1917 Eagles Fall Read Online Free PDF

and I thought…”
    “You thought what?”
    “Well you and I, you know, we have been walking out and …”
    I knew that I was being teased but I just didn’t know how to handle it. “And what?  What are your intentions Captain Harsker?”
    I was suddenly aware that we were in the sumptuous lobby of the Ritz, all chandeliers and bright lights and the others had stopped to remove their coats.  They were all looking intently at me. “Well… er, well I want to marry you.”
    Alice burst out laughing and came to kiss me on the cheek.  “Our Bill that is the worst proposal I have ever heard.  If Beattie accepts it then you are the luckiest man in the world!”
    When I looked at Beatrice I saw that there was a look of joy on her face.  She said huskily, “Of course I will and I think it was a lovely proposal.  It was just like you.” I used my good arm to help her take her coat off and handed it to the attendant.  “And now let us go and have some fun!”
    It was the most spectacular place I had ever seen. When the manager heard that we were celebrating a proposal of marriage and a wedding he insisted on providing us with Champagne.  It delighted Alice. The evening started off really well.  Then I noticed that Charlie was looking down in the mouth. I waited until Beatrice and Alice had gone to the cloakroom and I asked, “What’s up Charlie?”
    “It’s your sister.  She obviously has a chap.  She came in his car!”
    Mary had overheard for she was sat on the other inside of me.  She leaned over and touched Charlie’s hand. “That chap is the husband of the woman who Alice works with.  He is old enough to be her father.” She smiled, “And Alice likes you.”
    The change was remarkable.  The grin never left his face all night. We were all a little drunk by the time the evening ended. I would not see Beattie again until the day of the wedding and I hugged her and kissed her as though I would never see her again. We had money for a taxi for the ladies as some rich gentleman had recognised both my medal and my name and insisted on paying the bill at the Ritz. The Head Waiter told us that the old man’s only son had died at Ypres.  Everywhere we went were reminders of the war and its effects. The war was striking everyone.  We had even heard of bombing raids over London! This was a new kind of war.  The Germans seemed to be inventing many new ways of killing and it was indiscriminate.
    We strolled unsteadily back to our hotel. It was a chilly night but we didn’t care. Charlie walked with me. He talked incessantly of the evening and the fun but mainly he spoke of Alice. He was drunk on Alice rather than the Champagne we had consumed and he bombarded me with questions about her. He had fallen for her. This was not a Gunbus this was an infatuation with my little sister who was as unpredictable as the weather. I just hoped that he knew how to land! Otherwise he could crash and burn.

Chapter 4
    There were just the three of us in our carriage as the train chugged north.  Charlie had decided to stay on in London for the rest of his leave.  It seems my sister had become more important than his family.  Alice seemed quite happy to show Charlie around when she had time from work.  Ted went home and we left the love birds in Mary’s lovely little house where, I dare say, they would make up for the months apart.
    The wedding had been charming.  The handful of guests did not detract from the joy on Mary and Gordy’s faces. Bates had fussed around them like a mother hen after the ceremony.  We had all returned to Mary’s to celebrate.  She and Beatrice had made huge amounts of food and Bates saw to our every need.
    He was still looking after us now as we made our way north.  We would only have six days there for the train took a day to reach Burscough and we had to allow two to three days to get back to the airfield and France. A delay would mean that our comrades would not get a full