Kurt sighed.  “Just put up with her,” he ordered.  Not that he could really blame Penny for disliking her teacher.  It was clear that Madam Capet was far from ideal as a French teacher, but for some reason the school couldn't sack her or even convince her to shape up.  “You’ll move onto the next teacher soon.”

“The only French words I know are rude ones,” Penny continued.  “You should demand your money back.”

“What you get out of school depends on what you put into it,” Kurt said.  Had he been so blatantly disrespectful to his teachers as a child?  Probably.  “And if Madam Capet is so completely unsuitable, we can arrange some private tutoring during the summer holidays.”

Penny’s face fell.  She’d been talking about joining her friends on a visit to the moon ... although Kurt had privately resolved to forbid it even before the war had started restricting civilian spaceflight.  No teenage girl wanted to spend her summer holidays with a private tutor ... hell, Kurt wasn't even sure if he could afford a private tutor.  His boss wasn't legally allowed to fire him for being recalled to active service, but Kurt suspected that it was only a matter of time before the penny-pinching bastard started reducing Kurt’s salary.  But if Penny needed it ...

“You two nip off downstairs,” Molly ordered, her face appearing in the screen.  She sat down in front of the monitor as the two teenagers left the room, closing the door behind them.  “When are you coming home?”

Kurt blinked at her tone.  “I don’t know,” he confessed.  “The war has only just begun.”

“I’m being driven crazy by these two,” Molly said, ignoring him.  “Penny is fighting with one of her friends, while Percy is talking about joining the Royal Navy.  I expect you to put that out of his mind.”

“Why?”  Kurt asked.  “He won’t be able to sign up for another two years, at the very earliest ...”

“I won’t have my son risking his life,” Molly snapped, interrupting him.  “He will not be allowed to throw his life away.”

Kurt felt his head start to pound.  “Your husband is already risking his life,” he remarked, sharply.  “What about me?”

“If it were up to me,” Molly said, “you wouldn't have gone at all.”

She sighed, rubbing her own forehead.  “Suzie’s father is one of those damned peaceniks,” she added.  “She gave Penny a very hard time and now the girls aren’t talking to one another.”

It took Kurt a moment to place the name.  One of Penny’s friends, a young girl on the verge of womanhood, so much so that he felt like a dirty old man whenever he looked at her.  She hadn't struck him as particularly malicious, although teenagers could often be very unpleasant to one another one moment and then make up the next.  If her father was indeed a peacenik ...