cap off and kissed him.

It was only a brief kiss, as they had important duties to perform and were not able to follow up on it afterwards because she went off on a training exercise with the 3^rd Battalion while he remained at Regimental HQ.