Archive name: Kelly Farmer Work and Romance
.HTM (M/F, Cheating)
Authors name: Paula Wilson
([email protected])
Story title: Kelly Farmer Work and Romance
A Military Wife Story
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This work is copyrighted to the author and
the Unfaithful Wife Organisation © 2003.
Please don't remove the author information or make any changes to this
story. All rights reserved. Thank you
for your consideration.
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She passed
through a sizable town and then picked up the signs for the camp, the highway
became a road and finally degenerated into something little more than a track,
certainly if she met another vehicle coming in the other direction there would
be a problem.
The camp
appeared from out of nowhere and the first thing she noticed was the lack of a
guard gate, a single sentry appeared from what looked like a wooden shed.
“Can I help
you?” He asked casually, there was none of the discipline she had become used
to.
“I’m Mrs. Kelly
Farmer, I have been transferred
here.” She offered the private her notification. “I telegraphed the date of my
arrival.” It felt strange to say transferred
as it was Lance and not her who belonged to the military, she just belonged to
Lance; correction did belong to Lance.
“Just wait
there.” The sentry returned to his shed and Kelly could see if not hear him on
the telephone. He returned after a minute or so. “Seems you’re right, take a
left from here, the
The camp was
more like the tourist camps that Kelly had visited with her family, where
they’d have set up their trailer for a couple of nights. It had that feel about
the place, a sleepy, nothing ever happened feel.
She found the
admin block, really just a long wooden hut, staffed by a solitary private.
Kelly handed in her papers and waited until the soldier returned five minutes
later with a sheet of paper and a key.
“This is the
inventory and this is the key.” Just follow the track past here, you’ll come to
the married quarters, they all have numbers on and may I say that it’s nice to
have a new face around here … will your husband be joining you?”
He was the
second person to say the same thing, new face / fresh face; it spoke volumes
for the place. Still the question made Kelly look at the private for the first
time. He stood tall, easily six feet and had short cropped sandy hair; the face
was, well, ordinary. Besides the events with
“He’s in
The tab on the
key read number twenty two and Kelly found the long low row of timber cabins,
two rows of them, standing back to back. They looked mostly deserted; at least
they had none of the family feel of
The place
smelt, but only of lack of use. She opened all the doors and windows and left
the wind to blow away the smell. There was a veneer of dust that would require
her to work and there was an almost total lack of furniture. She hadn’t
expected that, at Mason their rooms had almost been furnished, here, there was
almost nothing, no carpets, curtains, chairs …
“I thought exactly
the same …”
The female
voice suddenly intruding on Kelly’s thoughts made her jump; she spun around,
her heart quite literally in her mouth.
“Sorry, I
thought you’d heard me … name’s Cathy Pearce, I live in number sixteen, which
means that we’re neighbours.” She held out a limp hand which Kelly shook.
“Kelly Farmer.”
Kelly said in reply.
“Stop me if I’m
intruding … is your furniture on the way?” Cathy was a blonde, maybe thirty and
with a willowy figure, she was wearing jeans and a t-shirt and her breasts
jiggled as she moved.
Kelly shook her
head.
“Thought not …
they keep most of the stuff in storage, cause they never say that, leave you to
find that out for yourself … am I going to fast?” It wasn’t a nasty question,
but after days on the road Kelly was suddenly feeling very tired.
“Just tired … I
wasn’t expecting to find an empty shed.”
She’d have sat down, but there wasn’t any where to sit.
“Tell you what
… I’ll make a coffee and give you the low down, then we’ll organise some
furniture.”
Kelly allowed
herself to be ushered into the other woman’s cabin, at least here she had a
chance to see how her place would look once she’d found some furniture, the
problem was there was just no money in the bank and so there was no way she
could buy furniture. That was another thing she needed, a job.
They sat in the
tiny kitchen which was almost too small for the table and two chairs that Cathy
had installed there.
