Page 59 of Fire Must Burn

‘I said— oh, hell, I am not going to provide you with details,’ said Iris.

‘No, I don’t want any, thank you,’ said Gwen. ‘But I think you had better start at the beginning.’

‘What was the beginning?’ Iris mused aloud. ‘It was the last weekend of April, Easter Term, 1936. A Friday afternoon. Bruce was driving. He had a Morris Twenty-Five, and five of us were crammed into it, plus too many valises and bags of food and booze for one weekend. Tony and I were in the rear seat, smashed together with some of the bags, and Kevin was up front.’

‘And Nancy?’ asked Gwen.

‘She was on Kevin’s lap.’

Cambridgeshire, 1936

‘Stop!’ Sauce cried, laughing as she playfully slapped Kevin’s hands away. ‘People will see.’

‘I have to put them somewhere,’ said Kevin as he wrapped his arms around her. ‘Besides, it’s for your protection. If there’s a sudden halt, I will keep you from crashing through the windscreen.’

‘There won’t be any sudden halts,’ said Bruce, whipping around a slow-moving lorry. ‘I am a masterful driver.’

‘How fast are we going, Catey?’ asked Tony.

‘Only seventy,’ said Bruce. ‘And don’t call me that in front of the girls, or I will make it a point of taking Sparks away from you this weekend.’

‘I might be able to squeeze you in for a dance or two,’ said Sparks. ‘It’s too tragic that Gloria came down with the flu. Shewas so looking forward to seeing the legendary Pickard family manse.’

‘We’ll do our best to make up for her absence, won’t we, Sparks?’ said Sauce, leaning over to plant a kiss on Bruce’s cheek.

She shrieked as the Morris swerved momentarily.

‘See what happens when you distract me?’ he said, grinning at her.

‘She is quite the distraction, isn’t she?’ said Kevin, nuzzling her neck, drawing a delighted giggle in response. ‘Who’s got some booze handy?’

‘Here,’ said Bruce, pulling a flask out of his jacket and handing it to Sauce. ‘Be a dear and give us a taste before Picky guzzles the whole thing.’

She uncapped it, took a healthy swig, then leaned over and planted her mouth on his, letting the liquor pass into it.

‘Jesus, watch the road!’ shouted Kevin.

The left wheels of the Morris caught dirt as the car veered off the pavement. In an instant, they were plunging through a newly sprouted barley field as Bruce frantically shifted gears and spun the wheel until he had regained control. He brought the car to a stop ten feet from a stone wall.

‘Everyone intact?’ he said, glancing around.

‘A bit squashed back here,’ said Sparks who had been thrown into Tony.

‘I don’t mind that at all,’ said Tony, giving her a squeeze. ‘That was fun. Let’s do it again.’

‘Maybe on the return trip,’ said Bruce. ‘We should get back on the road before some idiot farmer shows up demanding damages for his precious plants. But let’s have one more while we are motionless, shall we?’

‘All right,’ said Sauce.

She took another sip, then transferred it to him again by the same method, lingering this time.

‘Hey, now,’ protested Kevin.

‘I’m just being a good guest,’ said Sauce as she pulled away. ‘Here’s some for you, darling.’

This time Kevin was the lucky recipient as she twisted in his lap to reach his lips, some of the whisky dribbling downhis chin as she had trouble controlling her laughter by that point.

‘I must say, I’m not missing Gloria much at all right now,’ said Bruce as he put the Morris back in gear. ‘Although if it turns out that you also have the flu—’