Reaching For Dandelions || Michael Gray

36

'We're going to go on the offensive. I've spoken to Moss,' Thomas stated.

'Moss!' Polly exclaimed sarcastically.

'I've spoken to Moss... Moss is putting out word. Eyes and ears so we can find em. Yet the truth is, the police are busy with the revolution. Moss says they're expecting strikes and riots when the weather gets warmer. The Bolsheviks are planning-'

'The Bolsheviks couldn't plan a fucking picnic. He's reading the wrong papers,' Ada scoffed.

'Ada! Real or not real, the coppers don't give a fuck about us. All right? Which means that here today, in this room, we have to agree to end this war between us... Take a vote.'

They sat silent for a moment, Arthur the first to speak.

'Peace,' He nodded.

'Peace,' Will agreed.

'I was never a part of this, but peace,' Ada added.

'Peace,' James looked at Thomas briefly.

'Peace,' Sadie muttered.

'Peace,' Lizzie stated firmly.

'Peace,' Charlie looked directly as the man he looked at like a son.

'Peace,' Finn and Edward spoke together.

'Shut up, Finn,' Arthur snapped.

'Why can't I say, peace?' Finn asked.

'Arthur, let them have their say. Finn, Edward, sit at the table,' Thomas instructed.

'Little bastard,' Arthur grabbed his youngest brother, smiling softly at him; 'They're sending us fucking kids, Sergeant Major, to do men's work.'

Polly sat stubbornly, looking away from Thomas; causing the Loveridge girl to finally loose it.

'For fuck's sake, Pol,' She slammed her hands on the table as she stood; 'This isn't time to act like a three year old.'

The woman still didn't move, 'My son's not here to speak... So I'll speak on behalf of us both... Truce.'

'Eight for peace, two for truce, one abstention,' Thomas nodded; 'Let's get on with the war.'

>>>>>>

It was bustling down at Charlie's yard as guns were brought in an unloaded, men lining up to be armed with loaded weapons. But Sadie wasn't there to watch it all, instead she stood in the middle of a large open paddock with her family; her head low and tears drawing stains down her cheeks. She stepped forward to place an envelope on the caravan which held John's body, inside one of the letters he wrote to her during the war; one she could bear to part with, countless others still tucked away in a box in her room.

She moved back to stand beside James, holding his hand as he stared at the caravan with tears slowly falling. No body spoke, the smoke from the fire burning behind them creating a screen around the group. The girl placed her arm around Flossie as she cried, Peter with his arms around Will's neck as he held him on his hip. She'd left Daniel with Joe after she'd demanded he come down to be safe, stating a funeral was no place for a child.

Sadie pressed her trembling lips together as Edward hugged her from behind, his arms wrapped around the front of her shoulders. She turned and rested her forehead against his cheek, a soft sob leaving her mouth. Will stood wrapped his arm around James' shoulders, connecting them all as one; glad to have each other alive and well.

'This is how John wanted to go. On the smoke,' Thomas spoke; 'But the truth is, we died together once before... Arthur, me, Danny Whizz-Bang, Freddie Thorne, Jeremiah, James, Will and John... We were cut off from the retreat, no bullets left, waiting for the Prussian cavalry to come, and to finish us off. And while we waited Jeremiah said we should sing, In The Bleak Midwinter... But we were spared, the enemy never came. And we all agreed... That everything after that was extra... And when our time came, we would all remember.'