“Lark’s what
they called a watch station, before the war it had been a holiday camp, but the
army took it over after Pearl, then they turned it into a radar station and
then they just forgot about it and anyone posted here.” Cathy was talkative,
very talkative and Kelly wondered if she’d be the same after a few months here.
It was so dam quiet.
Kelly grimaced.
“My old base commander said it was a place for misfits.”
“Misfits … I
like that, that just about sums up everyone here, the soldiers the army doesn’t
want and the civilians it would prefer to forget … my husbands in Germany,
where’s yours?” Cathy was one of those people who leapt from subject to subject
in the same sentence.
“The
same.” Kelly
conceded.
“Mine’s trying
to avoid coming home and facing me.”
“Why?”
“He has a
Mistress and they have a kid, lives off the base and I can’t touch the bastard
until he’s back in the US of A.” Cathy pulled in her breath. “I just want to be
rid of him so that I can start again.”
“You mean a
divorce?” Kelly was almost incredulous, despite everything that had passed
between her and Lance she had never seriously considered a divorce, she’d
assumed that everything would one day return to normal, how it had been.
“For certain,
so how come you’re not with your husband?”
“I can’t, the
base commander has a no families rule.”
“Oh, he’s in
one of those units?” Cathy smiled.
“What units?”
“The special
ones, rocket defence, that type of stuff, least that was Jimmy said.” She broke
open a packet of cigarettes, offered Kelly one which she refused and then light
one for herself.
Kelly was just
confused. Divorce, special units, Jimmy, who the hell was Jimmy, she asked.
“Jimmy is the
sergeant in charge of the base … we don’t qualify for a full time officer. He’s
been army since we fought the Japs, and knows people every where. He said that
your husband was probably on some special unit and he was right.” Cathy
finished her coffee with one long gulp and then stubbed the remains of the
cigarette out in the damp scum at the bottom of the cup. “Come on and we’ll
organise the furniture.”
It took an hour
and some flirting with the half dozen soldiers who appeared, none were named
Jimmy, but Kelly got the distinct impression that Cathy was friends with them
all. She was at ease with them all, teasing and cajoling them, until in a line
they descended on Kelly’s home.
Kelly just
stood and watched as the soldiers cleaned through the cabin and then furnished
it from the storehouse. Some of it wasn’t to her taste but a bare four hours
after she’d arrived, Kelly had a home, nothing special but it was her’s.
Cathy kissed
each of the soldiers on the cheek and Kelly pretended not to notice that more
than one of them stroked her body as she did.
As soon as
they’d left Cathy just took up station in one of the easy chairs.
“You should
think of a way of saying thank you.” She suggested.
“Like what?”
Kelly wasn’t exactly bristling, but she didn’t want Cathy taking charge of her
life, she’d spent her life being told what to do; now she was going to start
making her own choices. “Who should I thank?”
“Oh not me, the
boys though if truth be told, they are bored most of the time. I’ve found that
keeping them happy makes most things go very smoothly.” There was a twinkle in
her eyes.
Kelly wondered
just what Cathy meant by smooth, but before she could say anything, Cathy
continued.
“A party, the
bring your own booze kind, that way you’ll get to meet everyone at the same
time … what do you say?”
Kelly wasn’t
convinced about the idea, she didn’t really want her space invaded so soon but
she did want to thank the soldiers and it was
a way of meeting the other residents of the camp.
“I don’t know
…”
“Look, just how
long has your husband been over sea’s.”
Kelly did some
swift maths.
“Upwards
of eighteen months, why?”
“Because you
don’t look like a woman who can go that long with a little … you know … real
male company.” Cathy made a gesture of one finger slipping between two others
formed into a circle, with a sudden blush Kelly knew what Cathy was alluding
to.
“That’s a
private matter!” She said, still colouring.
“There’s plenty
of privates here, but if you’ll take my advice, try the none comms, they have much more experience.” Cathy laughed at
her own joke. “Seriously moral or should I say morals are pretty lose around abouts, no one will blab to … what’s your
husbands name …?”
