 
The Rosie Plan

By Dean Withey

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2016 Dean Withey

### Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or

given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com or your favourite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

The Rosie Plan

To Caroline Vevers for all her help and patience in the production of this book.

Shelley Little for her experience and advice as a children's reader and for her patience in editing.

Katie Furness for providing the basis of this story all those years ago.

1

The Secret Building

"What are you looking at now Lottie? I don't know; you are always looking out of the window!"

Lottie's gaze was aimed at a large square of tarmac in the next field.

"Rosie, why don't you mind your own business?" said Lottie to her twin sister.

"No I won't. Tell me what fascinates you out of the window".

"Oh dear, I don't know why I have you as a sister, but if you must know, just listen".

"Erm..., just listen?" replied Rosie. "How can I listen to something you are looking at? You're mad, Lottie".

"Shh, just listen Rosie!" and at that very moment Lottie gave a little chuckle as an almighty bang sounded through the house and the lights flickered. Rosie shot off her bed onto Lottie's, which was next to the window, to watch the fuss outside. Lottie had already been watching because she knew what was about to happen.

"What on earth was that?" asked Rosie.

"Well, so far this week this is the third time it's happened, but you were out on the far side of the camp the other two times. It's that new helicopter pilot called Angel". Lottie giggled as she explained how Flight Lieutenant Angelica hadn't quite got the last few feet right when landing her helicopter and although she was again unhurt from the experience, the helicopter didn't do so well and she had broken two within four days.

Lottie and Rosie had to stay in all day as they had been naughty the night before. Well, it was really Rosie who had been naughty but, as always, Lottie had acted the loyal sister and followed her to the far side of the camp with her old leather satchel around her neck. Rosie could never understand why she dragged the satchel everywhere with her, but she always seemed to have something useful in it, such as the torch they had used the night before to try to see through the windows of the large secret building across the base. Unfortunately they had been caught by the guard who returned them to their home. They lived there with Ava, as she was called, who had looked after them since they were born as their mom had sadly died soon after.

"Rosie, you know you are nuisance! I wanted to go out and see my friends today and your stupid adventure has kept us in".

"It's not just any old adventure, Lottie. It's the biggest adventure ever".

"So what is so interesting about the old guarded building that we have been kept in for?"

"Well if you really want to know, I will tell you the full story just as I was told".

"By who?" asked Lottie "Your friend Gracie?"

"No, by one of the guards at the building"

"Hmmm" said Lottie, showing some interest in what might be worth knowing. "Okay, I'm listening, go on".

"Well as you know, we live on a special army base where they have people from the navy and air force as well, and they are all doing special jobs which nobody else does. I think that's how the guard explained it. Anyway, this base was started by three soldiers who hid in a house on a special mission. Eventually they had got so used to living in the house that they stayed there. The soldiers had a leader called Colonel Josh and he was into history and things and they liked the old house so much they wanted to protect it. So Lottie, can you guess where the house is supposed to be?"

"How do I know Rosie? You're the one telling the story." At that moment Lottie could see the excitement in Rosie's eyes.

"It's in the building!!"

"What do you mean?"

"The old house is covered by that huge metal building over the other side of the base, and nobody is allowed to go in there. Apparently there are the uniforms and photos and allsorts from their time in the house, inside the building. Isn't that brilliant Lottie?" Rosie was so excited by the story that she nearly fell off the edge of the bed.

"If you are not telling lies it does sound a bit of a mystery" said Lottie "But how is it a big adventure?"

"Well it isn't yet, but it will be".

"Oh no, no!" protested Lottie, as she knew already what her sister was thinking. "You are not going inside there!".

"You are such a bore Lottie. You don't have to come if you don't want to. Anyway, we're not ready yet".

"Who is we?" asked Lottie, but realised straight away that Gracie would have something to do with it.

"Well, I fully intend to find out why that building is secret and all about the three who started it" said Rosie.

"Who were they then?"

"Apparently one was a Major called Rupert, then there was the Colonel who I have already said about, and the other was a Sergeant Major called Charlie. They formed the Green Collar Regiment, which are the people on the base now".

"Oh, is that why all the people marching around have that funny looking collar around their necks?" asked Lottie.

"I think so, although I can't be sure" said Rosie "so I am on a mission to find out".

2

Talking with Ava

"Ava, why is Rosie so naughty?" asked Lottie.

"Oh she's not really naughty; she is just a bit ... erm ... well... adventurous." Lottie was now laid down next to the fire as it was cold this winter in Kreig, a small town on the side of the mountains near the base in Polancia. The fire crackled and Lottie felt warm but couldn't help worrying about Rosie who once again was out doing who knows what?

"I bet she is out with Gracie again".

"Who is?" asked Ava.

"Rosie".

"Oh yes. Well you don't have to worry so much. She will be fine".

"I'm not so sure, you haven't met Gracie yet, but you will as Rosie has invited her around for tea. She is not bad, Gracie that is, in fact she makes me laugh as she is funny and always looks a bit scruffy with her short red hair". Lottie giggled and related a story of how Gracie had hidden all of her mom's washing one day and then forgot where she had put it and was kept in her room for being naughty.

"Oh my!" said Ava. "And she is coming around for tea. I will have to watch my washing". As she smiled she could see Lottie deep in thought again.

"What are you thinking about now?"

"My mom."

"Ah yes, she was marvellous".

"Tell me all about her Ava".

"Okay. You sit down. I'll get you a drink of hot chocolate and then I will tell you what I know".

After a few minutes she came back from the kitchen with a drink in one hand and her blue duster in the other. Lottie couldn't help but laugh.

"What's so amusing?" said Ava.

"Oh, it's your duster. It makes you look funny".

"I'll give you funny" smiled Ava as she tickled Lottie's stomach with the long-handled duster. "I will have you know that these dusters can reach anywhere and that includes your tummy".

"Why is it blue?" asked Lottie "It's a funny colour for a duster"

"Oh, there are other colours but the blue ones are the best and are the hardest ones to find. You don't see many of them because they are so expensive".

Ava put away the duster and Lottie sat mesmerized as Ava explained that Lottie's mom had been one of the special soldiers and had been on a mission in the jungle for quite a while. It is believed she was bitten by a fly carrying a disease which made her very ill. After Rosie and Lottie were born the disease was able to come back. Sadly it was just too much for her weakened body and soon after she died peacefully in her sleep. She was buried in the small cemetery on the base where Lottie often went to talk to her.

"Ava, what do you know about the secret building and the house?" asked Lottie.

"Well I can't tell you too much, but I do know there is a house which once stood very proudly in the sunlight and is now hidden inside the big building".

"Yes, Rosie has explained how they built over it to protect it, but why?"

"Well", said Ava "it is said that the Golden Crest is in the house.''

Lottie nearly choked on her hot chocolate. "Does Rosie know this? And what exactly is the Golden Crest? Is it something to do with somebody important?"

"No she doesn't know about it. I know all about her adventure to try and get into the secret building, so it's probably better we don't tell her. The Golden Crest is engraved with a wolf's head and it belongs to the King of Polancia".

"Why is it in the house though?" asked Lottie, who herself was now being dragged into the excitement of the big secret building. "Is it something to do with the three soldiers who lived there, the Major the Colonel and the Sergeant Major?"

"Yes, that's exactly right. Well worked out. Now where was I?" said Ava, who easily forgot where she was during a good story. "Oh yes, the three of them and the King who they were protecting had battled with invaders from another country and they were almost completely beaten when the King, who was hurt in the fighting and was dying, ordered them to take his family Crest and hide it because while the Crest existed then so would Polancia. So the three promised the King they would protect the Crest with their lives and then they escaped back to the mountain where they sheltered in a house with a wall around it".

"Is that the house, Ava, the house in the big guarded building?"

"Yes it is. Now let me think" said Ava, who yet again had lost track of the story. "Oh yes, they managed to get back to the house, but they were followed by enemy soldiers and there was a big battle. Our three heroes managed to fight to the end and they beat all of the invaders, who outnumbered them, but they were so badly hurt that they all died within a few days. It is believed that the Colonel hid the Crest of the King just before he died."

"Why has nobody found it?"

"Well, the Colonel wrote a letter ordering after he died that the house be locked up and absolutely nobody allowed in. His body and the letter were eventually found sometime later by another officer. In honour of their bravery a metal building was put up over the house to protect it and eventually all around the house grew a full army base. Unfortunately, because the house is not allowed to be seen by anyone, it has become old looking, it is falling apart, and a bit eerie and dark inside."

Lottie, being as clever as she was, immediately asked "How do you know it's like that?"

"Oh .... erm .... that's what I was told."

"You've been in there, haven't you Ava! You have, I can see the smile on your face."

"No I haven't Lottie, but your mom has and you must keep that a secret, especially from Rosie. Please don't ever repeat it to anyone."

When this had sunk in, and Lottie's mouth had closed from the surprise, she realised how special this was and said "I won't, I promise."

"Your mom went in there at some point" said Ava.

"I bet she knew where the crest was" said Lottie.

"No, she didn't find it, or at least I don't think she did, she never said anything about it."

"But she wouldn't, would she? It was a secret remember."

"Yes, you are right of course."

"Oh dear, if Rosie ever hears any of this she will be trying to get in the secret building every day." said Lottie. "I must find a way to make her forget about it, but that will be difficult as she can be such a pain once she gets an idea in her head."

"I know" said Ava "But she is a lovely pain really, isn't she?"

"Yes, I love her very much, and she is my sister after all."

Lottie sat staring out of the window as the wind whistled through the cracks in the door. There were large snowflakes in the air now and that usually meant that the base would be deep in snow within a couple of days. Her mind raced everywhere thinking about her mom, and where Rosie was at the moment and if she was safe. Although they looked alike, both fairly short with smooth brown hair and big brown eyes they were quite different in personality. Lottie was very grown up and sensible for her age whereas Rosie was the daredevil, afraid of nothing, but soon that wouldn't make any difference because both of them would officially be cadet officers in the regiment. They both wanted to join the soldiers on the base so had applied the year before on their fifteenth birthday, and the time had now come when they would leave Ava's home for a while to start their training. In fact there were several new recruits and one of them was Gracie.

"Oh dear" thought Lottie "With Rosie and Gracie in the same training class there was bound to be trouble for the rest of them."

"Is your hot chocolate okay?" asked Ava.

"Yummy, but it's all gone" said Lottie, holding up her cup.

"Let me make you another then.''

"Oooh, thank you" said Lottie. She then sat on the deep window ledge with her satchel on her lap. Reaching in, she pulled out the training hand book which the soldiers all used on the base.

"Why don't you wait until you start training?" asked Ava. "You will get time to read through that over and over again."

Lottie had suspected for some time that Ava had also been a soldier. She was old but in good shape for someone who was just a nanny, although her dark hair was flecked with grey. Lottie was about to ask her when she saw Flight Lieutenant Angel crossing the parade ground towards the Commanding Officer's building. At the same time two figures far beyond her came racing out of the woods acting like fools. Lottie shook her head and said "Stand by, she is on her way back in!"

Ava knew straight away she was talking about Rosie, no doubt accompanied by the ever excitable Gracie. As Rosie headed towards the gate, Gracie tore off towards her own home, jumping and running round in circles on her long gangly legs, stopping every now and then to inspect the patterns her antics had made in the now fast falling snow. Then Rosie was outside the window pulling silly faces at Lottie and laughing her head off. Lottie couldn't help but giggle at her sister through the window and nearly spilt her chocolate doing so. The door flew open and all the peace in the house was gone as the whirlwind named Rosie came flying in.

"Calm down, calm down Rosie" Ava said in a slightly higher voice than normal. She rarely got angry with them but you knew all about it if she did. She was very calm, even when she sent Rosie to her room for being out longer than she should have been. Rosie was about to moan at her, but saw the look on Ava's face and knew it was a waste of time arguing as she wouldn't win.

"Okay I'm going" and off she went, sulking, but even she knew that two hours late home was a bit much.

3

Angel and the C.O

Flight Lieutenant Angel walked across the parade ground where there were usually lots of soldiers marching and Sergeant Butch ordering them around like sheep. Today it was empty, the snow was now falling heavily, and she noticed as she approached the office two bodies that came out of the woods, clearly having lots of fun as they did so. At that time Angel had not met Rosie and Gracie, but in the future she would get to know them very well.

As she approached the big wooden door in the middle of the long, white, single-storey building which was where the offices of the base were, she smoothed down her ginger hair, straightened the front of her uniform and made sure she looked smart. Angel was very elegant with long legs and was always well presented. She guessed why she had been called to the Commanding Officer, who was in charge of the base, and hoped she wouldn't be in too much trouble. She knocked on the door and the C.O.'s assistant, who was quite small and cunning looking, opened the door and Angel recognised her as her friend Sasha.

"Ahh" said Sasha "Please come in, you're expected" and she gave a friendly wink at Angel which the C.O. couldn't see.

Angel sat down in front of the desk as she was told to do, again by Sasha. There was a long silence whilst the C.O. read through some papers which Angel realised was her record of the time she had been in the Air Force before joining the Green Collar Regiment. Eventually the C.O. put the papers down and looked up.

"Do you know how much it costs to replace a helicopter Flight Lieutenant Angel?" he said, and before she could reply he carried on. "A lot of money, I will tell you, more money than you could ever earn if you stayed in the air force for the rest of your life". Angel thought it best to keep quiet and not annoy him as he already seemed a bit angry with her. She sat and thought how she had misjudged the distance to the ground when landing and hit it harder that she should.

"Are you listening Lieutenant, haven't you anything to say?"

"Well sir I can understand what you are saying and I can only apologise and say that it won't happen again."

