Chapter 20

The wedding gave Ralph first opportunity with the bridesmaids. He was taken with Tricia but Zoë really captured his interest. He had been attracted to Joanna but beaten to the mark by Simon. Here, he thought was a dark version of the same girl. He was wrong. He had not seen Zoë's zest and he misinterpreted her demonstrations of love. They might be a bit uninhibited but they were reserved for the special people in her life.

He came down from London a couple of times to take her out. He did not know the area so Zoë suggested The Crown first and then Zuchinni's the second time. They enjoyed themselves but it became clear that nothing would develop.

One of the parents at Red Hall commanded a squadron in the tank regiment at the barracks on the edge of the Plain. Dan Halloran, the headmaster, persuaded him to ask the twelve and thirteen year-olds to visit his regiment. This was arranged and Bob Ramsey, one of the masters, and Zoë were appointed as escorts. Numbers were limited to twenty children who would be chosen on the basis of their work and their enthusiasm at games. Competition, needless to say, was intense.

The girls were all told to wear trousers. A coach was hired for the day and at ten o'clock one Thursday a very excited party set off for the barracks.

They were met by the squadron leader, Major Brian Althrop, a troop leader, Captain Randy Asquith, and his troop sergeant, Sergeant Mick Thompson. Having welcomed them Major Althrop left them saying he would see them all again at lunch. The other two led them to the canteen where they were fed buns and orange or lemon squash. While this was going on Captain Asquith told them that they would be split into two groups of ten. He would take one group and Sergeant Thompson the other. One group would tour the barracks and the other would go over the assault course. They would swap at quarter to twelve. At half past twelve there would be lunch back in the canteen and then afterwards there would be tank rides.

Captain Asquith made sure that he had Zoë's group. Her looks appealed to him from the word go. He was unable to pay her much attention as he was too busy explaining what things were. This he did interestingly and amusingly. The children responded with laughter, their shyness evaporated and they started to ask questions. Zoë was impressed with the way he handled them.

At quarter to twelve they arrived at the assault course where they were met by two PT instructors who showed them over the course and demonstrated how to deal with each obstacle. There were two low walls to jump. There was a narrow walkway some seven or eight feet above the ground. There was a ten foot high scaling net which had to be climbed and crossed and then climbed down. There was a rope to swing across a ditch. Finally there was an eight foot wall which required a team effort. None of the children was tall enough to do a lift at the wall so the two instructors did that with Captain Asquith going up first to pull the children up and let them down the other side. Each child was shadowed from below on the high obstacles by the instructors ready to catch them if they fell.

Initially the children were worried by the heights but Zoë offered to do them first and that encouraged them. Captain Asquith was silently impressed.

Major Althrop joined them for lunch as did the two PT instructors. It was a lively meal with plenty of laughter and many questions. Zoë found herself sitting next to Captain Asquith who begged her to drop the formality and please call him Randy.

After lunch they walked to the tank hangars where the crews were waiting to show them over their tanks. The children tried out all the crew positions and then with three to a tank they roared out onto the Plain. Their route included a switch back. The drivers slowly climbed it, balanced their tanks on the top and then raced down the other side. That was thrilling.

At three o'clock they returned to the coach where goodbyes were said. Bob and Zoë made sure that each of their charges thanked their three hosts. Randy asked Zoë to a pub supper on Saturday night which she was happy to accept.

The evening was a success. Randy picked her up from Red Hall at seven o'clock and was as much fun as she thought he would be. Nevertheless their conversation ranged widely and they discovered they had a lot in common: the theatre, music, history, riding and teaching. Randy was on a short service commission which was due to end in nine months' time and was seriously considering teaching. He had also read history at university and he was fascinated by her dissertation. Zoë shyly but gratefully agreed to let him read it.

Randy made no attempt to kiss her when he dropped her off, merely squeezing her hand gently.

"Would you like to repeat that next Saturday?" he asked.

