Ch 17. Flanders Ridge
3 years later
Cairns
Maxine entered her apartment after a full day. She put her hat on the shelve and her brief case in the corridor. She wandered to the living room and started to leaf through the daily mail that she has taken out of the post box. She stopped at the dining table.
"Publicity, a bill, publicity, huh from abroad?", she mumbled as she toed off her white shoes.
She put everything on the table and grabbed a paper-knife to open the A5-format envelope. Maxine took out a letter, a leaflet and a thin carton card. She threw a glance on the colourful leaflet with at the front a photo of a nice country house with at the background some church towers.
"Flanders Ridge B&B", she read half loud while balancing on one foot to pull out her socks.
"Why for God's sake, do they send a leaflet of a bed and breakfast to me?"
With lifted eyebrows she opened the leaflet and looked at the pictures of the rooms, a breakfast table, the garden and a picture of the owners."
"What the heck!", she exclaimed and she looked closer.
"That's Mike and Kate!"
She turned the leaflet and looked for a name and smiled.
"Hmm, Mike and Helen Flynn-Porter."
She looked at the card.
"A voucher?", she mumbled surprised lifting her eyebrows.
Finally she read the letter.
Dear Max,
Finally we settled down and we've given our life a new course.
In enclosure you'll find the leaflet of our project, the B&B Flanders Ridge.
We want to thank you that you made the efforts to bring us back together and therefore we invite you for a free stay in our B&B. In enclosure you'll find a voucher on which you can enter the period from-to when you want to stay .
If you can't make it now, don't worry, the offer is open for ever.
Just send it back in time so we can book your room.
Hear from you soon.
Bye.
Helen & Mike
She smiled. "Mike, you rascal, you've made it again! I would like to go but I've something else to do now," she said looking from the letter to the frame with photo of a man on her dressing.
She looked for an email address and later that night she sent a reply to them in which she thanked them for the offer and that it would take a couple of years before she would head to Europe because she was in a new relation as well.
10 years later
Zillebeke / Ypres
A small car has just passed the memorial area of Hill 60 and stopped at the forecourt of a country house. The man and the woman inside looked at the different flags at the poles in front of the B&B. The Australian and New Zealand flag among them attracted immediately their attention.
"So Max, Flanders Ridge, our final destination," her boyfriend said to Maxine.
"Yeah", she sighed. "I'm anxious to see them again", looking at the house and the flags
"Come, don't torture yourself any longer", he said when he got out of the hired car.
When Maxine got out of the car she straightened her back while looking at the flowers in the garden of the B&B. At the same moment a teenager girl with black hair and blue eyes approached them from out of the front door.
Maxine got a shock.
My god, that's Mike!
"Hallo, kan ik jullie helpen?", she asked them. (Hi, can I help you?)
"Uh, Hi, we are Maxine White and Andrew Garland. We've booked a room here", she answered the girl's question.
"Oh yeah, sure, hold on a sec," she replied directly in English.
She went back, yelling : "Ma, klanten!" (Mum, customers)
"Ja schat, ik kom," Maxine got a tickling down her spine when she heard that familiar voice coming from inside." (Yes darling, I'm coming)
Helen got out to welcome the new guests. Her face lightened up when she saw who it was.
"Hey Maxine! How are you? That's an eternity ago!", she greeted her joyful, shaking hands.
"Hi…uh? I'm ... uh, I'm fine, but you look great, how are you doing?", Maxine replied with a short hesitation, not knowing which name to use. She looked at Helen curiously. She wore a jeans, a smart t-shirt and mules.
What do I see at her? Something has changed, but what?
"I'm great. Thank you. It's Helen!", Helen replied to solve the problem for Maxine.
"This is Andrew, my friend," Maxine introduced her friend who stood meanwhile next to her.
"Hi, nice to meet you," Kate replied shaking hands.
"You've had a nice travel?", she asked them.
"A bit tiresome, but we spent the first days in London."
Helen wrapped her arm around her daughter's shoulders. "This is our daughter, Kate."
Maxine lifted her eyebrows and looked surprised from one to the other. "Ah? Oh, nice to meet you," and she shook hands as well. "It's completely Mike, not?"
"Yeah, except for the character, that's me," Helen replied with a smile.
Maxine nodded.
"Great, I'll show you your room", Helen said.
Maxine couldn't help herself and asked when they entered. "You've changed a bit haven't you?"
Helen showed her a big smile. "Yeah, when I came here I've my hair coloured. A shade darker and it's shorter. That's probably what you see."
She nodded. "Yeah indeed."
"Is Mike around?", she asked Helen.
"Not for the moment. He's making a battlefield tour with some other guests. He will be back when you've installed yourselves. I guess you like a drink in the garden?"
Helen opened a door and gave the key to Andrew.
"Here's your room. A view at the towers of Ypres, a fridge with some cool drinks, a coffee machine, coffee, tea, just, George Clooney is missing", she said with a wink.
After they have unpacked Maxine and Andrew went to the garden for a drink. A bit later they heard a familiar voice.
"Honey, I'm back!", Mike said out loud.
