The Game of Shepherd and Dawse by William Shepherd

was near Charlie and next to the fire before he continued. "So in answer to your question, my little friend, there are three types of people who go into battle. The first type are those who really enjoy killing. They get a real taste for it and these are the people who allow wars to happen. The second type are the ones like myself. We do what we have to do because we have no choice. We are good men in a very bad job. We don’t like it and we don’t dislike it. We just shut off all emotion to it and hope to dear God it will be all over with as soon as humanly possible. Then, there is the third type,” Joe said with a slight sigh. “My good friend, Adam Flowers, fit into this third category. He hated war and he hated killing people. The only thing he hated more was that he was so damn good at it”.
     
    Joe gazed into the fire a moment, remembering his dear friend. Charlie broke the short silence when he asked, “So why didn’t he just stop fighting, Joe”?
     
    Joe laughed at Charlie’s naivety. “It wasn’t that simple, little fella. It'd been nice if it had been, but unfortunately the dark forces of the world made sure that everyone got involved. Nobody had a choice. It was either kill or be killed and Adam didn’t want to be killed, so he killed. That's the tragedy of war”.
     
    “Adam was an ace pilot,” Joe went on. “One of the very best. What that man could do with a plane was beyond physics. He also had some kind of gift for killing, but that was a gift that he could have done without. After each landing, he would go to his quarters, sob his heart out and literally feel the pain of each of the German families’ of the pilots he had just shot down. No one ever interrupted him, as this was how he dealt with the pain of having to kill”.
     
    Charlie, looking slightly confused as to why someone would be so upset about shooting down the enemy, didn’t have to say a word for Joe to pick up on his feelings.
     
    “Its ok”, Joe continued, “I know what you’re thinking and that’s only natural. But you see, Charlie, none of us really wanted to be in that damn war - not the British, not the French, not the Americans or any other nationality. Apart from the ones who enjoyed killing, and there weren’t many of them, the only people who really wanted the war were the ones who didn’t fight in it, the ones who started it in the first place”.
     
    This was a great learning experience for Charlie and gave him a better understanding of how the real wheels of war turned.
     
    “So what happened to your buddy, Joe? Did Adam ever get shot down”?
     
    “Yes and no is the answer to that, Charlie. His plane did get shot at but never shot down. The only damage his plane ever suffered was to the undercarriage - it wouldn’t allow the wheels to come down and there was some damage to the fuel tanks, as well”.
     
    At this point, Joe's voice became charged with a tinge of excitement and he spoke a bit faster. “This is where the real miracle happened”, he said. “As Adam came into to land, he had to get the pitch just right”. Joe stretched his arms out wide as if he were Adam’s airplane.
     
    “He was low on fuel and didn’t have many options for landing. He took the nearest piece of land available to him, which just happened to be on the Devon coast. Now, a plane can just about glide to the ground without wheels if all the variables are absolutely bang on, but boy they gotta be right”.
     
    Joe's arms were gesturing about madly and Charlie couldn't remember ever seeing his old friend so animated. Both were enjoying themselves immensely.
     
    “Not only did Adam manage to glide his plane in”, Joe continued, "but he had to glide it in going up a slight hill, which is actually nigh on impossible even for the best handful of pilots in the world. Yet Adam managed to do it"!
     
    Joe absently put his hand to his mouth, reminiscing about the ending of that infamously impossible landing.
     
    “Adam