Rain Along The Firestep

Chapter 6 - 'The Orderly'

That morning, Captain Douglas Fox-Harborough of the 11th Battalion of The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, made his way back to the Company Commander's dug-out near 'Oxford Circus'. 'Oxford Circus' was a trench intersection which, although giving a fairly good view of the comings-and-goings of his Company; was also particularly busy, muddy and harboured a definite tendency to attract the attention of more than the occasional sniper!

He was really looking forward to a piping-hot drink and hopefully, a little of that fruit cake he had recently received from his mother. Well, it was her cook to be more exact; if, of course there was any left, knowing full-well the common practice within the Officer's Mess, to share all such bounty with one's fellow-officers.

As the captain approached the nook of the small dug-out, he took off his water-proofed 'McIntosh' trench-coat with a well-practiced flourish and gave it a good shake, like a maid shaking a rug and thus removing the majority of the accumulated rain which had gathered on his 'stint' along the trench; prior to his ducking down and sliding sideways into the muggy-fug, of what was technically, the Company Commander's Office.

'What-oh; still raining then?' said the Company Commander, cheerfully and smiling up at his second-in-command, as he had entered He was perched, precariously, upon a rickety foldaway chair and writing in the trench-log. The Company Commander always appeared to Captain Fox-Harborough, to be one of those people who seemed to always, somehow, have life worked out and never allowed it to get them down.

'You should have been a detective, sir', replied the captain cheekily, before he then added by way of an after-thought, 'My orderly been in?' 'Actually', replied the Company Commander, head back-down in the log once again and waving a hand, absently, towards the captains' desk; which was, in reality, an old door of origins-unknown, placed upon some empty and artfully-stacked ammunition-boxes, 'He has and he left that for you'.

There, plumb in the centre of the make-shift desk stood a still-steaming cup of black coffee; as well as a morsel-sized piece of the much-prized fruit cake he had been so-dearly looking forward to and wrapped in a fragment of newspaper.

'Do you know, Andrew', said the captain, a little less formally, now that he knew that there were no junior or more importantly, senior, ranks present in the dug-out, 'It is almost supernatural how my chap seems to know exactly what I want and when I want it!'

Looking up from his trench-log once again, the Company Commander replied easily, 'Well; it's not so strange really. I understand that 'your chap' has been an orderly since virtually joining-up and prior to that, was actually in service.' Then once again, gesturing at the coffee and cake, he added, 'And that, is the good servants' stock-in-trade; second-guessing, precisely what we want and when we want it! Those who excel in that particular skill and possibly, your orderly falling into this category; well, they have the rare-talent of being able to actually convince us to have wanted what we got; even if initially, we thought that we did not!'

'Mmmm,' mumbled the captain thickly, through a mouthful of the rich fruit-cake, moist crumbs of it tumbling-down from blissfully-masticating lips and onto the 'desk'. The sound was partly in affirmation to the comments of the Company Commander and part in appreciation of the rich-tanginess of the excellent piece of home-baked Dundee cake.

The Company Commander was a 'shrewd old customer', thought Captain Fox-Harborough, as he continued to chew; in his being able to 'read' things like that.

*****

Captain Fox-Harborough's orderly had been with him for getting on a year now and during that time he had never been anything other than thoroughly-impressed with him. He felt, that he had rather 'fallen on his feet' in getting such a good servant; although the way it had all come about was not so fortuitous; being sadly, as a result of the demise of a brother officer.