Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Fogbound Encounter 6

   By Katzmarek

   Author's note No doubt those acquainted with this part of history will
be puzzled by the inconsistencies with recorded events.  My explanation is
simple, I goofed the timeline.  Relying on my memory is not an exact method
of writing historical fiction.  The last airship raid happened on the 19th
of September 1917.  Armistice occurred on the 11th of November 1918.  A
year seemed a long time to expect Eliza to wait for her Kimi, especially at
18, which is a lifetime at that age.  Particularly in a city filled with
eager young doughboys.  Therefore I have taken extraordinary liberties with
the true events to make them fit the story I wanted to write.  `Mills and
Boon' meets `Boys Own Adventure' some wag wrote.  Technical details are
mostly true, however, at least as I remember them.  I've not tried to
depict other accents.  It's just too easy to make a mess of it.  Assume
Scots are speaking in a Scottish brogue and so forth.  Think Billy
Connolly.

   K

   Eliza thought Mrs.  Smyth must spend her every waking hour baking.  She
seemed to pour forth an endless stream of cakes, tarts, flans and pies, in
between batches of biscuits and Scottish muffins.  The pantry was stacked
with preserves of every kind as well as chow chows and chutneys and
homemade sauces.

   Indeed, it seemed that this corner of Scotland remained untouched by
war, if you ignore the shortage of young men.

   The backbone of the regular British army came from areas such as
Strathclyde.  Regulars that were almost all now lying somewhere in Belgium
and France.  Villages, such as Galston were now devoid of their ablebodied
menfolk and in every second cottage lived a widow.

   The abundant agricultural resources of the area were almost entirely
worked by women.  Now, however, slowly being supplemented by German
prisoners of war.

   Someone at the Ministry of Farm Production, alarmed at the shortage of
agricultural labour came to the conclusion that there was thousands of idle
POW's sitting around with time on their hands.  Able-bodied men at that.

   For the most part, prisoners were only too happy to get out of their
camps for a bit of healthy work.  Any thing to change the daily view of
barbed wire and guards.

   The Naval POW camp at Galston was for enlisted men.  The Officers were
held elsewhere.  The men at Galston believed it was so the Officers could
be better treated and it was rumoured that they enjoyed Cognac and a daily
ration of Cigars.

   Enlisted men were expected to do manual work, while the Officers weren't
expected to get their hands dirty.  An Officer was an Officer despite what
side they were on.

   The men at Galston were mostly U-boat crews, with a smattering of the
Hochseeflotte.  (Germany's main battle fleet.)

   Kimi was disappointed that none of the SMS Wiesbaden's crew was lodged
there.  He still held out hope that his Father may have survived.  Alas,
there were none.  There were plenty of men from the light forces, though,
Destroyers and Light Cruisers and a few from the SMS Blucher, the Armoured
Cruiser demolished at Dogger Bank.

   Indeed the tattered cap legends read like a memorial to the famous ships
that fought, and were defeated by the Royal Navy.  SMS Scharnhorst, SMS
Elbing, SMS Emden the famous raider finally hunted down and destroyed off
the Cocos/ Keeling islands in the Indian ocean.  SMS Koln, SMS Karlsruhe
caught up the Rufiji River in East Africa.  SMS Dresden, SMS Berlin
scuttled off Tierra del Fuego after the Falklands and the armed
Hamburg-Amerika liner SMS Cap Trafalgar sunk in the South Atlantic by the
more heavily armed Cunard liner HMS Carpathia, which was set on fire.

   They all had heard of the Spartakist revolt in Berlin, the mutiny of the
fleet and the raising of the red flag over some of its best units.  News
came of food riots, arrests and demonstrations.  It all disturbed and
demoralised them.  The war was coming to a close but few had any idea what
they would be going back to.

   Kimi knew his shipmates were gone, indeed most of the Nordenham flotilla
was destroyed.  L70's sister ship, the L71 still existed and some that
didn't take part in the ill-fated attack were left, but many of their more
experienced crewmen had been drafted into the assaulting ships.  The
Airship Service never recovered from the loss of these personnel.

   In France, the Marne battle had petered out and the `Schturmstaffeln'
(Storm Units) with their `Bergmann' submachine guns had been driven back to
their previous positions, and beyond.  The big American infantry brigades
had put victory beyond Germany's reach.

   Warrant Officer Jock Smyth approached Kimi as he paraded one morning for
assignment.

   "Kasemann," he bellowed, "step out!"

   The two U-boat men on either side of him seem to shrink away a little as
Kimi jumped forward in a brisk step.

   "You're assigned to me!  Fall in!  I have work in the village for you."

   This was not unexpected, as he was nearly always required to work,
either in the bicycle shop or the motor garage.

   "There's a couple of tractors for you today, Kimi lad, and a motor lorry
that's broken an axle," the WO said as they passed the disinterested
guards, "I think it'll need a bit of welding up.  That should take you all
day.  I'll send your lunch over to you."

