What are men to rocks and mountains

The reunion

Havers had been back at Button house for only half a day now, but it was safe to say that for him it had been one of the longest days he'd ever experienced. And he'd lived through a war so that was certainly saying something. He was currently in Button house's library, hiding from the safety inspector guy, combing through the books he hadn't seen in such a long time, gently running his right hand along the old spines as he walked past them. As much as he loved reading, he never did have much time off from his duties at the house. A shame, for the books that graced the ageing shelves at Button house were some of the most intricate and detailed pieces of art he'd ever seen. The previous owners of the house must have cared about books a great deal. He abruptly stopped his hand as it slid onto the spine of a small, leather-bound book that through its size stood out amongst the rest of the books like a sore thumb. He pried the small book off the shelf with wonder, the old green leather and gold pressed familiar letters greeting him happily, as if 75 years hadn't passed at all. The Wizard Of Oz. the Captain's favourite book...

He stood for a moment, reminiscing. He wondered what had become of the Captain. Of his friend. Had he settled down after the war? Found a nice girl? Moved to the countryside and started a flower shop? He always did seem to have an eye for floral arrangements, even if he couldn't name a single flower. Havers found his eyes welling up a bit as he opened the book, noting that despite it looking fairly well on the outside, that the pages were quite delicate and had yellowed quite a bit. It seemed like last week that Havers had spent his day off in the villages' bookshop, browsing for Christmas presents for the Captain. His eyes had found the green and gold book immediately, and he'd had the sneaking suspicion that it would be perfect for his Captain. He didn't like to show it, but he would always be a kid at heart, like the way Havers would see his eyes light up with excitement as he would receive a new batch of prototype guns to test, or when he would find a particular new song that he would love. Or, of course a good book filled with wonder and excitement. He had been right of course, the Captain had loved it. On slow nights, after all they'd finished all their official duties, they would sit at The Captain's desk and read it, often until it was just a little too late, but neither of them would mind. They just loved the others' company. A lot of memories were bound to this little book, and he couldn't actually believe it was still there. Right there between a very old and battered copy of Little Women and strangely, a thick volume of French medical studies.

A few rooms over he heard Alison and Mike stumble inside from their meeting with the inspector. The way in which they were talking told him the meeting probably went well, and that was his que to make his way over the sitting room, where he found only Alison, sitting on the sofa near the fireplace, muttering to herself. "Alison! Look what I found in the Library!" He called, getting her attention immediately. He instinctively smiled with excitement as he prepared to tell her all about the discovery he'd just made. He moved forward to stand next to her and show her the book, but as he did, he stepped through what felt like an icy cloud that made him shiver to the bone and made his heart clench. Alison was watching him with wide eyes however, so he straightened his back and shook of the shivers, continuing his sentence.

"This used to be my favourite book. I must have read it tens of times over the years." He said as he stroked the spine with a fond smile, remembering his Captain. "I can't believe it's still here after all these years..." He glanced over at Alison again, who wasn't paying him any attention at all, instead she was looking just behind him, a horrified look on her face. Havers could feel his own face start to form a frown, was he not supposed to take any books from the library? He was just about to open his mouth and ask her that exact question, when he heard a voice behind him. A voice that, judging by Alison's reaction, belonged to whatever, or whoever- she'd been staring at. A voice that he knew. A voice that he'd missed so dearly.