When she spoke her words were deliberate andunfaltering, indicating her utter self-assurance."You and I have to come to an understanding." she began, ...We all need toknow who's in charge here, and you need to know that it's me. I may seemat first sight to be a mere slip of a girl whose demands can be easilydodged, but I can tell you I'm not inexperienced when it comes tocalling the tune with boys in frocks."The faces of her small audience drained of colour as the resonance ofher voice beat. ’ She blinked. ‘Really?’ ‘One of the Symphony board members was my commanding officer,’ the old man said. ‘Colonel Johnston. One of the best men I ever served under.’ He smiled and added, ‘Put me in for the MOH. I told him I didn’t want it, but he did it anyway.’ ‘Will he be wearing his dress uniform, too?’ she asked. Geoff considered. ‘If he’s there,’ he said. ‘Wouldn’t surprise me. We Marines are partial to the blue.’ When they arrived at the hall, Geoff parked the car, helped Amy get. I ran my hand over the smooth surface, feeling how it 'measured' inside. I plowed out a small trench with my fingers, just wide enough to hold my fingers, then starting as high as I could reach and as wide as I could reach, I pointed my fingers at each other and peeled off a layer of stone, leaving behind a surface slick as polished marble.She patted my shoulder. "Well done. You will never lack for work. But for now we must work in the garden or we will go hungry." The rest of the day blurred. It was in the back room of the pub I was shown my first gun. It was a battered old Walther, a souvenir of the Second World War. I’d fixed a few old clocks, and the owner of the pistol asked if I could look at it. I stripped it down, cleaned and fixed a broken part secretly in the metalwork shop at school. I fixed a few more, then my grandfather had a word and I was offered one of the prized apprenticeships at Purdy’s.“Do you want to go?” I asked Patsy.“Not really, I’m like it here, and I’m.