For Kingdom and Country Read Online Free

soaked sheet slip from his body and began to dress. Sitting down to pull on his boots, he glanced over to the bed. The two girls had curled up together now. Lock looked to Singh. The big Indian must have read his thoughts for he shook his head firmly. Lock grinned and stood up. He bent down to the dressing table mirror and brushed his still damp hair back with his fingers.
    ‘How do I look, Sid?’
    ‘Very smart, Captain sahib.’ Singh said, and opened the door.
    Lock gave a final glance to the slumbering girls, sighed, and stepped out into the corridor. He hesitated, realising what Singh had just said.
    ‘Yes, I’d forgotten that. My promotion, I mean. But I doubt Godwinson will stand for it.’
    ‘But it is not up to him, Captain sahib, surely?’
    Lock grunted, then they both made their way down the stairs and through the foyer towards the front door.
    Jalal Al-din Bahar was waiting for them, and he bowed and smiled at Lock as the two men approached.
    ‘I trust that your stay has been … refreshing, effendim ?’
    ‘Most. Here.’ Lock handed the portly Arab a couple of coins. ‘Right, come along then, Havildar!’ Lock said, and slapped a bewildered Singh on the shoulder. ‘If I’m to be a captain, Sid, then I insist that you’re my new sergeant.’
    ‘No, no, sahib, you cannot, please. What about the sergeant major?’
    ‘Sod Underhill, Sid. I never wanted him as my number two, watching my back. That’s like bedding down with a cobra. No, I want a friend at my side, and you’re it.’
    Before Singh could protest further, Lock opened the door to the street and stepped outside.
    The sun had fallen behind the rooftops now and, despite the sky beingan artist’s palette of pinks and reds, the street was in darkness. For a moment, as the door closed behind them, it was difficult to see, coming as they had from the bright lights of the brothel out into the gloom of the street.
    The two men paused in the doorway to let their eyes adjust, and Lock lit a cigarette. It was a quiet night. Only the insects broke the silence around them, and it was a relief not to hear the sound of distant guns. After a minute they turned and moved off in the direction of the canal. But, as they did so, a shadowy figure stepped out from the doorway opposite. There was a brief scuffle before two gunshots rang out, their cracks echoing off the surrounding buildings, and the muzzle flashes momentarily illuminating Lock and Singh’s surprised faces. Then the street was enshrouded in gloom again. A body fell heavily to the floor as the sound of fleeing footsteps slowly diminished.
    ‘Sahib,’ Singh gasped weakly, before a second body slumped to the ground.
    The echoing footsteps faded into the distance, until there was nothing, only silence and darkness …

CHAPTER TWO
    Everything was white.
    Too bright.
    Kingdom Lock squeezed his eyes shut again. His thoughts and feelings were a tumble of confusion. He remembered a blinding flash of light and then nothing, just blackness and cold. He was no longer cold, though, no longer numb, but warm and somehow overwhelmed with a feeling of security, of safety, as if he was back in the womb. A part of his mind expected to feel pain, his body to ache, but there was nothing, only softness. He knew he should try and sit up, but found he hadn’t the strength. So he lay still and listened. Nothing. No, there was … a gentle, rhythmic pulse. It was barely audible, yet he knew it was close. Then he felt his face flicker into a smile. His heart was still beating. He was alive.
    Lock’s nose twitched. A smell, faint, but there all the same, like a memory. Furniture polish and caustic soap. He opened his eyes once more, trying to focus through his bleached surroundings. He turned his head stiffly and a pain exploded inside his skull. He wanted to scream out, he wanted to vomit. But he lay still and waited for the wave of nausea to pass, for the pain inside his head to subside. His breathing slowed.