Free The Trouble With Heroes.... by Jo Beverley Page B

Nell Raiseby now with Dan Fixer's
mother…"
    Jenny turned away. She couldn't bear
watching that. Should she go and support Annie Rutherford? Or to
the Witan to speak up for Dan?
    But was it Dan? If Dan was alive, wouldn’t
he have contacted his family? Or her? Especially her. Worse than
that, deep inside, painful as a fatal wound, she too had doubts. If
it was Dan, what had come home from the war?
    "But he is a hero." When she realized she'd
spoken aloud she glanced around.
    No one was paying attention, thank
heavens.
    She slipped out of the pub. She needed to go
up on the wall and see for herself.
    When she stepped outside, however, dark was
settling. The camera would show more than human eyes could, but a
screen would be too distracting. She needed to think.
    She longed to have Dan back in her life, in
her arms, but even if that figure by the fire was Dan, he could be
changed. She'd seen that, too, in war films. People who returned
not just with physical wounds but with mental ones, driven crazy by
the things they'd had to do, sometimes even destroying those they’d
fought to save.
    How did she find that out? How did she do
the right thing with her heart yearning to have him back?
    She stepped back into the pub. Part of the
screen was covering the committee meeting now. Another section
showed the huge basement bar in Parliament Hall with its fully
screened wall that made it a popular place to watch official
proceedings. An illusion of being close to the action
    As the camera scanned the attentive crowd
Jenny saw Tom, Rolo, Yas – a bunch of Dan’s friends – at a table.
They would be coming up with some way to help him.
    She ran to catch a tram, aware that she’d
made one decision. The man by the fire was Dan. And that meant that
she had to help him, no matter what the situation.
    She was soon pushing into the crowded room,
looking for the others but keeping an eye on the screens. She
paused a moment to listen to the committee. Surprise, surprise.
They weren't getting anywhere fast.
    Where were the others?
    Then someone shouted, "Jenny!" and she saw
Gyrth standing and waving.
    She squeezed over and those on one side
wriggled together so she could squeeze on the end of the bench.
    The mood was grim. "It's not going well?"
she asked.
    Gyrth poured her a beer. "Who knows? At this
rate they'll probably talk until the next blighter attack."
    "The blighters are gone."
    "Whatever."
    Jenny took a deep drink. "Are they going to
let Dan in?"
    "Probably not."
    "Then what are we going to do?"
    Everyone looked at her blankly.
    "What can anyone do?" Rolo asked.
    "Argue. Protest! They can't keep a hero
out."
    "When Sillitoe argued that, Alderman Potts
came up with the bright idea that we can't welcome a hero of the
Hellbane Wars home without adequate preparation. He wants Dan to go
away until we're ready."
    Jenny groaned. "Let's form another
committee."
    No one laughed.
    Jenny eyed them all. "We could sneak him
in."
    Instead of approval, eyes and bodies
shifted.
    "That wouldn't be right," Gyrth said. "It
would be... undignified."
    "It's not very dignified to leave him
sitting out on the grass, is it?" She stared around. "Let's do form
a bloody committee."
    "Don't take that tone!" Yas leaned forward
poking a long, beringed finger onto the table. "It's not a simple
matter, and if you think it is, you're naive. None of us know what
Dan is now. Perhaps he is dangerous."
    "You know better than that!"
    "It's because I know better that I'm wary.
There's more to him than the laughing friend, you know."
    Jenny was shocked by her own outrage at
Yas's claim. None of them knew what had happened. Perhaps she
should tell them, but she couldn’t do it. Perhaps they wouldn’t
even believe her.
    "He's bound to be different, Jenny," Tom
said gently.
    "I suppose."
    Then Rolo said something about there being
more point watching cricket, and Yas turned it to office politics.
In moments three different conversations were going on around the
table, none