We drove past a parade ground where at least 400 men were doing drills, and groups of soldiers in full kit marched past us at regular intervals, heading for trucks or armoured vehicles, off to round up more guns, fuel, Pot Noodles or whatever. The place was buzzing, full of organized, purposeful activity.
So as we drove into that awe inspiring place I felt insignificant and afraid, and I wondered what the headmaster would be like. Because with all this at his command, he could do pretty much anything he wanted with me.
Sanders pulled up outside the medical centre and carried Caroline inside. We'd made her a little bed in the back and Rowles had sat with her during the journey. He'd not said a word to me since she'd been shot. I think he blamed me for letting it happen, and an angry Rowles was not someone I wanted to confront, so I left him alone to brood. Caroline herself was conscious and cogent, but complaining of sharp pains in her head, which worried me. There was a possibility that she was bleeding into her skull, and I wanted her x-rayed as quickly as possible. I let Sanders sort out the formalities and I sat in the truck feeling guilty, useless and scared.
I caught myself wishing Lee were here, but I banished that thought as quickly as it appeared.
Sanders emerged five minutes later and opened the cab door for me, indicating that I should get out.
'They think she'll be fine, but they're going to give her a full work up. Rowles is staying with her,' he said as I clambered down. There was an awkward moment as he put his hands around my waist to lift me down. I stared at him, not unkindly, and he removed his hands and apologized with a smile.
He led the way to the regimental HQ.
'The doctors here have lots of practice treating injuries like hers,' he explained. 'The one I saw said to tell you that you'd done an excellent job on her.'
I nodded, trying to take pride in the compliment, but I felt nothing but shame.
We came to the steps of the main building and Sanders put one of his huge hands on my shoulder. I stopped.
'Let me do the talking, okay?' he said.
I looked at him curiously.
'I think I can sort this out,' he explained. 'But you'll have to trust me.'
'Sure,' I said, allowing myself a flicker of hope.
We walked up the steps and through the double doors. There was a notice board on our left as we entered, plastered with timetables, orders, a poster for a karaoke night. It was so normal, it reminded me of school. Down the long corridor which stretched ahead of us men and women in uniform were bustling from room to room carrying clipboards and folders. A drink machine, actually powered up and working, was frothing a coffee for a bored looking army clerk. That corridor was the closest thing I'd seen to pre-Cull England in two years. Nobody was scared, nobody was hungry. There was an air of ordered, peaceful activity, like any office, really. I wondered if this was the way forward for us survivors, or whether the military machine was just hiding itself away inside a secure compound where they could pretend nothing had happened, that routine military life was just the same as it had always been, running like clockwork, all hierarchy and structure.
We walked down the corridor and Sanders knocked on the door at the far end. The nameplate read Maj. Gen. J. G. Kennett. This was the big man. I braced myself, but when a stern voice barked 'Enter!' Sanders turned and pointed to a chair in the corner.
'Stay there,' he said. 'I'll only be a minute.'
I nodded, aware that my life, and the lives of my kids, rested entirely upon what this man, who I hardly knew, was going to say next.
As Sanders opened the door, I sat down to wait. I'd only been there for a minute, twiddling my thumbs and staring at the patterns on the carpet, when a young woman brought me a cup of tea in a saucer, with biscuits.
'There you go, Miss,' she said with a smile.
Cup and saucer, tea and biscuits. I shook my head in wonder.
About ten minutes later, long after I'd exhausted all the entertainment possibilities of sitting on a chair in a corridor, the door to Kennett's office opened and Sanders popped his head out.
'Jane,' was all he said by way of summons.
I felt a pang of butterflies in my tummy as I rose and entered the office of probably the most powerful man in the country. The room was plush but not opulent. Regimental photos lined the walls, and there were even a few paintings – Waterloo, the trenches of the Somme. The floor was polished wood with a huge, deep rug laid across most of it. There were old wooden filing cabinets, upholstered wooden armchairs, a sideboard with decanter and glasses. The room was old school privilege and power; comfort, security and authority embodied in the trappings of tradition and duty.
Major General Kennett was standing in front of his desk, leaning back against it, his arms folded across his chest. He was about forty, plump, red cheeked and bald, with a strong square jaw, and was dressed plainly in green trousers and jumper. He regarded me with calculating green eyes. I was unsure whether his air of easy authority was innate or whether it was bestowed upon him by the room itself and all the cultural and social respect it represented.
Sanders stood to one side, hands clasped behind his back. He wasn't at attention, but he was formal. I think they call it 'standing easy'.
'Miss Crowther, welcome to Operation Motherland,' said Kennett, leaning forward and offering me his hand. His voice was high and nasal, with a strong southern accent, kind of like Ken Livingstone. It didn't suit him at all.
I took his hand and he shook it once, firmly.
He didn't offer me a seat, so I stood there, unsure what was required of me.
'The lieutenant has been telling me what happened at your school and on the journey here. There'll have to be an investigation, of course.' He folded his arms and pursed his lips, assessing me.
I couldn't think of anything to say, so I just said 'right.'
There was a long pause.
'I'm not entirely sure I believe everything he told me,' added Kennett.
'Sir…' began Sanders, but Kennett silenced him with a look.
'But I've known him a long time, Miss Crowther. He's one of my most trusted officers. So I choose to believe him. And I feel sure that everything the investigation discovers will corroborate his story. Won't it, Sanders?'
'Sir.'
'Yes,' mused Kennett. 'Thorough. I like that in a soldier. So I shall continue to believe him, and by extension to trust you, unless you give me reason to do otherwise. Do you think you're likely to do that, Miss Crowther?'
'No, Sir,' I said, surprised by my instinctive deference.
'Good. In which case you are welcome to remain here while the girl in your care recuperates. After that you will escorted safely back to your school. We will, I'm afraid, have to disarm your merry band, but I'm sure you understand that's for the best.'
'Actually, Sir…' I began. But the warning in his eyes was clear and unambiguous. I fell silent again and nodded. Jesus, this really was like talking to my old headmaster.
'Excellent.' Kennet clapped his hands and smiled. Business concluded. 'Sanders will find you a billet, and maybe we'll see you at our karaoke night tonight. Sanders does a very good Lemmy, I'm told.' With that he turned his back on us, picked up a file and began to read.
A second later, almost as an afterthought, he said 'dismissed.'
Sanders saluted, said 'Sir' and ushered me out of the door.
'What the hell did you tell him?' I asked incredulously as we walked out of the building into the crisp air of a spring evening.
'What I needed to. I'll brief you properly later, so we can get our stories straight for the investigators. Essentially, the child traffickers killed our guys, and you killed the traffickers.'
At the bottom of the steps I stopped, took his hand, leant up and kissed him on the cheek.
'Thank you,' I said.
He squeezed my hand and smiled. 'You're welcome. Now let's get you billeted, then you can start thinking about what you're going to sing tonight!'
'You wish! I've got a voice like a strangled cat.'
The billet was a room on the first floor of a simple barrack building. It had a single bed, wardrobe, wash basin
