Free Sea Gem by Wallis Peel

States—which is our Parliament—sits, he has to be on a chair lower down on the
platform than our Bailiff. For legal purposes we deal with the Privy Council only. What I’m saying Mary is that this is
not
our war. Oh! We’ll help the mother country but this
should be with professional soldiers, not giddy, starry-eyed young fools who rush off at the first note of a trumpet, dreaming of galloping into battle on a white charger. Charles was like that and
look what happened to him. Duret, of course, must copy. Young men never stop to think. Sometimes they are such fools,’ she said bitterly.
    Mary was astounded at this passionate outburst and compared it to Victor’s similar views. Did this mean it was she who was out of step? Was Victor right and she wrong? Unease filled her as
she remembered her cold words. She swallowed miserably and knew she would have to do something. She was far too honest to allow a lie to rest uncorrected.
    ‘If you were against Duret enlisting, why didn’t you stop him?’ she asked, puzzled.
    ‘Easier to stop the tide!’ Louise snorted with anger. She thought back to her hot words and Duret’s, for once, equally obdurate stance. It had been his first, independent
action and she suspected it had been done deliberately, as some crazy way of proving his manhood. ‘Not all our young men went. Those with sense stayed and they are alive,’ she ended
sadly.
    * * *
    The weather swiftly developed into the island’s spring in advance of that on the mainland. As Mary wheeled her cycle out again, she felt warmth bask her shoulders from the
sun. Tante had taken her into St Peter Port and bought a new, more suitable wardrobe. She wore a white, long-sleeved blouse with a dove grey skirt, shorter than normal but easier for the cycle and
Mary had never been so well dressed in all her life. This bothered her conscience, particularly today, as she knew where she was going to cycle.
    Sam frowned as he watched her freewheel down the lane and shook his head dubiously. He felt sorry for her and was agitated at what might happen to her. Although the girl had a strong character
she had not yet met Louise on the warpath. What would happen at the inevitable showdown?
    Mary turned left and pedalled easily, not really wanting to arrive in one sense but, on the other hand, why was her heart fluttering with excitement?
    She was quite unaware of an observer, carefully positioned with an old-fashioned telescope.
    It was a gorgeous day and Mary admired the many open spring flowers and the new leaves. The sea was placid and she guessed it was still on the ebb, then grinned at herself. Already she had
started to regulate her life by the tides because she had an empathy with the island and its ways.
    She had learned much from Sam who was an excellent tutor. She had fallen into the habit of strolling with him in the evening after the cows had been milked. He had started to teach her Guernsey
patois and Mary was smugly pleased with the way she was picking this up. Only last evening they had walked slowly with the cows moving ahead but taking their time as only cows will. One of the
animals was particularly inquisitive and kept butting Mary’s skirt, trying to nibble her calves. In final exasperation Mary had swung around and, with hands on hips shouted, ‘Fiche le
camp!’
    Sam had let out a bellow of laughter and Mary was instantly disconcerted.
    ‘Did I say it wrong?’
    ‘Not at all!’ Sam croaked holding his ribs with mirth. ‘You just sounded so annoyed telling the cow to “buzz off”.’
    ‘Oh! That’s all right then!’ Mary told him quite delighted with herself.
    Still quivering with amusement, Sam continued what he had been about to explain.
    ‘There is another old island custom which still holds force. It goes back to the Norman times but you should know about it. It’s the “Clameur de Haro”. If anyone is
wronged and they feel deeply about the matter, they simply fall on their knees where