We pray for the healing of your hearts, now that your Panda and mine are together on the far side of the Rainbow Bridge, awaiting our coming in our own times.
A beautiful acceptance of the peace between them as King and Ambassador exchange swords once and again, each realizing his own place in the new relationships between their lands. And did Sam really say, "That's a good Ambassador" as if he were encouraging a small lad in how to meet a new responsibility? Had me giggling!
Author's reply
Thank you, my friend. The pain is not as sharp and constant as it was a week ago, but comes in short bursts now, whenever Panda would usually make her presence known. Walking in at the front door (to be greeted by a cat, nowadays, who has taken on the role of official greeter); the passing by of a delivery vehicle or a car parking out front; a cat scratching the furniture; the rattle of ice cubes (how she adored ice cubes); the striking of the clock at six o'clock, her favourite time of day next to "treat time"... Every time, I can't help looking around, expecting to see her bright eyes, full of mischief, and her wagging tail.
D'y'know, I didn't know Sam was going to say that until he actually said it, and I looked at it for a moment, and it seemed a perfectly natural thing for him to say. It still made me smile just now as I read over the chapter again. I think it's an echo from a memory of a scene in the old 1960s film Zulu, where the Colour Sergeant says to someone (the wounded officer? the drunken minister?), "There's a good [fill in the person's identity (officer or minister, perhaps)]." (Come to think of it, it seemed rather incongruous there, as well.)
Again, thanks for reading and stopping to leave a good word. The next (second-to-last?) chapter is about half done now, in terms of turning the draft chapter into a finished state, so I'm hoping to have it posted by the weekend. Think good thoughts, if you don't mind my asking.
Author Reply: Because I should be sleeping instead of working on the laptop, I decided I might as well go the extra mile (as far as foolishness goes) and looked up that quote I was remembering. At least it won't keep me up, wondering, like an itch I can't scratch. The context was that the drunken minister had been thrown into the jail because he had been trying to urge the British soldiers not to fight. While in the jail, he resorted to saying such jolly things as, "You're all going to die!" The Colour Sergeant noticed that his guards were looking uneasy, so he stepped in. Here's the whole quote, as I found it written out by someone (meaning I am not responsible for punctuation or capitalization, lol): "Mr Witt Sir. Be quiet now will you, there's a good Gentleman; You'll upset the Lads".
Author Reply: I also remember being upset that the Colour Sergeant was not mentioned among all those who were awarded the Victoria Cross from that incident. Interestingly, in looking for that quote just now, I ran across this explanation:
It has been suggested that Colour Sergeant Bourne DCM took promotion instead of a VC. He ended his career as Lieutenant Colonel Frank Bourne OBE DCM. He is buried in Beckenham Cemetery and Crematorium, found on Elmers End Road on the A214, details of location can be obtained from the lodge on entering.
(I thought it might have been because he was a fictionalized character, like I seem to remember reading about the sergeant in the movie Gettysburg, but apparently Bourne in the film was based on a real person.) And now I will stop nattering on and try to wind down while it's still dark outside. *hugs*