A Hero's Welcome Ch. 04

At last Charlie made to get up. "Lu-Lu, how do you fancy some brekkie? My treat, a full fry-up, more protein than you can shake a stick at!"

I fancied, so we had a quick shower and headed for the kitchen, where Charlie showed his skill at field cookery by using every possible pan, griddle, skillet and plate I had to make breakfast for two!

We were just enjoying a coffee after washing up when the doorbell rang. I answered it, and my heart sank when I saw two redcaps, Military Police sergeants, and an army Land Rover.

"Good Morning Miss, is there a Lt. Manville currently residing at this address?" asked one of them, and I tried to keep my voice normal as I called out to Charlie.

"Charlie, MP's for you, you'd better come now!"

Charlie came to the door, curiosity written all over his face, looking suspiciously at the MP's; redcaps are never a popular sight to any British serviceman or woman.

"Lt. Manville?" confirmed the lead MP, and when Charlie nodded, the MP handed him a buff MoD envelope. Charlie tore it open and read the form inside.

"Lu-Lu, my leave's been cancelled. Look, 'D & A O, Delay and Await Orders'. I've also been ordered to report to the Garrison Commander at Abbey Wood, Where's that?" he asked the redcap.

"Bristol, Sir, " he replied, "and I've been requested to inform you that you present yourself to the GCO in No.1 Dress, Sir."

Charlie looked baffled, but asked them to wait while he dressed. I called them inside, made them tea while Charlie got dressed in his formal uniform. I'd stopped worrying, if he was under arrest, they'd have just taken him as he was, but them playing it like this told me he was being escorted to an important meeting.

When Charlie came in, in his full Officer's Service Dress, both MP's leaped to their feet and saluted, as he was now 'properly' dressed and officially an officer. I had to admit, in his peaked cap and Sam Browne belt, leather gloves and riding whip, he did look hot and romantic!

Charlie told them to carry on, and left them to their tea and biscuits while he talked quietly to me in the Lounge.

"Look, Lu-Lu, I don't know what's going on, and I don't know how long I'll be away, I'll call you when I'm done, OK? I'm just puzzled why Bristol; Household division's based in Windsor, that's where my CO is, so I'm wondering why I'm not reporting to Divisional HQ. Strange!"

I was unworried. Obviously, Lorna's little civil servant had done his bit, and at lightning speed, too, she must have really lit a fire under him! Now it just remained to see what happened next. He called the MP's to order, and let them escort him to the Land Rover, and off they went. I immediately called Lorna, told her what had just transpired, and she seemed pleased and unworried.

"We'll wait 'til Charlie gets back, see if chummy's lived up to his end of the bargain, then we'll take it from there!"

The day dragged by on leaden feet. After waiting on tenterhooks for the next three hours, I decided to go shopping, restock the freezer, and get a coffee in Banbury.

I got home just after 6, and as I was unloading the shopping, my 'phone rang. It was Charlie!

"Baby, what's happened, why all the sudden rush to see you, in Bristol, of all places?"

Charlie sounded strange, a little odd. "Lu, I've been promoted. I just got my captain's stars, the GCO pinned them on himself! Plus, I've been re-assigned, to Abbey Wood, Advanced Weapons Effects Simulators. They've given me a training post!"

I was nearly fainting with relief, Charlie was staying, he was staying! Thank you, Lorna, thank you!

Whatever else he said was lost in the noise in my head as the realisation that he was not going back nearly made me black out, my relief was so intense. I caught the tail end of what he was saying. "...and I have a new Leave Authorisation; I've been Stood-Down before orientation at Filton, so I'll be around for another 6 weeks from today!"

I was ecstatic; my boy was safe, and he was going to remain with me. I waited agog with excitement until I heard the sound of a car on the driveway, and opened the door to see Charlie being saluted out of a snatch Land-Rover by a Transport Corps driver, Charlie being very formal, returning the salute and granting him permission to leave, of course, he was a captain now, then turning to me with a huge grin splitting his face.

I squealed and hit him full on, grabbing his ears and pulling him down to kiss him, hard, and then cover his face with kisses. He laughed with delight, and lifted me around the waist, carried me back indoors and kissed me properly, holding me close to him by the simple expedient of grabbing my bum and pulling me in tight.

