In the quaint chocolate box
English Village of Mornington-By-Mere, which was the beating heart of the Finchbottom
Vale, stood the Old Mill Inn which was the beating heart of the village.
Twenty year old
plumber, David Cooper, left the pub on Saturday lunchtime for the short walk to
his home in the Close.
But partly because it
was such a warm day and in part he was missing his girlfriend, he decided to go
for a walk.
David lived in The Close which was only about 100 hundred yards from the
pub but he chose to walk over to where his girlfriend Sharon lived on the
opposite side of the village on the other side of Manor Wood where there were a number of cottages and small
houses on the Purplemere Road and Dulcets Road which formed the part of Mornington
Village known as Manorside where the Taylor family lived in Dulcets Road
in a house called Green Fields.
He left the pub and crossed over Church Bridge and proceeded
along the
riverside path on the Southern Bank of the River Brooke with
Mornington Field across the water on his right and Manor Wood on his left.
The Wood was a special place for them because it
was the place where they got back together.
Her insistence on joining the Army had broken her and David up, the fear
of losing her in some stupid pointless foreign conflict was too much for him to
bear, but after they had attended the military funeral of their mutual friend
Andy Smith, they realised that life was too short and their love too precious
to waste.
He walked along the quiet path that followed the river
and was rather enjoying the peace and solitude, in fact he was lost deep in
thought of the night he kissed her in “Soldier Wood”, which was when he was
suddenly felled and left lying prostrate on the ground and then he felt a great
weight on his chest
“Oh God” he thought, “I’m having a heart attack”
So he closed his eyes and dark thoughts filled his mind.
“David Cooper” a quiet voice spoke to him and he thought God was calling
to him, and his time was over.
But his overwhelming feeling was one of disappointment, he was expecting
a great booming voice, a more commanding voice, not a soft female voice with a
cultured accent.
“Come on you wuss” the voice said, in a not very godly way and the
weight was lifted from his chest and he began to rise.
“Are you ok?” the voice asked, “Did I hurt you?”
He opened his eyes expecting to be at the gates of heaven but he was on
the same path where he fell, being addressed by a soldier.
“Are you ok?” the soldier asked
“Yes” he said a little puzzled and then the soldier removed her hat
“Sharon?” he said with surprise
“Yep” she replied
Sharon Taylor was his girlfriend and the
last time he’d seen her she was wearing the dress uniform of The Downshire
Light Infantry after a military funeral in the village a month earlier and he
hadn’t seen her since as she had been at the Downshire Light
Infantry barracks in Nettlefield.
Sharon Taylor was Dave Cooper’s girlfriend
and the last time he’d seen her she was wearing the dress uniform of The
Downshire Light Infantry after a military funeral in the village a month earlier
and he hadn’t seen her since as she had been at the Downshire
Light Infantry barracks in Nettlefield.
“What are you doing here?” he said “You didn’t say you were
coming home”
“You didn’t ask” she replied
“No I didn’t,” he acknowledged “but that’s because you said you weren’t
coming back for another month”
“I got a four day leave” She explained “before we go on an exercise”
“Where to?” he asked
“I can’t say” Sharon Replied. “Anyway, are you ok?”
“Yes” he said dusting himself down and then she kissed him
“You went down like a girl,” she said laughing hysterically
“In a quiet Downshire village I don’t expect to be attacked in the woods
by a khaki ninja” he said defensively
She was still laughing when she asked
“Are your folks at home?”
“No everyone’s in Sharpington until tomorrow” he replied
“Are we going back to yours then?” she asked
“Yes but only because I like a bird in uniform” he said and kissed her
and then he held her hand as they walked back to her house and all the while
Sharon was still ribbing him about how easy he went to ground.
Sharon Taylor’s uniform was, as uniforms go, not the sexiest, it wasn’t
the tailored skirt and tunic, brass buttons and polished belt, peaked cap,
seamed stockings and khaki knickers kind of uniform.
It was yomping boots, combat trousers and battle dress jacket, but he
still hoped for khaki knickers.
But a uniform is a uniform and at the end of the day it was its contents
that he was in love with.
He opened the backdoor and let Sharon inside and she immediately bent
down and began unlacing her boots and while she was doing that he went into the
hall and hung up his coat and slipped his shoes off.
But when he went back into the kitchen Sharon was stood on the back door
mat wearing a Khaki vest, matching boxer shorts and her dog tags.
“That will do for me,” he said, as he looked her over
“I don’t have long” she said “I have to report back to barracks on
Tuesday” and she walked towards him and they kissed.
“We’d better not waste any more time then” he suggested and they kissed
some more as he held her firm muscular body in his arms.
“Where do want me sir?” she asked and threw him a salute
“I think I want you upstairs soldier” he replied “So get up there on the
double”
“Yes sir, right away sir”” Sharon said standing
to attention and throwing an exaggerated salute and she turned on her heels and
ran upstairs and he ran after her.
As they lay cuddled together in the afterglow he said
“I love you soldier”
“Me too, you wuss” she responded and laughed again.
They then spent the afternoon under the duvet very snug and smug where
she asked.
“Can I stay tonight?”
“Of course hon” he replied and kissed her
“Good” she said and they fell asleep.
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