I went to see what she wanted. She looked over my shoulder to see that the others had gone upstairs and pulled me to her and placed her lips on mine w...th her tongue forcing my mouth open. I shook with shock for a moment but returned her kiss and put my arms around her. As suddenly as she had started, she then stopped and said that the kiss was as near to my ‘present’ as she could get for the moment. She then dismissed me and went to bed. Sunday morning was an early start for some, namely my. I bit my lip to keep from bursting out laughing. How could this woman, so obviously adept in decoding her children's bullshit, believe my collection of lies? Was it because I was a female, one of the clan? My parents would have fucking killed me if they had heard the nonsense that I was spouting about them to Mrs. Keller. Especially my father who, though he had never touched me, was living five hundred miles north of us with some barely legal nymphet, not much older than I. Nevertheless, she. “Just our battalion, Jack? “I nodded, and a big smile slid over his face.“Independent command, and away from the top brass around here. Just what the men need. They are angry we weren’t chosen for the attack on the Fortress Trocadero.”Fritz Lang and I were old friends from Wellington’s army in Spain. He had been a lieutenant in the light infantry battalion of the King’s German Legion, and was one of the few survivors of La Haye Sainte at Waterloo.In private we were Fritz and Jack, but on parade. “I look forward to our next appointment.” she smiled, showing him into the entrance hall, the reflection in a mirror hanging on the wall a haunting reminder of the age divide. They could have easily been taken for mother and son. “You have my telephone number,” she confirmed, opening the front door. “I’ll call you in about four weeks to arrange another meeting,” he said, glancing at the photograph on the table, the melodic chimes from the grandfather clock interrupting the question waiting.