"Mail, lads!" They heard the Captain's voice and ran out of the tent to where he stood. "Let's see what we have here. Hood!" He called Rob's name who approached, taking a letter from the Captain's hands. He ripped it open and began reading whilst the Captain called out the names of the other mail recipients. "Cassidy!" He called Neal's name after a while and gave him a large box. Neal opened it to find it full of food including what she had found out to be his favourite crisps and sweets. "And last but not least, Miss Swan." He said, passing her a package about the same size as Neal's. She sat down with the others and opened it. Right on top lay a picture of her entire family holding a piece of paper which read 'Wish you were here!' from her
"Who's that?" Asked Neal, sat next to her eating his crisps.
"My family. Mum, Dad, 3 sisters and 2 brothers." Most of the section turned at this point and went quiet, including the Captain who was walking around the group, talking to different people about what they had received.
"That's a big family you've got there, Swan!" Asked Jefferson.
"Yeah, they're a bunch of nutters but they were all great when I said I wanted to come out here." She said with a small smile on her face.
"That's really cool." Neal said.
They all sat and went through the rest of their mail. Hers included a bag of Haribo, a copy of her favourite book, some crisps, and a massive bag of toffee bon-bons. Then, she noticed a small black box buried underneath the rest. She opened it to find a silver locket with a swan on the front. Clicking the lock and it opened to reveal a picture of her and her best mate, August. A small note was stuffed in the top of the box which read 'So that I'm with you no matter what. A x' Her heart fluttered and a tear came to her eye, she wiped it away swiftly, untying the chain from the box and putting it around her neck, under her sweatshirt.
"That's nice, Swan." The Captain's voice came from behind her and she turned to face him as he crouched down to her level.
"Yeah, my mate sent it to me. He's a bit of a softy."
"He?" Jones asked. If she didn't know any better, she would say there was a tinge of jealousy in his voice.
"Yeah, he lives with me. We've known eachother since we were kids. He was the one who pushed me to do this. Well, him and his fiancée." She laughed.
"He sounds like a great dude." He said, his face lit up at the word fiancée. Yep. He was definitely jealous, well he was.
"Did you just say dude?" She asked, laughing.
"Oh give off Swan." He laughed, shoving her shoulder playfully and standing to make his way around the rest of the group.
"Come on you lazy sods!" Shouted Humbert as they crossed in front of the truck at the end of their run. He and Captain Jones leant up against the door whilst the section ran past all sweating from the sprint around the entire camp. Emma bent over, resting her hands on her knees and catching her breath.
"Good work lads, hit the showers." Said Jones. They all started towards the showers when he called out again. "Swan?" She turned to face him. "A word." He walked towards his tent and she followed.
"Sir?" She asked when they got inside.
"Has that girl of yours said anything about her father?" He asked, folding his arms across his chest.
"Leila?" She asked.
"Yes, Swan."
"No, nothing that I recall Sir. She trusts me, I'm sure if I spoke to her she would tell me." She suggested.
"Alright, Swan. Next patrol you need to find her immediately without drawing attention to you or her and find out what you can."
"Yes, Sir."
"Right, off you go then Swan." He said. She nodded and left, heading for her tent. She grabbed her towel on the way to the showers before rinsing off and changing into her vest top and shorts.
"5th Section, fall in!" She heard from outside. She moved the flap to the medic's tent and walked out. The lads quickly ran over, all double taking when they saw Emma.
"Right! Our dear Captain has some news lads!" Shouted Humbert.
"Tomorrow night, it is our turn to supply the entertainment for the camp. Now, I am going to be singing and I need someone to sing with me." The guys all looked panicked and shuffled where they stood. "Oh, and one minor detail, it needs to be a woman." Emma jolted her head as the guys all started wolf-whistling and cheering. "Miss Swan, here are the lyrics. I expect you to know them by tomorrow night or you will look bloody stupid on stage in front of everyone." She sang when she was younger and in the shower, to be honest she didn't think she was too bad, but still this was performing in front of everyone… with her Captain.
"Oh god." She groaned, snatching the lyrics from him. She unfolded the page and laughed when she saw what they would be singing. "Really?" She asked, looking at him.
"Oh yes, Swanny, really." He raised his eyebrows suggestively and she felt her knees buckle a little. "I think we should let dear Miss Swan learn her lines, don't you lads." He said, winking at her as he began walking away.
"Off you go then Swan. Get singing." Neal joked next to her. She elbowed him in the stomach and walked back to her tent.
Great. This was going to go swimmingly. Not.