“Lance.”
“Right, Lance,
well no bodies gonna ring him, even collect and tell him what you’re doing.
This really is a great place if you want to fool around … take my word for it.”
“Right now the
last thing I need is a man, but I could handle a party, a few beers and some
laughs, would that be good enough?”
“Great I’ll
pass the word round, start about eight and don’t worry; it won’t get out of
hand.” There was a look on Cathy face which said that her definition of out of
hand wasn’t Kelly’s.
The party started
about a half hour later than planned and Kelly had just begun to wonder if the
idea had fallen flat. Cathy was the first to arrive and with her a chisel jawed
man in his early forties, he had iron grey hair cropped short and looked every
inch a soldier. The first real soldier she’d seen on the camp.
“Kelly, this is
Jimmy, Jimmy this is Kelly.”
“Nice
to meet you.” She
said as they shook hands, he had a strong grip and the handshake lingered long
enough for her to feel his pulse.
“Likewise.” He had grey blue eyes, very clear and
piercing, like his handshake they lingered on her, that Jimmy found her
attractive was all to obvious.
Then the others
began to arrive, in one’s and two’s Kelly’s tiny cabin gradually received
nearly twenty people, who she guessed were mostly male with only a smattering
of females. Apart from Cathy, she was only introduced to a thirtish redhead
named Stacy and a girl who only looked about eighteen but who Kelly was sure
was older, named Jenny. Apart from these four, the other guests were male and
military.
Kelly reckoned
that half the men suggested something or other to her, the suggestions mostly
consisted of stepping outside or did she need any help in clearing up
afterwards. They were just polite ways of propositioning her but Kelly wasn’t
interested. In truth she was to tired to bother with sex, she just wanted the
night to end so that she could collapse into her new bed.
Still everyone
wanted to meet her and she did finally meet everyone, it was just that tomorrow
she wouldn’t remember their names.
At some time
the party began to break up, in one’s and two’s everyone drifted away, Kelly
noticed that Stacy who arrived on her own didn’t leave that way. She started to
wonder if all the women on the camp were equally generous with their
affections.
She discovered
Jenny with the private who’d greeted her at the gate; they were necking and
were embarrassed when they discovered Kelly watching them. Later she would
discover that they were an item and hoped one day to marry. They were something
normal in an abnormal world.
In the end
there was just her and Cathy, Jimmy and another soldier called Clem. Kelly
wondered if this had been arranged, Jimmy had kept paying her attention all
night, something that had started to annoy her.
Cathy was
sitting on Clem’s knee and making no attempt to stop or control his roaming
hands. Kelly tried not to watch when Clem began stroking Cathy’s breasts.
“Perhaps they
need some privacy?” Jimmy asked.
“Meaning what
exactly?” Kelly asked sharply.
“We could step
outside.”
That again!
Still Kelly had no great desire to watch Cathy and Clem who were now starting
to neck. Why didn’t Cathy just take him home with her? A least they could fuck
in private and not in her home! All the same Kelly found herself outside with
Jimmy in the cooling summer evening.
“What do you
think of the Lark?” He asked. He was standing close, but not touching.
“All I’ve seen
is the guard hut, admin hut, store hut and this place … so what else is there
to see?” Kelly asked; she had her arms crossed over her chest.
He chuckled.
“The truth is not much, in fact just more of the same … oh and the beach, we
have a fine private beach.”
“Private?”
“Army property,
the military hates to give anything back to the civilians (he made that sound
like a disease Kelly thought), so once it got this place back in forty two,
that was it. So now we have our own personal beach. I’ll show it you sometime,
you got a bikini?”
“
“A
swimsuit, but in two parts, top and bottom, like underwear.” He made to show how they fitted.
Kelly giggled.
“What’s wrong,
did I say something funny?” Jimmy asked.
