The Songbird and the Soldier Read Online Free Page A

been married a few years back, but it had ended, and well… in his words… he wanted to get him…‘back in the saddle’.”
    “And you thought of me? Cheers, I’m touched.”
    “It wasn’t like that. Dean said he was a nice guy, a few years older than us and it was one of those rare moments in time when you didn’t actually have a boyfriend.”
    Kate gasped again, picked up a pillow and threw it at Sam. “As opposed to my timid little church mouse, who usually runs away if a boy even looks at her?”
    “I do not!”
    “You do too.”
    “I’m going out with Dean, aren’t I?”
    Kate threw her hands in the air. “Miracles!” and Sam chucked the pillow back.
    For weeks Sam heard nothing. There was no reply to her texts and no phone calls came. She wasn’t sure if this was normal or if something was wrong. All she could do was sit and wait.
    Up in Norfolk the men were being put through the training for battle in Afghanistan. There were long exercises in simulated conditions, as close to the scenarios they would probably be facing as they could be in a cold wet February in England. Those on their first tour were eager to get going, to face the war they had all been trained for.
    Dean approached his second tour with a mixture of exhilaration and dread. He knew what it was like to feel the scorch of heat on his back. He had picked up fallen comrades and lived through the nightmares that stalked his sleep. For him and those like him, the war was a more subdued affair. It was more than a vocation. It was a deep-rooted brotherhood that bound them all together and made them want to stand side by side and protect each other. That was what carried them when Hell raged.
    Andy was learning to control his thoughts about Sam, visiting them only when he was at leisure to do so. Dean hadn’t mentioned her once since their arrival and Andy hoped that no stronger feelings could be created between them while he was gone. So he trained and he learned and prepared himself for what was to come.
    As the first glimpses of spring took hold on the quiet, peaceful fields of England, the men of 9 Rifles were busy in a muddy ditch preparing for war. Their time in pre-deployment training was almost at an end, and the calm of inevitability descended upon them.
    “How’s it going with you and ‘lover boy’ then?” Kate asked several weeks later.
    “Fine… I think,” Sam replied.
    “Fine? That doesn’t sound very good. I was hoping for something more like ‘fab’, or ‘great’, or ‘smoking!’”
    “I don’t know. I haven’t heard from him in weeks. Don’t get me wrong, he’s great- I just sometimes feel a little in the dark…inadequate, even.”
    “Inadequate?”
    “You know. He’s so… perfect.”
    “He is good looking, I’ll give you that, but…”
    Sam gestured to her own body. “But look at me.”
    “What? Hell you’re no fatso yourself. You do all that cycling to and fro, all over the place. You’re in better shape than I’ll ever be and I’ve never had a guy complain about the state of my body. You’re fine, Sam. Your taste in men sucks, almost as much as your taste in music, if I’m honest. But you’re smart, way smarter than me. Look at you. You went to university for Christ’s sake and have a real job, not like me. I’m still bumming around and living with my mum.”
    Sam cleared her throat and held up her hands.
    “I know, but you’ll be out of here soon. I’ll still be living at home when I’m 40.”
    Sam smiled.
    “Of course I’m not saying it wouldn’t hurt you to brighten yourself up a bit now and again. Keep them on their toes.” Kate stood up. “You’ve got to be like, ‘Hey boy, this is what you’ll be missing out on if you don’t treat me right’.” She nodded at Sam, who burst out laughing.
    “I wish I had your confidence,” Sam said.
    Kate sat down again. “Just think of men as mischievous puppies. They need plenty of ground rules, a slap if they misbehave and