We all said hello to each other in passing and made small talk here and there, but nothing quite prepared me for what Tom was about to discuss with me... I arrived back home and walked to Tom’s house around 8pm. Before knocking, he opened the door and came outside to greet me, motioning for me to stay quiet. “Hey Tom, everything ok?” I asked. He started in a low whisper, “Yeah yeah we’re all fine, but I wanted to ask you something very personal, and no one can know. Is that ok?”I had no issue. I was seated about five or six places along with a flushed Lesley next to me and Barry, a doctor, on the other side.“Damn,” murmured Lesley in a husky breathless tone followed by a seductive giggle, “I hope the meal tastes as good as that cock did, I’m almost resentful at having to leave it and it’s only the knowledge that I’ll get it back later that is keeping me content.”First course was dealt with rather quickly and the servers were fondled and stroked as they removed the dishes and returned. George frowned, unsure of what it could be. His daughter, Judy, was at school so the house should have been empty aside from himself. Lifting the remote, he turned off the television and strained his ears for a repetition. He was going to be quite upset if an animal, even a mouse, had snuck in. Vermin were a pain to remove.The sound returned and the single father blinked, setting his half-empty beer down on the end table between the recliner and sofa. It seemed to come from the hallway between. The corporal in charge of the detachment, who obviously saw himself and Maggie riding out together somewhere, drew himself up with a broad grin. ‘The ‘general’,’ he said, keeping the colonel’s new higher rank, ‘The general, he don’t go nowhere with out us’n. We’re hand picked men, we’re. They reckon, you know, they reckon it was the likes of us that they based this New Model Army on, they do. That’s how good we are an’ all.’ Groat nearly breathed his beer back into yard. Soldiers. Lord, where.