"Too right it won't happen again, and I know that because I have arranged for one of the Army's top helicopter pilots to retrain you. Now look Angel, this base always needs at least two helicopter pilots, and I believe you will be able to land safely with a bit more effort." He expected Angel to get a bit upset when he had mentioned retraining her, but she didn't show any signs of this, which showed how sensible she was. He didn't expect to see that in an officer so young.

"I see you have managed to lift soldiers out from a battle where you were being fired at, so you can land successfully can't you".

"Well sir, I have to be truthful and point out that I hovered the helicopter above the ground and didn't actually touch down in the jungle as it was too unsafe, so I didn't have to land."

"Oh dear" said the C.O. Have you ever landed the thing?"

"Yes sir, I did it once".

"Once!" he replied with astonishment on his face. "Okay" he said after recovering from the shock. "I believe in you Angel, but I cannot have you breaking helicopters. You are grounded and not allowed to fly solo again until the army tells me you can land properly. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir, and again I apologise."

"Very well, you may leave. Could you ask Corporal Sasha to come in on your way out"?

"Yes sir."

After a very short chat with Angel, Sasha agreed to meet her that night in the officers' bar for their favourite drink of lemonade and lime. Angel then left and Sasha went into the Colonel's office as requested.

"Yes Colonel?".

"Ah! Come in Sasha, shut the door and sit down".

"Will do, Sir". Sasha closed the door then settled down in the comfy leather chair in front of the desk.

"I don't know, Sasha." said the C.O. "She confuses me".

"Who does, Sir?"

"Angel. Flight Lieutenant Angelica."

"Oh... I see Sir".

The Commanding Officer realised they were friends, even though Sasha didn't like to talk much about it.

"Well Sasha" said the Commanding Officer "the point is I won't be here forever, and somebody has to take over this base. I really believe that Angel has the ability to do it, although she's a bit young, but this helicopter business... oh...it drives me mad. It's just unfortunate that she's crashing all the time, as I'd like to put her name forward to become Commanding Officer after me. What do you think, Sasha?"

"Ah well sir... mmm... well... I'm only a Corporal."

"Yes, yes, I know" said the C.O. "But let's just talk off the record, shall we?"

"Well Sir... mmm... I know Angel quite well and she is very sensible, very grown up for her age and I think she could be the C.O. There is a reason why she keeps crashing the helicopter. Once when she was out flying in the jungle a soldier didn't quite make it back to the helicopter in time. So she landed and they were fired at. By the time she could take off again two other soldiers in the back and the one running to get to the helicopter were killed. I think that's why she has a problem with landing, although I'm not quite sure as she doesn't talk much about it."

"Oh, I see" said the Commanding Officer. "Well hopefully we can put that right. I've got one of the Army pilots coming to instruct her and teach her how to land. I'm sure she probably doesn't like it, being a qualified pilot already, but it's something I have to do. I can't have her crashing my helicopters, Sasha. They're too expensive."

"Yes I agree, Sir. I fully understand of course. Would you like me to get your mail and a coffee, Sir?"

"I'll have tea, thank you Sasha. You can shut the door on your way out, if you would".

Sasha left the office to make the tea, leaving the Commanding officer scratching his head and wondering what to do with Angel. There was really nobody else on the base capable of taking over and should anything happen to him Angel would automatically be the next C.O anyway, and he did have faith in her. "We'll wait and see" he thought. "See what the army pilots can do with her". He sat back in his chair and decided to watch cricket on the television, which was hidden in the corner of his office, while he waited for his tea.

4

Making Notes

It was late in the afternoon, and the snow was starting to fall yet again. The base was looking very white and snowy. Rosie was hanging around the living room, looking a bit secretive, when Ava decided to ask her what she was up to.

"Oh, um... nothing" said Rosie. Ava was even more suspicious.

"Come on, Rosie, what is it?"

"Erm..nothing. I'm just waiting for my friend Gracie".

"Aah, this would be the Gracie that you've invited round for tea, I understand".

"Yes, but she can't stay for tea today. She's going to come and call for me and we're going to go out in a bit. Just hang around, you know. As you do."

"Yes, I understand. As you do. Okay Rosie" said Ava, keeping an eye on her and wondering what she was going to get up to next.

She noticed that Rosie had a notebook and a pencil, and she suddenly sat down at the table, trying to keep secret and hide from Ava what she was doing. She started writing on the pad. Ava could probably guess what she was up to, something to do with the secret building, no doubt. And, as always, Ava was quite right. Rosie was busy planning her next mission to get inside the building over the old, secret house. She busily scribbled on the paper how she was going to get in and how she was going to go about it. When she had done this, planned it all very carefully, she then decided she was going to tell everything to Gracie and that Gracie was going to go with her. It would probably be better, she decided if Lottie stayed at home as she was not really ready for a big adventure like this. "She's too sensible anyway" thought Rosie.

So Rosie sat at the table with the television on and Ava made chocolate for her just as she had done for Lottie. She did love her chocolate.

"Thank you. I love it when you make me chocolate. You're very good to us, Ava. You are lovely".

"I know I am" said Ava, laughing.

"I am sorry. I don't mean to cause you problems"

Ava smiled back again and said "You don't cause me problems. You just make me get older a bit quicker, that's all, but that's fine. You're just you."

"Ah, thank you" said Rosie as she drank her chocolate.

As soon as Ava had disappeared back towards the kitchen, she opened the book again and started writing more things down. "This is The Plan" she thought. "The Plan to get me into the building". She couldn't wait for Gracie to arrive so that they could go out to their secret place and talk about The Plan. At that moment there was a knock on the door and Rosie was just about to get up to answer it when Lottie came in.

"Oh", said Rosie. "I thought you were somebody else".

"I'm sorry, I do live here you know. I am your sister and it's my home too. I'm allowed to come in".

"Yeah, but you knocked on the door" said Rosie "Just like someone I'm waiting for".

"Mmm..." Lottie said. "That wouldn't be Gracie by any chance, would it?"

"Erm... yes it would be".

"Well I just saw her on the other side of the Parade ground by the trees. She's up to something as usual but I don't know what. You do realise Rosie that soon we're going to be officer cadets and we have to behave ourselves"

"I know we'll have to behave ourselves, and I'm looking forward to joining".

"Yes, Rosie, but it's not one big playground, one big game. You're joining the army, and this is a very special part of the army on this base, with a lot of history."

"You would know that, wouldn't you? Anyway where have you been? Off to your special classes?"

"Yes, I've been for extra lessons. Just because I want to learn more stuff about the base so I'm ready for when I become an officer one day. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that."

"Well that's fine for you, but I'd rather go out with Gracie and enjoy myself before we join up. And even then we're probably going to have a good time."

"Yes" said Lottie "That's what I'm worried about. Both of you in the army under one roof with your idea of fun! Oh dear!"

"There's nothing wrong with Gracie."

"Yes, I know" said Lottie "but she does have a habit of getting into trouble. Remember the story about the clothes and her mother?" As Lottie said it, she started to smile, and Rosie giggled back and said "See, Gracie's Okay. You like her."

"Of course I do" said Lottie.

Lottie disappeared up the stairs to get out of her school uniform. Rosie sat for a moment then she opened her book again and scribbled a few more lines of the big Plan.

Eventually, it was about half an hour before there was a gentle tap on the door, which was very uncharacteristic for Gracie because normally she knocked things over and caused all kinds of fuss. However, she was somewhat distracted by her unsuccessful attempts to catch the large snowflakes falling from the sky, so the knock on the door was more by accident than intention.

Rosie quickly got up from the table to answer the door, making sure she took the notebook with her to prevent Ava or Lottie from seeing what she had written.

"Where have you been, Gracie? You're late".

"Oh, am I? Sorry about that" said Gracie, in her wispy voice. "Are you ready?"

"Yes" said Rosie. "Okay Ava" she called as she put her coat on "I'll see you later".

"Rosie, Rosie!" called Ava

Rosie quickly stuck her head back round the door "Yes Ava"?

"Don't forget we won't be coming in too late today, will we? "

"No of course not! We have just got to check something out first, then I'll be back." At that point off went Rosie and Gracie, into the snow towards their secret little hidey-hole on the other side of the base where they often did their talking and planning.

5

The Plan

Lottie felt very tired this day, probably because she had been up all night reading the army manual under her bedclothes so Ava couldn't see. She half slid & half walked across the parade ground towards home, where normally Rosie would be trying to pull her over in the snow. However, Rosie was still at school as the teacher had kept her back. The classroom was on the side of the base, and the back of the secret building could just be seen from one of the windows which Rosie had already made sure she sat near.

Unfortunately for her she didn't realise the teacher had been watching her staring out of the window for most of the lesson, and even after being told twice to concentrate, she could not help her mind racing over the thought of what could be inside that building. This had got her a detention and meant she would be home later than Lottie.

Lottie wound her way through the snow to her gate, which always seemed difficult to open when going into the garden. On reaching the door, she almost fell inside, hoping that Ava would have a cup of hot chocolate ready. On entering the house she was disappointed to find that Ava was not there and the house was freezing. She threw her bags onto the sofa, and then spotted a note on the little table.

"Lottie and Rosie" read the note "I have gone out and will be back a little bit later. Put the fire on and get yourselves a drink, and we'll have our dinner later."

"Oh," thought Lottie "I really wanted a cup of chocolate, but I'm sure Ava will be back soon".

Lottie slowly crept up the stairs and she felt like falling asleep as she walked. She always seemed to feel tired in the middle of the week and the winter didn't help either.

Although the snow looked pretty, it was difficult to get around. Rosie and Lottie shared a room because although the house was a small cottage and very homely, it had two bedrooms. She was just about to flop on her bed when she noticed the corner of a book sticking out from under Rosie's mattress. She knew straight away this was her Big Plan book. She was about to pull it out when she thought "Should I, or should I leave it?"

But she had already pulled the book out before the thought had gone through her head. Then she thought "Why not? I might as well read it now."

She carefully opened the pages and started to read the writing and drawings which Rosie had made. The more she read, the more her eyes widened. "Oh dear!" Lottie thought. "My sister is getting madder all the time. I do wish she'd stop trying to get in to look at something which is probably a rotting old house of no interest."

She moved several pages further on and nearly dropped the book on the floor when she realised the Plan was to get on top of the roof of the big metal building to somehow find a way in. She couldn't read any more and quickly put the book back under the mattress. She then lay back on the bed, thinking about Rosie's plan.

"Lottie! Lottie! Wake up" The warm friendly face of Ava became clear as she wiped the sleep from her eyes. "Oh hello. I fell asleep. What time is it?"

"Six thirty Lottie".

"Oh I've been asleep a couple of hours. Sorry".

"No problem" said Ava "but you could have put the heating on first. The house was freezing when I got in".

"Sorry" said Lottie "Anyway, where have you been?"

"Nothing to worry about. I just had to see the doctor".

"And where's that mad sister of mine?"

"Oh, she's downstairs" replied Ava "and she's not very happy with you for some reason".

Like a bolt of lightning, Lottie sat up and looked for the corner of the book under the mattress, but it wasn't there. "Oh dear" thought Lottie "She knows I looked at her book which nobody was ever allowed to read". Lottie decided to creep downstairs very carefully behind Ava. Normally she wouldn't be bothered by anything Rosie said, but she knew the book was liable to cause an argument, which she didn't want.

When they reached the living room, which had the kitchen attached, Lottie tried to divert attention by asking for a cup of chocolate. At that point, Rosie very casually walked past and didn't look bothered, but this was a trick, because as Ava turned to the kitchen to make the chocolate, Lottie felt a thud on the back of her head and realised it was from the book beneath the bed. Rosie muttered under her breath "You must think I'm stupid. The book has a slightly different colour on one side and it's not the side I left facing upwards, so admit it, you've been looking in my book. Have you told Ava?"

"No, no" Lottie replied "but I want to talk to you. As soon as I get my chocolate we are going upstairs!"

Rosie was a little shocked by her sister's firmness. "Okay Lottie. I'll just ask Ava for a cup of chocolate as well".

In the bedroom, they sat each on their own beds and Lottie then said "Okay, I have gone along with you trying to look through the windows of that building with my torch, but this is a whole different thing. If I have read your plan correctly, you mean to sneak at night into the area, through a fence, I might add, around the building, get on a ladder and onto the roof because you think part of it is missing which you also think is almost right over the old house. You do realise that you only have a very narrow section to walk along the roof and keep your balance. What do you propose to do when you're above this hole?"

"Well" said Rosie, enjoying the attention of her big plan "I'm going to take some rope and lower Gracie down inside the building. If it's safe I will then lower myself."

"Okay, okay, let me stop you there".

"Oooh here we go, Miss Boring" mumbled Rosie

"I'm not Miss Boring; I just want to point out a few facts. Firstly, why are you lowering Gracie down first?"

Rosie smiled. "Well, she volunteered actually. In fact, she wanted to jump down with no rope."

"Well, she is mad" said Lottie "No rope, eh? This brings me to my next point. Who is holding the end of the rope when you go down? That's even if you can hold Gracie's weight when she is going down"

At that point, Rosie realised her plan needed some work, and Lottie could see she was getting a bit angry for not thinking about it properly.

"Well, I don't know" Rosie said forcefully. "I'll tie it to something."

"Really? On the roof?"

"Yes, there are hoops on the roof, if you bother to look".

"No, I haven't looked, Rosie. Why would I? This is your mad plan"

Lottie's sensible and sisterly care then took over, and before she could stop herself she said "Well Rosie, it's like this. I don't like your plan, but I don't want you falling through the roof and you're not going to be talked out of leaving this building alone, are you?"

"No, no, no." was Rosie's immediate reply.

"So therefore" said Lottie "I am coming with you on this mission. You'd better tell Gracie as well and there will be no arguing about it or I will give Ava your book."

