Today I took off work so I could go on the tour of Orford Castle I signed up for last week. My boss will be pissed, but what the hell. I'm only here in England for a few years, so I want to see and do all I can in that time. That's the trouble with being in the military overseas. They want you to be like slaves, bustling to and fro, carrying out the mundane business of fetching, carrying and maintaining. But not today, not for me. I'm off to see the castle!
At the tour office I went in and received my boarding pass for the coach we were taking. It was a very large, very comfortable one with giant windows that allowed one to see all facets of the countryside as it went by.
"Here, Mr. Jones, is your boarding pass," said the tour guide in her lilting British accent. "The number on the pass correlates to the number on the side of your coach. Match the numbers, and you will be on the proper coach."
"Thank you," I said as I left the room.
I found the coach and boarded. I sat there in my seat looking out that giant window at the bustling crowds on the streets.
"Hello, is this seat taken?" said a voice. I looked around and there stood a strikingly beautiful, rather buxom brunette.
"N-no," I stammered, "it's perfectly free. Please, take it." I'd had my small leather bag on the seat and I then lifted it out of her way. There was something about this woman that made me stare at her like an idiot for a few moments.
"Is something the matter, Mr., ah . . . ."
"Jones," I spoke up abruptly, "Jones is the name. Just call me Jim, please. Everyone does."
"Well, hi, Jim," she said, offering her hand, "glad to know you. I'm Peggy."
We started talking, and before I knew it, I felt like I'd known her forever. We talked about a little of everything, confiding personal secrets even. The time went so fast we were at the castle before we knew it.
The coach parked and we were all marshalled into the front of the castle. We got the standard briefing about not touching this and that, staying together, etc. Then we went in.
Peggy and I stayed together, talking as we went through the building.
"Could you imagine living in a house this big and drafty?" she asked.
"Frankly," I said, "I think it might have been pretty neat back then, if you were a person of some importance, that is."