July 15th
Many soldiers had meant to be returned to the frontline today, but last night a rainstorm had hit the area and had turned the ground to a slippery mud land. It was difficult for men to move across it to the trenches, let alone leave them so command had ordered all units that were meant to return for the trenches today to wait another twenty four hours until the mud dried. They were pleased about this, but those that were in the trenches and were to leave today were not happy as they now had to wait longer until they could get out of the hell hole and away from the threat of being killed. Until then, they would just have to hope that they were not unfortunate enough to be involved in a shelling attack or another attack by the Germans, the second fear being less likely than the first as No Man's Land had been turned into another sea of mud that would bog down any attack either side launched.
Several squads of soldiers, however, had been lucky they were withdrawn before the rainstorm hit last night. The squad was among them as they had been withdrawn from the line the day before and were now resting in a small village with a public stables, or what was left of it as it, along with much of the village, had been destroyed by shelling from the German side of the frontline.
Even though much of the village was destroyed, there were a few things still left standing, though not with partial damage. One of these things was a small hut that It's owners had abandoned earlier on last year when the village had been on the verge of being occupied by the German Army. Now, under control of the British, it was a good place for men off the frontline to relax at, plus the village was hardly shelled anymore so that made it even more of a safe haven. Inside the hut were several groups of soldiers, including Wally's squad. Behind the hut were the stables. There were a few horses inside them, belonging to the British cavalry regiment operating in this area.
"I'm going to have a look around," came Wally's voice from inside the hut.
"Don't wonder off then, Wally," came another voice's reply. It was Stanley, who was here as well. "Otherwise command'll have you,"
Wally, who was at the front entrance, or what had been the front entrance, of the hut, nodded and walked out onto the wide cobbled road. It was covered with many craters, both large and small from where shells had landed in the bombardments that had taken place a few months earlier. He walked down the road, gazing around at the village remains.
To his right was what had been the village pub. It was a large hut-like wooden building that resembled an old sixteenth century house. A few tables had been outside the pub for where drinkers and lovers would sit and enjoy themselves. Now, however, those tables were nothing but splinters, as was the pub, which had a large portion of It's middle gone from where a large shell had hit it. The left side of the pub had been blown off by another shell, leaving only the front wall facing the cobbled road. A fence that had come out of the right side of the pub and then turned left and carried on behind it, possibly to another area filled with tables, which were most likely destroyed like those at the front of the pub, was broken in several places. Large gaping holes separated one section from another. All the windows and the front door had been smashed to pieces and the pub's stone chimney lay scattered on the ground next to it.
Wally sighed at seeing this pub and looked around him. The road carried on both left and right, but it was covered with craters from past shell explosions and the buildings on the sides of the roads were nothing but rubble. Everywhere he looked was devastation! It was getting to be too much. This village had probably once been a paradise but was now turned into a warzone by a war that was going nowhere.
Wally turned left and walked down the cobbled road. He passed a corner shop that had It's front windows smashed by a shell. The remains of the building's roof and chimney lay scattered about on the ground in front of him. Next door to it was another hut that had been almost completely eviscerated, save for two sections of wall at the back of the building and a stairwell on the right side of the building, which was destroyed about ten feet up from the ground.
"Right, where are those bloody grains?" he heard a soldier's voice say in a frustrated manner.
Wally looked over at the stables. They were two small rectangular buildings with several pens for the horses. A burley looking soldier in green army uniform trousers, a white vest and had his jacket tied around his waist, walked out of the stable and began looking around near the side of the stables for what he was looking for.
Maybe I'll go have a look at the horses Wally thought and he began to walk over towards the stables.
After stepping over the remains of what had been the remaining possessions left by the house owners, he walked across the back garden, which had a small shell hole in it near the next door neighbour's fence, to the stables. As he reached the stables, the soldier looked up and saw him.
"Oh, hello mate," he greeted. "Need any help?"
"No, I'm alright," Wally replied. "I just thought, if it's alright with you, I might have a look at the horses,"
"By all means, mate," the soldier told him.
Wally nodded to say thanks and walked into the stable. There, in two of the pens, were two horses, one to each pen. One of them was black with whiteness around the hooves and a tiny white strip running from the forehead of the horse down to the snout. The one next to it was brown with whiteness around the hooves and, like It's friend next to it, had a thin strip of white running from the forehead down to the snout, though it was a little wider than the other horse. Both horses had saddles on them and they had their reins tied to the wooden posts of their pens.
Wally admired their beauty. Looking at them reminded him of the horses back at home on the farm. He walked over the black horse and stroked the front of it. The horse snorted and licked Wally's hand, which he grimaced at and rubbed the animal's saliva off on his coat.
"Beauty, ain't he?" the soldier said, making him jump, as he walked into the stable holding a bag of oats, which he had found among several bags of hay for the horse pens.
"Yeah, he is," Wally replied. He looked at all the other empty pens. "Where are all the other horses?" he asked.
The soldier set down the bag of oats on the floor next to him. "Command took 'em out for a practice run at a cavalry charge," he told him. "Two of the recruits meant to be on these two got killed yesterday by a shell so they had to leave 'em here,"
Wally nodded and looked back at the horses, taking in their beauty once again. The soldier, who had bent down to pick up some oats from the bag, walked over to the black horse and placed his hand under the animal's mouth. The horse scooped up the oats with It's tongue and began to crunch loudly as it ate them.
"So where did you get them?" Wally asked.
"This one," the soldier replied, patting the horse's snout. "We've had him the army for about a year. The other one-" he pointed to the next horse. "We got 'im earlier on this year. You can come and feed 'em if you want,"
"Okay," Wally scooped up a handful of oats in his hand and walked over to the brown horse and held his hand under the animal's mouth and it began to lick them up and crunch loudly.
"What are their names?" Wally asked.
"This one here's Topthorn," the soldier answered, patting the horse's snout. "That one, we don't know his name. We actually got him from when the Germans attacked us with their cavalry last year when they were legging it back towards their lines. We attacked a group of 'em and killed the Hun riding him. He had been ridden by our old Captain Nicholls before he got shot last November. Now, he's used for training,"
"Wow," Wally replied, looking at the horse. "Been through a lot,"
"Yeah, he has,"
"Wally!" a voice called from outside.
The two looked over towards the stable entrance and saw someone enter. It was Stanley.
"Oh there you are," he said when he saw Wally. "Sorry, mate. He hasn't been disturbing ya, as he?"
"No, no, he's been alright. Just popped in to look at the horses," the soldier replied.
"Oh, alright. Well, c'mon, Wally. An officer's 'ere in the village, and if he sees you 'ere in this stable, he'll blow a fuse,"
Wally nodded. "Thanks for letting me see the horses," he said to the soldier.
"My pleasure, mate," he replied.
Wally and Stanley walked off out of the stables, hoping to get back to the others before the officer did, or they were going to be in trouble. The soldier then turned his attention back to the horses.
"Right, let's give you some more oats," he said to them as he bent down to get some more oats to feed them.