Lottie couldn't believe what she'd said, but knew she had to look after her sister, and Rosie gave a small grunt and said "If you must, I suppose we'll have to make you part of the team". Deep down, Rosie was very pleased that her sister would be with her on this big adventure.

"So, you'd better tell me everything about your plan. Where you're going to get the ladder, and the rope and the torch, and how you're going to carry it all".

"Oh, that's simple" said Rosie "We'll use your satchel"

"You've got a cheek, Rosie!" and they both started to giggle.

Although they were both about to become trainee officers, they were enjoying their last part of their life as youngsters.

6

Memories

Left, right, left, right, left. Lottie sat on the bench at the edge of the parade ground watching the latest set of recruits being taught to march by Sergeant Butch. He was quite stocky with black wiry hair and a very loud voice, thought Lottie. She knew soon that his voice would be shouting at her, Rosie and Gracie and the others who would be in their new army class.

"I wonder what the others will be like and what they know about the Army?" thought Lottie. Lottie, Rosie and Gracie all lived on the base and knew a bit already, well Lottie did, she had read the book about the army which she kept in her satchel. "Left, right, left, right, left". It sounded in Lottie's ears as if the Sergeant was sitting right next to her instead of the other side of the parade ground.

"Oh dear" she thought "I hope he doesn't shout at me, it might hurt my ears". She continued to watch the new recruits getting their marching steps wrong and felt like laughing at one recruit who was totally out of time with the others. As their left legs went forward, his right leg was coming forward instead. She resisted laughing out loud in case she was heard and got told off. The sergeant looked in her direction as though he could read her mind, and then looked back at his class.

Her thoughts then went to Rosie, as they often did. She had always looked out for her, especially as they did not have a mom. She worried about how Rosie would get on with this marching and all the strict rules that they would soon have to obey. She did hope Rosie wouldn't get herself and the rest of the class into trouble.

She must talk to her soon about this, and as the class marched past her bench she looked at how smart the new recruits were in their clean and tidy uniforms. "Oh dear! Rosie can't even be bothered to wear her school uniform properly. I really must talk to her." The school uniform would soon be replaced by the very smart cap, top and skirt like those passing her now.

She noticed that none of those marching were wearing the green sash around their necks, and she rightly guessed that was because they were not allowed to wear this until they had completed every part of their training, and got through the passing out day.

After a while Lottie started to get cold. She stood and slowly began to walk away from the parade square, being very careful not to slip on the remains of the snow which had turned all soggy and was starting to freeze. It was now the weekend and she wondered why it always seemed to snow during the week on school days and then it was nearly all gone at the weekend, except for the one month in winter when the whole base could be snowed in completely.

The rest of the winter saw snow but, it always seemed to clear quickly. She carefully walked over to a small corner right at the edge of the base. To do this she had to pass the stables where Holly the donkey and Honey the horse lived. They belonged to the green collar regiment but were more pets than working animals. They had once tried to get Holly to carry things around the base for them, but she deliberately bucked her back legs up and threw everything onto the floor, and nobody tried to use her after that. "Hi Holly, Honey" said Lottie as she passed them.

It amused her that they recognised her voice and looked up as she passed, as though to say hello back. Just past the stables came an unbelievable smell from a massive pile of horse and donkey muck from the stables. It was a huge penned area which was piled right up behind the very back wall of the secret building and was only about 6 inches away from touching it.

Lottie's mood soon changed as she approached the corner she was heading for. It was a small cemetery with a very pretty fence all the way around it, and this was the place where all the soldiers of the regiment were buried when they died.

Lottie went through the small wooden gate, headed to a white stone and read the words.

"Captain Pippa.

Honoured member of the Green Collar Regiment

and loving mother".

Lottie felt a tinge of sadness. She so wanted her mom to be here so she could talk to her about her worries and excitement about joining the army herself.

She wondered if her mom would be proud of her and Rosie, "Oh Mom, please help me keep an eye on Rosie and don't let her get into trouble", Lottie said, gazing at the gravestone and hoping that somewhere, somehow, her mom could hear her. After about ten minutes the cold was starting to get too much so she cleared away the snow and some old leaves and placed a small bunch of snowdrops on the grave. "See you again soon Mom. I'm freezing and need some hot chocolate". She wiped away the silent tears from her cheeks, left the cemetery and headed back past the stables and home again.

7

Night of the Big Plan

Rosie had been planning this night for a long time, and the three of them sat waiting in dark coloured clothing. Gracie sat on the edge of the bed and wondered about having a quick bounce on the mattress before she went on this mission to who knows where. Lottie was looking quite bothered; after all, she didn't really want to do this, and she made sure she had her beloved satchel with her. Rosie was loving every minute of being in charge of her big plan.

"Okay let's go" said Rosie and they all crept down the stairs and quietly out of the front door without Ava seeing how they were dressed. Earlier in the day Lottie had already told Ava that they would be going out that night together and nothing was said.

They walked quite quickly past the few houses on the base and out towards the end of the secret building. There was a natural fence along the road which ran parallel to the building and the stables, which could be seen just inside the field by the secret building. They all hid behind the wall and Lottie was carefully raising her head up to look across the field, when she suddenly shot back down behind the wall looking scared.

"What is it?" said Rosie, almost laughing at her sister's funny face.

"There is some kind of creature out there!"

"What sort of creature?" asked Rosie as she peered over the top of the wall, then she gave a little laugh.

"What's so funny Rosie?" Gracie asked.

"Well my lovely sister here doesn't recognise a donkey when she sees one!"

Lottie's head then shot back up to look over the wall. "Oh" she said, smiling, having

seen that in the part moonlight an eerie white face could be seen over a

wooden fence. She realised that it was Holly the donkey watching the three heads bobbing up and down behind the wall.

They then moved out and followed the wall which went around toward the stable and the secret building. As they passed near the stable they could see that Holly was watching them creeping past and she started to make a grunting noise. She often did this when she thought she was protecting her field from strangers.

"Oh no, I hope she doesn't starting making a row" whispered Lottie.

"So do I" said Rosie. "I never planned for the daft donkey to spoil things". Holly was a very friendly donkey but she could only "eeeh" where donkeys normally "eeeh" and then "aw" and although she could only do one part of her call, she was very loud when she put her mind to it, and this is what the group were afraid of.

"If Holly starts making a racket she'll give us away" whispered Rosie.

"I have a sweet in my pocket, shall I give it to her?" said Gracie.

"No don't risk it" said Lottie "She might start shouting for more".

As they crept past, Holly's head moved to watch them, but luckily she kept quiet. Just past Holly they were hit by an almighty smell which came from the very large and deep pile of horse and donkey poo. They edged around the pile at the end of the secret building and there, high in the air was the remains of a ladder attached to the metal sides of the building. The ladder had a frame around it to protect those using it and went all the way to the top of the building where there was a small platform just big enough to get the three of them on.

Earlier that day Gracie and Rosie had sneaked a small ladder from Gracie's house and hidden it behind some rubble. This ladder was just tall enough to get them to the bottom of the ladder attached to the building. They all managed to climb up to the platform with no problems. Then one by one they had to balance on the narrow section which ran along the whole top of the roof and was only the width of both feet together, so if they lost balance they would fall.

Rosie went first and looked ahead to the massive size of the building they were now on. Lottie then Gracie followed at the back. Slowly they wobbled their way along the roof until Rosie stopped and carefully lay along the narrow ridge.

"Here it is" said Rosie excitedly. "This is the hole". Rosie had already noticed from the ground that there was a metal panel out of place on the roof and that it was quite close to the narrow section. She moved the loose panel very carefully because of the noise it could make. They didn't want to alert the guard who was standing at the front of the building.

"Lottie, pass me the torch" said Rosie, reaching backwards as Lottie opened the satchel and passed her the light. As the beam shone into the darkness, Rosie's face froze as if she had the air knocked out of her. Lottie looked really scared for her sister.

"Hey Sis! she whispered. "Hey Rosie". After about a minute Rosie whispered back.

"It's absolutely incredible.''

Lottie lay down next to Rosie looking into the hole, and was equally mesmerised.

"So it's true. I didn't think it would be but it is true, Rosie" she said. They were both looking at the top of a chimney and on either side were the red tiles of the roof of an old house. It looked so close that Rosie reached down to try and touch it.

"No, don't do that" Lottie said. "It's actually much further down than it looks". At that point Gracie managed to just squeeze in beside them and look down.

"Ooh err" she said "there's a house in there! Is that the house you were telling me about Rosie?"

"Duh!" said Rosie. "Why do you think we are all up here?"

"Do you want me to jump down?"

"No Gracie, don't" said Lottie "It's a long way down." The house looked eerie and dirty. It seemed so strange to see a full sized house inside another building.

"Are you sure you don't want me to jump?" said Gracie "I like bouncing on things".

"We know" said Lottie "but that's not a mattress, Gracie. You would hurt yourself."

"Oh okay then" she replied.

"Right" Lottie said, digging around in her satchel again. "Here's the rope".

She tied the end to a round fitting on the narrow part of the roof nearby. Rosie stood up as Lottie gave her the rope, and at that moment Gracie's mobile phone rang and as she reached in panic to turn it off she caught her leg in a loop of the rope. She lost her balance and wobbled just enough to bang into Rosie who then slipped onto the roof. Luckily, the roof didn't break through, but it acted like a big slide at the seaside. As Rosie started to slip, Lottie reached out to save her, and then Gracie tried to stop Lottie who was now being pulled onto the roof by Rosie who continued to slither down the slippery surface. Within seconds all three were sliding down the roof like skiers going down a mountain. They seemed to get faster and faster, and Lottie could see the end of the roof coming as Rosie disappeared over the edge saying "You idiot Gracieeee." Lottie herself closed her eyes and thought "this is the end" as she slid off the roof, closely followed by Gracie who was actually grinning as she went over the edge.

There were three squashy thud sounds as they landed. They lay there for a brief moment before the smell got to their noses, then all three shot up and ran, shedding lumps of horse poo. They smelt revolting and were covered in it.

"You idiot Gracie" Rosie said.

It was fun" she replied.

"Fun for you maybe, but we've had it now. We will have to plan again."

Lottie stopped them arguing and said "Don't panic Rosie, at least we are all alive thanks to the pile of poo."

"I'm sure Ava won't quite see it that way" said Rosie. "What are you doing now Lottie? We have to get out of here quickly as the guard must surely have heard us sliding down the roof."

"I'm just getting my satchel" Lottie replied. By some miracle the satchel had come off Lottie's neck, slid off the roof and landed just inches away from the pile of muck. "Oh, it's clean" Lottie thought, and she quickly opened it to check that her treasures were still safely inside.

"Can't say where the torch is" Lottie said "and the rope is still attached to the roof".

"It's ok" Rosie replied "You won't really be able to see it unless you look hard for it".

"Hang on" said Lottie , thinking about the rope "How were you intending for us to get out of the building if we had managed to get all of us down there by rope?"

"Oh... er... erm" said Rosie, realising she hadn't thought about that and they would have actually been trapped in there. She stomped off in a mood.

"Calm down Rosie" said Lottie. "At least you've seen it, haven't you?"

"Yes, but we were almost there and now all we have to show for it is smelling rotten."

As they walked away, Lottie looked back and as much as she could make out in the moonlight there was no damage to the roof. They were now far enough away to see the guard looking around where they had been and scratching his head because he couldn't find anything despite the noise he had heard. The three of them weaved their way back towards their homes. Gracie split first and said "I will have to get cleaned up. See you tomorrow."

"Okay, thanks" replied Rosie.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow" Lottie said. They both finally made it to the gate at the bottom of their garden and slowly crept back towards the house in the hope of getting past Ava. There didn't seem much chance of that with the smell on their clothes. They both agreed that they wouldn't be able get away with it, so they told Ava they had been messing around and just fell in the horse poo.

8

Gracie comes round for dinner

Ava was busy preparing chicken and mushroom pie, homemade of course, which was one of Rosie's favourites, when she saw Gracie coming up the garden path.

"Here comes Gracie" she said to the two of them in the living room who were waiting impatiently for her. There was a loud knock on the door and they opened it and almost pulled Gracie in.

"Watch my clothes!"

"Oh sorry" said Rosie. As the three of them made toward the stairs to go to Lottie and Rosie's room, Lottie looked at Rosie whose nose was twitching.

"Gracie have you had a shower?" Rosie asked and she whispered near her ear "You still smell of horse poo!"

"Of course I have, but my hair is hard to get clean."

"Yuk" said Lottie and then they ran upstairs laughing and Gracie, with the help of Lottie, washed her hair again to get rid of the smell.

"What happened then?" asked Gracie, going back into the room drying her hair. Lottie laughed and said that Ava smelt them and took them straight outside and washed them down with the garden hose in the spotlight above the back door.

"She wasn't happy with us" she said.

"Me too" replied Gracie, "My mom took all my clothes and threw them in the bin and sent me to bed after I had showered." Rosie then smirked at Gracie who said "I did shower, honest."

"You didn't tell your mom we were on the roof did you Gracie? I know what you're like for forgetting things." asked Rosie.

"No, I told her that we were just messing around and fell in the muck."

Lottie then added that she said it wouldn't work and that they had wasted their time and were lucky not to be in trouble with the base. Rosie looked at her and said "You are being boring again Lottie."

At that point Ava came in.

"Are you youngsters ready for your dinner then? Be downstairs in five minutes."

"Okay" they replied together. Gracie was by now bouncing on Lottie's bed.

"Will you stop that?" Lottie said "You'll break my bed."

"Ah this bed's quite strong. Don't worry about it."

"Anyway Rosie" said Lottie "You can't think about trying to get in there again as we are about to join the army and I'm not getting into trouble. It's as simple as that."

Surprisingly Rosie said "Yes, you're right as usual Sis, I will have to re-plan for another time."

