“On three,” said the burly private. “One … two … three!”
Learoyd’s hand smacked the table before he knew what happened. His eyes grew wide. Ortheris spat tea as he tried to keep from laughing.
“That wasn’t fair,” said Andre. “You weren’t even trying. You were going to give in a little, just to humour me. One more time, and this time for real.” She put up her arm again.
“Faith, and you’re a different sort of woman altogether,” said Learoyd. ‘Very well, then. But this time I won’t hold back. I give you fair warning.”
“I expect no less than for you to do your best,” said Andre.
“Mulvaney,” said Learoyd.
“Right. One… two… three!”
Both exerted pressure on the signal. Learoyd’s mouth dropped open as Andre’s arm refused to budge. Ortheris and Mulvaney, thinking he was toying with her, started chuckling, but it became apparent to them in a moment that Learoyd wasn’t fooling, that he was exerting all his strength to try and put her down and he wasn’t getting anywhere. They stared at the contest in astonishment.
“Blimey!” said Mulvaney. “I must be dreamin’!”
“Corne on, Learoyd!” said Ortheris. “You can’t let a woman put you down, now can you?”
Mulvaney frowned.”Stop muckin’ about, me son.”
“Who’s muckin’ about?” said Learoyd. “She’s as strong as I am!”
“Only as strong?” Andre said, smiling. Learoyd’s arm slowly began to give.
“Well, I’ll be buggered!” said Mulvaney, forgetting he was in the presence of a priest. Both he and Ortheris started to cheer Learoyd on, but it was to no avail. Learoyd gritted his teeth; Learoyd turned red with effort; Learoyd grunted; Learoyd strained, and his arm was still inexorably forced lower until at last the back of his hand touched the surface of the table.
Learoyd gasped as Andre let him go. Ortheris shook his head with amazement. “If I ‘adn’t seen it for myself,” he said, “I’d never ‘ave believed it!”
“Learoyd, that was a disgraceful exhibition, mate,” Mulva
ney said. “Wait’ll the lads in B Comp’ny find out about this!”
“You have a go at her!” said Learoyd. “She’s got the strength of a bloody dockworker!”
Mulvaney, of course, had to rise to the occasion, and being at least twice as strong as Learoyd, he was able to put Andre down, but not without some effort. “Well, sod me!” said Mulvaney, then realised what he had said and flushed.
“It’s quite all right, Private Mulvaney,” said Andre.
“Miss Cross is a most unusual and surprising woman, wouldn’t you agree?” said Lucas.
Andre was rubbing her arm.
“I ‘aven’t done you any ‘arm, ‘ave I, mum?” said Mulvaney, genuinely concerned. “Nothin’ against you, y’understand, but I’m quite strong, an’ you just ‘ad a good match with Learoyd, ‘ere.”
“I’m all right,” said Andre, though her arm was sore and her hand felt as if it had been squeezed in a vice.
“I take back everything I said,” Learoyd said with admiration. “Tell me, miss, how did you come to be so strong? It’s truly remarkable.”
“I grew up on a farm,” said Andre truthfully, for she did grow up on a farm in the Basque country of the Pyrenees in the 12th century. She did not mention that a large part of her strength was due to having been raised as a boy who was trained to be a squire to a knight. The not inconsiderable weight of an English broadsword did wonders for arm development.
“Well, I’ll grant you this, miss,” said Learoyd, “if any white woman was fit enough to travel among the Pathans, that woman is yourself. Though why anyone would want to go there is beyond me.”
“Why do you go, Private Learoyd? “ Andre said.
“Because I’m a Tommy, miss, and I go where I’m ordered,” Learoyd said.
“That isn’t the real reason,” Andre said. “If the duty was unbearable to you, ways could be found to avoid it. You could request a transfer. If no other option were available, you could even take more drastic measures. As a nurse, I’ve seen many cases where men had avoided duty due to being accidentally wounded in some manner, and though I’m not a physician, it didn’t take one to see that the wounds were self-inflicted.”