   "Will Mrs.  Smyth be making it?" Kimi asked.

   "Aye, venison pie, she made.  From the Laird's estate I don't doubt. 
Generous to a fault, the Laird."

   "Do you mean a deer broke its leg near the highway again?"

   "Now lad, I won't hear that kind of talk," said the WO, grinning.

   They arrived at the garage and Kimi looked over the work he had to do.
The two tractors both had engine problems and then there was that blasted
lorry.  He decided to work on the tractors first.

   The Fordson appeared to have dropped a valve, the McCormack a simple
ignition problem.  He started work on the latter.

   Although he was supposed to have a guard, the WO disappeared.  Probably
to have `a dram or 3' at the local tavern, he supposed.  Kimi liked to work
alone and he liked the little garage.  The arrangement suited him fine.

   Later, in the office of Colonel Monroe, camp commandant, Jock Smyth was
giving the Colonel a brown parcel.

   "You'll get caught one of these days, Jock.  You're too damn clever for
your own good," the Colonel told him.

   "Oh leave off Andy, you'd be no stranger to a moonlit hunt, yourself."

   "Ah well, I was a bit younger in those days, Jock.  This is no game for
an old buzzard like you!  Y'know the old boy wouldn't be above filling your
arse with birdshot."

   "Aye, but I can still skip like a young buck when I have to, and the old
Laird's aim is not what it was.  I can give the venison to the cook for the
Huns if your conscience is troubling you."

   "No, no.  That's all right.  I won't trouble you to walk all that way
back to camp."

   "Now, there's just one favour I want to ask, a little one."

   "Jock!"

   "A very little one, COLONEL Monroe... sir," the WO leaned closer.

   "What would you be after?"

   "Well you know the village has been without a mechanic for quite some
time.  Ever since Jimmy Lauchlan joined up.  Y'know he went down in the
Invincible?"

   "Yes, of course I know.  What is your point, Jock?"

   "Well I know this young lad..."

   Back at the garage, Kimi had completed the work on the tractors by
lunchtime.  He was eagerly waiting for Mrs.  Smyth to deliver his lunch. 
Mrs.  Smyth's lunches were one of the better perks of the job.

   Right on schedule, around noon there was a knock on the door.  Kimi was
in the back, washing up and called for Mrs.  Smyth to come on in.

   Instead of the WO's wife's Scottish accent he was answered by a
different voice with all too familiar home-counties vowels.

   "Kimi, is that you?"

   Kimi rushed out of the little washroom, his hands dripping with
soapsuds, to find the shocked face of his Eliza before him.

   Soundless he moved to her and wrapped his arms around her.  Still too
surprised to speak, Eliza buried her face in Kimi's shoulder and held him.

   "I didn't think... oh god... I... " She tripped over her words.

   "Eliza... when did... I mean... I didn't know..." Kimi replied.

   Kimi lifted up Eliza's face and kissed her, at first uncertainly but
then with increasing confidence and passion.

   "Now you wouldn't be fraternising with an enemy, would you Eliza?" came
the voice of Mrs.  Smyth.

   The two lovers flew apart as if electrocuted.  Mrs.  Smyth bellowed with
laughter.

   "You two..." she shook her head, "don't forget your pie, Kimi.  Eat it
before it gets cold."

   "You knew he..." Eliza started to tell the older woman.

   "Of course I did.  Now you won't breathe a word now, will you?  And
don't take Kimi away from his work."

   "Of course not."

   "Good, well I'll be running along now.  I've got some calls to make. 
I'll be back in an hour," she told Eliza.

   After Mrs.  Smyth left, Kimi and Eliza resumed kissing.  In the office
at the back of the garage there was a desk and chair and Kimi sat down and
pulled Eliza into his lap.

   Eliza's eyes became moist with tears as she told Kimi she'd thought he'd
been lost with the L68.  She told him about the reports in the newspaper
claiming the whole flotilla had been destroyed.

   Kimi told her about his adventures after the Chief had thrown him out
when the stern of L68 had hit the ground.  He said he couldn't remember
much of the fall but told her of the farmers, the bull and the old Police
Sergeant.  Kimi giggled when he told her of the pursuit of the bull across
the paddock, and his falling into the cowpats.

   She, in turn, described her life at the hospital, the various patients
and her room at the top of the stairs.

   "That Rosy," she said, "She has so many boyfriends, I don't know how she
keeps track of them."

   Kimi brushed away and errant lock that fell across her face.

   "So how many boyfriends have you had?" he asked.

   "None, silly... I mean... just one... all this time.  And I'm sitting on
his knee."

   They kissed some more.  Kimi flicked her teeth with the tip of his
tongue and she answered him by parting them a fraction.  Kimi pushed his
tongue past to seek out hers.

   "Mmm... Mmm," she parted, "where did you learn to kiss like that? 
That's what Rosy does."

   "They call it French kissing," he explained, " you don't have much to
talk about in the barracks except girls... and what you do."

   "Did you talk about me?"

