AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘Before you start, sir,’ Mattie began, ‘I wonder if I might say something?’
‘One moment, Mathilda.’ The colonel halted her as he sat down. ‘Come in and close the doors, please, William.’
He sat down as his adjutant closed the doors between the two offices, then gestured for Mattie to also sit and, with William also in the room, she found she didn’t want to say anything she’d come to say after all.
‘Everything you and WO2 Wheeler pulled off during that pre-phase of Operation Strikethrough was quite impressive. My counterpart from Infantry said that medical support kept the pressure on, and it really helped to test the new tactical battle group to its limits. Outstanding work.’
‘Oh. Well. Good.’
She wanted to feel relieved, but she couldn’t. Her resignation was rolling all around her mouth.
‘This is rather a delicate part.’ The CO steepled his fingers. ‘It’s about how well you know WO2 Wheeler.’
Mattie’s stomach dipped and tumbled in an instant. She hadn’t been prepared for this. She and Kane had been so discreet, how could anyone possibly have known what had happened between them? This certainly wasn’t how she’d wanted to go out—under some cloud—but if it was going to happen then at least she knew it was for the right person.
It wasn’t like it had been with George, because Kane had never been Blakeney. She would always have gone to the ends of the earth for Kane. And she knew she wouldn’t live to regret a single moment of it.
‘You want to know how well I know WO2 Wheeler?’ She unglued her tongue from the roof of her mouth.
‘This is all in strictest confidence, Major Brigham.’ Her colonel reverted to her rank for a moment, as if to impress upon her the gravity of the situation. ‘But Division have been considering WO2 Wheeler for LE in the next year or so, having been put forward by his previous commanding officer.’
Mattie’s brain skidded, the smell of burning rubber filling her head.
Kane was being considered as an LE? Mattie paused, somewhere between being shocked and not being surprised at all. An LE—Late Entry Officer—was one of few soldiers who jumped the non-commissioned officer and commissioned officer divide. Usually only a very select number of Warrant Officers First Class were considered for the role.
He would be commissioned into the army as a captain, able to either take up a staff officer role or to serve as a CSM and WO1. More importantly, as a captain it would mean that she and Kane would be commissioned officers together. They could both remain in the army whilst any personal relationship between them would be entirely acceptable.
It was like Fate was somehow spinning everything perfectly together.
‘That doesn’t surprise me at all.’ She had no idea how she managed to sound so controlled. ‘WO2 Wheeler was easy to work with. Extremely knowledgeable and efficient. He would make an exceptional officer, in my opinion.’
The best part about it was that it was completely true.
‘And mine,’ her CO concurred. ‘However, it seems Major Copperhead doesn’t agree. Ever since he took over from the previous CO, he has been trying to quash WO2 Wheeler’s recommendation.’
A thousand thoughts skittered through her head, but she couldn’t voice a single one of them. They were too personal, too revealing. In the end she settled for a pointed, ‘I think that’s a mistake.’
‘I agree. And so, it would seem, does Division. They would like to bring WO2 Wheeler’s consideration forward.’
‘Bring it forward?’ she hed
ged, not even feigning disinterest.
‘Forward to this year. Percy isn’t happy about it, of course, but it’s gone over his head. They asked me if I would like to second the recommendation, which I do.’ He glared at her, as though she was going to argue. ‘I rather hoped your recent experience working with him would help me to do that.’
For the briefest of moments Mattie couldn’t answer. Kane was exactly the type of officer the army needed—far more than any of the Percy Copperheads. From where Kane had started, he was exactly the kind of role model the soldiers needed, and his experience would make him a knowledgeable but fair leader.
Something moved inside her chest. Happiness. And pride.
‘Yes, sir, of course I can do that.’
‘Good.’ He looked satisfied. ‘I’d like a report on my desk by this afternoon. Mattie, for our eyes only, please?’
‘Understood.’ She dipped her head, a thousand thoughts crowding inside it.
‘In fact, Kane’s been earmarked as the next Army Sergeant Major,’ William confided unexpectedly, at some unseen gesture from the CO.
‘Say again?’
