Crusader (A Novel of WWII Tank Warfare), Jack Murray [top romance novels .txt] 📗

captain. Rumours of his indecent activities hadspread. The Brigadier was no prude. He knew soldiers. They liked a drink. Theyliked the company of women. A trip to Sisters Street was one thing but Aston’sknavery included carousing with the wives of men who were out in the desert. WasAston the sort of man to bribe an official? Sadly, thought the Brigadier, hislordship was entirely capable of such wickedness.

As this thought was crossing his mind the Brigadier saw Turner andAston hurling obscenities in each other’s direction. All around the Brigadier,the was crowd lapping it up. The stream of violations by Aston seemed toprovoke admiration rather than approbation. His dismay at the crowd’s reactionturned to anger when he heard one officer, already half-sozzled by gin,proclaim, ‘If we’d Edmund running the show, we’d have kicked Rommel’s arse out ofTripoli long ago.’

This was met with a round of ‘here, here’s’ from men that did notknow better. The British Army’s reward for this combination of arrogance andstupidity was to give them command. Little wonder Rommel had steamrollered hisway to Egypt, just like he had through France.

The Brigadier turned away from the match and limped downstairs.His polo playing days had ended a year ago after his first encounter with theItalian Folgore regiment. Unlike many of Italians, this regiment had neversurrendered. The resulting fight had been bitterly contested and had given theBritish an inkling, soon confirmed by the arrival of Rommel, that victory inthe North African theatre was not a foregone conclusion.

As he descended the stairs, he heard another roar and thenlaughter. Yes, thought Brown, a quiet word with the two gentlemen concerned wasneeded. There could be no lingering bad feeling when they all returned to thegarrison at El Alamein.

-

Turner strode into the changing room followed by his team. Hethought about heading to his team’s side of the changing room, but the raucoussound of laughter echoing in the changing room drew him like a moth towards theflame. He heard Aston joking sotto voce with his teammates and a fewother officers who’d come down to offer their congratulations. He guessed thesubject of their hilarity. Turner was fighting a losing battle againstself-control.

Aston looked up as Turner approached him. He could see the burningrage in the lieutenant’s eyes. He put a cheroot to his lips and smiled at hisdefeated opponent.

‘Glad to see you’ve come to offer your congratulations, Turner.’

‘Congratulations,’ spat Turner. ‘Don’t give me that, Aston. Whatyou did out there was nothing short of a__’

Turner stopped short as he saw ten pairs of eyes on him. Herealised that to go further would move their dispute into dangerous territory. Hisface was red from the sun, the anger white hot within him. A slow smile spreadonto the face of Aston. He was goading him into an indiscretion that would costhim his career. The man knew no depths. Turner’s rage had reached the point ofexplosion.

‘You were saying, old chap?’ replied Aston, coolly. His eyes neverleft Turner’s. He was enjoying things immensely.

Silence descended in the changing room. The ticking of the clockon the wall echoed around the changing room. Then one of Turner’s team cameover and gently took the arm of the lieutenant. Turner glared at Aston and thenhis acolytes, each in turn. He made no attempt to disguise the contempt he feltfor all of them.

The tug on his arm became more insistent. Finally, he nodded toAston and turned around. His departure was accompanied by stifled laughter. LieutenantCrickmay, the man who had come to take him away said, ‘You were close tosomething you would have regretted.’

‘I’d love two minutes with that man, alone.’

‘You’d have to join a long queue, I suspect.’

The two men went to the other side of the changing room to jointhe rest of the team. They were all exhausted from their efforts on the field.

‘Sorry, men,’ said Turner. ‘I let you all down.’

‘No, you didn’t, Jeff,’ said one of the team. ‘You can’t playagainst that. I don’t know what match the umpire was looking at.’

‘Absolute disgrace,’ said another.

‘You should lodge a formal complaint. From what I could see Aston’splay was outrageous,’ said Crickmay, ‘and I, for one, would like to know moreabout what that umpire was up to. I wouldn’t be surprised if…’

Turner shot Crickmay a look, then smiled.

‘It sounds like you’ll say something I might regret, Arthur. But,for what it’s worth, I’m thinking exactly the same.’

Crickmay grinned ruefully. The other men smiled also. The momentpassed. It was some consolation, albeit scant, that Aston’s behaviour could notgo unnoticed by top brass, a point made forcibly by Crickmay afterwards. Hisdisregard for fair play and civilised conduct on the field, agreed Turner, signalledan absence of character that would certainly be revealed in more criticalsituations. He felt for all of the men under Aston’s direct command. He was oneof them.

The men changed in a grim silence. They heard the sound offootsteps approaching. A sergeant saluted them. Turner’s heart sank. He hadsuspected the matter was not going to finish when the match ended. The look onthe face of the sergeant confirmed this.

‘Lieutenant Turner, sir. The Brigadier wishes to see youimmediately, sir.’

Turner nodded and quickly knotted his tie. Then he followed thesergeant around to the other side of the changing room. At least, he realised,it wasn’t going to be just him.

Their arrival was greeted with hoots of laughter from Aston’s teamand friends. It was clear, however, Aston was less happy about the situation.

‘Do you want some books to put down the back of your trousers?’said one wag, causing boisterous laughter.

‘Give it a break, St John,’ replied Aston grimly. His eyes neverleft Turner’s. Animosity poured from them like lava. The two men followed thesergeant out of the changing room and up a few flights of stairs to an office.The sergeant knocked then held the door open for the two men who entered. Thedoor closed behind them.

A grin broke out on the face of the sergeant. He stood toattention in front of the door, as close as possible, so that he could hearevery word spoken.

-

Aston took one look at the face of the Brigadier as he entered.Any hope that