Eddie paused. There was a cup of coffee on the small table beside him, and he took a gulp.

‘He picked me up in his arms,’ he went on. ‘Darn fool. Made hisself a target. But I guess he wanted to get me back in the landing craft. Those boats have high sides, and they’re made of steel. We would have been safe, and I could have got medical attention right away on the ship. But he shouldn’t have done it. Soon as he stood upright, he got hit by a spray of bullets – legs, back and head. I think he must have died before he hit the sand. Anyway, by the time I was able to lift my head and look at him, he just wasn’t there any more.’

Woody saw that his mother was controlling herself with difficulty. He was afraid that if she cried, he would too.

‘I lay on that beach beside his body for an hour,’ Eddie said. ‘I held his hand all the time. Then they brought a stretcher for me. I didn’t want to go. I knew I’d never see him again.’ He buried his face in his hands. ‘I loved him so much,’ he said.

Rosa put her arm around his big shoulders and hugged him. He laid his head on her chest and sobbed like a child. She stroked his hair. ‘There, there,’ she said. ‘There, there.’

Woody realized that his mother knew what Chuck and Eddie were.

After a minute Eddie began to pull himself together. He looked at Woody. ‘You know what this is like,’ he said.

He was talking about the death of Joanne. ‘Yes, I do,’ Woody said. ‘It’s the worst thing in the world – but it hurts a little less every day.’

‘I sure hope so.’

‘Are you still in Hawaii?’

‘Yes. Chuck and I work in the enemy land unit. Used to work.’ He swallowed. ‘Chuck decided we needed to get a better feel for how our maps were used in action. That’s why we went to Bougainville with the marines.’

‘You must be doing a good job,’ Woody said. ‘We seem to be beating the Japs in the Pacific.’

‘Inch by inch,’ Eddie said. He glanced at Woody’s uniform. ‘Where are you stationed?’

‘I’ve been at Fort Benning, in Georgia, doing parachute training,’ Woody said. ‘Now I’m on my way to London. I leave tomorrow.’

He caught his mother’s eye. Suddenly she looked older. He realized her face was lined. Her fiftieth birthday had passed with no big fuss. However, he guessed that talking about Chuck’s death while her other son stood there in army uniform had struck her a hard blow.

Eddie did not pick that up. ‘People say we’ll invade France this year,’ he said.

‘I assume that’s why my training was accelerated,’ Woody said.

‘You should see some action.’

Rosa muffled a sob.

Woody said: ‘I hope I’ll be as brave as my brother.’

Eddie said: ‘I hope you never find out.’