it is. But it’s a fact. Maybe they would have covered the story if they were told what those bastards did to the lieutenant and the trooper.’
‘What do you mean? They killed them didn’t they?’
‘The lieutenant was lucky. He died quickly. The trooper was less fortunate. We didn’t see it, but our shots took out a few of their people and they took their revenge on him for that.’
‘What did they do?’ I asked, not really wanting to know.
Tom shook his head. ‘Let’s just say he died a long, hard death. When the rangers rescued him he was still alive, but he didn’t survive the trip back to base. I suspect a ranger may have helped him out of his misery.’
‘That’s horrible!’ I exclaimed.
‘It’s the sort of war that’s being waged out there.’
‘And you want to go back?’
Tom stood still and turned to me. ‘That’s what I want to tell you. Some of the men don’t think I did enough to help the trooper. They won’t work with me. I’m not going back and to tell you the truth I couldn’t care less. The whole incident taught me that what I was doing out there was not the same as being in the forces. It’s all about making profits and not about doing a good job and helping the Iraqi people find a better life. That’s not the way I am. If I’m going to risk my life it has to be for a cause that I believe in and not only for money. I wouldn’t go back out there now if they begged me.’
I wrapped my arms around him. ‘Thank heavens. I couldn’t stand seeing you go back after what you’ve told me you’ve already been through.’
We continued to walk and he placed his arm protectively around my shoulders.
‘I don’t know what I am going to do with the rest of my life,’ he continued, ‘but it won’t involve weapons of any sort. That part of my life is behind me. I swear.’
‘Is that why you looked strange when we drove through Aldershot?’
Tom nodded.
‘Then we need to get away from there as well. We need to make a clean start somewhere else.’
‘I couldn’t agree more,’ he nodded. ‘I suspect there’s a lot to be said for a dull life and I mean to find out if that’s true.’
Having unburdened himself, I could see that Tom was feeling much better.
We left the beach and slowly made our way back to our hotel through the maze of narrow alleyways that led down to the waterfront. The area comprised the most ancient part of the city and I peered into the small shop windows as we went, studying the merchandise on offer and hoping to spot a bargain or two.
As we passed a dingy antique shop I spotted an unusual object and pulled Tom into the gloomy interior so that I could study it further.
Resting on a cluttered table was what appeared to be a thin case made of hand tooled leather. I ran my hand over its exterior and felt the warmth of the hide beneath my fingers and traced the intricate geometric shapes embossed on its sides.
‘Very nice,’ said the shop’s owner from behind his counter. ‘Very old. Very nice.’
‘What is it?’ Tom asked.
‘Backgammon,’ smiled the old man. ‘Open it.’
I did so and found that once unlatched the case opened flat, exposing the game board on the inside of each lid. Each end of the case was divided into a slot which contained the gaming pieces as well as two pairs of die which matched the colours of the pieces. A fifth die with numbers on its faces instead of the usual spots confused me while two narrow shaking cups completed the set.
I had heard of the game but never seen it played and the look of the board completely mystified me. How could you possibly play a game on such a strange board? I asked myself.
‘You know backgammon?’ asked the shop’s owner.
I shook my head, ‘No’.
‘I learned to play a little in Iraq,’ said Tom. ‘Would you like me to teach you?’
I was totally intrigued by the strange-looking board and its pieces and curious to find out how it all came together into a game. ‘How much is the set?’ I asked.
When the owner named the price I baulked at the amount, but Tom was unfazed. He took out his wallet and presented his credit card without a qualm.
Outside, with the beautiful case now under my arm I chastised Tom for not trying to bargain for a better price on the set.
He smiled back at me. ‘It was worth the extra to see the smile on your face. Besides, now I won’t have enough left over to buy you that horrible souvenir sombrero that you were looking at earlier.’
Back in our hotel room Tom explained the relatively simple rules of the game and showed me how the pieces were set out for the game to begin.
Then Tom had me throw my pair of die and explained how that throw could best be used, telling me what was likely to occur if I left a piece exposed and the ramifications of having it knocked off the board and being forced to begin its trip from the start again.
After a shaky beginning I began to see that, although it looked nothing like the game of checkers, it did have many similarities to that game and I was able to get into the rhythm of the play. The doubling dice was beyond my novice abilities and we ignored that aspect of the game for the time being.
‘It’s not as though we’ll be playing for millions of pounds,’ Tom laughed.
‘But I don’t see why we can’t play for some sort of a reward,’ I replied with a twinkle in my eye as I threw my die and sent one of his exposed pieces back to the start.
‘Bitch!’ He laughed. ‘I’ll make you pay for that.’
‘Promises, promises.’ I grinned cheekily.
Despite the fact that our futures were now completely up in the air we spent the next few days enjoying the sea, the sun and playing backgammon with breaks for lovemaking in between.
Over the backgammon board and with bottles of wine to keep us lubricated in the heat, we casually considered where our future might lie and threw possible options at one another. It may have been the atmosphere or the holiday surroundings, but many of these plans seem to involve food, drinking and bars. Ultimately we both knew that in the cold, hard light of reality most of these plans were totally unrealistic.
Money was not an immediate problem as we had Tom’s pension from the army as well as his earnings for the Iraq contract. The company had even made good on Tom’s share of the bonus for his ill-fated final mission.
There was certainly enough savings in our accounts to make sure that whatever path we chose would be one we could afford to think long and hard about.
Suntanned and revitalised, we returned home and collected our car before heading to my parents’ farm outside Henswytch.
There