"Yeah, great, Mike, our new guests have arrived", Helen yelled back.
When Mike saw the guests in the garden he got a huge smile on his face. Maxine stood up and went towards him and embraced him.
"Mike, I'm happy to see you again!", she exclaimed.
"Me too Max, me too", he said and he did a step back to look at her. She had some more sharp lines in her face and there were much silver grey strokes in her hair .
"You're looking good" he said.
She shrugged, "Time passes and that had its consequences and I can see it had its influences on you too", she said poking gently with her fingers in his belly. "You've got a belly!"
He chuckled. "Helen's food is too good and the beer as well."
"That should be", and she turns to Andrew who joined them. "This is Andrew, my friend."
"Nice to meet you", Mike replied shaking his hand.
Meanwhile Helen joined them with a few drinks and they sat down again. The garden was behind the country house and they had it so constructed that you had a view on Ypres in the distance with the towers of the town hall and the two churches.
"Splendid view!", Andrew said.
"Yeah, it's not for nothing that the Germans wanted to keep Hill 60 during the First World War. From here you can observe what's happening there. That's also why we called our B&B Flanders Ridge. It's a circular hill ridge around Ypres. In the south you have a few high hills like the Kemmelberg and the Catsberg. From there starts a circular hill over Mesen, Wijtschate, Zillebeke, Bellewaerde to Passendaele. In French it's called 'Crête des Flandres'", Mike replied.
Maxine nodded, "Hmm, I see and you seem to know it well here?"
"That's the second part of our activity here. I'm doing guided tours to the battlefield and Helen is doing mainly the B&B", Mike replied.
"Nice hotel you have here, you're happy with it?" Maxine asked.
"Yeah, it's great. The location is perfect. Many people stop here to have a drink. It's curious because more and more we're having Australian and New Zealand guests", Helen said.
"You must be good, because I've done a little research and you're on several recommendation lists of B&B's in Australia", Maxine replied.
Helen poked Mike with a big smile. "Good, huh!?"
"Did you ever consider to go back?", Maxine asked.
Meanwhile Kate appeared again in the garden speaking to a friend of her with the mobile in the West-Flemish dialect . "Hey Anke, ge zih gie et. Wanjer kunne widder es is noa den L&L goane? Zehn zidder doa kei coole dinge." (hey Anke when can we go to the L&L, they have really cool things over there)
Maxine looked with risen eyebrows from Kate to Mike and Helen. "Do you really understand her?"
"When it's the official Dutch language, then we understand, but this is the local dialect and that's a bridge too far. She's born here, she grew up here and her native language is Dutch and that local thing. But, to give you an answer about going back. Well sometimes it hurts when we think about Cairns, but then we have to start from scratch again. Moreover I'm not going to make to same fault as my mother did. She dragged me from England to Australia and I'm not going to do that with her", she said motioning with her head in the direction of Kate. "Her life is here, not there and we've made our life here too. Maybe we will pass a holidays over there, yes."
Maxine nodded. "Yeah, you're right."
"And you both?", Mike asked.
"We know each other now for 13 years", Maxine answered grabbing Andrew's hand.
"I'm running a book shop in Cairns and that's also there where we've met each other for the first time", Andrew said.
Maxine chuckled. "Initially I thought he would kick me out, because I knocked over a pile of books and when I bent to pick them up I knocked over another pile with my bum."
"Yeah, in no time she had made a mess of my shop", he added.
Mike and Helen roared with laughter.
"We started talking while I helped him with the books and that's the way we started our relation", Maxine added.
"A bookshop? Hmm", Mike said thinking about which one.
"The Living Library", Andrew filled in.
"Yeah, indeed, at the corner! Yeah, I remember."
"Have you always been doing that? I can't remember seeing you", Helen said.
"Nope, I was a paratrooper but I stopped with it and started the shop. But I never could predict that I would fall on a Navy girl", he said squeezing Maxine's thigh.
"And what are you doing nowadays?", Mike asked Maxine.
"I'm still at Navcom, but with a promotion to Captain. It could have been for you, you know", she replied looking at Mike.
"Nah, it is what it is. I've chosen for my family."
"You're right mate!", Andrew confirmed.
Maxine looked at Helen. "Ka… uh Helen, I assume you know from Mike about your promotion?"
"Yes, he told me when he moved in 13 years ago", she replied with a nod.
Mike looked at her because he knew how touchy it was still for her. From time to time he noticed that she pulled on her uniform to look at it in the mirror and how her eyes became moist. At these moments he hugged her to let her feel she wasn't alone.
"What happened to the others?", Helen replied to bring Maxine on another subject.
"Oh? Pfft", Maxine stroke through her hair. "Let's see. Thorpe left the Navy to start as a mine engineer, Dixon is still at the base as a Petty Officer for the communication equipment. Andrew Harper, Harpie, is the Buffer on Hammersley as replacement for Mullholland. I realised that Mulholland had far more capabilities than I thought and I've sent him on an officer's training. He's now the XO on board of Nikki's boat."
"Wow, good! And 2Dads? Uh, Kosov-Meyer?", Helen asked.
