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She would not norarette She would not have allowed herself to be drawn into conversation She would certainly not have begun one But she felt so much better The sky had been so beautiful And there was soainst the wall beside their door, cigarette cupped between thuer, eyes fixed on a point on the floor in front of him His hair had flopped forward and his shoulders were hunched, as if he was lost in soht of her he pinched out the cigarette and dropped it into his pocket She thought hemildly shocked: up to that point, he had seemed a kind of automaton Like so ht be roouilt, behind the mask ‘Please don’t bother,’ she said ‘Not on ed ‘Not ruffly, not quiteher eye

And for so into the cabin, she had stood there, her cardigan round her shoulders and, unexpectedly even to herself, asked whether shein yet,’ she explained Then, self-conscious, she had stood beside hiarette from the pack, and handed it to her wordlessly Then he lit it, his hand briefly touching hers as it cupped the flame Frances tried not to flinch, then wondered how quickly she could s herself dizzy and disappear He had plainly not wanted company She, of all people, should have seen it ‘Thanks,’ she said ‘I’ll just have a few puffs’

‘Take your time’

Twice she found herself in the unusual position of sesture His, in ansas fleeting They stood, one on each side of the door frauisher until the silence became uncomfortable

She looked sideways at his sleeve ‘What rank are you?’

‘Corporal’

‘Your stripes are upside-down’

‘Three-badge arette She was already nearly a third of the way down it ‘I thought three stripes eant’

‘Not if they’re upside-down’

‘I don’t understand’

‘They’re for long service Good conduct’ His eyes flickered over thehts, that kind of thing I suppose it’s a way of rewarding so the passageway As they passed Frances, their gaze flicked froone, their footsteps echoing A moment later the brief rise and fall in the sound of chatter told of the opening and closing of a cabin door

‘Why didn’t you want promotion?’

‘Don’t know’ Possibly he realised this had sounded a little abrupt, because he went on, ‘Perhaps I never saw eant material’

His face seeht, and his eyes, while not unfriendly, told of his discomfort with casual conversation She knew that look: she wore it habitually too

His gaze briefly met hers and slid away ‘Perhaps I never wanted the responsibility’

It was then that she spotted the photograph Heat it before she came A black and white picture, a little sht hand between finger and thu towards his hand

He lifted it, and looked at it as if for the first tiised, and they sest needed a haircut’ He handed it to her She took it, held it under the light and studied the bea faces, unsure what she was hteen rown some’

She nodded, as if he had shared with her some piece of parental wisdom

‘You?’

‘Oh No’ She handed back the picture ‘No’

They stood in silence again

‘You miss them?’

‘Every day’ Then his voice hardened ‘They probably don’t even remember what I look like’

She did not knohat to say: whatever she was intruding on would not be eased by a cigarette and a fewhied His job was to stand outside their door He had no choice if she chose to talk to him He would not want to be bothered by women at all hours