Chapter 14

“My Kaitlin,

I am sorry for my late reply, tunnelling kept me busy. My mother told me you were feeling a bit blue lately. Believe me, I feel the same. It’s been too long since I have last seen you and I fear I might not be able to keep my promise. It’s starting to feel as if I may never leave France, the tunnels or even this darned trench. That’s a real possibility, I am afraid. But I’ll get through. I put your picture in my pocket, looking at it sometimes makes me feel like you are here with me, and I am not alone in the dark.

I figured having something from me might give you the same feeling, so today I am trusting you with one of my well-kept secrets. Look under my desk in the office, there will be a key taped to it. Open the top drawer with it, there should be a box. In it is my cologne, feel free to spray our room with it. It’ll be as if I never left. I love you.

Cill.”

–

Cillian

“Cill,

I found your cologne and cried for a good hour. You hid it well. I hope you’re doing alright though; it will be Christmas soon. Already the second one I am not going to be celebrating with you, but I feel positive about the next one. I know, you are currently trapped in the darkness, and you probably feel as if there is no way out but there is. Because you promised me, you bloody promised me Cillian. So, when this war finally ends, and it will end, we will have a life waiting for us beyond the battlefields. We’ll move out, we’ll get married, and we’ll be bloody happy, okay?

But until that day comes, I want you to hold onto our love, and hold onto the hope for a future that is waiting with open arms. I love you, and no matter how far apart we may be, you are never alone.

Kaitlin”

She was right. I was feeling trapped, being a tunneller was tiresome, and I have seen more men die in the last twenty-four hours than in my whole life. A view that I would probably never forget.

But she was also right about the future, our future. This war would end and one day, I’d be back home, back in her arms. I couldn’t give up, I still had a life in Birmingham waiting for me and a business to look out for.

“Alright. I’ll hold on, Kate.” I say getting to the table, grab a paper and get to writing. After sending the letter, I decide to join the other soldiers. It makes me feel at peace to listen to the men’s stories about their wives and lives before France. And for a moment, just a moment, their companionship helps me forget about the war and the cold creeping into the tent.

Until a loud explosion brings me back to reality.