Gracie had a final bounce on the bed and flew off. They raced each other down the stairs giggling, as they had on the way up. Ava watched them and it made her happy to see them all having fun, but she didn't see Gracie pinch the knives and forks which were on the side ready for dinner. Lottie saw her out of the corner of her eye and smiled.

"Gracie is so naughty at times." she thought. As they sat down to dinner, Ava got confused as she thought she had left out the knives and forks. She asked Lottie where they were.

"I don't know" she replied, but at that point Ava saw a grin on Gracie's face.

"Have you seen them Gracie?" she asked.

"No Ava, not at all" she replied.

Ava was no fool and smiling she said "okay", guessing Gracie had moved them. After a brief search she found them hidden behind the clock on the mantelpiece. "Alright, tuck in" Ava said, after giving them the cutlery.

Ava often had just a bit of food and sat at the edge of the table. She was pleased to see them all tucking into the home made pie. She also realised that soon they would be in the army. Although they would come back at times, they wouldn't be the youngsters they are now, but it was nice that they were going to become Green Collars like their mom. But for now, dinner was the most important thing, and Gracie had decided to make a hat of the napkin and she looked like a nun and everyone, including Ava, was laughing really loudly at her. Gracie had always been like this even in her own home, she was always full of energy, jumping around like Tigger from "Winnie the Pooh", making people laugh, and for this reason everyone loved her.

They quickly ate their dinner and the jelly afterwards. Rosie then looked across the table and said

"Lottie, I think Mom called you Lottie because you're such a pig and you eat the lot. I've never seen you leave any food on your plate."

"I am a pig, and anyway my name is really Charlotte, but I prefer to be called Lottie." By now Gracie had converted her napkin into a boat which she placed on the table.

"Let's go and watch a film" suggested Rosie.

"Yeah, I've got a brilliant army film" Lottie replied.

"Thanks but no thanks Lottie. We will be doing that for real soon. Let's watch one of those romcoms." said Gracie.

"Okay" agreed the other two, so they all trooped upstairs. Lottie stopped and asked if Ava wanted help washing up.

"No, it's all right. You go and enjoy yourselves".

When Lottie got up to the bedroom, Gracie was already bouncing on a bed, but Rosie's this time and with Rosie. The three of them then all cuddled up together on the pillows, eating the sweets that Rosie had hidden under the bed. Rosie thought "What a good life this is."

9

Joining Day

Lottie's eyes slowly opened and she stared at the sunlight shining through a small crack in the curtains. She had such a good night's sleep and Rosie did to, judging by the sound of her snoring. The snow had cleared now as it was the beginning of spring and everywhere looked quite nice, she thought, as she threw the curtains open fully. She could hear Ava's voice coming up the stairs,

"Lottie, Rosie," followed by a gentle knock on the bedroom door. Ava was welcomed by a big hug from Lottie as she opened the door and almost dragged her in.

"Morning Ava" she said loudly in her ear.

"It's your big day, you youngsters" said Ava.

"I know, I know" squealed Lottie with excitement.

"Oh be quiet, Lottie" Rosie grumbled and hid under her bed clothes.

"Oh you'll enjoy it Sis, as long as you behave yourself like we talked about."

"I will, don't worry." she said, surfacing from under her duvet like a submarine coming up from the sea.

Today was their big day and as they were now sixteen years old they would be joining the army at last. There was some sadness however, because they would be leaving the house they had grown up in. Not for ever, only while they were cadets. Once they had passed out and were officers they could come back and live where they liked, which would of course be back in this loving house that was their home.

"Well come on then Sis" said Lottie, pulling all the bedclothes off Rosie who didn't find it funny.

"Get off" grunted Rosie, trying to grab the bedclothes back. "I bet you have been reading those books all night haven't you? Your precious green army manual."

"No I haven't" replied Lottie. "I have already read it fully, so when you lot will be busy learning it, I will be able to relax and have some chocolate as I already know what's in it."

"That's if they have chocolate in the base kitchens".

Ava was watching them both, thinking how different the two of them were. Rosie was the adventurous, seemingly carefree, mad one, and Lottie the sensible, quiet one who always planned things. They were quite different on the outside but both very much alike in their true personality. They would both make very good officers but in different ways.

Rosie and Lottie got up, did a lot of stretching, and headed to the bathroom to wash and clean their teeth. They brushed their hair, got dressed and they were all ready to go. Going down to the kitchen the twins found that Ava had already made one of their favourite breakfasts of pancakes and syrup, like the Americans have. To Ava it always seemed a never-ending job as they would eat the lot in no time at all.

"Do you want any more pancakes, you two? I have a little bit of the mixture left".

"Yes please," replied Rosie, "Lottie doesn't want anymore".

"Yes I do, Ava, don't listen to her! She is trying to get mine again.

"I need pancakes and all the energy I can get where I am going." said Rosie.

"Oh honestly, you make it sound like you are going to prison" said Lottie. "You didn't have to join up you know".

"Yes, but I'd get bored at home, and at least Gracie and I will be able to fire some guns, climb and get in the mud during the training. I've heard that even though we are trainee officers we have to clean the toilets and do things like that."

"Yes, I've heard similar stories, but I wouldn't worry about it Rosie."

"I'm not, because I am not doing it!"

"You will have to. It may seem silly, but that's what makes you a soldier. Having to do as you are told as well as telling others what to do. Remember what I said, Rosie, you promised you wouldn't get yourself and everyone else into trouble."

"Don't worry, I won't." she replied. "Gracie and I are too clever to get into trouble."

"Oh yes, like you trying to get into the secret building." retorted Lottie.

"Anyway, can I have the last pancake Ava?" said Rosie. Ava tried to quickly get the smile off her face so they wouldn't know she had heard them.

"Yes of course, but share it with your sister please."

Lottie and Rosie both sat there munching away, drinking tea, and would be starting the new part of their life stuffed with pancakes.

They left the house together and walked down through the garden. That in itself was a rare sight to see as one of them was usually somewhere else on the base and rarely had they left the house together.

Ava watched them and realised how proud she felt of them both walking together, all grown up in their uniforms. They walked past all of the houses and out onto the open parade ground in the direction of the new entry block where all the trainees had to go during their first weeks of training. Lottie had an odd feeling that she was going to a strange place.

"How silly" she thought, "I have grown up and spent almost every day of my life on this base, and now it feels like I don't know it at all." She could only think that was because of the nerves of joining the army at last. She looked across at Rosie walking by her side and noticed how unworried she looked. "Hmm" thought Lottie, "that can only be because she is up to something."

When they were almost across the parade ground where in just a few days they would be marching like all the other new recruits before them, Rosie's head turned and Lottie realised that she was looking at the secret building.

They eventually made it to the block and went through the large, heavy door which was open. Inside sat Corporal Sasha behind a desk. They were welcomed with a smile. Lottie thought that was odd since she had always heard that the new recruits were shouted at so that made them disciplined and better soldiers. They were then asked to sign their name, pick up the large bags which held the rest of their kit and go into the room behind the desk. As they went into the room there were two others standing in the middle with their kit bags on the floor. Just then a voice filled the room like the horn of a ship blasting,

"Right you lot! Get into a straight line now!" It was amazing that such a very large voice came from such a small body as Sergeant Butch came into the room with his training stick banging the floor as he shouted. "Get into line. Have I got to teach you lot to be soldiers? Oh dear, I don't know why I bother, you all look useless to me!" Then he went on and on and on.

"What's your name?" and before Millie could answer he had looked down and said "Have you seen your shoes..... Millie?" having looked at her name badge which they all had to wear in training.

"You haven't got your belt on straight" he shouted at someone else at the end of the small line. Lottie wondered how Rosie was going to deal with this, and immediately she found out as the sergeant went right up to her and shouted "Are you listening Rosie? Do not look out of the window! Look forward or you will be cleaning the kitchens for a week!"

"Erm ... yes" said Rosie who, for the first time in her life, was a bit worried by someone shouting at her. At that moment she wished she was back home having a cup of chocolate with Ava. "Sorry Sergeant". Now she actually looked a bit bothered "I won't do it again sir."

"I know you won't. When you are in line, you stay in a straight line and face forward, at all times. Do you understand that cadet Rosie?"

"Yes sir."

"And I am not to be called sir. I am Sergeant Butch, and don't forget it!"

Lottie was nervous about speaking up, but couldn't resist as she was always the one to learn and ask the questions.

"Sergeant, can I please ask ... er ... Sergeant, why do we have a Sergeant training us when we are officer cadets?"

"Don't you worry your pretty head about that. All you have to remember is that you have to listen and do as I say or you will never be a green collar!" he replied in a raised voice.

"Okay, sorry Sergeant" said Lottie. She was actually correct, in training they were only cadets and not full officers. Once they had finished their training and wore the green collar around their necks it would be the sergeant who had to do what they said. But Butch was respected by all the officers on the base as he had trained many of them and also been on some special expeditions with them. In addition, during battle he had saved several soldiers' lives.

"Right now" said the sergeant. "You are to form a single line and try to keep straight as you follow Corporal Sasha to the living quarters which will be your home while you are training. You have two hours to put your kit away, clean your boots for tomorrow and then be on the parade ground at 4 o'clock to meet Colonel Forbes. He is the C.O., or commanding officer for those of you who don't know, of this whole base. Why he would want to talk to a messy untidy looking lot like you I don't know, but don't be late or it will be cleaning duties."

They got into a sort of a line and Sasha led the way. As they went across the parade ground a massive noise followed by a swoosh of air burst just above their heads as Angel flew her helicopter over the training block. She was being instructed by the army pilot and was now glad to be able to land the helicopter. This gave her the confidence she needed, and she now flew like she had always known she could, like a free bird and excellent pilot that she actually was.

The cadets found their way to the sleeping block which was a cold building with horrible beds lined along the walls next to each other. Lottie sat on her bed and a spring stuck in her. She had an odd feeling of sadness and worry and was a little bit panicky. This was typical of home sickness which seemed to affect nearly all of the new recruits. Rosie appeared at the end of her bed to ask if she had any chewing gum.

"No" replied Lottie "Do you miss home?"

"Yes, a bit." replied Rosie, who then disappeared towards Gracie who had been unusually quiet so far since they walked through the main doors that morning.

Many thoughts raced through Lottie's head, and she wondered about Ava as another wave of home sickness flowed over her. "Still" she thought "it is only during basic training.'' After that they would be able to live off the base or wherever they liked during the main part of their training, which of course meant going back home for Lottie and Rosie.

She then spotted Rosie staring out of the window and simply said "Rosie" in a slow drawn out manner.

"What now Sis?"

"I know what you're looking at. Just forget it!

"Oh Lottie, stop going on".

Lottie didn't say out loud what Rosie was looking at as she didn't want anyone else noticing she was staring out again at the secret building.

"Have you got any chewing gum in that satchel Lottie?" shouted Rosie from her bed.

"I just told you that I don't have any. We are not allowed it anyway."

Rosie laughed. "I bet you read that in the manual in your satchel. I assume you brought the satchel with you, Lottie"

"You walked in with me Rosie. Didn't you have your eyes open? Of course I had my satchel."

Sergeant Butch suddenly appeared at the end of the dormitory and shouted at them about all sorts of things for ten minutes, then walked out leaving them all confused. After they had all unpacked their kit and put it into the cupboards, one by one they started to ball their boots. Balling boots was a way of making your toecaps shine like a star. You put polish on the end of a cloth and rub in circles and spit on it every now and again and then add some more polish and then spit again. After hours they would have a coating of polish on the toecaps which shone like a mirror. It made them look very smart but the problem was it all broke off easily if somebody stepped on your boot. They were each given four pairs of boots.

Another recruit called Maddie who had a pointed nose and scruffy black hair with brown bits said to Rosie

"Why do we have so many pairs of boots? Do they think I have four legs like a dog?" she laughed.

"No" Rosie said "It's so we have spare pairs in case the others get dirty or damaged."

"Oh good idea." said Maddie.

At that point there was a thud and they all turned to find Gracie's mattress on the floor.

"You okay?" said Rosie to her, laughing at the same time.

"Yes, yes I'm fine. Just thought I'd see how bouncy my mattress was so I put it on the floor." This amused Rosie even more.

"You're so mad Gracie!" she said, and even Lottie was laughing.

The whole class gathered around one bed discussing how they all thought how good it was that there weren't many of them in their group.

"I wonder why there are so few of us" said Millie who was pulling funny faces as she tried to see if she could touch the tip of her nose with her long tongue.

"Well" Lottie replied "according to my manual there aren't many who make it into the Green Collar Regiment, so I guess we are the lucky ones."

"I don't know about Gracie though" said Rosie, laughing as she pointed at her friend who was now bouncing on the mattress on top of the bed and giggling.

"Gracie" said Lottie "Stop it! If the sergeant comes in we will all be in for it." Gracie took no notice and just carried on in a world of her own.

10

The Officers Mess

They were now half way through their basic training and they had learnt how to march and salute, fire a rifle, drive a car and take a boat out to sea. Lottie was really enjoying herself, and so was Rosie too if she would only admit it. They had been on the assault course today and that meant going over obstacles and climbing ropes and crawling under things as though they were in the battlefield. They lay on their beds exhausted, and Lottie fell into a deep sleep as every bone and muscle in her body ached from the training.

She slept for about two hours, and then was woken up by a quiet whispering over towards Rosie's bed. Lottie moved her head on her pillow and realised that the others were sitting on Rosie's bed listening to her. Lottie couldn't hear what they were talking about but she had the sudden feeling that the secret building was the subject.

They were huddled together and Lottie asked them to be quiet because she was trying to sleep.

We're busy discussing things" said Rosie.

"Go on about the Mess" said Gracie. "Oops! I didn't mean to give the plan away."

