In Winchester

The Parry family is watching an episode of Dad's Army on the television.  Elaine Parry and her son Will are sitting on the sofa facing the fire, and her husband John Parry is in the armchair by the fireside.  From time to time he pokes the fire or shovels on a few more pieces of coal.

The episode is a repeat, of course.  The BBC stopped making Dad's Army over twenty years ago.  Most of the actors who play the superannuated soldiers of the Warmington Home Guard have been dead for a long time.  This does not matter.  The script is affectionate and funny, and the characters are now so familiar and well liked that they have become part of the national consciousness.

"Ooooh, Captain Mainwaring!" mimics Will.  His mother smiles and his father, a military man himself, chuckles quietly.

When the programme finishes, Elaine goes into the kitchen to cook supper.  She sings to herself, 'Who do you think you are kidding, Mr Hitler, if you think we're on the run,' as she puts the potatoes on to boil.  It will be lamb chops, mashed potatoes and peas tonight, with suet pudding and syrup to follow.

She looks into the sitting room from time to time.  Will and his father are huddled together on the floor over a pile of pieces of Meccano.  It appears that they are making a model tank, and that John is helping Will with the all-important details.  Elaine likes to see them enjoying themselves in a father-and-son sort of way.

In the kitchen, the chops are spluttering in the grill.  Elaine turns the gas down a little.  She knows that John hates them to be burnt.

The front doorbell rings.  'Who can this be, and at this time of night!' Elaine says, half to herself.  She wipes her hands on her apron and answers the door.  Two men are standing there, illuminated by the streetlights outside and the light from the hall.

'Mrs Parry?' says one of the men.

'Yes.'

'May we talk to you for a moment?'

'We're Church of England, you know.'

'No, Mrs Parry, we're not Mormons.  We'd like to talk to you about your son Will.'

'Oh, I'm afraid you'll have to speak to my husband.  He looks after all those sorts of things.  Will's not in trouble, is he?'

'No, Mrs Parry, but we would like to speak to you for a while.'

'I'm sorry, but I'm cooking supper at the moment.  If you'll just wait a minute, I'll get my husband.'

She shuts the door on the two men, and goes into the sitting room.  'John, there're two men at the door who want to talk to you.  I don't think they're from the camp.'

'All right, dear, I'll go.'  John Parry leaves Will to work out the details of the tank's turret by himself and goes to the front door.  Elaine returns to the kitchen stove.  She hears voices in the hall, and then the door shuts again.  John comes into the kitchen. 

'There's nothing wrong, is there?'

'No, dear.'  He kisses her on the cheek.  'Just some misunderstanding.  It wasn't Will they wanted to talk about, it was some other boy altogether.'

'Oh good.  Supper's ready, then.'

Will has laid three places on the dining table.  John Parry says grace, and they eat their supper.

Later, Elaine goes upstairs to her bedroom by herself.  John and Will are sitting at the dining-room table.  They will still be there in the morning when she comes down to give them their breakfast.  This is the way it has been every day for the past three weeks, in this bleak and lonely January.