“Just how you
tried to show how it was worn, I tried to imagine you wearing undies, didn’t
work.” She glanced back into the cabin, Cathy and Clem were getting even
closer, he had his hand beneath her dress, and Cathy’s legs were spread wide.
“Can’t she wait?” She protested.
“Cathy? Leave
them in there much longer and fumbling won’t be all they are doing. Just wait
here a minute.” Jimmy went back into the cabin; he leant across the couple and
said something. There was a muffled protest and then a minute later Cathy and
Clem appeared, arm in arm and without acknowledging Kelly’s presence headed
towards Cathy’s cabin.
Jimmy
reappeared. “You have your place back.”
It brought on
the moment that Kelly had been dreading, Jimmy followed her back into the
lounge and before she’d told him to stop before he started, he was kissing her,
his hands stroking her arms as he did. He kissed well, physically, with his whole
body pressing against her.
Kelly didn’t
want to kiss him back, but she did. He smelt so male that Kelly started to feel herself slipping. She allowed him
to touch her buttocks, scooping them into his strong hands, she could feel his
cock pressing against her, but it was all too soon and there was another problem.
She pushed him
away. “We can’t.” She gasped.
“Why
not!” He grunted; he
took hold of her again. It still felt good and Kelly wanted more.
Again she shook
him off. “It’s my period, it’s my time, and we just can’t.”
He didn’t look
as if he believed her.
“Want to check
me out?” Kelly almost snapped. She hated it when people didn’t believe her.
“No, no, I
believe you, just my luck eh!” He picked up his beer and drained the dregs. “I
guess that’s it for tonight, give me a call sometime and I’ll show you the
beach.” With that he turned and walked out of the cabin.
Kelly began to
shake, the bit about her period had been true, and it had started that morning,
so for a few days Kelly wasn’t interested in sex, and it was an excuse, after
“Your
period!” Cathy
exclaimed. “That’s what I call bad timing; Jimmy’s quite a beast in the sack.”
It was the next
day, early afternoon and Kelly had just about tidied up the place after the
party. Cathy had miraculously appeared when the work had been done and a
suspicious Kelly wondered if that had been deliberate. She still wasn’t sure if
she really liked the woman.
“You know him,
that way I mean?” Kelly asked, although she knew the answer. She’d worked out
that Cathy had probably been with just about everyone on the base. It made
Kelly’s efforts at
“Sure, Jimmy
introduced himself just after I arrived here.” Cathy smirked and Kelly realised
that what had almost happened to her had probably happened to Cathy.
“How long have
you been here?” Kelly asked.
“Almost a year
and it seems longer, there is so little to do.”
“Jimmy said
something about a beach?”
“Sure, sure,
there’s the beach and you can lie around there for hours, but if I’m going to
be on my back then I prefer it to be on a bed, like last night.” She laughed
and Kelly joined in but without much enthusiasm.
“He said
something about me wearing a bikini?”
Cathy laughed
again. “He would … and with your figure you’d look great, do you have one?”
Kelly shook her
head; she couldn’t even swim and didn’t even have a swimsuit. She said so.
“Right, then
tomorrow we’ll go shopping.”
Inside a week
Kelly was the proud owner of two bikinis, one was jet black and the other a
deep red. She looked good in them both. She was also employed, working casual
shifts in a local clothing factory, she needed the money. It wasn’t the life
she’d imagined that November day two years ago when she and Lance had married,
then she’d imagined that by now she’d at the least be pregnant with her first
baby, not working the evening shift in a factory and fending off every man who
looked at her.
Larksville, she
had discovered that the name went back to when it had been a summer camp, was
possibly the quietest place in the world, the place was dead with a capital D
and she began to see how after a year here Cathy had become the easy lay that
she was.
The factory was
nothing more than several sheds strung together; Kelly had herself a job
packing the jeans into cardboard cartons. She was paid for every carton that
she packed, there were ten pairs of jeans to each carton and after folding the
jeans and packing them into the carton she then had to seal the carton, then
and only then could she claim the work to be done.
