Free A Time of Peace by Beryl Matthews

day.’
    Kate didn’t doubt that he would be quite soon. He’d been an enthusiastic student from the beginning, with a real flair for photography. They had a good working partnership now, and her respect for him grew and grew.
    Just then there was a sharp rap on the door and Terry came in.
    â€˜Are my prints ready, Kate?’
    â€˜Yes. You’ve taken some really terrific ones.’ She handed him the photos. ‘Pete’s done a first-class job with them.’
    He shuffled through them and gave the boy a slight smile. ‘You’re getting good at this.’
    â€˜Thank you, sir.’
    The bellow that came from outside was so loud it penetrated their room. Kate looked at the photographer in amusement. ‘The Chief’s calling for you.’
    Terry sat on a stool. ‘Well, I don’t want to be found. He’s looking for someone to go out to the Congo in a week’s time to assist Jon Devlin, and I bloody well don’t want to go!’
    Kate knew Terry had only been married about six months, and she could understand his reluctance to leave his new wife.
    â€˜Tell the Chief you don’t want to go,’ she suggested.
    The look he gave her was incredulous.
    â€˜Perhaps not,’ she conceded. Andrew Stevenson ruled the paper and its employees like a dictator. If you valued your job, you didn’t argue with him. Still … Kate chewed her lip and came to an unusually hasty decision. ‘I’ll go
and volunteer for the job,’ she announced, and was on her way before Terry could stop her.
    Andrew didn’t have anyone with him, so she knocked on the open door and waited for him to look up.
    â€˜Yes?’
    She stepped inside and took a steadying breath. ‘I understand you’re looking for a photographer to go out to the Congo. I’d like to do the job.’
    The Chief glared at her. ‘Terry’s going.’
    â€˜I know he would be your first choice, but I’m willing to go in his place.’
    There was a tense silence, broken only by the tap of his pencil on the desk. Kate understood that this had been a foolhardy thing to do, but she was never going to get anywhere if she didn’t start being more assertive. And she really wasn’t prepared to take much more of his rudeness.
    Andrew tossed the pencil down. ‘Get out of here before I lose my temper!’
    For some reason her feet wouldn’t move, but her mouth did. ‘I’m quite capable of doing the job.’
    He surged out of his chair. ‘What gave you the idea that you could work in a dangerous place like the Congo?’
    â€˜I’d like the chance to do – ’ The thunderous expression on his face stopped her in mid sentence.
    â€˜I wouldn’t dream of sending a woman. Especially you. Haven’t you heard that a car was fired on, killing two innocent people? So stop wasting my time,’ he snapped. ‘And send Terry in here. I know he’s hiding in the darkroom.’
    Kate kept her head high. The remark, ‘especially you’, had made her position clear. He obviously had a low
opinion of her and would never let her do anything but photograph models. What she couldn’t understand was why he had employed her in the first place. There were plenty of competent photographers around who could do this kind of work. She needed something more challenging. She was wasting her time here. That realization hurt. This was the best newspaper on the market, and she’d worked hard to become a part of it. She’d never settled for second best in her life, but it looked as if she was going to have to now. And she was damned if she was going to put up with him any more. She wanted some answers.
    â€˜Tell me, Mr Stevenson, you obviously think I’m not any good, so why did you employ me?’
    â€˜Because I didn’t have a choice,’ he shot at her. ‘You were foisted on me.’
    Kate was stunned. What on earth