My Brother's Keeper Read Online Free

trench from the last mob that were here, the Royal Welch, but that was just old Fritz saying hello Tommy, welcome to the Salient, don’t take this personally, and our guns gave them as good as we got. Then some bright spark at HQ decided the Battalion should do its bit, and we were ordered to attack. Four companies, a thousand men going over the top with fixed bayonets.’
    To Alfie it sounded absolutely amazing, and just the kind of thing they should be doing. ‘So what happened next? You can’t leave the story there.’
    â€˜It wasn’t a story, Alfie. It was real. We were cut to pieces by Fritz’s machine guns, and then he shelled us into the bargain. We lost a lot of good men that day, and we ended up right back where we’d started. It was all for nothing.’
    Alfie was shocked and wanted to argue with him. How could he possibly say that? The newspapers in Blighty had said the Germans were evil and had tobe beaten, whatever the cost, and that to die in such a war would be a noble sacrifice.
    But Alfie had heard the bitterness in Ernie’s voice, and stayed silent.

Chapter Four

Power and Menace
    The replacement for Captain Wilkins arrived after stand-to the next morning. Alfie could tell immediately that Captain Johnson was quite different to their previous commander. For a start he was tall and well built, but he had a very military air about him too, a look of steeliness as he strode down the trench, checking everything with his sharp, dark eyes.
    Lieutenant Reynolds and Jonesy scurried along behind him, trying to answer his snapped questions, making note of his clipped comments.
    â€˜I’ve arranged for two trench mortars to be sent up from the rear, Reynolds,’ Alfie heard him say in his posh voice as he strode past the dugout, raking Alfieand his mates with a brief glance of assessment. ‘I want one in this section and one in section B. I’ll be obliged if you could make sure they’re in place by evening stand-to.’
    â€˜M-m-mortars, sir?’ Reynolds stammered. ‘But we’ve never used them.’
    â€˜Is that so?’ said Johnson. ‘Well, it’s time we gave Jerry a surprise.’
    He continued along the trench, Lieutenant Reynolds and Jonesy following. Alfie watched him go, and was reminded of a panther he’d seen on a visit to London Zoo. For a moment he couldn’t understand why, and then it came to him. The panther had been full of power and menace, as was Captain Johnson, and both were confined, the animal in a cage, the man in a hole in the ground. Alfie grinned. He had a feeling the new captain wouldn’t stay confined for long.
    â€˜Things are looking up!’ Alfie turned to his mates in the dugout. ‘He’s a cool customer, and no mistake. Did you hear that? A couple of trench mortars!’
    â€˜I heard it, all right,’ muttered Ernie, his face grim. ‘I wish I hadn’t.’
    â€˜Me neither,’ said Cyril. ‘If I recall, Fritz don’t much like surprises.’
    â€˜Huh, that’s putting it mildly.’ George wasn’t smiling for once.
    Alfie had no idea what they were talking about. Why should they worry about Fritz? The Germans were the enemy. A sudden wave of irritation at his mates came over him. They looked ready for another session of grumbling about all the usual stuff, and he just couldn’t face it, especially when exciting things were probably about to happen elsewhere. So he quietly slipped away before they could tell him to get the kettle on, and headed off to follow Captain Johnson.
    The new captain’s impact was visible everywhere along the line. There was plenty of muttering in his wake, but also plenty of activity as a result of his orders. The Company’s four Lewis machine-guns were moved to new positions he’d chosen, and two new rearward-running saps were dug, each with a wide circular area at their furthest point from the line.