When Lottie heard the word "plan" she sat upright in bed and said "Rosie, forget it!" She pondered on how Rosie hadn't mentioned the secret building for a while, and hadn't looked out of any window towards it for ages.

"No Lottie, you're wrong" replied Rosie. "It's not what you think at all."

"Well what's the noise about then?"

"We're planning to get into the officers mess. Oops, sorry. There I go again opening my big mouth" said Gracie.

"Oh my goodness" said Lottie. "The officers mess! We're not allowed in there."

"Yes we are" replied Rosie. "We are officers."

"You're forgetting we are still only cadets, which means we cannot go into the officers' mess until we've finished training and have passed out."

"What do they mean by Officers Mess, is it an untidy room full of their rubbish?" asked Millie.

"No" replied Maddie, "It is like their club where they can relax and talk, they eat their food in there, and they also have dances."

"My, it must be a big room then" commented Lottie, as she listened in from her bed. "So what are you lot planning then?"

"Well, they have a dance in there next week and we are going to get in just by removing the cadet markings on our uniforms. It will be fun. We can go and have a dance" said Rosie.

"I'm not having anything to do with it" said Lottie. "We are well into our training and I want to pass".

"That's your choice Lottie" replied Rosie. "But the rest of us are going to try."

"Can you please talk about this tomorrow? We have marching in the morning and I need my sleep" pleaded Lottie. She then curled up and pulled the bed clothes over her head so she couldn't hear them. Like many military bases of the army, the navy or the air force, there was an Officers' Mess and living quarters, and a Ratings' Mess and quarters which was for all those who weren't officers. Naturally they all wanted to get into the Officers' Mess to see how life would be after they had finished their training, and there was the added attraction of the dance that evening.

Their plan was easy. They would simply remove the cadet markings on their uniforms that showed they were still in basic training, act like officers, and walk straight in. "What could be simpler?" Rosie thought.

So the next night they planned their mission to get into the dance and got their spare uniforms ready by removing the cadet markings from them. They originally decided to try and get just Rosie into the mess, but then changed it to all of them, thinking that they stood more chance to get at least one of them in if they approached the mess in numbers and slipped in with some real officers.

11

Dance Night at the Mess.

The dance music could be heard all over the camp even as far as Ava's, who was dancing in the garden whilst putting the rubbish out. She wondered how Lottie and Rosie were, and thought of them all tucked up in bed tired from their training. Little did she know that Rosie was at that very moment heading towards the music. She looked very smart, as did Maddie and Millie, and following just behind, fiddling with her shoes was Gracie. Lottie had kept to her word and was having nothing to do with the plan to get into the officers' mess. Some male soldiers caught up with them walking in the same direction.

"Hello girls" they said to the group, who were jointly occupied with Gracie's attempt to get her shoe to fit properly while she was still walking.

"Oh hello there" Maddie replied.

"What's up with your friend? Anything we can do to help?" said the officers as they drew level with the group.

"It's okay thanks" Maddie replied "She just can't get her shoe on properly."

"Come on Gracie" said Rosie. "At this rate the dance will be over before we even get there."

"Yes, okay, I can't help my shoe can I?"

Millie said "I thought you were just trying to get into the officers mess Rosie. Sounds to me like you want to go to the dance"

"Why not? I like dancing, don't you?"

"Yeah, of course I do, and those soldiers who just passed were rather nice too" said Millie. Finally Gracie had got her shoe comfortable. Looking ahead and straightening her uniform she said

"These army shoes fit terribly. Anyway, let's get going." Maddie shook her head and grinned. It didn't seem to matter how well planned any activity was, the usually mad Gracie always encountered some sort of problem.

As they got closer they could see a guard standing by the door who seemed to be stopping everyone before they went in. Maddie started to get worried and said "We can't do this. We will get into terrible trouble if we get caught." She tried to turn and go back, but Rosie caught her sleeve and said "Come on Maddie, we'll be fine and we won't get caught either."

Maddie took a deep breath to calm herself down, and they all carried on toward the Mess. They could make out two female officers approaching and Rosie thought that they could do with being in a larger group to get past the guard on the door. As they got closer and approached the moment Rosie had rehearsed, she said to the others "Let me do the talking". But luck was not with her because, just as they reached the door at the same time as the female officers, Gracie stepped forward and said to one of them

"Hello, you are the helicopter pilot who flew over us on the parade ground today aren't you? It looked really good, if you don't mind me saying."

"Yes that was indeed me. I don't think I have met any of you before" said Angel in her well spoken voice, scanning the group of youngsters. She paused, and when none of the group replied, Angel continued "I flew over you today, you said?"

"Yes, it was brilliant" replied Gracie.

"Ah, well then you would be the group of cadets I flew over, wouldn't you?"

"You idiot Gracie" Rosie muttered under her breath, and at that point the soldier on the door who had been listening said

"Right, cadets are we? Let's have all your names".

They stood and gave all their names, and he then radioed for another guard to escort them back to their sleeping quarters.

"Sorry girls, but rules are rules" said Angel as she walked through the door into the officers' mess.

As they were escorted back, they looked rather sheepish and felt very fed up as they had failed on their mission to make it into the officers' mess.

"You are an idiot!" Rosie said to Gracie.

"Sorry, I never thought" replied Gracie and then she went quiet.

"Yes, you are an idiot, Gracie. I was looking forward to a drink of the famous Green Tot." said Millie.

"What are you on about?" said Maddie.

"Well, I've learnt a couple of things about the base. One of them is that you are not allowed to drink beer or anything like that so you are always ready for action. So they made up their own drink of lime and lemonade and some kind of fruit berry, and that's what they all drink today. I wanted to find out what it tasted like when we got into the dance".

"Sorry" said Gracie, now feeling even more fed up.

"What was the other?" asked Maddie.

"The other what?"

"The other old story."

"Oh yes. Well, there is a legend that one of the original soldiers from this base, who used to live in some old house over the other side, was supposed to be killed fighting alongside two others. The story goes that he actually survived and lives in the hills with the mountain people. Sometimes if you watch the mountains you can see flashes from a mirror, which is supposed to be him signalling back to the base."

Rosie listened with interest as Millie was clearly talking about the secret building and the house inside. She thought about trying to get in there again and wondered when the day would come that she would get inside. However she couldn't help herself snapping back at Millie.

"Don't be silly! Do you realise how old he would be now? He couldn't possibly be alive this long after the final fight."

"How do you know all this?" said Maddie.

"Oh I just heard about the rumour as well" Rosie lied. Even though she liked Maddie and Millie, she only wanted Gracie, Lottie and herself to know about her plans to get inside the forbidden building.

They had now reached their dormitory and the soldier led them through and locked them in saying "I would stay where you are tonight ladies, you don't want to get into any more trouble than you're already in."

Lottie looked up from her book and simply said "I told you so. Why do you think I didn't want any part of it?"

She was right too. The next morning they were all called in front of the C.O. and put on kitchen cleaning duties for a week. Lottie, not having been with the others, escaped punishment. Sergeant Butch was very angry with them as it made it look as if he couldn't control his new recruits, and Lottie realised that he would be even stricter with them for a while now.

12

Survival Training

It was morning and they were getting ready to go out for a week outside the barracks. It sounded fun, but it wasn't really. The new recruits had to survive on their own for a week with only a small amount of food, a limited amount of equipment and a tiny tent each. Their prepared rucksacks were laid out on their beds, and they were all dressed in full combat uniforms, which made them look as if people had been throwing green paint balls at them. It did hide them in the forest though, as nobody could see them when they were in the bushes and trees.

Rosie's idea, which she hadn't mentioned to anyone, was to get out of the back of the truck while it was moving and sneak off to the secret building. Using the portable army spade in her rucksack, she intended to dig under the sides of the building and she would be inside at last. Even if she was caught she could say she was hiding as part of the exercise.

Lottie sat at the edge of her bed looking very fed up, which was unusual as she had been going on and on about how she was excited to be going on this exercise. Rosie plonked herself next to her and said "What's up Sis?"

"I can't take my satchel. The sergeant said I'm not allowed to."

Rosie smiled and cuddled her sister and said "It will be okay. Put it in your cupboard, lock it away until we come back and Mom will be fine." Rosie kissed Lottie's head to show just how much she really loved her sister.

Lottie looked up. "You said Mom will be fine, Rosie. What do you mean?"

"I know you have a photo of Mom in the bottom of your satchel and that you have always had it there. I'm your sister. I've looked in your satchel many times searching for sweets and I've seen the picture. I sometimes take a look at Mom as well" she added.

"I should be angry with you Rosie for going through my things, but I'm too worried to argue about it. I'm sure you are right and the satchel will be fine while we are away."

After about half an hour of sitting in their hot uniforms they were taken by a Corporal, who they had never met before, to a lorry waiting on the parade ground. They threw all of their kit in the back and sat along the wooden seats which ran along each side. As the lorry pulled away from the base, a helicopter took off and Lottie watched as Angel smoothly rose into the air, turned sharply and flew away towards the coastline nearby. Lottie could see a lot of movement around where the helicopter had been.

"Looks like something is happening" she said to the rest. "The helicopter, I think it was that Angel flying, just took off quickly." At the mention of Angel's name Rosie looked over and Gracie knew that she was thinking about messing up at the dance hall.

"It wasn't my fault" said Gracie.

"Well it was you that opened your mouth and gave us away" retorted Rosie.

The truck pulled onto the road leading away from the base, and they could see through the open rear all the mountains. Lottie looked in wonder at the beautiful view of the sea and the valley below the road, and just as she looked back in the truck she thought she caught a light reflecting in the mountains, only for a second and it was gone.

They were driven inland and away from the mountains near the sea and toward the forests. After about twenty miles they turned onto a rough track which was completely different from the road they had been on.

Lottie looked across and was amazed to see that Gracie and Rosie had fallen asleep against each other as they sat there.

"I can't believe it!" she thought. "This road is so rough I can feel my teeth rattling and those two are fast asleep.

This unplanned snooze spoilt Rosie's plan as by the time they awoke they were already too far away from the base for Rosie to carry out her idea of jumping from the truck and sneaking off to the secret building.

After about another half an hour driving the lorry pulled up in an open area. Sergeant Butch suddenly appeared from nowhere and shouted for them all to get out and pile all their kit on the side of the track.

"Okay you lot, stand to attention".

They all smartly formed a line and stood straight to attention.

"Good, good" said the Sergeant. "There might be hope for you lot yet." Butch already knew from his time training with them that they were all going to make good officers but, as was always the case, they were never told this and so continued to try as hard as they could to do well.

"Right" he said to the group. "I want you to get into two groups of five. Boys against girls or you can mix up. It's up to you."

Rosie and her group decided that they would stay together all through the exercise.

"Now" Butch said, "the idea is that you will be on your own for a week. You have to look after yourselves, feed yourselves, wash yourselves and make up your own tents and bedding. Everything you need is in your rucksacks. Sounds simple, you might think, well that bit is, but what you have to watch out for is the enemy. There are six fully trained Green Collars from the barracks in and around the forest. Their job is to find you and your job is to not get found. If you are found you will be marked on your shoulder and returned back to base as though you had been captured by real enemy soldiers. So simply put, don't get caught."

"What about you Sergeant?" a cadet from one of the other groups said.

"Don't you worry about me, cadet" he said "I will be home tucked up in my warm bed while you are all here in the cold with very little food." That was really a lie because Butch would be in the forest himself for the whole week, but hidden away from everyone and watching how the trainees were getting on. "You have one week to cross the river and get to the old ruined castle which is marked on your maps. Somewhere in the castle there is a clue on how to get back to the base. But be warned. On one night I will make a surprise visit to you, wherever you are, to make sure that nobody is cheating." Again this wasn't strictly true. He would be watching them all the time to make sure they were all safe.

They settled in and made their tents up ready for the night and Rosie, who had rushed hers, was looking around the forest for sticks to make a fire. Lottie and Millie went for a walk to find the river that they could hear in the distance.

"Oh my" said Millie "we are not going to get across that very easily are we Lottie?"

"No we're not. It's a big river and very fast flowing, so we need to build a strong raft or something like that."

"It's a pity we can't use the bridge further down" said Millie "but the Sergeant said we weren't allowed to."

"I know" Lottie responded "and I can bet they will be watching the bridge to see if anyone tries it."

On their return to the camp area, Millie and Lottie explained about the river, and they set about building a raft. After about three hours work they had managed to cut four logs using the small saws in their rucksacks and supplemented the rope they had in their packs with vines from surrounding trees. Some smaller branches were tied across the logs which gave them a platform to sit on which would hopefully keep them afloat. They were all proud of their work when it was finished.

"It looks a bit small." said Lottie. "Let's get on and test it for size." One by one they all carefully climbed onto it and found that they could just fit as long as they had their rucksacks on their backs.

By now the light was fading, so they decided to leave the attempt to cross the river until the next morning when they hoped it wouldn't be so fast moving.

Maddie then set about making a fire using her small fire lighting set from her rucksack. Everyone had a little tin of beans which they all opened on their own and passed to Maddie to put on the fire, which was now keeping them warm as the cold air crept in with the darkness.

They had erected all of the tents in the forest where they looked like part of the trees and they had leaned leafy branches against the tents to hide them. As they settled down Lottie could hear Rosie in the tent next to her.

"Oy, Lottie!" she said "It's freezing and these tents are useless. I can't get comfortable." Lottie had actually just been thinking how she really felt quite warm and comfy in her sleeping bag.

"Will you keep quiet Rosie and settle down. Someone will hear us."

"They won't" said Rosie. "Weren't you listening to the Sergeant? He said they wouldn't start looking for us until tomorrow."

"Yes I know" replied Lottie "but we might as well get used to it now."

