MORNING SERIAL
AS suddenly as it had begun, the mayhem ended. The farmer kicked at Heini, struggling up, and left.
Michael helped Heini to his feet. He looked dazed, fingered his nose.
‘Christ, do you think it’s broken?’
‘Not if you can straighten it. Let’s see,’ said Joachim. He took Heini’s nose between finger and thumb and clicked it straight. ‘There you are. Be fine.’
Heini dabbed his split lip with the wet pad of a handkerchief.
‘Sure, I deserted too,’ said the young farmer. ‘As soon as old Donitz’s tinny voice came over the radio, “the fight must go on,” me and my pals were out the window of those barracks, you couldn’t see us for dust, and then we laid low in fields for days. The farmers told us, “watch out for the naval police, lads, they’re worse than the SS”, and then one day a Jeep stopped near us with four Englishmen and they were singing, wearing webbing belts. Singing! Webbing belts! We went crazy with joy. I’ll never forget it. There among the dock leaves. “Webbing belts!” we yelled. “Webbing belts have conquered the leather belts!” Laughing, crying, rolling around in the dirt. We made it.’
‘Except for Gunther,’ said Heini. ‘So nearly made it, that was the ridiculous thing. Only just seventeen. Seventeen.’
‘I can’t be doing with this,’ chivvied the landlady. ‘Not on my premises.’
She bent grumbling with a dustpan and brush, to clear the shards of glass.
‘If people want to talk politics, I wish they would do it somewhere else,’ she complained. ‘I don’t hold with it here and neither does my husband. I’ve never taken sides.’ She straightened up and addressed the drinkers. ‘In all my life, never taken sides. I’ve seen them come and seen them go. We never have trouble here, it’s peaceful and that’s how we want it. I can’t be doing with fighting and mess in my nice clean house.’
Who did she remind Michael of, as she went on grumbling? Effi, it was the self-styled apolitical Effi.
> The Element of Water by Stevie Davies is published by Parthian in the Library of Wales series www.parthianbooks.com
CONTINUES MONDAY