They had a
tally system, carry the carton to the supervisor and get a plastic ring; each
ring was worth ten cents. Kelly reckoned that on a good night she could maybe
three dollars an hour though usually over the evening this totalled out at ten
dollars in a four hour shift. It was sweat shop money, Kelly knew that, but she
had no training or skills and had to take what she could.
Kelly worked
every evening that she could manage and a few times during the day, the money
wasn’t any better, but she worked hard and after a couple of months she began
to see some money stay in the bank account. Lance still leaked money to her and
gradually Kelly started to believe that there might ….
“How about
working some extra hours?” Murray Sanderson, the factory owner suggested,
breaking into Kelly’s dreams.
“Sure, money is
money, doing what, packing?” Kelly was hot and sweaty after five hours in the
packing shed. It had been slow night and she’d hardly made more than ten
dollars.
“Maybe, buy you
a coke first?”
“That’d be
nice, lead on.” Kelly swept her damp hair from her face.
Kelly wasn’t so
naïve that she didn’t know what was going to happen. She was alone in the
factory with a man who’d already made several suggestions to her, each of which she’d politely turned down, but
now she was tired and … and getting desperate.
She slumped
uninvited into the easiest of the chairs cluttering the tiny office, the night
was hot and the air conditioning poor. She stretched out, after an evening of
crouching over the production belt it felt so good just to stretch out.
She noticed
that
He made small
talk, about the weather, where she lived, and finally about the job.
“Enjoy the
work?”
Kelly almost
laughed, instead she just grinned.
“It’s a job.”
“A
crap job.”
“With
a capital C.” Kelly
added and this time she did laugh.
“So, you’d like
a change, better money, easier work?”
Kelly started
to smell a rat, the sort that offered something for a night inside her
knickers. She might be desperate both financially and emotionally but she
wasn’t that easy.
“Like what?”
She asked cautiously.
“First let me
say that I like your work … now don’t give me that look. We check one in ten
cartons; make sure that the packers are packing okay. You pack to the letter,
no one else does, that’s a sign of a conscientious worker, and most packers try
to fiddle, say nine jeans to a carton?”
Kelly couldn’t
see the point.
“If you did
then you’d get away with it until the shop opens that carton and complains
you’ve short changed them. You write our initials on every carton, so it’s
simple to trace who’s doing what.” To Kelly it was so simple that she hadn’t
even bothered to try
“We lay off two
this week for that very thing.”
“So the jobs
opening other peoples cartons …?” Kelly asked.
“No, we laid
off the supervisor, she was handing out rings for no cartons … I thought that
somebody as conscientious as you would make the ideal supervisor.”
“How
much?” Kelly almost
interrupted.
“Not by the
carton, four dollars an hour sound good?”
“Five sounds
better.”
“
“
“Let me buy you
a drink, a proper drink.”
Well at least
he hadn’t tired to seduce her over a coke! Kelly smiled almost wearily, it was
that time again, what did Cathy call it trouser
snake time.
“One drink,
that’s my limit tonight.”
“One drink it
is.”
One drink
became two but not three and as they left the bar
“Slow down.”
She laughed softly. “It takes more than two drinks.” She laughed again, she was
starting to buzz, and just to be held was exhilarating.
“I offered to
buy you another!”
Kelly tilted
her face towards him and was rewarded with a soft, beer flavoured kiss. She
allowed
A hand brushed
against her breasts, she caught it again.
“I am dirty,
sweaty and not very … well I need a shower.”
“But …?”
“Why don’t you
buy me a drink a Saturday?” She wondered if he could, whether there was a wife
or girlfriend on the scene.
“Just one
drink, I thought it took at least three?” He nuzzled her hair; it was still
damp from the factory.
“I can only
drink one at a time, now about Saturday?”
