War and Peace

By

Jacquimac

Part Five

Winter was coming to an end and the thaw was starting and still the settlement was inaccessable but we knew it wouldn`t be long till that was no longer the case.

Now we were getting things ready for planting, we were going to have a problem as a couple of the horses needed shoeing and there was no blacksmith available.

The livestock for the main part was fit and healthy and some of ewes had already given birth, there were no natural predators so the lambs would flourish in safety.

It was like living a hundred years ago no tractors or cars the only automotive I had seen since we arrived was military vehicles.

Ploughing was done by horse, as most other agricultural task, fortunately a couple of women knew how to plough a field so they were given the job for when the ground was dry enough.

It was time to start getting organised for the spring planting and as soon as gardens were dry enough the vegetable patches were dug over and manure added. Seed was sorted as was what was left of the potatoes.

As soon a snow was gone we started to see military patrols passing the settlement, not once did a patrol enter the settlement and life just continued,the children were now allowed outside to play seeing as the temperature had risen enough for them to do so.

During the winter I had been doing the various crafts that women do and had become quite good at them, and was now so used to being treated as woman I had stopped worrying about being caught and didn`t even think about the war. Life might be hard but it was peaceful and I found the clothing comfortable and more suited for daily life around the settlement.

The baby Joanne had stopped breast feeding and was now bottle fed, and she was handed me to look after, when the soldiers had taken the names of everyone, the elders had registered Adrian and Joanne as my children, oh joy.

I still the daily sick to deal with but didn`t mind that after all they were hiding me and I was a Army Nurse anyway, as luck had it I didn`t have to make second trek to the Admin Centre during the winter.

The snow finally disappeared and eventually the rivers and streams returned to they`re natural levels, the ground was now dry enough to dig or plough live stock was returned to the pastures and the barns and sheds were in the process of being cleaned out.

I dug over our garden and manured it and we ready for planting, Mabel the other woman who lived in the house with her children had done the same with the front flower garden, this year very few if any flowers would be planted. with nothing coming to the country we were going to make sure that there was plenty of food for next winter.

I had a feeling the war wasn`t going to go away anytime soon so all the settlements would have to be self reliant.

Ethel the head woman in our settlement told me that there would usually be a meeting of all the surrounding settlement leaders, and asked if there was anyway we could ensure that the meeting still took place.

That meant another trek to the Admin Centre but this time it would only take an hour or two to get there. The next day the pair of went and asked to see the Commandant, we were taken to hut and given a hot drink while we waited for an answer.

A short time later we led to what appeared to be the main building and shown into an unoccupied room where a few minutes later we met Colonel Diseart.

The Colonel looked to me to be a very cruel man, something about him bothered me, but we had our meeting with him and told him we would like the annual settlement meeting to go ahead as usual.

He looked at us with some suspicion until we told him it was the only way that the settlements could keep in contact with each other and that since the menfolk were all in captivity we would like to ensure there were no problems in any of the settlements.

He informed us that he would have to clear it with the Commanding Generals office and would let us know as soon as possible, we thanked him and left to return home/

Home ? did I say that? well I suppose it is the best description as ot would be my home for the forseeable future.

Twice now I been up close and talked to enemy troops and officers and hadn`t been twigged, was lady luck still helping me or was I now so feminine that people took me as who I appeared to be?

I had been hoping to get away and rejoin our forces once the planting was done, but at the Admin Centre I had heard of huge numbers of reinforcements along the front line and borders so I knew I would be stuck here for a while longer.

Another visit would be required to the Admin Centre after the annual meeting if it was allowed to go ahead, if the war was going to continue medical aid, food and clothing were going to a priority.

A week later we were informed that the meeting would go ahead and the Admin Centre would be the venue. A vehicle would be sent to each settlement and pickup two delegates from each in one weeks time.