Secrets

By Carole McEntee-Taylor

It’s fascinating to discover your family history or is it? What if you find out something you’d rather not know? Of course it doesn’t need to be a bad secret, it could be something good. Maybe it wasn’t really a secret, but just something that was kept quiet because of guilt or out of habit. But what if it doesn’t come out for many years or it’s a secret that is never told? And of course it’s not just people who have secrets, countries do too.'Secrets' is just that – a book of six short stories about secrets.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Carole McEntee-Taylor
• Release date: Feb 9, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005421847

Carole McEntee-Taylor

I write military history, historical fiction and memoirs and sometimes a mixture of all three. I am also a ghost writer of novels and memoirs.My non fiction, published by by Pen and Sword Books Ltd, include Herbert Columbine VC, Surviving the Nazi Onslaught, A Battle Too Far, Military Detention Colchester from 1947, The Battle of Bellewaarde June 1915, From Colonial Warrior to Western Front Flyer, The History of Coalhouse Fort and A History of Women’s Lives in Scunthorpe.I have also written a biography of John Doubleday to be included in his book: The Work and published The Weekend Trippers and My War and Peace myself. I am always on the look out for new military memoirs to publish. If you would like to know more please visit my website.My spiritual books are The Re-Enlightenment and The Holiday From Hell.My fiction includeSecrets ( a book of six short stories)Lives Apart: A WW2 Chronicle - a five book series inspired by the true story of my in-laws.Obsession - a five book series inspired by the true story of the missing POWs at the end of WW2.Betrayed - a stand alone murder mystery set in WW2 Germany and Palestine.Secret Lives - a six book series set before and during WW1.A One Way Ticket - a four book series inspired by the true story of Bill Young through WW2 and beyond.

Book preview

SECRETS

By

Carole McEntee-Taylor

A collection of short stories

Revised and re-edited 2nd Edition Copyright © Carole McEntee-Taylor, 2022.

The right of Carole McEntee-Taylor as the Author of the Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.

Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, with prior permission in writing of the author or, in the case of reprographic production, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency.

All characters in this publication, with the exception of any obvious historical characters, are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, either living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Contents

Love’s Reach

Pandora’s Box

Shingle Street

Gone But Not Forgotten

The Mountain

The Oak Tree

Slipping Through The Cracks

About the author

LOVE’S REACH

The snow lay deep on the ground, the full moon reflecting its stark whiteness and lighting up the fields with an eerie glow. Maggie hurried through the frozen lanes, her feet already wet through and her shawl pulled tightly round her. She wished she had put on her coat now, threadbare as it was. It would have at least provided some protection against the cold. But there hadn’t been time. The sudden urgency which she had felt could not be ignored. She knew she had to get to the church immediately. Alf’s life depended on it. She never understood where these feelings came from. She just knew that she had to obey them otherwise something dreadful would happen.

She could feel the baby kicking as she walked and she patted her stomach gently. ‘Shhh little one. Go back to sleep. It’s not time yet.’ She crooned softly. The baby was almost due now, she only hoped he would hold on until she had done what she was meant to do. She was convinced it was a son and had told Alf in her last letter that the baby was a boy.

Thinking about Alf encouraged her to walk faster. She couldn’t run because of the baby, but she was walking as quickly as she could. Her breath began to come in short bursts as she quickened her step. It floated in clouds of mist which seemed to hover in the air before vanishing into nothingness and, despite her exertion, she shivered. Ahead she could just make out the old church. Its solid stone walls stood out proudly against the white of the snow and she began to relax slightly. She was almost there. She made one last effort and then she was standing in the porch with the heavy oak door in front of her. She pushed hard against it and it creaked as it swung slowly open.

The church was empty, a row of candles burning brightly by the altar the only light. The flickering flames threw strange shadows off the walls and the pews, but Maggie didn’t notice. It was chilly inside, but no colder than outside and, having reached her goal, Maggie no longer noticed the temperature either. She hurried up to the front of the church and knelt down in one of the pews. Her breathing slowed and she began to concentrate her thoughts. Within seconds she had focused on Alf and she could see him quite clearly. He was standing in thick frozen mud, his trench coat covered in icicles. His rifle was by his side and he looked cold and miserable. As she watched he pulled out his knife and began to cut the bottom of his coat off. She had no time to wonder why as, to her horror, a man in German uniform appeared at the top of the trench. He began climbing over the edge, his bayonet raised and he was heading straight towards Alf.

Maggie only just prevented herself from screaming in terror. Instead she concentrated her energy and began calling out loudly ’Behind you Alf! Alf behind you! Look behind you!’

*******

‘I’m going to join up’ Alf’s face was lit up with a fervour Maggie had never seen before.

She shook her head and wondered how on earth she could stop him. War had been declared a few days earlier and young men everywhere were rushing to join up in case they missed the fun, especially as the war was expected to be over by Christmas.

‘But what about me? We’ve only just got married’ her plea sounded lame even to her.

‘I’ll be home before you know it. You wouldn’t want me to miss out on such a great adventure would you?’

Maggie shook her head, not sure what else she could say other than to beg.

‘Come on Mags, be happy for me. It’ll be over by Christmas. I’ll be home before you know it.’

*******

War was not everything Alf expected it to be. In fact it was nothing like he’d imagined. He’d arrived in Flanders just in time to see the remnants of the BEF returning from Mons and he had been shocked by what was left of the British Army. Their uniforms were in tatters, most were little more than skin and bone and any equipment they had was damaged or incomplete. For the first time he wondered whether his decision to join up was a wise one after all.

The first couple of months weren’t too bad as they had the Germans on the run but by Christmas both sides were firmly entrenched in the mud. For the next three years nothing had really changed. It was proving impossible to dislodge the Germans and every attempt resulted in horrific numbers of dead and wounded. He had not seen Maggie for the next two years and when he had finally gone home he was sure that the people had no idea of the numbers being killed.

*******

‘What on earth’s the matter Alf?’ Maggie looked at him in concern. She had been shocked at his appearance, he was very thin and pale, his eyes looked haunted and she was sure he had a slight twitch. Even more disturbing he kept jumping at the slightest noise.

‘Nothing, I’m perfectly alright’ he replied sharply.

Maggie was about to ask more, but she sensed he would not want to talk about it so she kept her concerns to herself.

‘Is this all there is to eat?’ He looked at the tiny piece of fish, greyish coloured potatoes and vegetables on his plate?

‘There’s virtually no meat in the shops and what is available is really expensive’ Maggie replied more sharply than she’d intended. She had not been expecting him otherwise she would have saved something from her own paltry amount to add to his own.

To her astonishment he had arrived home that morning. She’d had no warning. He was still wearing his uniform which was filthy and covered in mud, grease and what looked like dried blood. He had swung her up in the air, reminding her briefly of how he had been before he went to war. But when he put her down she immediately noticed the difference in him. Since then conversation had been stilted.

She resisted the temptation to tell him that he was lucky to get potatoes as they were also in short supply. Goodness only knew what he would say when he tasted the bread which was disgusting as it now contained