Date, it felt
strange to even say the word, date, date, and date. She said the word out loud
and finally sung it to a tune from a new English group called the Beatles.
She’d never
been on a date with Shane and her time with Ellis had been almost as secretive,
now she was going out, in full daylight, being picked up at her door, a date, a
date, a date. No subterfuge, no secret codes, this really was a date, a date, a
date.
She was still
buzzing when she jumped into the passenger seat and demanded that
“Any
preferences?”
“For
what?” Kelly shouted
back and hoped that the wind hadn’t destroyed the suggestive tone in her voice.
He gave her
enough of a look to convince Kelly that he had heard.
“For the drink
… club, bar, restaurant, you name it”
The Ocean was
falling away as they drove.
“Somewhere
that I can see the water, where we can sit out, like on a picnic!” She called.
It was called
the Sandbar and quite literally sat on the edge of the beach, where the
drifting sand still contested space with man made structures of road and
building. The tables stretched out onto the beach, facing the ocean and the
setting sun.
“Well?” He
asked after they’d sat in silence for a minute.
“Beautiful.”
Kelly purred and she meant it. She had never seen the Ocean until a few weeks
ago and now never wanted to leave. She felt at home here, the climate, the
lifestyle, home.
“As
are you.”
“Yuck, that was corny.” Till she rather enjoyed
being flattered, it had been so long
since she’d been paid attention, almost been courted. “So, why is there no Mrs.
Sanderson?” She asked over her third beer.
“Just never
happened, once or twice I thought
this is the one, but I’ve never quite made it to the altar.” He looked across
the table towards her. “Can I ask where Mr Farmer is?”
“Worried he’ll
suddenly appear?” Kelly joked, she was high, giggly and excited, and there was
no doubt in her mind where this night would end.
“Just curious,
you wear the ring and call yourself Mrs Farmer, so there’s no secret about you
being married, are you separated?”
“By Ocean’s and
mountains … Lance is with the Army in
“Have I said
you’re beautiful?”
“Yes, but don’t
let that stop you …” Kelly laughed softly.
They talked
into the night, past the time when the sun had set and into that time when the
stars appeared in a cloudless sky. Kelly thought that every thing, the evening,
the sunset, the night sky was perfect, Murray who’d seen the same a thousand
times before was more blasé. Still he couldn’t spoil Kelly’s mode or her sense
of expectation.
“The bar has to
close.”
“Meaning?” Kelly giggled.
“Meaning we
have to move on …”
She interrupted
him.
“Let’s go for a
walk, on the beach, if it’s safe that is?”
“Safe … as in
tide? Sure, if you really want to walk.” He made is sound as if it was a bad
idea.
“Come on …” She
was away from the bar and onto the beach.
“Hey, wait for
They had walked
about ten yards before Kelly’s hand sought his.
They had walked
about thirty yards before
Another ten
yards on and they kissed.
Another ten
yards and they stopped walking, stepped into the dunes and slowly lay down.
They were an easy throw from the bar from where the faint sounds of the night
drifted towards them.
Kelly had lain
back, almost wriggling her body into the soft sand.
“We could go to
my place … or yours.” He whispered in between nibbled kisses.
“Another
time.” Kelly
answered, “Now love me.” She pushed his hands down her body, not stopping until
they rested on her hips. The intention was obvious and
Kelly felt the heat return to her body, not the
warmth she’d felt all evening, but the hot,
burning desire that came with sex. She wanted to feel
Kelly just
moaned, felt the deluge begin. She opened her legs, pressing his hand against
her crotch and then just pulling the material to one side, exposing her slick,
warm innards to his fingers. She felt his fingers brush against her sex and the
electric current of being touched
swept through her body. She pulled him closer, allowing his fingers to slide
inside her as she struggled to unfasten his jeans and return his kisses at one
and the same time.
She found her
way inside his jeans and then his shorts, feeling for and finding his hard
prick, its flesh hot in her hand. She laughed to herself and out loud, pushing
his jeans down past his buttocks with her free hand whilst she slowed wanked him with the other.