The next morning they woke to the sound of Gracie laughing. Lottie popped her head out of her tent and saw that Rosie was not impressed at being the cause of Gracie's amusement. Having rushed preparing her tent, Rosie had ended up completely wrapped not just in her sleeping bag but her tent too. During the night, the lines which held the small tent in place had all come away, and as Rosie had tried to stand up she had tripped over and ended up rolling over inside the tent. Having found herself wrapped up like a Swiss roll, she thought "Oh I can't be bothered to try and put it right now" and then promptly fell asleep like that, only to wake up with Gracie laughing at her.

For breakfast they ate a packet of special ration biscuits, which were totally tasteless, then cleared up, removed any signs that they had been camping and put all their equipment back in their rucksacks. They each took a corner of the raft and dragged it down towards the river, all the while keeping an eye open for soldiers who may now be around looking for them.

On reaching the river they realised that it was now flowing very fast. They could see the strong currents most of the way across to the other side.

"This looks worse Millie" Lottie said.

"Yes" agreed Millie "but I think we can still make it although it will be tough going."

"What about Gracie, Rosie and Maddie though. All five of us on the raft will make it wobble in such a rough river." They had managed to make oars from tree branches but even these didn't make them feel any more confident.

They all carefully climbed onto the raft after discussing the dangers of their task. They considered two of them staying behind, but then decided it wasn't worth the risk of being caught by the soldiers, so they decided to all go together. Holding onto each other tightly and with the ropes attached to each corner of the raft they carefully climbed on. The raft was already bobbing about and it was against the side of the river bank. Lottie pushed them away with one of the oars and immediately realised that it was much more dangerous than they had thought. The river was pulling them away from the bank but downstream away from the opposite side and the old castle which was just visible from the raft.

"Row using the oars!" shouted Lottie to the others. They desperately tried to steer the raft to the other side but the opposite bank was getting further away as the raft was being pulled down the river by the strong currents.

Rosie suddenly shouted "Rocks ahead!"

"Oh my" thought Lottie. She shouted to the others to stop rowing as she realised it was making no difference at all. A second later the raft bounced on the rough water and caught on a patch of rocks in the river. Maddie and Millie were both thrown into the river and were now in serious trouble as they had their full kit on and the rucksacks were getting heavy with water and were starting to sink below the surface.

Without thinking, Rosie, moving faster than she had ever moved before, pulled off her rucksack, and leaving it on the raft, jumped into the swirling river. This left Lottie and Gracie on their own, worrying about the others in the dangerous water.

Rosie swam as hard as she could, thankful that one of the few things she had done after school was take swimming survival training. As she got closer to Maddie and Millie she could see they were now about to sink below the water. As Rosie finally reached them, already exhausted but determined, she grabbed Millie around her shoulder, holding her against her on her back and then reached out to Maddie. By extreme luck Maddie had managed to keep hold of Millie using a piece of rope trailing out of Millie's rucksack.

"Hold onto the end of the rope and I will pull you with me" Rosie shouted over the noise of the river. Maddie just managed to hold on and keep her head above water, but this meant that Rosie was now under incredible strain. The muscles in her body were aching but her determination kept her focused as she headed for the bank at the other side. They were still being swept down the river but foot by foot and bit by bit she got her friends closer to the opposite bank. Eventually the river started to bend to the right resulting in a bit of firm ground sticking out further than the rest which gave Rosie somewhere to aim for. Up river, Lottie and Gracie were still on the raft stuck on the rocks and were trying to free it with an oar.

After about ten minutes, which seemed like hours, Rosie reached the river bank and managed to drag herself and Millie partly out of the water. She then pulled and pulled until the short bit of rope appeared at the end with a tired but safe Maddie hanging onto it. The three of them all lay exhausted at the edge of the river and as she lifted her head Rosie was just able to see Lottie standing like a ship's Captain next to Gracie as they flew past on the raft which had freed itself from the rocks when Gracie jumped up and down on it. As the raft floated off down the river and Rosie and the others lay on the bank, they were being watched.

Sergeant Butch came out of the forest talking on the radio. "Alpha recovery down river at the next bridge inlet" he said. He had watched everything that had happened and had instructed some of his trained soldiers to be ready for the raft when it came to a part of the river where Lottie and Gracie could be rescued. He then started walking towards the old wooden bridge which led to Rosie and the others.

Although the trainees had been told the Sergeant would suddenly appear back from the base for one day that was all part of the exercise. The idea behind this was that he could watch over the trainees and also show them how you can avoid being seen by telling them he had been very near them all the time and that they didn't know. However this was an emergency so he emerged from his hiding place after he had watched the incident at the river.

Just as he was crossing the bridge Butch looked in the air and he could hear more helicopters not far away. He hadn't called them to assist as he didn't think he needed help with the trainees, so it struck him as odd, and that something was going on. He would soon find out. Finally he made it across the river and worked his way back up the river bank to where the three were now sitting up talking.

"What a fine bunch you lot look" he said. The three of them said

"We surrender sergeant. You have found us."

He didn't give his secret away and tell them he'd been watching them anyway.

"You're okay, take it easy. I happened to be nearby and saw your problem in the river. Is everyone alright?" he said.

"Yes" they all replied.

"Okay, get ready to move out and head towards the castle. You can carry on from there." Rosie was very surprised to hear they were going to be allowed to continue, but didn't say anything as she was now committed to getting through this exercise.

"Well" said the Sergeant "we will discuss this issue back at base later."

Rosie thought "Oh oh I'm in trouble again for messing it up" then the sergeant's radio crackled

"Alpha team and Bravo team position report please." The sergeant replied by saying "This is Sergeant Butch. We have three from Alpha team at old wooden bridge on the river bank and the other two at main bridge."

"Okay, standby" was the reply.

The sergeant was really curious now as he felt something was definitely going on. Within minutes the radio crackled again,

"Alpha Team over" and Butch replied "Alpha team listening."

"Immediate recall to base for all teams and instructors. Helicopters are on their way to collect all trainees and trained officers." Rosie had heard the orders and asked the sergeant why they were going back to base.

"I don't know cadet" he said, wondering what it was all about.

Within minutes a helicopter, with the now familiar Lieutenant Angel flying it, landed at the widest part of the river bank. "Okay you lot, get into the helicopter as quickly as possible" she said

"Yes ma'am" replied Sergeant Butch.

As Rosie was getting near the helicopter she said to Maddie "I hope that Angel doesn't bang us into the ground when we land like she used to."

"Oh don't be silly, do you want to stay here instead?"

"No I want to go and get my sister."

"Sergeant, what about the others?" Rosie asked.

"They are being picked up so don't worry about them" Butch reassured her.

13

On a Mission

The base had been fairly quiet and Ava was hanging some washing out on the line when four helicopters flew right over the house. They hovered above the parade ground then slowly came down and landed together. Rosie was amazed how good a pilot Angel was. In fact, she was even more surprised when she thought they were still hovering just above the ground, the engine was cut and Rosie realised that Angel had landed so gently she didn't even know she was on the ground.

"Okay, everyone inside the sheds" said the Sergeant. On reaching the shed they all sat there amongst their kit and Lottie was smiling at Rosie and whispered "You okay Sis?"

"Yes".

"I thought you said you would never be a soldier. That was pretty amazing what you did!"

They sat freezing for about half an hour and then Corporal Sasha walked in followed by the C.O.

"Listen up please everyone" said Sasha in a quiet voice. She had never been known to raise her voice. She was a brilliant assistant for the C.O. and was always ready to help anybody on the base, but she never liked having to put on her green collar to sort out problems.

"Okay, just a few things" said the C.O. "You young cadets must be wondering why we have brought you back early." Rosie immediately thought "Oh my! It's because of us in the river. I'm in for it again."

Maddie noticed that the C.O.'s face twitched a bit as he went on to say "There is a problem with a group of soldiers from another country on the small island of Grube which is not too far from here. We have been ordered to go in and resolve it, so all active soldiers are to get your kit ready and be back at the helicopters in one hour. You will be told more on the way to the island." This of course included Sergeant Butch, who would play an important part in the mission. "I'm sorry, you cadets will be left to your own devices and have some free time until we return from this mission. Would all the active staff covered by these orders please leave now, apart from Sergeant Butch who I need for a minute. Would the cadets also remain behind!"

The sheds cleared very quickly leaving just the few as ordered.

"Okay, I won't keep you long. It is regarding an incident during the survival exercise. Team Alpha ran into some trouble on the river and one cadet was part of this. Please step forward Cadet Rosie."

"Oh oh" she thought, trembling, "I am really for it now." She stepped forward, and saluted her senior officer and leader of the base.

"Cadet Rosie, Sir." she said.

"Stand there please. Firstly I have to say that Sergeant Butch has reported the incident to me and I felt it necessary to discuss this with you now, then you can all get away, shower and get some proper food inside you. It may be a suggestion that you build a bigger raft in future. However, Cadet Rosie" he said, looking at her, "You apparently jumped into the river after your team mates Maddie and Millie. Is this true?"

"Yes Sir" Rosie replied, looking worried.

"You then took them to the other side of the river, is this true?"

"It is Sir".

"Do you think that was sensible, cadet?" he said, looking her squarely in the face.

"Erm ... yes Sir. I wanted to save my friends, I mean team" she corrected.

"Well cadet, you did do a silly thing. You are lucky to be alive, but you saved the lives of two others against the odds. I don't know how you managed it because nobody has ever swum across that river, but you managed with two others hanging onto you."

"I like swimming Sir." Rosie replied.

"Well sometimes, Officer Cadet Rosie, we have to make instant choices which don't always seem sensible, but you saved two lives so I suppose it was the right decision. Your trainer, Sergeant Butch has recommended you for a bravery award, which I agree with. We can sort that out later though, as I think you all need to get dry and fed. What do you say to that cadet?"

"Yes Sir. Thank you Sir" and Rosie did a very smart salute.

"Excellent." said the C.O., and was gone in a second.

Lottie was grinning and so was Gracie and they talked all night together about their days adventure. Sergeant Butch picked up his kit and left towards his room to get ready to leave the base for the island. He was actually very pleased with Rosie. He had always thought she would make it and become a good soldier, despite her attitude in the beginning, and this was the point at which she changed, thought Butch as he turned to walk away, smiling to himself.

Several days went by and the cadets strangely found that they were bored sitting around not doing much. A corporal came in to check they were all okay and made sure they all made it to meals at the right times. They were all used to the rules now and didn't really need to be checked on.

"You would think we would be excited, wouldn't you?" said Gracie to the group.

"About what?" replied Maddie.

"Well, that we have all this time to ourselves, but I'm fed up, even bouncing on two mattresses is starting to bore me now."

"Well clean your boots or your kit, Gracie" suggested Lottie.

"I have, all of it, like you lot. It's simply that we haven't got anything to do."

"Shall we try and get in the mess again?" suggested Rosie.

"But what's the point?" said Lottie. "There's no dance, no Green Tot or anyone about.

"Yes, I suppose so." sighed Rosie.

Corporal Sasha came in later that afternoon.

"Okay cadets, the kitchen has put on some extra tea and biscuits for you all. Cadet Lottie, you are in charge of getting the group to get to meals on time from now until your training starts again, which won't be long."

"Oh good, when do we start Corporal?" Lottie said.

"Well, they will be returning tomorrow afternoon and then they will have to discuss the mission with the C.O., so you will start again the day after. Make the best of it. As you know, you will be finishing your basic training next week, and then you will be back for specialised training." The second half of the training would be better for Lottie and Rosie as they would be able to live at home, as of course would Gracie. Maddie and Millie had decided to share a house on the base and the male cadets were doing something similar, although one lived nearby and would also go home.

Lottie felt very proud that she had been given responsibility to get the group to the dining rooms at meal times. She was naturally worried about Gracie bouncing off somewhere whilst on the way, so she kept an eye on her just in case. She gave some thought to her specialist training knowing that during the basic training the instructors, mainly Sergeant Butch, had watched every one of them very carefully. It was they who would decide which special training they would go into. Sadly two of the whole group would be failing the basic training and leaving the Army base.

Later the following afternoon the helicopters were suddenly hovering and landing on the parade ground and the soldiers jumped out. The cadets were all up against their windows and secretly they were all so glad to see Sergeant Butch jump out and walk with the others towards their mess area.

"Wow!" said Maddie "They don't even look tired or like they have been anywhere."

"Yes Maddie" said Rosie "We're supposed to be fit like that by now."

"I already am" boasted Gracie. "I've had more exercise than you lot."

"How do you work that out?" asked Lottie.

"By bouncing on the mattresses" laughed Gracie, and they all had a good giggle about it.

The mission had been a success and they had cleared the island of the enemy soldiers by sneaking up on them without being seen. Butch told the cadets as much as he could to use as an example for their training, but he wasn't allowed to tell them too much as they were not yet official Green Collar soldiers. Polancia had been in danger from another country across the mountains for a long time and enemy soldiers were often trying to find the Polancian Royal Crest to defeat the country.

The last week of their basic training went by without much happening, which made them feel even more bored. They even had to do some tests about maps, write letters and do some maths to pass.

"Okay you lot" said one of the corporals they had never met before. "You will finish and pass out into special training in two days. Your task by then will be to make sure your uniforms and boots are absolutely clean and ready for the parade ground. It will be a very special parade for those of you who pass and we will also be changing the C.O." Lottie was about to ask why, but the corporal said "and don't ask. You will find out who your new C.O. is on Friday, and then after that you will get your kit which must be packed and your lockers cleared out as you won't return to this sleeping block. You can fall asleep wherever you like as long as you appear for your next training on Monday morning next week. If you are not there, guess what cadets?"

"Erm ... kitchen cleaning duties, Corporal." said Rosie.

"You got it dead right, so don't be late. Anyway, we need to get you all out of our hair to the other training department at the other end of the block. Okay, stand easy." and the corporal left.