"2Dads! Yeah, no need to tell me his last name. I know him well enough. It's really a pity that ships had to come to the base. At sea he's a great sailor, but once on shore, there are always troubles with him. He's still on Hammersley but his rank is like a yoyo. Petty-Officer, Leader and so on" Maxine said rolling her eyes.
"What about Ryan?", Mike asked.
Maxine looked at him for a moment desperately. Then she shrugged, clenched her hands and looked gloomily at the ground.
"He picked up the thread again and started a relation with Jessica. I think, he married her", she said sadly.
Mike frowned. "You think?"
"I don't know Mike", she said barely auditable.
" Hell, Max, he's your son. Why don't you know that?", Mike replied indignantly.
She whipped her head in his direction and he noticed that her eyes were glassy. "As I don't know that!", she snapped at him.
"Yeah, but what do you mean Maxine?", Helen asked softly to calm down the upcoming discussion.
It seemed to work. Maxine calmed down and she took a sip from her wine before continuing.
"I said I think he married her, because I don't know, because he left. He wanted to know where you were, Mike, and I told him what you asked me, to Perth", she said looking at Mike. "But your son is a smart-ass just like you and he discovered very quick that nobody had heard about Mike Flynn there. So, he came back to me accusing me that I lied to him. I played dumb, but he didn't believe me. Finally I was forced to tell him that I couldn't say where you were. He didn't accept that and he left angry. Since then he hasn't talked to me. Following the records he moved to the base in Melbourne with Jessica."
Meanwhile Mike has filled the glasses again.
"Sorry Maxine", Helen said.
"You don't have to say sorry. We had to be careful. We all pay finally for that operation!", she replied with a shrug.
Helen nodded, realising the mess that the witness protection has caused for them all.
They sat quietly together and didn't speak, processing what just had been said.
"By the way", she started, "why don't you stay for dinner with us tonight?"
"Ah? Ok, nice, thanks a lot!", Maxine replied.
"And Nikki? You mentioned her a minute ago", Helen asked again to move to another, lighter subject.
"Nikki, yeah. Indeed. She has a family as well now and she's the CO of the Hammersley", she said with a sigh.
"Anything wrong with her?", Mike asked. He sensed a kind of reluctance.
"No, not at all, she's actually one of the best of the division, but I'm persuaded that she took over all the bad habits of you both. Each time I'm happy when she's back at sea and when she returns I'm holding my heart to hear what happened during that voyage. There's always something where we have a discussion about", Maxine said making a face.
"Did she ask after us?", Helen asked.
"Uh, no", she replied unsure.
"Hmm, strange", Helen mumbled. "I barely can't believe it because it's not her style to remain passive."
Maxine just shrugged. "13 years is a long time, not?"
Mike and Helen looked at her without saying anything. Both were thinking the same.
Max, you're hiding something, I don't know what, but you do.
They chatted further until Maxine asked, "Did you both say farewell to the sea for good?"
Mike and Helen smiled. "Do you really think that?"
"Uh, honestly, I don't know."
"No, a few years after we settled down here, we bought a small boat. It lies at the marina of Nieuwpoort. From the moment we're free, we're at sea", Mike said.
Maxine smiled satisfied. "Yeah, I would have been really surprised to hear that you became landlubbers."
Helen filled the glasses once more.
"Oh, by the way Maxine, under friends we can talk about that. I've heard from Mike that you're not Knocker anymore? You're Hot Max and how did that happen?", she tried to ask innocently. Mike heard it and could barely hide a smile.
Maxine glared at Mike, "That's your husband's fault!", she grumbled and Mike put on his most innocent face.
"Ah? And what had he figured out again?", Helen asked.
"One day, I had a half day off and the Hammersley had to leave, but he didn't show up. So, I went to his house to see what was going on and I found him, drunk. I managed to get him under the shower but our bloke wiggled that much that I landed on the floor in the shower cabin while the water was pouring down. To make it worse he threw up on me. I still have bad dreams of it! There I was, my clothes stuffed up. He got the bright idea that I had to pick one of your clothes from his wardrobe", she told a bit agitated.
Helen looked hurtfully, "But, you've a bigger size than me?", she concluded.
"Exactly! Believe me or not, the only thing that I could wear, even no undies, was a blue-grey sleeveless dress", Maxine said still irritated.
"Oh my gosh, that one. That was a good one. I remember that it accentuated my shape rather well", Helen said amused as she remembered that dress.
"Precisely! Accentuate the shape! And it did! Jeez, it didn't hide anything anymore! But what could I do? In that outfit I brought him with my car to the base", she said.
"Hmm, apart from that, only Mike saw you and I'm persuaded that he didn't say anything about it? How did they give you that nick-name?", Helen said frowning.
"If it was only that, then nothing would have happened, but our bright light here forgot his gear in the car ….. and I got out…. In front of the entire crew…", she said beaten.
"No!?", Helen said baffled with big eyes.
"Yes", Maxine confirmed and clenched her jaws.
Helen, Mike and Andrew roared with laughter and it took a few minutes before they calmed down.
To be continued