Chapter Text
Captain Lorrington 'Gimlet' King, D.S.O., M.C. (Retired), strolled back from the stables in the manner of a man well satisfied.
"Thanks, Freddie," he said as he and his companion approached the house. "She's a nice little mare; almost as good as old Seagull was."
Freddie Ashton, now Lord Rinborne, grinned. "You're lucky to get her; I was in two minds about selling, old chap, but since it happened to be you..."
Gimlet was about to reply when he froze in his tracks so suddenly that Freddie stopped to stare at him. Certainly Gimlet's behaviour was unusual; for his face bore an expression which his old commando unit, the 'Kittens', would have sworn he was incapable of producing- that of sheer, stark terror.
"What..." began Freddie; then, following Gimlet's gaze, he saw what had produced such a startling reaction. Swaying perilously on the ivy which grew up the front of Lorrington Hall was a small figure clad in a print frock and school sandals; watching her from the roof was a boy a little older, who could only be described as Gimlet in miniature. He, perceiving the audience, leaned further over in consternation.
"Hurry up, Pip; they've seen us!" At the same moment, Gimlet found his voice.
"Come down at once!" he yelled, starting forward.
Pip was apparently in no mood to obey this injunction, for she continued her climb at a somewhat faster pace. Then, a few feet from the top, she stopped and looked up.
"Come on!" implored her brother.
"Lorry, I'm stuck!" she wailed. She began an attempt to tug herself free, swaying more perilously than ever.
"Stay still!" Gimlet bellowed in a voice which betrayed his alarm. Seeing that the small girl only seemed to be getting further entangled, he gritted his teeth and took hold of the ivy himself. Pip, suddenly aware of the weight of a second climber behind her, only increased her attempts to get free. "I told you to stay still," grated Gimlet. He was climbing carefully, but wasting no time; even so, he had not reached her by the time a second boy, as like the first as to induce first-time acquaintances into believing they had double vision, slithered over the roof to join the party.
"What's going on?" he inquired.
Lorry glanced at him. "Pip got stuck, and I think we're in the soup."
The new arrival grimaced. "Just like a girl to muck things up," he said disgustedly.
"You take that back, Chas, you horrible pig!" Pip, with a final furious wriggle, broke free and for a moment flailed wildly in mid-air. Gimlet, his face as white as a sheet, made a desperate grab to steady her- and missed. Many times in the past he had voiced the opinion that once one started to suffer from nerves in a tight corner, then the situation was lost; and it seemed that this was the day he would prove it. Pip, oblivious to his wild move, regained her footing and scrambled up to her brothers; but any intention of revenge was forgotten as a stifled cry alerted them to the fact that Gimlet, precariously off-balance, had lost his. Three small faces looked down in disbelieving horror as they saw him fall. They watched Freddie, his expression mirroring theirs, run forward in a futile attempt to catch him; and then, after hearing a sickening thud, they saw Gimlet lying terrifyingly still on the ground, with Freddie kneeling at his side.
"I say," said Chas in a dazed voice, "I think we might have killed Father."