"Do you notice how they go out of the room before they've barely finish what they are saying? He probably wants his tea and biscuits before we get there and eat the lot." said Maddie.

"No, that would be Lottie on her own." said Rosie. Lottie gave her a look and a face pull with it to tell her to shut up. Maddie looked at her watch. "She's right. It is tea time. Are you still leading us Lottie?"

"I don't know, I guess so." she replied and led them all out toward the kitchens.

14

Passing Out Day

Gracie sat at the table, pushing her food around the plate with no interest.

"What's up?" said Maddie "Your face is making me feel miserable."

"It's the results" said Lottie. "She has got it into her head she has failed."

"No, that will probably be me" Rosie replied as they all sat in the dining room eating their food.

"Well my friends, you won't have to wait any longer'' Millie announced as she spotted Corporal Sasha walk to the notice board with a piece of paper.

The Corporal barely had time to finish pinning it up when there was a load of bodies flying towards the board to see if they had passed and what their specialised training would be. Gracie was the last one there and then decided she couldn't wait, so she dived on top of all of them, creating a pile of cadets on the floor.

"Get up you idiots" shouted a voice from the corridor.

"Oh Gracie, stop being a mad head for just a minute." said Maddie.

"Okay, sorry you lot. I just got a bit excited that's all."

Two male cadets walked quietly away from the board making it obvious they were the ones who didn't pass. Lottie had managed to get there and had a broad smile on her face.

"Medical training." she said to Rosie.

"Wow! That means you will eventually be a doctor. Ava will be pleased."

"What about you Rosie?" said Lottie.

"Hang on, let me look" replied Rosie as she leant over Millie "Oh cool! Marine Operations diver. What's that I wonder?"

"It means you will go onto the small boats and dive below the water." said Lottie.

"That sounds great! I like that idea. Are you sure?"

"Yes, I read it in my manual."

"Oh yes I remember reading it as well" said Rosie. "Wow, that's brilliant! You're a doctor and I'm a diver."

"Well, we have to finish the training first Rosie."

"What about you Gracie?" asked Millie seeing the look of confusion on Gracie's face.

"I'm surprised. It says PT."

"Oh that will suit you perfectly" Lottie said to Gracie.

"Why will it?"

"You will be doing all the physical training of soldiers and work in the gym, and think of all the trampolines to jump on in there."

"Oh fantastic!" Gracie said smiling broadly. "I can get to bounce in the gym." They all laughed at her. Gracie was, and always would be, Gracie.

"What about you two?" said Rosie to Maddie and Millie.

"I'm going to Communications, you know radios and all that stuff" said Maddie.

"And I'm going to work in the kitchens and be a chef and cook the food." said Millie.

As they all left the Mess, still excitedly discussing their new roles, Lottie watched her friends, her heart filled with pride at their achievements and she wondered what the future held for each of them.

Later that day they all stood in the sunshine on the parade ground with a slight breeze blowing. "Okay you lot" said Sergeant Butch. "Stay in line, nice and square, shoulders back, look forward, just as you were trained. Good to see you have all made such an effort to clean your boots." There was quite a gathering of onlookers and the rest of the green collars. This was their passing out day for basic training, but they would still have to wait to finish their final part.

"Attention!" shouted Butch. Everyone smartly stood up straight and looked ahead as the C.O. walked onto the platform to address them using the microphone. "Hello to you all on this fine day. I have great pleasure to stand here and announce that cadet class 12 have now completed their basic training and I hope you are happy with your new training which starts on Monday. You cadets may now remove your markings." Hurriedly they all reached to their shoulders and pulled the coloured cloth away to show they were no longer in basic training. Of course, they wouldn't be full officers until they wore the green collar and drank the green tot.

"Well done to you all and good luck with the final part of your training." said the C.O. "We are also gathered here because I would like to say that it has been the greatest thing in my life to be your commanding officer and to protect this very special base, which as you should all know was started by three very brave soldiers who died fighting here. The King of Polancia has sent his regards and hopes, as do I, that one day his family's Crest will be returned to him. Sadly my day has now come to an end and I shall retire at midnight tonight. Your new Commanding Officer will be Flight Lieutenant Angelica who will take command from tomorrow morning, and it is to her that you will have to take any of your problems from now on."

At that point Angel marched up to the C.O., saluted, and then he passed Angel the ceremonial sword from around his waist. She attached it to her belt, and he saluted her saying "Well done C.O."

With a smile, Angel said "It is my honour sir."

"They are a good lot, so you look after them" he said, talking about all of the green collars.

"I will sir" she replied. The old C.O. was pleased to be handing over the job to Angel. He had been very worried about her landing the helicopters so badly, but that was clearly not a problem anymore as he realised, like everyone else, that Angel was in fact a very good pilot.

"Just remember Angel when there are missions to go on like Grube Island, don't send yourself flying in first. You're the C.O. now and they need you to command them."

"I understand sir" replied Angel as she saluted and then marched back to her place in the officers' line. The band then started playing and they all marched off the parade ground and back to doing their various duties around the base.

15

Special Training

Both Lottie and Rosie were happy to get back to living in the house with Ava for the rest of their training, which could take as long as two years. Now they felt special, like real military people, without their cadet markings. Time rolled by and they progressed through their training. Lottie was becoming a very good medic and Gracie spent all her free time using the trampolines to bounce on in her work area in the gym. They were using a new mess on a different part of the base which was much smaller than the new cadets' area.

One day there was a big fuss. One of the soldiers had lost a packet of biscuits and was blaming his friends and everyone else he could see. Lottie glanced over at Gracie who was pretending to be reading a book during the outbreak about the biscuits. Lottie could see that Gracie wasn't really reading because the book was upside down and she caught a smile on Gracie's face. Then two days later the soldier found them in the tumble drier.

"Whoever thinks they are clever putting my biscuits in the tumble dryer is a fool. Luckily for whoever it was they are okay and not melted." said the soldier. Happy to be back with his biscuits he sat and ate the whole packet.

Lottie just shook her head and then Gracie wrinkled her nose back. Lottie couldn't believe that they were almost full officers, nearly ready to wear the Green Collar, and Gracie was still hiding people's things for fun.

"Ah, but she is Gracie. I suppose she will never change" Lottie thought.

Lottie liked the free time in the mess because they hadn't got to see each other that much recently as they were all doing different training.

Rosie was next to Lottie, laid out in a chair and almost fast asleep.

"What's up with her?" Maddie nodded towards Rosie.

"Oh she slept so hard last night she needs a rest" replied Millie and they all started laughing. At that moment a Lieutenant came up and said

"Lottie, can you please wake up your sister and tell her to be in the boats office in one hour."

"Will do ma'am" replied Lottie. "Ma'am" was how they had to address higher ranked female officers or "Sir" if it was a male.

"Rosie! Rosie! You're so lazy" said Lottie, prodding her sister to wake her up.

"Oh what now?" grumbled Rosie.

"You have to be at your boats office in an hour. I think they're going to send you to find the Titanic" laughed Lottie.

Rosie had settled in very well in her training and was actually learning and studying hard. She enjoyed going around the island on a fast boat and jumping off to save people and things like that. She proved again during this part of her training that her swimming was very good and why she got into the boats section of the Green Collars. Nearly every day she walked home to Ava's with Lottie, which was so different to their younger school days. Lottie had also realised that Rosie didn't mention the secret building much anymore. In fact, she couldn't remember the last time she talked about it at all. However, it wasn't totally out of Rosie's head as on two or three times walking home she glanced towards the building at the piece of rope tied to the top of the roof. It was still there after their failed attempt. Lottie didn't say anything when she saw her looking and thought it best not to mention it either in case it gave her new ideas. However, that was all about to change.

"Afternoon Sir" said Rosie to the Major in charge of the boats section as she reported to the Boat Office.

"Aah Rosie, I want you to take a couple of staff, Corporal Ryan and Private Leigh, and go and bring out one of our old boats from storage. We need to use it for practice next week."

"Yes Sir. Where is it?" asked Rosie.

"It's in the old building" said the Major. "Come here in the morning I will have the key to the lock on the boats and here is a written authorisation from C.O. Angelica to gain entry to the building. Give the pass to the guard on the door when you go." The major looked at Rosie and said "Is there a problem? You look like you have seen a ghost."

"Err, no sir. I just didn't realise that there was anything in that old building." The thought of it hadn't hit Rosie properly yet, but she was actually being given a written pass to get into the secret building! She almost hugged the Major in shock.

"Oh there isn't really much in there, just an old house and a couple of our old boats. We had nowhere to put them so we had to get permission to store them in there. In fact, I think we will take them both out and keep them over here from now on, so can you do that Rosie?"

"Yes sir, I certainly can" she replied.

That evening Rosie couldn't wait to tell Lottie and on their way back to Ava's. Rosie said to Lottie "You are never going to believe where I am going tomorrow morning."

"To the moon?" Lottie said, giggling.

Rosie looked at her and said "Have you been with Gracie today? You're acting a bit silly. No, I'm going into the secret building, that's where!" she said.

"Oh my dear lord" said Lottie "I thought it was too good to be true as you've not mentioned it for ages. Please, please, don't bother Rosie. You will spoil your chances of becoming a good boats officer."

"Have you finished?" said Rosie, smiling at her sister. "I have permission" and she showed Lottie the signed pass from the CO.

"How have you managed to get that?"

"It's nothing like you're thinking, but there are a couple of old boats in there we need to get out. So I'm finally getting in there."

"Well, well" said Lottie, smiling and thinking this could finally put an end to all of Rosie's mad schemes when she sees the old house at last.

"I'm going in with a couple of lower ranked soldiers so I will send them off to do something for half an hour while I have a quick look in the house."

"Oh Rosie don't go in the house. If the guard catches you it will be the end of your career. Nobody is allowed in there and your pass clearly says access to only remove boats, not climbing all over a sacred regimental building."

"I won't get caught" said Rosie, snatching the pass back from Lottie, who knew only too well that nothing would stop her sister from her final effort to get in the house.

The next day Ava was awoken early by both Rosie and Lottie in uniform standing at the end of her bed. Ava had been staying in bed a bit later than she usually would since the two of them had started their training. Lottie held out a tray with scrambled eggs on toast with a cup of tea.

"There you are, Ava, breakfast in bed" said Rosie as Lottie put the tray on her lap once Ava had sat up.

"You are both special, and this is very nice. How smart you both look!"

"Well we must be off, Ava, we're very busy today" said Rosie, and they both turned and went down the stairs, racing each other as they always had done.

They got to the stable and were welcomed by an "Eeeh" from Holly. Rosie laughed, "She is saying hello in Donkey language. Maybe one day she will learn to "Aaw".

"Okay, I'll see you later" said Lottie as she walked off to the left toward the medical centre. "Have a fun day Sis".

Rosie waved and carried on toward the boats section. As she turned the corner of the wall which ran along the side of the boats office and car park area, her heart sank and she felt like she wanted to be sucked into the car park and to be never seen again.

Outside the storage entrance sat two old boats with their paint peeling off and no engines on the back. Rosie knew these had to be the boats from the secret building. She went into the office and had to try very hard to control her feelings.

"Ahh" said the Major, "Change of plan. You don't need to bother about the boats, Rosie."

"That was it" she thought. "My big chance over because of a couple of boats." The Major continued to explain that there were a couple of soldiers who were on disciplinary duties as they had done something wrong, so they were given the task of getting the boats out last night.

"But I have the pass, sir." said Rosie.

"Oh we got another one but I need yours back to be returned to the C.O." Rosie reached inside her uniform pocket, and for a moment considered pretending she had lost the pass so she could get in the building later on her own. But she was honest, so sadly she handed it back.

Rosie stayed annoyed for a while, but her training along with efforts from Lottie to make her feel better soon worked, and she was focused on her studies. Eventually the day came when the training was all over. They all put on their best uniforms and lined up to finally become officers.

This time there were only a few people present as it was a secret base, and there were never very many Green Collars passing anyway. In fact, two more had dropped out in the specialised training period which had now come to an end. This time, however, to Lottie's, Rosie's and even Gracie's surprise, Ava stood on the parade ground to watch them all pass their final day. She smiled at them as her green collar fluttered in the wind and her uniform looked so smart. They couldn't believe their eyes and Lottie said "I knew, it I knew it!"

Sergeant Butch, smiling, said to them "Well, we couldn't let our youngsters be brought up by just anyone, could we?" Rosie said "She is a green collar too!"

Later that evening Ava would tell them how she had served with their Mom and how special she was.

They stood in line and one by one received their honours. Rosie was first. A Corporal stood in front of her with a tray and on the tray was a green sash. Rosie picked it up and put it around her neck then reached for the small green drink next to it. Tradition said that you had to wear the collar and couldn't be a full member until you drank the Green Tot. Rosie swallowed it in one go and was surprised how nice and sweet it tasted, not at all like she thought it would be. Then the Corporal moved onto Gracie and the tray was held up to her. Rosie couldn't help thinking "Oh I hope she doesn't try and jump on it all." But that was just nerves as Gracie placed the sash round her neck and drank the Tot.

Finally at the end of the day the C.O. spoke to them.

"Thank you all for being here" she said. "I cannot say what an honour it is to see these young recruits become officers" and she read out their names.

"From now on you will be treated as are all officers in this regiment and will all hold the rank of Lieutenant. Finally I have to report that we will be moving out."

A silent shock wave went around the whole of the base.

"I can understand your reaction, as mine was exactly the same. However, we have to do as we are told and our government has decided that this base is no longer worth keeping open. We have three months to move to our new base which is one thousand miles away in Polancia."

Ava felt quite sad as she thought about all the past soldiers from the base who had died on special missions, like the original three and Lottie and Rosie's mother Pippa. Still, Ava was retired now and only allowed to wear her uniform on special occasions such as today, so it wouldn't affect her as much as the serving officers.

