She bent her head against a sudden dust ball. Everything was the same dun colour: the tents; her uniform; the Jeeps—there were even dust-coloured tanks parked along the high walls surrounding the compound. Tiggy didn’t know if that made her feel better or worse.
She must have been crazy to come. Although back in the UK they had been thoroughly briefed as to what to expect—down to practising what medical emergencies they might encounter in a mock-up of a building with soldiers acting the part of casualties—nothing had really prepared her for the reality of living in a war zone. And nothing had prepared her for the sheer terror she felt.
Coming in to land last night on the Hercules, the pilot had dimmed the cabin lights in case they attracted enemy fire. When his words had come over the intercom, Tiggy had almost lost it.
Enemy fire? She hadn’t signed up for that. She’d signed up to be looking after soldiers miles away from danger in a camp protected by soldiers.
She’d squeezed her eyes shut, not even able to force them open when she’d felt someone sit next to her. She had become aware of a faint scent of citrus.
‘You can open your eyes, you know.’ The laughter in his voice bugged her.
She’d opened one eye and squinted. In the dim light of the cabin all she had been able to make out had been a powerful frame in uniform and the flash of even, white teeth.
Whoever it was had been studying her frankly in return.
‘For all you know, I’m having a nap,’ she’d said through clenched teeth.
‘I’ve never seen anyone nap while holding on to their seat so tight their knuckles were white.’
‘God!’ She gave up all pretence. ‘What if they hit the plane? I’m scared to death of flying as it is.’
‘Hey, relax. It will be okay. The pilots have done it scores of times and no one has shot them down yet. They just say what they do to make all the newbies cra— Apologies, ma’am. To scare the newbies.’
She hadn’t been sure she’d entirely believed him, but she had felt a little better.
‘How much longer until we’re on the ground?’
‘Another twenty minutes or so.’
‘Twenty bloody minutes!’ she groaned.
‘Why don’t you tell me all about yourself? It’ll help distract you.’ He held out a hand. ‘I’m Nick, one of the army doctors. You?’
‘Tiggy. Casualty nurse.’
‘Then we’ll be working together,’ he said with a sideways grin. ‘You with anyone? Married? Engaged?’
This was not exactly the sort of route Tiggy wanted to go down. Men didn’t exactly queue up at her door. Might have been something to do with the fact that her brothers appeared to think it was their duty to guard her honour as if she were some early-twentieth-century maiden, or it might—and this was more likely—have to do with the fact that she wasn’t particularly pretty or vivacious.
‘No. You?’
‘God, no!’ He laughed.
The sound of sniggering came from the seats behind them.
‘Major Casey married?’ A soldier leant over the top of her seat. ‘You have got to be kidding. The major barely stays with a woman long enough to—’
‘That’s enough, Corporal.’ The words were quietly spoken but stopped the soldier from finishing his sentence.
Stay with a woman long enough to what?
The plane lurched to the right and Tiggy yelped.
‘You have a strong grip for such a little thing,’ Nick drawled.
She hadn’t realised that she’d grabbed his hand, but when she tried to pull away he curled his fingers around hers.
It was easier to leave her hand where it was. Especially when it felt so reassuring—or would have if it weren’t for the millions of little sparks, enough to ignite the whole plane, shooting up the side of her arm.
Adrenaline made you over-sensitive, didn’t it?
‘So, tell me, what made you come out here?’ Nick asked.
Anyone would have thought they were on a day trip to the seaside.
‘Brothers. One in Engineers, the other an Apache pilot. Thought I’d better come and check up on them.’
‘I’m surprised they let you come out.’
‘Let me? You mean you think I should have asked their permission?’ Actually, if they had known she was planning to head out after them to a war zone, she had no doubt they would have stopped her—forcibly if necessary.
They might all be adults now, but her two brothers continued to protect their little sister as they had all their lives. Although they liked to spoil her, there were disadvantages to having older brothers.
‘If I had a sister I wouldn’t let her come out here,’ Nick continued. ‘No way. Women have no place in a war.’
Even if that was almost exactly what her family thought, Tiggy wasn’t prepared to let it pass. ‘Oh, for goodness’ sake! This is the twenty-first century.’
‘Doesn’t matter. Women should be safe.’
‘Barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen? Please!’ She had only just got started on putting him right when the plane lurched once more. She yelped again.
The I-told-you-so look he gave her was enough to make her decide that even if the plane went into a spiral she’d rather die than let him hear her scream.
Die? God, don’t let her mind go there.
She took a deep breath. ‘Just because I’m a little frightened of flying, it doesn’t mean I shouldn’t have come here.’ She lifted her chin and stared at him. ‘I’ll be fine once we’re on the ground.’ At least her voice sounded reasonably steady.
He laughed. ‘Good on you. Now, why don’t you tell me about those brothers of yours?’
When the plane touched down with a skipping bounce, Tiggy was surprised. Despite her terror, the last twenty minutes or so had flown past. She realised that she’d told Nick about her brothers, her parents, every place her father had been posted and even the family’s pet dog, Hannibal.
God, she’d been babbling so much Nick knew almost everything about her life. On the other hand, she knew nothing about him. Probably because she hadn’t let him get a word in edgeways.
Her companion returned her hand—she hadn’t even realised she was still holding onto it—and eased out of his seat.
He touched his cap in a mock salute. ‘See you around, Lieutenant.’
Tired and disoriented, Tiggy had only a vague recollection of being shown to her quarters by a friendly nurse in army uniform who had greeted her sleepily, shown her to her bunk and then, with a yawn, excused herself with a ‘Catch you at breakfast’.
Even if the bed had been comfortable, Tiggy doubted she would have slept anyway. The adrenaline that was still making her heart hammer would have kept her awake even if she’d had a feather mattress to sleep on. And as for the heat! She couldn’t remember being as hot during the day as she had been last night. Plus she was sure her foot had been chomped to bits by some horrible insect through the night.
How the hell was she going to manage six weeks of this? She’d have to. She doubted if the British Army would put on a special plane to fly her back out.
She straightened