Our ANZAC In The Attic

• Chapter 20 •

{ Lucy Hamilton }
"Hi there," a tall woman with long blonde hair and smooth skin greeted me with a beautiful smile. I smiled tiredly back to her.
She focused her eyes on my for a moment, her face lit up for a moment, "are you Lucy Hamilton?" she asked.
"Yes, Sophie Cook?" I hoisted Alistair further up my hip.
"Yes oh goodness it's great to finally meet you?" she rushed forward and took me in a tight embrace. "Harry speaks of your Shearer with great fondness, says he has a smile that could brighten any mans darkest day," Sophie grinned pulling away.
"Shearer says Harry is one of the most talented people he's ever met, says he's very clever and respects people for them," I quoted.
"That's my Harry, he never misses a beat always up to something whether it be mending a dress or a car or taken care of our niece, he'll make a great father someday," she laughed her happy giggle, her happiness radiating to me.
"Oh, I'm sure they both will," I chuckled.
"So who's this little fella?" she tickled Alistair's chest.
"This is baby Alistair, mine and Shearer's son," I kissed his temple. Sophie cooed, captivated by the baby, "I love babies, I think it's because I used to look after the ones in the orphanage, I was an orphan see so I had to make some sort of a family," Sophie explained, her eyes never leaving Ali. "What about you? What are your family like?" she asked, taking the baby from me. I went on to explain how my life had panned out, how I'd gone from this rich family to the Shearer's family and felt richer in a poor environment.
"I was never adopted out because I had polio, no couple wanted to take a little girl with leg braces restricting her from everything she tried to do," Sophie stopped suddenly. "How about I show you some dresses?" she offered quickly. I grinned making her grin too. I liked Sophie, she was just like me.
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{ Elouise Green }
"Sophie and I picked out a dress that is just perfect. Our wedding is going to be spectacular, I wish Shearer would hurry up and come home, I'm ready to get married to the man of my dreams. Anyway, write when I get time, love Luce," I finished. Eli smiled, "do you think they get married?" he asked. I shook my head, "I hope so,"  I handed him Shearer's diary and he opened it to our book mark.
"August 8, 1915, dear Diary, Harry was right, we woke this morning to the usual, artillery fire and screaming but diary of I could put into words what I saw I would, but it wasn't the blood stained sand that broke us that day, it was the message we got at smoko,"
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{ Angus Shearer }
I poked my head above the parapet, without even thinking, I wasn't worried about being shot anymore, which probably wasn't a good thing. I felt my mouth swing open when I saw the chaos in front of me. Bodies piled on top of each other, three high sometimes more. Some spewed sickening moans and others lay still, one turned his head and his shaking hand reached for mine. "Water," he mumbled quietly. The two men on top of him made it almost impossible for me to pull him back, I handed him my canteen, he took it and drank, water tickling down his chin. He handed it back and I grabbed his hand and began to pull, we were behind a cluster of trees and I was praying with everything I had that Johnny Turk couldn't see me. I got him close enough to put my hands under his shoulders and drag him into the trench.
"Thank you, thank you sir," he rasped. Harry noticed the blood and the bullet hole in the stomach and looked up at me, ordering for me to move.
"What's your name mate?" I asked.
"James Sampson, my mates call me Sam," he wheezed.
"Shearer, and this is Harry and Ollie, where gonna get a stretcher to run you down the beach," I explained and Ollie bolted. We started asking him questions like where he was from and what was his career and what was his mother like, just to keep his eyes open. "I- I feel kinda sick," Sam's head rolled to one side, as he coughed.
"Just hang in there cobber," I told him as Ollie came round the corner. We watched carefully as the stretcher bearers carted him away, his eyes sent me a thankful look and a his small smile was captured behind my eyes. We were caught in somewhat of a trance when the sergeant startled us back to reality. "Gentlemen, I am the bearer of sad news," he said. We rose to our feet, our hearts began to race and our faces dropped.
"The light horse men were sent to the Nek yesterday morning and there were four waves of some of Australia's best soldiers to face the machine guns. I know how fond you were of Private Benjamin Trigger and Private Maurice Franklin, I give you three my greatest condolences," his steps echoed in our heads as he walked away.
"Benjamin and Maurice, who would've thought," Harry chuckled, his voice shaking. Ollie sank down the trench wall, in utter disbelief. I roared into my hands that cupped my mouth, "I can't do this anymore, I want to go home I want to go home!" tears streamed down my face. "What'd they do wrong? What'd they do that god decided to kill them?" I questioned in anger. Ollie and Harry shook their heads. I always believed there was a heaven, I always thought that after I died there would be a place for me to go and do what ever it was you do after your dead but see I didn't believe in the bible or God's creation. Faith confused me, because I believed that God was real but I'd been told stories by my elders since I was tiny about the creation of earth and of human kind so I had two sides to a faith I didn't understand. Now, God wasn't even real. If god was such a nice bloke why was this war still going? What sort of bloke keeps another man trapped on a beach a million miles from home? What sort of bloke lets people kill themselves? What sort of bloke sends soldiers out in front of angry MG's? What sort of bloke was God?