A loud hammering on his door made his eyes swing towards it and when he opened it, Bean, looking somewhat dishevelled, burst into the room brandishing an identical letter to the one he was reading.

‘Bleedin’ ’ell, matie!’ Bean, who was considerably younger than Ben, ran a hand distractedly through his thick, brown hair. ‘What the ’ell ’ave we let ’usselves in for?’

Bean was a well-known figure about the docks. He made his living – a very comfortable one – wheeling and dealing with the goods that came in from abroad that just happened to fall into his possession. He would openly admit that he lived by his wits and had never done an honest day’s work in his life. He was always the life and soul of any party but today his face was pasty, and Ben saw that his hands were shaking. ‘Do yer reckon we can get outta this?’ he asked, his voice cracking with fear. ‘If we go back to the recruitment office an’ tell the blokes there we were half-cut an’ didn’t know what we were doin’ surely they’ll tell us to rip these up?’

Ben’s lips set in a grim line and suddenly he felt as sober as a judge as he recalled what it had been like in the First World War.

‘No chance. It says here that because of my age I shall be a horse handler. What are you going to do?’

Bean swallowed. ‘I’m army trainin’. That means I’ll be sent to the front, don’t it?’

Ben nodded. ‘I should say so, but what made us do it?’

‘Them young army chaps we were keepin’ company with,’ Bean said bitterly. ‘They were eggin’ us on an’ sayin’ as we were yeller bellies an’ the next thing I remember we were at one o’ the recruitment offices.’

Ben sighed. ‘Well, we’ve done it good an’ proper now. We’ve got no choice but to go.’

‘You speak fer yourself. I ain’t goin’ to be shot down. I’m off. Me old mum will understand. There ain’t many pickin’s round ’ere anyway since the war started. Half the goods ain’t comin’ in anymore so I’ll clear orf an’ try me luck somewhere else till this bloody war is over.’

Ben shrugged. He wouldn’t have expected any more of the lad, if truth be known. He was as shallow as a stream.

‘An’ what are you gonna do?’

Bean’s voice brought Ben’s thoughts back to the present. ‘I shall be going,’ he said quietly. This time there would be no one left behind to worry about him or write to him as there had been the last time. It was a sobering thought. Yes, he would go. Perhaps this was justice for what he had done. But first he intended to put his house in order … just in case he didn’t come back.

Chapter Twenty-Eight