Angel continued "I know some of you won't be happy about this, but we have no choice. Looking on the bright side, we will have a nice new base to go to."

Rosie looked horrified and Lottie knew exactly why. Angel finished with an explanation about the old base. "The base will never be forgotten although it will be closed with only a handful of soldiers guarding what will be left of it after we have moved all of the equipment out. We will get help from another army base to move our equipment but absolutely nothing will be left here, so make sure you do a good job packing up. I'm sorry to have to tell you this on such a joyous day."

Sergeant Butch then shouted "Dismiss!" very loudly and everyone left the parade ground.

Just as Rosie was about to follow Lottie and Gracie off the parade ground, Butch approached her, saluted and said "Well done Ma'am." A little taken aback by the fact that Butch who was shouting at them last week was now calling her ma'am, she quickly remembered that now she was a higher rank than him. She saluted him back. "Thank you for everything Sergeant." He grinned and walked away, back toward the training block, knowing he had trained a good officer.

Finally the day came when the last of the soldiers left the old base. Lottie had already gone and so had Gracie and Millie, even Ava had left and now lived in a nice house near the new base.

Rosie and Maddie stepped into the helicopter which Angel was flying. It was the C.O.'s right to be the last one to leave and she was going to fly them to another base where an aeroplane was waiting to take them on the last part of their journey. As the helicopter rose, there was just dust blowing over the parade ground and from the helicopter Rosie could see down to a guard still standing in front of the secret building and one on the main entrance to the base, with a handful of other guards nearby. In seconds it was all out of sight. Rosie slumped back in the seat of the helicopter wondering if she would ever get inside that building. She also felt sad as the days of her youth and memories were getting smaller and smaller as the helicopter flew away.

16

Whispering Wind

The aeroplane jolted up and down on the wind in the stormy sky. Lottie felt a bit uncomfortable and wished she was still on the ground. She sat in the seat next to the window, looking out and down through the clouds to the bits of ground she could see below. The aeroplane bounced in the air currents, which made Lottie think of Gracie who would love to be bouncing around.

There were not many people on the aeroplane as it was an army service travelling from one side of Polancia to the other. The rest of the passengers were dotted around the seats and Lottie sat alone. Next to her there was a small wooden box, which she held tightly. She was deep in thought which was abruptly broken every now and then by the aeroplane movement, but then she soon sank back into her memories.

Her mind flashed back, thinking about the last few years since they had become Green Collars. She thought about her time abroad as a medical officer and acting as a doctor trying to save those in need after storms. She'd even once been on a special mission, helping to treat the wounded.

She then thought back to her sister, and was overcome with sadness. How Rosie had completed her training with the rest of them and how well she had done in the boat section, actually leading on several missions. Then one day she was wounded herself and although she seemed to recover, her injuries had a terrible effect on her. One day Lottie came home to the house they had shared together since leaving Ava's home to find Rosie slumped in the armchair. Lottie at first thought nothing of it and that Rosie was being lazy as usual, but when she tried to wake her she realised that her beloved sister had gone to sleep forever.

She remembered her legs giving way and feeling as if the ground had opened beneath her. She could not believe Rosie was gone and the emotions were many.

The doctor said it was something to do with the stress of the wounds she had received a short while before, what they call 'complications'. Even though Lottie understood as she was a doctor herself, she wasn't really listening or taking in what the doctor was telling her. Lottie knew that as both her mom and Rosie were gone she had to be strong. As Ava no longer lived on the base, they had seen her rarely, and Lottie felt very alone now.

The aeroplane attendant came to Lottie to ask if there was anything else she wanted, to which she said no. She was dressed in her full military uniform with her green sash around her neck. She had progressed quite well as an officer and had twice been promoted. The plane buffeted around even more, causing Lottie to hold on to the box even more tightly because it contained Rosie's ashes.

She had a full military funeral with all the Green Collars present, and even Gracie stood still for once. Lottie had decided to take her sister back to be with their Mom on the old base, now long deserted.

Lottie's eyes filled with tears again as she remembered all Rosie's attempts to get into the secret building and how she had tried to get the others to help.

The plane landed on the same airfield from which they had left years before. She managed to get a taxi which left her at the main gate of the old base,

As she approached, the guard saluted as she passed through. He looked surprised to see one of the elite Green Collar regiment back on the base, but as Lottie was senior in rank to him he did not attempt to stop her. As she wove her way between the buildings towards the cemetery, she was shocked and upset at how tatty and dirty it all looked, with overgrown grounds and the fences all falling apart. There was nobody else about. No Sergeant Butch shouting at them, no Angel zooming about in her helicopter, no Honey and Holly and their dung heap. She hugged the box to her as she opened the cemetery gate. Compared to the rest of the base the cemetery still looked quite clean, as though somebody was still looking after it. She walked slowly to her mother's grave and knelt before her gravestone, talking to her as if she could still hear her. "I'm sorry, Mom, I tried to look after her. I did everything I could, but it just wasn't enough."

Lottie blamed herself, although she had been told by Angel that it wasn't her fault and nothing she could have done would have changed things. Rosie was Rosie, a free spirit, adventurous and crazy at times

Lottie fell silent as she saw the new memorial stone next to her mother's grave. She carefully opened the box and scattered the ashes over her mum's grave. A gentle breeze whispered through the trees and Lottie thought, just for one moment, that she could hear Rosie laughing.

"Goodbye my dearest sister. I will never forget you" Lottie turned and walked back out of the cemetery with silent tears rolling down her face.

As she reached the far side of the parade ground, for some reason, instead of going straight on towards the main gate, she turned right.

17

Light in the Darkness

Lottie continued to walk straight on but with confusion going through her mind. "What on earth am I doing?" she questioned herself. Before her mind could answer she had reached her goal and stood in front of a guard, who was surprised to see her. He jumped to attention and saluted to Lottie.

"Ma'am" he said noticing the green sash around her neck. Lottie suddenly felt a calmness that she had known before when saving someone's life as the doctor she now was.

"What is your name, soldier?" she asked.

"Musson, Ma'am" he replied.

"Very good Musson. I need access into the building for about an hour to check some things over." He will never believe that she thought. But to her surprise he simply said

"Yes, no problem at all Ma'am."

"If you take a break Musson and be back here in about one hour, you can then take over guard duty again."

"Ok, I will go and get a cup of tea" he said, thinking what a stroke of luck as he wanted to watch the motorbike racing on the television with the guard on the main gate. He opened the lock on the metal door and then walked away. Lottie very carefully opened the old door and stepped inside into the darkness.

There was almost total blackness and Lottie could only see a small patch of light coming from the roof in the distance. She thought she recognised it, and she was right. It was the panel they had moved all that time ago. It was still not in place properly and the hole in the roof was still there but smaller than she remembered. She was breathing heavily and realised that it was due to nerves. Only ten minutes ago she had been on her way through the old base to the taxi and home, but here she was standing in the secret building and she had got in so easily with no pass. The truth was that since the Green Collars had been gone, the security on the base had reduced and although the secret building was still guarded it was not at the same level and the guard she had relieved didn't seem bothered even to ask why she wanted to go in.

"Why am I standing here?" she thought, stopping, trying to steady her nerves and emotions. Deep down in her mind she knew why she was here, it was for Rosie. It was as if her sister had deliberately steered her towards the old building. Maybe she had in some way, but whatever the reason, she was here so it was down to her to finish what Rosie had started all those years ago. She reached into her uniform pocket to find her phone which had a good torch on it. Despite this, it only lit up about three metres ahead casting an eerie light.

Lottie continued to walk and with the help of her phone light and the hole in the roof she made out the shape of an old house in the distance. She could feel her heart beating faster as she got closer and closer and then there it was, a dim but visible outline of an old Polancian style farm house, with white walls and red roof tiles. The floor was very dusty and as she walked she made small clouds in the air. She approached a dark line which she now realised was an old stone wall around the house with a gate in it. The gate was very stiff but Lottie pushed hard against it and it eventually opened. She walked over a patch of ground which was dim but obviously the path to the front of the house.

It had a metal front door with no window which was typical of the old farmhouses and even some of the new ones in Polancia. The door wasn't locked and Lottie gently pushed it open and as she stood there her heart was beating faster and faster. This was it, she was about to enter the famous old house. As she moved forward she whispered "for you Rosie" and stepped over the threshold. She could make out a sofa and a table and just next to the door as she swung around was a light switch. Lottie flicked the switch out of habit like everyone does in their home although she didn't think that the light would work in a million years. Why would it? This house had stood crumbling away for years.

To her complete amazement the house lit up with quite a bright light. She was so surprised she almost dropped her phone and then remembered to turn it off. She looked around at what was clearly the old living room. As she moved around the walls toward the long unused fireplace, she saw photos on the wall of what were clearly the first three soldiers of the Green Collar regiment. She felt overcome seeing a photo of them in the house they lived in. They looked so strong and proud. There was one photo with all three of them, the Colonel standing between a slightly smaller Sergeant Major Charlie with Major Rupert on the other side. She would love to have known them. Then the sadness of how it all ended came back to remind her that this was the house where they had died. She wandered around and found it was really just an old Polancian farm house.

"But then what else would it be?" thought Lottie. Nevertheless, it had an eerie magic to it, probably because of it's history and being the starting point of the regiment to which she now proudly belonged. She went upstairs and looked around the bedrooms. All the furniture was still in place but covered in dust, which didn't surprise Lottie as the house had been left empty for so long.

Despite this, there was a thought in her mind that the inside of the house did look a little bit cleaner than the outside but then she couldn't see properly so thought nothing more of it until, that is, she made her way to the kitchen. She looked around and opened one cupboard in which she found the cups and plates, and then she opened a tall cupboard in the corner and froze, not believing what she saw. She pulled up a kitchen chair and sat looking into the cupboard. She couldn't help but laugh at a blue duster with a long handle sitting in the corner.

"You crafty old lady" said Lottie to herself, still laughing. It all became clear as to why the house seemed to be cleaner but only inside. The house had been cleaned and looked after up until fairly recently. Of course when the base was moved the cleaning would have stopped.

"If only Rosie knew" said Lottie to an empty room, "If you only knew Sis. Ava had been a regular visitor long before we even thought of coming in here." Again Lottie laughed about how funny Ava used to look with her duster, and the fact she had kept it quiet from Rosie and Lottie all the time. As an ex-member of the Green Collars, Ava had volunteered to look after the old house out of pride and respect for the three original soldiers.

As Lottie sat there she noticed that the plaster on the wall was crumbling and all bubbled up. She had learnt to plaster walls at school in house maintenance lessons, which included building things and repairing your home. She rubbed the wall and then, as the old paint fell away to the floor, she realised that it wasn't bubbled at all but there was a large area which was very slightly raised. If the paint hadn't been old and falling away Lottie probably would not have noticed anything. She rubbed harder and an outline like the shape of something appeared. She couldn't make it out, so she managed to find a knife in the kitchen draw and she used this to scrape away at the wall.

After about five minutes there was shiny metal showing through. Still she couldn't figure out what it was. She then thought it would be easier to wipe it so she turned on a kitchen tap but no water came out. However, she rubbed and rubbed and the metal part became larger, but still she couldn't work out what it was. She scrubbed and scraped until the outline of a shield appeared, and then she rubbed and rubbed some more and there was the shape of an ear. Then her voice let out an almighty shout.

"Oh my goodness! Oh wow!" then it all came into focus as she stood back saying "It can't, be it can't be!" but it was as clear as anything.

She could now see the almost complete shield with what looked like the top of an animal head on it. She scrubbed at it, crazy with excitement, and then stood back again. There it was, in its pure beauty, the long lost Crest of the King of Polancia. Lottie suddenly realised that it had never been lost and that the clever Colonel, worried about the house being taken over by invaders, carried out his duty to the last before he died, and he had built the Kings Crest into the wall to be hidden from the enemy. It was the duty of all the Green Collars to protect the Royal Family and to make sure the Crest is never taken by anyone else other than the King. At the time of the battle all those years ago the King had been worried about his family Crest and given it to the Colonel who promised he would always protect it.

As Lottie stepped out of the old building into the sunlight, the soldier was waiting for her.

"Ah there you are Ma'am. Are you okay? You look a little bit dusty."

"Yes, no problem" she said. "It is very dirty in there."

"Did you manage to do what you had to do Ma'am?"

"Oh yes I definitely did, thank you Musson" she said.

"That's good news" he said, locking the door and wishing her well.

She walked away towards the main gate and the waiting taxi. Around her neck was her old leather satchel which she always used in place of a handbag. As she stepped into the taxi, the sunlight glinted on the Crest, gold and shiny, sticking out from the corner.

Lottie now had an adventure all of her own.

Epilogue

How it all began

The characters in The Rosie Plan are all real apart from Ava. They are all dogs apart from Holly and Honey who are themselves, and Sasha who was a beautiful Siamese cat. The story began when I rescued eight dogs from Spain who then lived with me in an old Spanish farmhouse. They were given a green collar to wear and watching them all together you could see how different they were.

Butch was quite bossy like the sergeant in the story, and Rosie was full of adventure getting into things along with Gracie who really does jump on things and steal washing. Even now when she is old she still races around. Lottie is the sensible one who is also very intelligent and frequently watches television.

The dogs gave me such joy I thought I would write a story around them to thank them and remember them. Unfortunately some of them are now gone and Angel died this year (2016) and the rest are now old to.

The three soldiers in the beginning of the story were also real. The Colonel was a rescued greyhound who died in Spain and is buried in a £3000 Persian carpet. Major Rupert was a deaf and blind Springer spaniel who was left on a beach and rescued. Sergeant Major Charlie was a West Highland white terrier and very much like Butch.

If you would like to know a little more about them or see their pictures then you can find them on the following website:

www.avonv2.wix.com/greencollars

