Below the Radar - Cyprus Summer of '74

Chapter 13 : Friends (Behind Closed Doors)

Not 400 yards away on camp in Carob Crescent, Johnny H, his younger brother Paul, Mum Cathy and Dad Howard, an RAF Military Policeman, had just settled down for dinner with a good old English roast. Mum piled the potatoes and veg high around the juicy slices from the joint of beef, a clue to why both boys were already well past or on the way to joining their dad in the six foot plus fifteen stone brigade.

* * *

In Ayios Mikalli Street, Limassol, Dan's dad Stuart gave him a knowing look, warning him not to tease his little sister Penny too much.

Penny missed the look but proved she was plenty savvy to his games "......... I'm not stupid Daniel, I know you don't really have to catch and kill your food with knives when you're on the hike".

Mum pitched in. "Quiet the both of you, get on with your meal, otherwise you'll be singing for your supper this week, let alone next. Daniel, has all the food for next week on the hike been sorted out now?"

"Yes Mum. Don't worry, we got all the day-by-day menus approved and we sorted the food into boxes for each day. It's pretty much all in tins. It all gets labelled, with the team and day numbers and then passed to the hike support team. They take the food for each day to the camp sites and then we pick up the boxes each evening. We carry snacks and stuff for one day at a time, plus they provide water over night and at every check point"

"Good, it all sounds very organised. So seven boxes of food each for fifteen teams, that's 105 boxes plus all the other bits to move around...."

"It is, but don't worry Mum everything is sorted, nothing can go wrong. So, Alex said it's ok with his parents if I go to the beach with them tomorrow - so, is that ok - I know Penny's friend is coming here for the day?

"I don't see why not, but how are you going get up to Alex's, I need the car for work?"

"Alex said they could probably pick me up on their way, sometime tomorrow morning".

"Ok Daniel, you can go but make sure you behave and are no trouble for Mr & Mrs Berresford. It's very kind of them to pick you up. There's not many people like Mr. Berresford, a real gentleman and wonderful teacher, look how Penny improved when she was in his class last year."

* * *

Ryan sat down to a cold ham sandwich and chips with his Mum in a quiet, cool and dimly lit kitchen in their third floor flat in an apartment block, halfway up Polimedhia road. Ryan had no brothers or sisters and his Dad was on duty this weekend, a Corporal in the engineering section attached to the resident 70 Hercules Squadron.

* * *

On Queen's Street, RAF Akrotiri, Flight Sergeant Allan Black his wife Liz and their two daughters, Jackie seventeen and Kate, two years her junior, where preparing to go out to eat at the Birds Nest. The simple Greek Taverna was situated just quarter of a mile outside the camp gates, specialising in local dishes, but with a menu that also included good quality steak and chips. On their time on the island, the Blacks', like most of the British ex-pat population had grown to love the local dishes; kebabs, dolmades, moussaka, kleftiko, stifado, classic Greek Salad, but to draw in customers from across the broad range of British forces personnel, steak & chips had to be prominent on the menu.

"Come on girls, let's get going. Last chance for a good meal out for a while Kate, what with the hike starting Monday morning".

As they got into their white Vauxhall Viva estate, parked on the kerb outside their house Allan Black continued. "I still haven't figured out quite why you've taken the challenge on this year, though I know that boy Tristan is taking part", ending with a deliberate and extended glance at Kate.