CHAPTER 57
Nobody said much at breakfast the next day, but we were all packed and ready to go. Pete had spent some time on the phone to the ferry company, and after he had explained the reason for our change in plans they agreed to bring forward the day our tickets would be valid for. It would be an evening departure and an overnight voyage to Harwich before the last leg up through England. As we finished the bread, cheese and sliced meats, Susie reached across to take Pete’s hand.

“Pete, love, who’s going down with you to meet plane?”

“I have to wait for call, date, like”

“That weren’t the question I asked. Who is going down with you?”

Ashley raised his hand. “I will be. Not fit state to drive right now, are you, boss?”

Susie nodded. “Aye, and either me or Mam will be there for you. What I said last night, I meant. Gerald here, and me, we know what it’s like when you think you’re on your own, and that isn’t case with you. Not on your own, that is”

“Yes, I know, but I can’t ask other people to put themselves out, can I?”

Her voice rose. “Fucking stop that right now! Sorry, but had to be said. Friends are not put out, Pete Hall, not true ones. And I do believe my boss might be able to spare me for a while, isn’t that right, Gerald?”

I nodded. “Susie’s right, Pete, so here’s my hand on it. Only question that needs asking is, well, what do you need and when? We’ll be there”

Julian looked across at Charles, who nodded, and the former turned back to Pete. “Absolutely what these good people have said, my friend. Now, do you know where they will be taking him?”

“No idea. They’re working on him out there, but there’ll be a place back home, somewhere”

Charles said “Most probably Selly Oak, in Birmingham. They have a specialist unit there, for traumatic amputation in particular. Rather a lot of such cases from that war”

Pete shuddered, and Julian leant forward, a gentle smile on his face. “My dear boy, neither of us can do anything here, nor do we know what will be needed until your son is restored to us, but rest assured we will do what we can, when we are wanted. And that is without fee”

Susie was grinning now. “See what I meant last night, all of you? This is what people should be, this is how life, society, whatever, this is how it works! Now, we getting going soon? I need ladies’ before we get locked on bus”

We were soon leaving Flensburg, up a slight rise before a couple of stretches of dual carriageway showed where the old Customs posts had stood, and suddenly everything was in red and white as we entered Denmark. There were scattered buildings up both sides of the road, and Susie was suddenly laughing.

“I don’t bloody believe it! They’re all bloody sex shops!”

She was right, but one of the signs said ‘money exchange’ in several languages. I was expecting a stop, but the bus kept going straight past it. Pete turned in his seat to look back at us.

“Yes, I know, but we’ll only be here less than a day, and the money places on the border are always a rip-off. Now, I’m going to concentrate on the map, because we’re on the wrong side of the country for the ferry and neither of us has been this way before”

Translated in my mind: please leave me alone for a while. He was right, though, and it was a complicated little journey he picked through small towns and villages and obviously fertile farmland. It seemed almost as flat as Holland, and it was clear from the trees that there was quite a wind blowing. Ashley drove smoothly as far as a place called something like Scarbeak, on a flat stretch that reached out to the sea, a sandy island offshore. There was what I would have called ‘services’ with a menu that seemed to consist of nothing but fried stuff. Pete had a coffee while Ashley stretched his legs outside.

“Not too far now, folks. We go past a place with a famous church and a Viking museum, but, well, if you want to see it say so. We’ve got time, but. But. I’m not really up to tour guide today. I know this bit a lot better than the first bit, so if you want to stop off say so. I’ll park up and you can have a wander”

We took a quick unspoken poll, and Ernie summed it up. “No, pal. Let’s just get up there, get ready for crossing”

It really wasn’t that far, the coach rocking slightly in the wind blasting across from the North Sea, and there was a sweeping bypass to the West of the town, Ribe, from which we could see the very odd mismatched towers of the church Pete had mentioned. Susie took some video with her camera as we zoomed past, smiled and simply said “We’ll be back some day, love. Back as proper tourists, like”

Esbjerg came, and Pete was muttering instructions to Ashley. He called back to us once again. “We’ve got plenty of time, so I thought we’d get a picnic. Stopping at a supermarket shortly, so get some bits and pieces. There’s a place I want to go and see, and I thought we’d park up there for a bit. Now, Denmark is a bit funny with card payments in food shops, don’t know why, so sort out what you want, price it up, then use the hole in the wall to get enough cash. It’s about ten of theirs to one of ours”

Foreign food shops are always confusing, but this one had some really odd things. They had buckets, huge things, of something called sticky log, and when Susie’s curiosity got the better of her, and she asked a supermarket worker, it left her giggling.

“It’s fried onion, Gerald. Fried, dried and chopped up, for sprinkling on all their food. What their breath must smell like!”

We gathered a selection of fruit, bread rolls, pastries and meat and cheese, much like our breakfast, along with some surprisingly cheap wine and a couple of cases of beer, because I think we were all a bit suspicious of the ship prices. Back on the bus we eased through what was clearly a prosperous and arty city, or area of one, and after what looked like a tank farm or fuel depot the road moved towards the shoreline. The land was utterly flat, trees and shrubs low to the wind, and the skies were huge. Not far into this greener part, Ashley pulled off the road into a small car park, and we dismounted.

Four huge white statues rose before us, each of a stylised man sitting on a block. Naked, faces blank, they stared out to sea. Pete sighed.

“Just going for a short walk. I’ve read about this place, and thought it would be a shame to miss it, but what I really want is, well, no offence intended, but I’d like a little time to sit by myself and try and put some order into things. I’m not off to do anything silly. That water looks a bit cold, for a start! I’ll be back in half an hour or so, OK?”

None of us replied, for there nothing that any of us could usefully offer. He walked through the little barrier leading to the shoreline path and walked off away from the town. We found places at the base of the statues, after a little frenzy of photos from Susie, and shared out our picnic. The wind was cutting, straight of the sea, which had low waves hissing onto sand or mudflats. As we ate, a cyclist with a stupid amount of luggage on his bike wheeled it up to lean against the legs of one of the statues and asked if we could take their photo, He must have been in his forties, and his face looked burnt by wind rather than sun. It really was that strong. In reply to our questions, he grinned.

“Yes, bloody wind. I’m so knackered I drafted an old lady in town”

At our obvious confusion, he explained. “Like racers, when they get behind another one, cuts down wind resistance. This was an old woman on a shopping bike, and I am so bloody tired. It doesn’t stop. Easier by bus, isn’t it?”

It wasn’t the time to mention my last means of transport this way, so we bid him adieu after giving him some mineral water Susie had bought but didn’t fancy, and by then Pete was heading back towards us. Our new friend struggled on into the wind as Pete gave us all a gentle smile.

“Thanks, all of you. I can’t really say it, but, well, the best I can put into words is that I thank God I wasn’t sitting at home. Susie, you’re right. Having you all around me, friends, well, they’re not just for the bad times. If I’d been home, on my own, who knows…? Any cakes left? Ta, son”

He had the camping stove, we had the tea bags, there was enough protection behind a hedge—we had a proper cup of tea. Pity about the milk.

The sun was well to the West as we packed up, the light glittering on the wavelets and showing us the way home. The ferry was comfortable, the food was extortionate, as was the beer, which left us feeling smug at our preparation beforehand, and as far as I can remember, Ashley was the only one of us who got seasick.