Authors note - This is the first bit that made me choose the T rating
A kiss in a doorway
John and Nancy were happily discovering that the world loves lovers, although they were blissfully unaware of the fact. They had to run for the 'bus, but the driver kindly waited for them. The conductor, when shown the address on a scrap of paper, made sure they got off at the right stop and even wrote the time of the last 'bus on the other side with a stump of pencil. Passers-by happily directed them to the restaurant and one passer-by even advised them of the best dish to eat once they got there, although they were unfortunately totally unable to understand what she said. Altogether, John and Nancy were convinced that Estonia was the friendliest and most welcoming country in Europe, even before a comfortable table for two was instantly forthcoming at the restaurant. They were both vaguely aware of the smiles and approving glances directed at them, but had no idea that their own stolen and admiring glances at each other had anything to do with it.
Aware that they may have to spend the whole evening in the restaurant, they started with soup. No sooner had it been ordered than a rose-seller appeared and started to go round the tables. Nancy nudged John's foot with her own.
"Do you think all restaurants in Estonia have rose sellers or just this one?" she asked.
"I've no idea, but would you like a rose, my dear?" he replied.
"Yes, please, love." she replied. She had pronounced the last word in the broadest Westmorland accent and he looked away from her dancing eyes, lest he burst into laughter or lean across the table and kiss her.
The rose seemed extortionately priced, but he bought her three, even though most men were buying their companions one or none at all. They were both half expecting a message to be concealed in one of the roses, but neither of them could find one. The meal progressed through beefsteak, potatoes and cabbage, followed by dessert, which they chose through the simple expedient of pointing discretely at ones eaten by other diners.
A long time afterwards, Titty asked Nancy what they had talked about at that meal.
"Nothing much, "she replied, gazing out over the Lake. "We didn't mention what we were doing at all, of course. We talked about John and Susan learning to sail in Falmouth and Peggy and I trying to teach ourselves out of a book after Uncle Jim went off to the East again, the summer before you came."
At the end of the evening, a waiter discretely coughed and deposited the bill on a small saucer near John's elbow. They looked about them and discovered that they were nearly the last customers. A couple of men were drinking coffee in the far corner and the younger waiters were putting the chairs on the cleared tables.
"I've never been the last to leave somewhere in the evening." remarked Nancy with great satisfaction once they were outside and had re-orientated themselves. "And now I have."
"You sound like Titty aged about ten, when you say that."
"And I suppose the mature and experienced John Walker aged – oh – three months older than me, does it all the time."
"Well….I've never done it this sober."
"John!"
"It's not as if I've ever actually got thrown out of anywhere. Not properly."
"And improperly?"
"They asked us to please go away and stop singing."
"What were you singing?"
"Eternal father, strong to save; it was the only thing we could all remember."
"I can see how that might lack a certain jollity."
"It was Williams' idea. He said it had worked for his brother in Oxford. The college rugby team had stopped and sung at half a dozen pubs on the way back from a match against a Cambridge college and only had to pay for their beer once. Turned out they had an unfair advantage."
"What was that?"
"Williams' brother went to Jesus College. They were mostly Welshmen."
"The name might have been a give-away." Nancy suggested.
"Except that I knew he was born in Liverpool."
"Anyway," continued John after a small pause for thought, "It seems rather strange to leave somewhere this late and not have my arm round someone's shoulders or their arm round mine."
"Oh yes?" John had to admit to himself that the little edge of jealousy in her voice was music to his ears. She'll say "Whose shoulders?" in a minute, he thought.
"And what would you usually be saying to this someone?" she enquired.
There can't be another woman like her in the world. John told himself. There would never be a boring minute with Nancy.
"If it's Collinson, I'm usually saying, "don't start a fight, he's not worth it." If it's Wentworth, I'm usually saying "Don't fall asleep, we're nearly there." With Williams I just have to listen while he tells me I'm his best friend and no-one else understands him. He says it to everyone after his second pint, including policemen. Otherwise, it's usually just supporting a brother midshipman."
"And when Midshipman Walker was being supported?"
"To be honest with you, I've been really drunk exactly once, and didn't much enjoy it. I don't think anyone else did either."
"An argumentative drunk?"
"A miserable one. I was so boring they put me in a corner and left me to sleep it off. I don't know that you need to mention any of this to anyone else." He had cried, he remembered, and even now cringed inwardly, not just at the embarrassment but at the desperate feeling of loss and loneliness. He had missed his family, the Lake, his friends and the Swallow, but most of all he had missed Nancy with an ache that seemed unbearable. At least he had (probably) retained enough sense not to tell anyone what he was crying about.
"Your secrets are safe with me."
"I know." The street lights were fewer here, further from the city centre. He put his arm around her shoulders and awaited developments. After a few paces she slipped an arm around his waist. Her head was barely higher than his shoulder. After a few more paces she glanced up at his face. Although, she had a little half smile on her face, he knew she was seeking reassurance. He gave her shoulders a little squeeze and they carried on in great contentment for another two miles.
