LITMIR.BIZ

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of the head as they entered the tent.

      Within fifteen minutes they were all in bed, the lights extinguished. Bishop lay silently under the clean sheets of the single bunk listening to the sounds of the war. His companions in the tent were equally silent and he assumed that they were doing the same as he. One thing was now certain, this tour would no longer be boring, and he could hardly wait for the morning to learn more about this unique assignment. Sleep claimed him quickly, even before his mind could start churning over the events of the day. He slept heavily without dreams, his regular nightmare companions thankfully absent.

      CHAPTER TWO

      Leanne Bishop finished putting back on the clothes she had removed in haste a few minutes before. She looked at herself in the small mirror on the wall, pouting her full lips as she replenished her lipstick and patted her hair into place. She knew she was very pretty, perhaps even beautiful, but it had never gone to her head. Her body was small but well proportioned and attractive. She had seen the way men, and women, looked at her and she felt confident about her appearance. She checked her make-up again, making sure that powder still covered the splash of freckles across her nose and cheeks. The deep green eyes stared back at her from the mirror with a hint of surprise, as if she were looking at herself for the first time.

      There were small dark circles under her eyes, and the fatigue and nausea she had been feeling over the last two weeks showed in her face. She was rarely ill and avoided doctors as a matter of principle, but she had been unable to deny the strange things that were happening in her body and, at last, the need to seek help had surpassed her fear of a medical examination. She came from behind the screen and sat opposite the small dark man at the desk. He smiled at her, his perfect white teeth a stark contrast to the darkness of his skin. ‘Well?’, she asked quietly.

      ‘Nothing sinister, Leanne. However, you are pregnant’, Doctor Prakash Sharman said in his soothing, lilting voice. She was never sure if he was an Indian or a Pakistani, ‘about six weeks along in fact’. He studied her face for a moment to gauge her reaction. There was none, so he turned his attention to the calendar on his desk. ‘That would make the baby due at the end of November.’ He smiled at her. ‘I hope this is good news to share with your man tonight.’ He studied the girl’s face again, there was a rather painful little smile about her lips this time which froze into a grimace at his last comment. ‘My husband is away’, she said, ‘he’s in the army, fighting I think they call it, in Vietnam. He left pretty well straight after our honeymoon’. She became thoughtful, then smiled again when she saw the look of concern in the doctor’s eyes. ‘Looks like he gave me quite a present on the honeymoon, just like the 1950s or something, don’t you think?’

      ‘Unusual in this day and age because of the Pill but not that uncommon’, the doctor agreed. ‘Some brides are already pregnant but a lot of others are usually taking some precautions’. He raised his eyebrows at her and she blushed.

      ‘Neither for me, I’m afraid’, she said firmly, ‘getting pregnant just never occurred to me at all. My sister is the worldly wise one in the family’. She looked at him steadily. ‘What happens from here?’ She asked, remembering the misery of the last two weeks and dreading a continuation of the tiredness and nausea. He frowned, seemingly a little confused by the question. She laughed at his creased brows. ‘I’m sorry’, she said, ‘what I mean is, well, will I feel sicker than I have already been? Can I keep working? That sort of thing.’

      ‘Ah’, he said, understanding her at last. ‘Well, the nausea and tiredness should cease in another six weeks but can be helped by eating small portions of food regularly. You will probably see some increases in your sensitivities to certain things, both physical and emotional. You may develop a heightened sense of smell and taste, for example, not always in a pleasant way. Little things that never bothered you before may become more of an issue.’ He looked at her face carefully. ‘Your husband being away at this time may cause you some distress. Are you alone or with relatives?’

      ‘I’m living with my parents’, she said, gathering up her handbag. ‘Not much of a change really. I have lived with them all of my life, except for the month when Gary and I had a flat. Then he got promoted to sergeant and was shipped back to Vietnam.’ She smiled ruefully, ‘It seems as if I never met him sometimes.’

      ‘You met him right enough’, the doctor laughed, ‘at least once’. She smiled again and made for the door. ‘Better come and see me every month to begin with’, he advised as they walked along the corridor, ‘or sooner if you feel you need to. We’ll increase the visits towards the end’.

      ‘And my work?’ She paused near the door. ‘Keep at it’, he said airily, ‘unless you are a bricklayer or something like that. Just keep working until you begin to feel it’s too much, it will keep your mind off what’s happening in your tummy’.

      She walked from the building with her heart and mind racing. Pregnant for God’s sake! Who would have thought such a thing? Of course she suspected something was up, the tiredness and morning sickness had filled her with dread, and her period was late, but it often was so she had not read too much into that. She went quickly to the car park and climbed into her father’s new Holden Kingswood. She loved the new smell of the car’s upholstery, and she enjoyed the tight responsiveness of the brand new vehicle as she guided it along the busy street.

      Somehow she did not even feel really married, let alone pregnant. She had always been a shy sort of person, and totally unmoved by the various men she had met since leaving high school. Unlike her sister, Mary, Leanne had not had dozens of boyfriends, or numerous sexual encounters. Mary related to the world, and to men in particular, in a very physical way. Leanne thought of her rather innocent past as she managed the car through the traffic, wondering at the differences between her and her younger sister, feeling a sudden stab of regret as she contemplated what she might have missed. Her sister was currently on a one-year working holiday in Europe, and Leanne sometimes envied her for that as well. But the regrets quickly left her, she liked herself for what she was, and that seemed to her to be the most important thing.

      Her parents had a holiday house on the Queensland Sunshine Coast, a place where her family had spent every holiday she could remember in her life. It was almost as if they were not really holidays at all in the end, just a change of address a few times a year. Her parents, however, were devoted to the place and they still went there for a few days whenever they could escape. That suited Mary, she could entertain her various boyfriends in the house then. Usually with very noisy sexual antics while Leanne lay alone in her own bed, or watched television, trying to ignore the action that took place around her. Leanne did not sit in judgment of her sister at all; she simply did not share her raw animal desires.

      She preferred to relate to the world with her mind and emotions, and the young men she had met left her cold. She seemed to prefer older men, particularly her boss. Perhaps it took males longer to develop a sense of purpose and meaning in their lives, and it was only after they showed some maturity that they began to interest her. Unfortunately most of the men who interested her were already spoken for, or regarded her as a mere child, so she had remained an unattached but largely contented virgin.

      That was until she met Gary Bishop. Mary had convinced her to attend one of the many parties she frequented at the Brisbane Army Base. ‘Come on, Leanne’, she had begged, ‘some of these army types are real dolls. They are all in great physical shape, and they know how to have a good time. You don’t have to sleep with anybody, for Christ’s sake, just come and let your hair down for a change. You’ll end up a bloody nun if you’re not careful’. She had relented in the end, just to please Mary.

      The party had been pretty much as she expected. Lots of beer, loud music and shallow, meaningless conversation. She had noticed Gary Bishop sitting on the sidelines like herself, his face a mask of boredom as the party took place around him. He had felt some intent in her penetrating gaze and looked up. Their eyes had locked for perhaps a minute too long. A spark was ignited on both sides. He felt drawn to her, he moved over to introduce himself. They got on well from the beginning and before she knew it she was going steady

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