“Don’t spoil
things.” He half laughed and half warned.
“You come that easy?” She teased and kissed him
deeply on the mouth, her tongue darting into his mouth in a phallic image of
what she wanted his cock to do inside her sex.
Kelly began to
steer him inside her, holding onto his prick until its head was across her
entrance, then she drew her legs up and her arms about his neck, she kissed him
again and whispered for him to fuck her, she used that word, though to Kelly
there was no obscenity in her usage, it simply summoned up the sex that she
needed.
“What about…”
He began.
She stifled his
question with a kiss. “Don’t worry.” She then whispered. “I wouldn’t let you if
it wasn’t safe.”
He began to
move; Kelly moaned softly and then began to match his thrusts, pressing back at
him, allowing him deeper and deeper inside her. She began to whisper his name,
teasing and cajoling him, urging him faster and faster, until each time he
entered her then their bodies smacked
against each other.
Kelly was in
heaven, at least the heaven she most liked at her tender years, her climax was
building, the feel of
She started to
climax, announcing the fact by crying out and digging her nails even harder
into his back and then she didn’t care, her climax overwhelmed her, wave after
wave sweeping through her, reaching every fibre, every extremity of her body.
At some stage
They lay
entwined, recovering breath and senses. Kelly felt
“So, what now?”
Kelly’s quiet and slightly amused voice came from the darkness.
He hadn’t
thought and said so.
“What about
another beer … or you could just take me home!” The last remark was a tease.
“You wanna go
home?” He asked.
“No!” Kelly
voice was soft with her laughter. “Is that bar still open?”
“Maybe
… “
“So you
couldn’t wait to get me alone?” Kelly laughed, pulling at his shirt until he
looked toward her. “Such deviousness deserves to be found out … now get those
beers.”
They sat and
drank almost in silence, tossing the empty bottles into the advancing surf.
“Can I see you
again?” He asked suddenly.
“Sure!” Kelly
answered almost without thinking.
“Tomorrow,
Sunday?”
“That’s eager
and no … I have a date with a girl friend. We are going to sit on a beach and
get tanned and maybe tipsy.”
“I could join
you?”
“Very
eager!” Kelly
laughed and suddenly she remembered Duncan and she felt a shiver run the length
of her spine. “No, don’t take this wrong, but I want you separate from the
others.”
There was a
silence and then
“Why … or why
not? Are you ashamed of me?” The question made her splutter and spray the last
of her beer; he could ask the most absurd of questions. “What have I said?” He
pleaded to know.
Now Kelly
belched, which at least was mildly better than farting.
“Sorry, gassy
beer … they … my friends … they come from the camp, the Lark and I wouldn’t
want you to meet them.”
“You haven’t
said why?”
“They are army;
I’m army, which makes us … us … parochial. We don’t care for civilians … we keep to the family and
you’d be an outsider and somebody would want to prove a point, make a fool of
you, something like that, anyway.”
“I don’t
understand.”
“Army, it’s
like an extended family. I didn’t realise that when I married Lance, but I do
now. I didn’t just marry Lance, but I didn’t understand that, not until they
posted him aboard, and then his duty came first.” She paused to take in a
breath, this was something she thought but never articulated before. “I wanted
to join him, but he said his base commander said no, and of course I believed him.
It made sense, the army doesn’t consider families. It was Lance’s idea but he
hid behind the army and it let him. When I objected or stepped out of line the
army closed ranks and I was posted to
the Lark. It’s full of misfits, the kind the army doesn’t need, so they are
dumped into places like the Lark, but they are still army, and you’d be an
intruder … so you can be my civilian, but I’ll never mix you and the army.”
It was probably
the longest speech that Kelly had ever made.
“So that means
you’ll see me again?” He whispered.
“Probably …
let’s see how next week goes at the factory.”