"So talk to me, Charlie, how did this all happen!" I laughed.

He looked pensive for a second, then began to speak.

"I've never seen anything like it, Abbey Wood's a huge complex, just on the outskirts of Bristol, near the Rolls Royce jet engine place at Filton, all branches of the services guarding all sorts of projects and developments there; I even saw some SAS, so there's obviously some pretty hush-hush stuff going on there. Anyway, when I arrived there, I was escorted to the GCO, the Garrison Commanding Officer, and he had my service file, which I thought was strange, that should have been at Windsor, at Divisional HQ. He sat me down and started telling me that I'd been selected to head-up a new weapons-effects project, modelling weapons' effectiveness in front-line deployment, and I would be helping to design the next-generation of assault weapon for the British Armed Forces. Apparently I'd come highly recommended, and it all got quite chummy after that – his son is over there in Helmand, so he was curious to know what it was like, his own combat experience was from 1982, so he wanted to know about the enhanced risks etc.

It ended up by him asking who the hell I'd slept with, as more senior officers had been passed over in favour of me, but I had to tell him I was as much in the dark as he was. God, I'll never understand the military bureaucracy, but I'm really glad it spun my way for a change!"

"Anyway, the upshot is that I'll be commanding an assault company, 120 men in all, and we'll be war-gaming in Imber, over on Salisbury Plain, testing new weapons as a possible replacement for the SA-80 bull-pup and L86 LSW. So I get to live here – it's a 2 hour drive to Imber, but I'll only be there one or two days a week, the rest of the time, I'll either be at Bristol, again, only 2 hours away, or stood down here!"

I was over the moon, so much so I literally dragged him upstairs, tore his clothes off, and fucked him hard and with feeling! We kept going all through the night, not stopping for meals, enjoying our new freedom, Charlie as turned-on as I was, both of us luxuriating in the start of our new life together. We eventually fell asleep as dawn was breaking, my heart fully at peace for the first time in God alone knew how long.

EPILOGUE.

I sat in the stand on Horse Guards Parade, watching the lines of red-coated Guardsmen wheel and precision march in front of the Saluting Podium, giving salute to the Queen as they marched past, the massed bands of all the Guards regiments playing in normal time.

My father's old regiment, The Coldstream Guards were having their new Colours trooped as part of the Queen's birthday celebrations, as one or other of the five Guards regiments do every year, and I had been invited to attend the ceremony as a guest of the regiment.

At last, the regiment had marched past, and taken up ranks on the edge of Horse Guards Parade, awaiting the order to begin marching down the Mall to Buckingham Palace. Now the Household Cavalry formed up, their lines of perfectly matched black geldings wheeling in column to face the Saluting Base. The Guard Captain walked his horse forward to come within one length of the podium, to give salute to the Queen, as leader of her personal guard detachment, looking splendid, dashing and romantic in his silver cuirasse breastplate and helmet, with the neck-length red horsehair plume, Royal Blue tunic, snowy white gauntlets and riding breeches, black jackboots shining like mirrors.

His sword came down from parade rest to low guard, then straight up, his elbow out from his body as the sword swept in front of him, point straight up, blade flat to the monarch, held steady for a count of three, then back down to low guard. He repeated this twice more, the Queen nodding in acceptance of the salute, and he turned and, with his sword once again at parade rest, walked his horse forward one length, then called out the order to proceed. "Column will form rank by two's...left wheel!" They all turned in perfect synchronisation to face the entrance to The Mall, forming up two abreast.

"Guard detachment will form on me.....Form up!" And with that, the column moved forward until the lead rider was parallel to him, then stopped, waiting for the Queen's carriage to arrive at the Saluting Podium. Once the royal carriage signalled that it was moving out, half the column moved up in front of the State Landau, to escort the Queen. The other half of the column took up station behind it, escorting it back to the palace, the Life guards in their red tunics forming up line abreast in two behind the Blues & Royals.

"Look, Charlie," I pointed, "can you see him? There's Daddy!" The little boy with the jet black hair and eyes like emeralds craned his neck, trying to see his father, as Charlie led the guard detachment back to the palace, escorting his Commander-in-Chief to the sound of clapping and cheering from the crowds and the heat-lightning flashing of cameras the length of the Mall.