Nancy noticed the men first, when they crossed the long straight main road.
"John, those two men from the restaurant are following us. A long way behind us. "
"Don't look as though we're looking. We need to escape them without looking as though we're trying. This may just be a precaution on their part, keeping an eye on foreigners."
"It might not be anyone official at all. We could just look like easy pickings for thieves." Nancy suggested.
"Or they could just live in this direction."
"Do you think so?"
"No," replied John. "I like your casual thief idea, though."
"We would probably be alright. Poorer but alright."
"Maybe not even poorer. They may not be expecting a dog of war."
"A what?"
"A dog of war. In the gunroom, if a midshipman is making himself a nuisance for some reason, the sub-lieutenant orders the dogs of war to evict him. The dogs are two or three midshipmen who can handle themselves in a fight, or the sub-lieutenant thinks they can anyway. It's not really fighting, of course, because the idea is to get them out without hurting them. All the same, you'll look no end of a chump if you can't do it, so you make sure you can. Tips get passed along quietly and so on. Most dogs of war seem to play Rugger and have younger brothers. They called it bundling at my prep. school."
"You were lucky. They called it disgracefully unladylike behaviour at our school. We had a pillow capture war – my dorm against Peggy's. Not that likely to be useful now."
"Shall we have a look at our friends again?" John swung Nancy round into his arms, so that she could peer over his shoulder. People described Nancy as a sturdy young woman, and she was the strongest girl he knew, but her rib-cage felt narrow and light beneath his hands and he wondered how much chance they really stood if it came to a fight.
"Closer." She reported, "I still can't tell if they are just following us or intending to do something."
"We don't want to lead them to Goblin." Said John, "It's lucky I brought the map."
"If they are just casual thieves, the last thing we should do it show them need a map. Most of the streets on the right were arranged as a sort of grid, I think, with houses on both sides."
"Let's take one of them, and then double back onto the main road. Take the first right and the next left."
As they reached the corner, which had a street light, Nancy paused for a second and fumbled with her gloves.
"Hurry up, Nancy."
Immediately they were around the corner, Nancy broke into a run. John followed her and, as they reached the next junction, she threw her gloves accurately into the road that turned right while they turned left. They ran along for about an hundred yards before they slipped through a small garden gate. John peered very cautiously around the gate post.
"They've picked up the gloves." he reported. "They're heading down the road away from us."
They heard bolts being shot back in the house behind them and a door opened. They could hear a small dog's paws trotting along a path. They held their breath when the paws stopped. Then came the unmistakable sound of a dog lifting his leg. The sound went on for ages. Would the relieved dog go back inside the house? Would he wander about the garden? Would he catch their scent once his most pressing need was met? They were downwind, but would that be enough? The dog, now in no hurry, made a leisurely survey of his private empire. He was quite close to them when he noticed their scent and started to bark.
"Run" said Nancy. "They'll hear that."
As she moved, the terrier sprang at her grabbing the hem of her coat. In desperate haste, she wriggled out of it and dragged the gate shut behind her. The terrier happily settled down to shake the intruding coat, but already they could hear running footsteps behind them and the door of the house flung open. There was some shouting and they heard the gate flung open, followed by a fresh volley of barking and two lots of shouting in different languages.
John turned left down an unlit side road with Nancy close on his heels. They were both running well and were nowhere near out of wind yet. They might yet make it back to the Goblin and safety simply by out-running the men.
John stopped abruptly. Nancy ran into his back, rocking him slightly on his feet.
"It's a dead end." John said. "They're already in the entrance to the lane. We're trapped. If I gave you a boost, could you climb onto the roof?"
"Yes," said Nancy, "but I can't think of an innocent reason for being on the roof. They'll know we have a reason to suspect them. They haven't actually seen us run yet. Not from them. Just from the dog. Let's try this instead."
She dragged him into a doorway and pulled him close. Very, very close.
"Kiss me." She whispered.
"How is this meant to hel ..mmfmf?"
"Galoot. Try to look like you mean it."
"They're getting closer."
"I know. I know am a big ugly lump, but surely you can kiss me if the alternative is…."
"Nancy Blackett, you are the most beautiful woman I know, and no-one is ever allowed to call you ugly, not even you."
Their lips met again, but this time John's hand was buried in her hair, tilting her head back and his other arm was around her waist. She could not have moved an inch if she wanted to, and it felt wonderful.
A hand grabbed at her shoulder and would have pulled her over if John's arm had not been around her waist. The two men made brief comments she could not follow in German, then one grabbed at the front of her blouse, ripping it. She pushed him away and tried to kick his legs, but this pulled her off balance too. She managed to duck the main force of the blow, but it caught her cheek. John had felled the other man with his second blow. His third blow caught Nancy's assailant from the side, further unbalancing him. Their combined efforts slammed the man's head into the stone door post and he slumped, stunned. John and Nancy ran back down the street and round the corner. They had nearly reached the harbour before their pace slacked.
