Epilogue

Lance Corporal William Finn, Sergeant S. Holliday of the Royal Army Medical Corps and Angus McCall’s parents waited nervously in the ante-room at Buckingham Palace.

‘We deserve another Military Cross for going through this,’ muttered Finny to Doc.

‘Just because I can do the Heimlich Manoeuvre doesn’t mean I can bow without tripping over my feet,’ said Doc dismally.

Angus’s mother was large-boned and large-faced like Angus. ‘If Angus was here, he wouldn’t be nervous. Getting a medal wouldn’t bother him one way or the other,’ she said. Angus’s dad had been divorced from her for years and now he ignored her. He had the furtive look of a man who needed a cigarette and was prepared to sneak behind a potted plant if necessary.

‘Nah, nothing bothered Angus,’ Finny agreed generously. ‘He was the best, Mrs McCall. All the boys in the platoon miss him a lot.’

Sergeant Dave Henley found the prospect of meeting the Queen more daunting than an encounter with the Taliban. For your average skirmish in Helmand Province there was no strict protocol to observe and the enemy didn’t seem to care much if your uniform was a bit ally. Here at Buckingham Palace that sort of thing was considered important.

But when he heard his name and walked in for the Queen to award him the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross, he immediately located Jenny across the room, saw her great happiness and found himself grinning from ear to ear.

Evidently the Queen knew the whole story. ‘Your bravery is exceptional, Sergeant. Tell me, how did you manage to stay so still and so quiet for so long with the enemy just a few feet away?’

‘Well, ma’am, I thought about my wife and my two little girls. And I decided I couldn’t let death separate me from them,’ Dave heard himself say.

‘Is your wife here today?’ asked the Queen.

Dave glanced across at his Jenny, smiling happily.

‘Yes, ma’am. And sometimes I feel that she should be the one awarded a medal.’

The Queen gave him a regal but conspiratorial grin. ‘Actually, you aren’t the first soldier to say that to me,’ she told him. ‘Just make sure you say it to her sometimes.’

Smiling warmly, she pinned on his medal. ‘Well done, Sergeant Henley.’

Glowing, Dave walked to the back of the room. Later they would go out with the boys. Leanne and Steve would join them. They would put everything that had happened on this tour behind them and start to look forward again.

Jenny turned to him and they smiled at each other. She had emerged from her bandages and bruises and the day-to-day chores of motherhood as though from a chrysalis. Her face was healed; her smile was even; her dress made her look like a bright blue butterfly. And, looking around this most exclusive of rooms, Dave was sure of one thing. His wife was the most beautiful person here.