"Yes please," replied Zoë enthusiastically.

They exchanged telephone numbers.

Emma teased her when she rang to say that she would not be home for Saturday night the second week in a row. Zoë refused to be drawn. Emma did ask her to try and make the following weekend as Joanna and Simon were coming down.

The second Saturday was also a success and a surprise when, without realising what he was doing and not telling Zoë where they were going, he took her to the Trout.

"I only live just down the road," she said. "Why not come and meet my parents and take a free drink off them?"

Slightly embarrassed, Randy agreed and, leaving his car in the pub car park, they walked down the road. Their timing was perfect. Jerry and Emma were just about to embark on their second drinks. Randy was made to feel at home immediately and for some reason Islay made a big fuss of him. Judy of course was thrilled to see Zoë. Randy's father had also been in the army and Jerry had met him. He did not know him well but it helped as an icebreaker.

The two of them left after half an hour, Emma apologising for not being able to feed them at short notice but inviting them both to dinner the following Saturday and to stay the night. They accepted, Zoë particularly happily as she would be able to see Joanna and Simon but not miss a possible further date with Randy.

If anything the two of them enjoyed themselves even more this Saturday. Zoë, having hared upstairs, lent Randy her dissertation which he promised to read during the next week. At one stage, over coffee, they started to sing quietly a duet from La Traviata which caused them peals of laughter. They had to do it again only to find to their horror that their end of the pub had gone silent and applauded when they reached the end.

When Randy dropped her off this time he got out of the car too and held both her hands as he said goodnight to her.

"Thank you, Zoë," he said. "Thank you for taking me to meet your folks. I liked them very much."

Zoë smiled shyly. "I think they liked you too. Certainly Islay did. Can't think why."

"Oh it happens to alpha males," replied Randy airily.

Zoë snorted.

"Beta bluffer!" she retorted.

Randy laughed delightedly. "Dead right!" he chortled, "but an unrecognised bass without parallel."

When they managed to stop giggling Zoë started the duet once more.

"We really are pretty good," said Randy and laughing they fell into each other's arms and then stopped.

Randy loosened his hold and very gently, almost timorously, kissed her softly.

"Thank you again, Zoë. You're a very special person."

Zoë looked back at him. She was not much smaller. "I think you're quite special too," she whispered.

That meant a proper hug followed by a longer kiss.

Randy held her away.

"Don't let's rush things," he whispered. "You're very attractive and I don't want that to spoil it. Let's get to know each other better before we get carried away."

Zoë looked solemnly into his eyes. She nodded. "Thank you, Randy, for a really, really super evening." She touched her lips to his and pulled away.

Back at The Lodge Jerry and Simon shared their initial views on Randy.

"I think she likes him quite a lot," said Jerry.

"Ye-es?"

"She could have kept quiet about living here."

"That's true but I don't think she'll rush into anything," adding with a grin, "despite Joanna and me."

"I'm glad you didn't hang about but why?"

She smiled lovingly at him. "So am I. Zoë appears impetuous but she isn't actually. She thinks things through before she acts."

"She must have done some pretty quick thinking to support us the way she did."

"Yes and no. She felt my grief after Will was killed and didn't want me to become a confirmed widow."

"Did she tell you that?"

"In as many words and then you, my darling, came along and she realised the attraction but, and that was quick, she still felt that she needed a second opinion, Joanna's. She realised too that such was the strength of our feelings for each other that it might well fall apart if we didn't get together quickly. That's why she pushed Joanna into coming down."

"Golly! I thought it was just confirmation. She seemed so welcoming."

"She was, my darling, but because she'd made, unlike her, such a quick decision she needed Joanna's back-up."

"Golly! There's a lot I didn't know about my beloved step-daughter."

"Step?"

"No, darling. They've both adopted me as their honorary father and I love them both unconditionally. You're a very clever woman to have such outstanding daughters."