Standing in a row of girls facing the targets opposite, Sophie bit the paper off a cartridge and poured the powder down the rifle bore, then put the greased bullet in the bore and rammed it down on top of the powder.
An hour of shooting left Sophie filthy and exhausted but much happier than before. (Funny the way firing a gun always put her in a good mood.) She and Nan walked back to their room and changed into their dressing gowns before going to take the extra bath allotted to members of the Rifle Club.
The bathroom had a row of cubicles, each with its own tub and taps, and the two girls ran hot baths, a luxuryunknown at the National High School for Boys down the road (Sophie was glad of the hot water but sorry boys and girls should be treated so differently).
“My dad visited on Sunday afternoon,” Nan said as they soaked in painfully hot water. “He says that this time it really looks like war.”
Sophie admitted that her great-aunt had been saying something very similar.
“Sophie, what will you do if war breaks out? How will you serve, I mean?”
Sophie smiled at Nan’s phrasing, but the question demanded serious thought.
“Oh, it’s impossible,” she said, feeling the back and shoulder muscles that the hot water had loosened snap back into tight bands. “It’s easy for you. Your family’s been army as far back as anyone can remember.”
“Yes,” said Nan, the affirmation echoing off the tiles of the cavernous bathroom. Sophie envied her certainty. “I know I’ll join the women’s army auxiliaries—there’s never been any doubt, and a declaration of war will simply speed things up a bit. All three of my brothers are in the army already, of course, and there’s no reason for me not to follow them. But what will Jean do, and Priscilla? What will you do, Sophie?”
“If it were fifteen years ago, and war not even on the horizon,” Sophie said, thinking out loud, “I suppose it’d be apretty sure thing that I’d go to university. Miss Chatterjee told me that when she first began teaching here, almost all the girls stayed on for sixth-form work, and quite a few of those went to university as well. Now most of us leave after the fifth form.”
“That sixth-form group this year is like a ghost ship,” Nan agreed, splashing for emphasis. “There are so many empty seats, it must be terribly discouraging. And last year not a single girl went on to university. All the really academic girls go now to IRYLNS instead. Is that what you’ll do, do you think?”
Sophie sighed. “I don’t know. You’d think Great-aunt Tabitha would like the idea of me going to IRYLNS, but when I suggested it this weekend, she practically bit my head off. I think she’s going to pull strings and try to get me admitted to university.”
“Do you think she’s got that kind of influence?” Nan sounded impressed.
“I hope so,” Sophie said, only realizing as she said it how very much she wanted it to be true. “The auxiliaries would be absolutely dire! Seriously, can you see me in a khaki uniform saluting my superior officer?”
“No, it’s true,” Nan said, “I can’t picture that at all.”
“Imagine how poorly I’d do in the PT testing,” Sophie added. “I couldn’t do a single press-up last time they made us in gym! They’d probably ship me off to some awful farm inthe middle of nowhere. Even a factory job would be better than having to work as a Land Girl.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Nan said thoughtfully. Nan liked the outdoors more than Sophie did. “Farming wouldn’t be so bad. But I think you should hold out for university.”
“The horrible thing,” Sophie said to Nan as they hurriedly dried themselves and put on their pajamas, “is that we’re being forced to choose now about things that really should be able to wait till we’re older. It’s hard to say what’s worse, the suddenness of having to choose or the chance that if we don’t make up our minds soon, the choice will
An hour of shooting left Sophie filthy and exhausted but much happier than before. (Funny the way firing a gun always put her in a good mood.) She and Nan walked back to their room and changed into their dressing gowns before going to take the extra bath allotted to members of the Rifle Club.
The bathroom had a row of cubicles, each with its own tub and taps, and the two girls ran hot baths, a luxuryunknown at the National High School for Boys down the road (Sophie was glad of the hot water but sorry boys and girls should be treated so differently).
“My dad visited on Sunday afternoon,” Nan said as they soaked in painfully hot water. “He says that this time it really looks like war.”
Sophie admitted that her great-aunt had been saying something very similar.
“Sophie, what will you do if war breaks out? How will you serve, I mean?”
Sophie smiled at Nan’s phrasing, but the question demanded serious thought.
“Oh, it’s impossible,” she said, feeling the back and shoulder muscles that the hot water had loosened snap back into tight bands. “It’s easy for you. Your family’s been army as far back as anyone can remember.”
“Yes,” said Nan, the affirmation echoing off the tiles of the cavernous bathroom. Sophie envied her certainty. “I know I’ll join the women’s army auxiliaries—there’s never been any doubt, and a declaration of war will simply speed things up a bit. All three of my brothers are in the army already, of course, and there’s no reason for me not to follow them. But what will Jean do, and Priscilla? What will you do, Sophie?”
“If it were fifteen years ago, and war not even on the horizon,” Sophie said, thinking out loud, “I suppose it’d be apretty sure thing that I’d go to university. Miss Chatterjee told me that when she first began teaching here, almost all the girls stayed on for sixth-form work, and quite a few of those went to university as well. Now most of us leave after the fifth form.”
“That sixth-form group this year is like a ghost ship,” Nan agreed, splashing for emphasis. “There are so many empty seats, it must be terribly discouraging. And last year not a single girl went on to university. All the really academic girls go now to IRYLNS instead. Is that what you’ll do, do you think?”
Sophie sighed. “I don’t know. You’d think Great-aunt Tabitha would like the idea of me going to IRYLNS, but when I suggested it this weekend, she practically bit my head off. I think she’s going to pull strings and try to get me admitted to university.”
“Do you think she’s got that kind of influence?” Nan sounded impressed.
“I hope so,” Sophie said, only realizing as she said it how very much she wanted it to be true. “The auxiliaries would be absolutely dire! Seriously, can you see me in a khaki uniform saluting my superior officer?”
“No, it’s true,” Nan said, “I can’t picture that at all.”
“Imagine how poorly I’d do in the PT testing,” Sophie added. “I couldn’t do a single press-up last time they made us in gym! They’d probably ship me off to some awful farm inthe middle of nowhere. Even a factory job would be better than having to work as a Land Girl.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Nan said thoughtfully. Nan liked the outdoors more than Sophie did. “Farming wouldn’t be so bad. But I think you should hold out for university.”
“The horrible thing,” Sophie said to Nan as they hurriedly dried themselves and put on their pajamas, “is that we’re being forced to choose now about things that really should be able to wait till we’re older. It’s hard to say what’s worse, the suddenness of having to choose or the chance that if we don’t make up our minds soon, the choice will
Similar Books
