He and Ben joined the back of the queue and as Tom glanced at his son he wondered if they would be shipped somewhere together. He hoped so. Once they had given their details, birth date, address, et cetera the young men in front of them were being shown in to see a doctor for a hasty medical, to check whether they were fit enough to enrol. From the brief amount of time each of them spent in there with the medic, Tom could only surmise that the examination must be a very cursory affair. At last he and Ben reached the desk and after giving the required information Ben was ushered into the doctor. When it was Tom’s turn he went in to find an elderly, harassed-looking little man in a white coat with wire spectacles perched on the end of his nose, sitting at a desk with a mountain of paperwork teetering at either side of him.

‘Name?’ he barked, then paused with his pen mid-air and frowned as he saw Tom limping towards him. ‘No disrespect intended, my man, but aren’t you a little long in the tooth to be here with the youngsters? And I can’t help but notice you have quite a pronounced limp.’

‘I’m intending to enrol as a stretcher-bearer or a groom to care for the horses,’ Tom answered calmly.

‘I see, and apart from your limp are you healthy or are there any other medical conditions I should know about?’

‘None. I’m fit as a flea except for my leg.’

The doctor wrote for a while then, coming around the desk, he looked into Tom’s eyes, throat and ears and listened to his chest.

‘You’ll do,’ he said. Then issuing Tom with a pass he waved him away, saying, ‘You will receive information as to where you will be stationed to receive your training within the week. Next!’

Tom limped away to rejoin Ben who was waiting outside for him smoking a cigarette. It was done, there could be no going back now and he prayed that God would have mercy on their souls.

Their faces anxious, Lavinia and Sunday were waiting for the men when they got home.

‘So … did they accept you?’ Sunday asked, her eyes trained on her husband. When he nodded, she let out a deep sigh. She had been praying that they would turn him away because of his limp but her prayers had gone unanswered.

Cissie and George were also there, and William who was listening gravely.

Lavinia spoke up. ‘William and I should inform you that because of the latest developments we have decided not to wait until Christmas to get married. I want all my family present for this event, and that includes you and Ben, Tom. William has been to get a special licence this morning and we shall be married in two days’ time. Let us hope it is before you both have to leave to start your training.’