   "I told my Chief.  He said I should have stayed in England with you," he
blushed.

   "A clever man, your Chief," she told him, "was he in..." she left the
question unasked as she saw Kimi slowly nod his head.  "Oh, I'm sorry."

   They were silent for a minute.  Kimi broke it by asking,

   "So, what were you doing spying on this Rosy and her boyfriend?"

   "I wasn't spying!" she batted him, "they were doing it everywhere.  You
couldn't help but see them."

   "Doing it?" Kimi asked suggestively.

   "No, Not that!  I mean... kissing and stuff... they would go up to her
room for... Y'know?"

   "No I don't" Kimi teased.

   "Yes you do," she said batting him again, "Y'know... what men and women
do... when they're married."

   "Or, by the sounds of your Rosy, when they want to be," replied Kimi.

   "The thing is," she said, "I don't really think she wanted any of them.
She just liked having a good time with them, Having them spend their money
on her, buy her things, and she'd, like, pay them back by... by...
Y'know... letting them... have her."

   "Have her what?" Kimi asked, still teasing.

   "Oh ha ha.  You know what I mean.  She'd let them sleep with her."

   "Oh sleep, you mean, Like what we did on the schooner."

   "We didn't do that!  You're making me blush!"

   "It makes you look more beautiful, if that's possible."

   Kimi brought her face down for another kiss.  This time she opened her
mouth willingly, accepting his tongue, and the kissing grew in intensity.
Eliza squirmed a little in his lap and he could feel the cheeks of her
bottom on his, now, stiff member.  He wanted to explore every inch of her
body.  Parting, he looked into her dewy eyes and told her he loved her. 
Stroking his face she said,

   "I love you too.  I wish we didn't have to wait... I wish you didn't
have to go away.  I want to be yours."

   "You are, and I am yours too.  I want to be together with you, always.
I... I want to wake up every morning with my arms around you.  I... I want
to share... every piece of you..."

   "Yes... I want... Oh Kimi... I've made you... oh, I'm sorry," she told
him.

   "Made me what?" he asked.

   Shifting her weight on him she said,

   "Your... thing... down there," she pointed at his trousers and giggled.

   "You excite me, that's all," he said.

   "Oh Kimi!" she replied, caressing his chest, "you do too... me, of
course."

   Eliza allowed Kimi to place his hand over her small breast.

   "You don't mind, that... they're small.  Not like Rosy's... the soldiers
seem to like hers... I mean, they stare at them... even when I'm there."

   "Sounds an interesting woman, this Rosy," Kimi teased.

   "She's too easy," she blurted out, "I mean, she lets men go too far...
that's what I think, anyhow."

   "So how far would you go?" Kimi asked her.

   "That depends, doesn't it?"

   "On what?"

   "On the man... If he's nice... I might... let him do things," she
answered coyly.

   "What things?"

   "I might let him kiss me..." she kissed him again.  "And touch me in...
places."

   "What places?" Kimi asked her, thickly.

   "You have to find out," she teased.

   Kimi pushed his hand under her Arran sweater.  He whispered,

   "Here?"

   "Maybe."

   Kimi cupped her breast once more.  This time, a lot more intimately
because, he realised, she did not wear a bra.  They fiercely kissed, once
more.

   Kimi caressed her with his fingertips, kneading and stroking and rubbing
her little button nipples with his thumb.  Kimi felt them swelling,
becoming harder to his touch.  Eliza adjusted herself in his lap which,
didn't make his own swelling die down.

   Moving his hand, he felt the buttons of her shirt and tried undoing one.

   "I don't... think... you should...oh Kimi!" She panted.

   Kimi worked about three buttons undone and inched his hand inside.  At
the skin contact, Eliza gave a little start.  Kimi slipped his hand over
her warm, sweaty breast and felt the rigid nipple drag across his palm.  He
squeezed it between his fingers to be answered by a shudder from Eliza.

   Kimi's mouth was dry and his body felt flushed.  His cock throbbed
uncomfortably in the confines of his trousers.  Each slight shift of
Eliza's bottom communicated itself directly to the lust centre in his
brain. After another bout of kissing, he looked at her and whispered,

   "Where else?"

   "We can't," she panted, "not here... Mrs.  Smyth..."

   "Let me feel you... down there... quickly... please," he said, urgently,
tugging at her full skirt.

   "No!  I cant... wait... oh... be quick, please!  Just one touch." Kimi
pulled her skirt up to her knees and pushed his hand under the material. 
Reacting to her request for urgency, he pushed quickly past the leg of her
bloomers to the valley between her thighs.  Eliza parted her legs slightly
as Kimi began to rub and explore her crotch.  Kimi took her hand and wedged
it under her, on the front of his trousers.  As if stung, she shot to her
feet.

   "Kimi!  What kind of girl do you think I am?" she demanded angrily,
pulling down her sweater.  "Is that all you want?  Just for me to lie with
you?"

   "Eliza I..."

   "I trusted you... how could..." she said, tearfully running out of the
garage.