John pulled them behind a very large dustbin. It appeared to belong to a café, one that served a lot of fish by the smell of it.
"Let's check to see if we're being followed." He whispered.
"But they were unconscious" she whispered back.
"It's not really an exact science. They may have been up on their feet a few minutes later and with a complete memory of exactly what we look like and what we did; they may unconscious for a while and have no recollection of the last few hours; at worst we've killed one of them and someone saw us. I think that's unlikely, though."
They paused, both listening.
"Are you hurt?" she asked.
"A few bruises. How about you?"
"Bruises, That's all."
"Better get Susan to have a look when we're back on the ship."
There was a brief pause.
"I didn't understand what they were saying, but I caught a few words. I'm fairly sure it was German." Nancy said softly.
"Could you remember exactly what you heard?
"No."
"Thank God for that."
"What you mean?"
"They were saying exactly what they would do to you."
"Were they going to kill us?"
"No, worse than that."
"Worse than death?"
"They were going to kill us as well, when they had finished"
Nancy digested this in silence for a while, then whispered "Thank-you for saving my life, John, and… well, thank you."
"A pleasure." He took off his jacket and handed it to her. "Here, you can't walk along the quay like that. It might put ideas in people's heads. Let's get back to Goblin."
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooooo
It was nearer dawn than midnight when they returned to the Goblin, and a light mist clung to the coast. Both Jim and Susan had been waiting up for them, but Jim fell asleep quickly on their return. Susan kept anchor -watch, checking on them occasionally. Both of them lay completely still in their bunks and but were awake until it was broad daylight. John dozed off for a couple of hours after dawn, but was wide awake again by six. He gave up the unequal struggle at about seven o'clock, got up and dressed himself. Jim was snoring gently. He made two mugs of tea and brought one up to Susan. He sat on the steps, making sure he was not visible from the shore.
"So what happens now?" she asked
"We leave here as soon as this mist clears, survey our section of the Gulf of Finland as we planned, try next week in Helsinki. Try to look as if we're having fun."
"You know, up until last night, I really was. I was enjoying being the youngest. I'd almost forgotten how much I enjoyed the sailing part of sailing. I do quite enjoy the cooking, but it was nice to do the other stuff as well, and not have to constantly look around and see what everyone else is up to."
"You know, Bridget is the same age as we were when we first sailed Swallow." John pointed out. Susan, watching his face, saw it soften slightly as he mentioned Swallow's name.
"Titty says she's only been mentioning it five times a day." she said. "The mist is beginning to clear already. It's only radiation mist, not a proper fog."
John snorted with amusement and lowered himself down the companionway.
"John?"
He looked up.
"You might want to try cold cream to remove that lipstick. There's some in my wash kit."
He poured more tea and shook Jim gently, handing him the mug as soon as he was awake enough to take it, then took the second mug through to the fore-cabin. He looked down at Nancy's sleeping face as he heard Jim go on deck. Her cheek-bone was bruised and she was developing a black-eye. She hadn't mentioned the split lip last night. He abandoned the rather tempting idea of waking her with a kiss.
"John?" she opened her eyes. Not asleep then.
"Maybe I'd better go by myself next week." He said.
"Not on your life, you tame galoot!" said Nancy. "If you think you'll be safer with Jim, take him, but you're not going by yourself."
"Do you think I should? Take Jim instead I mean?"
"He's bigger than me, stronger than me, older than me and they may be looking out for a man and a girl together."
"So I should take him."
"No." She struggled to sit up in the bunk. He helped her, letting her put her arm around his neck and lever herself to a sitting position. "It's Jim's ship. We could get into all sorts of problems getting home if you and he both aren't fit to sail her. Also … well you asked me the question. When you're right, you know it. You wouldn't ask me if it was the right thing to do. I don't know much about this sort of thing, but I do know you, John Walker." She sipped her tea cautiously. "You have a way of being really sensible and careful and prepared most of the time. Then sometimes you do the daring thing and it works when the safe thing wouldn't have worked. Getting the Swallow up from the bottom of the lake. That trick leaning Swallow over to win the race. Going across the North Sea instead of trying to go back."
"Trying to hang on and sinking Swallow in the first place?"
"Maybe the talent only works when you're already in a fix in the first place. Why did you hang on that day anyway?"
"Trying to impress you." He would ask her now. She had given him an opening and they were as alone as they were likely to get on such a small ship. He was already on one knee, even.
"Nancy, would you like me to look at your injuries before you dress?" Susan's voice, fully of concern, made him jump. He got himself out of the fore cabin, and started cooking breakfast, only too glad to have the excuse to hide his blushes in the heat of the little stove. He could just hear the tone of the girls' voices above the noise of the cooking and the squawk of sea-gulls. Unusually, Susan seemed to be doing most of the talking.
Author's note: Naval information from a site I found on the internet, thought I'd saved to favourite and hadn't, so now can't credit.
