Datasets:
YnezT
/
BookMIA-in-sentences

Dataset card Data Studio Files Community
2
book_id
int64
50
99
book
stringclasses
50 values
sentence_id
int64
1
2.65k
sentence
stringlengths
1
3.81k
99
spare.txt
476
Oh, it even smells of weed!<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">It didn’t, though.
99
spare.txt
477
It smelt of damp earth, stone and moss.
99
spare.txt
478
It smelt of cut<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">flowers, clean dirt—and maybe a hint of beer.
99
spare.txt
479
Lovely smell, totally organic,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">but the power of suggestion had taken hold of this woman.
99
spare.txt
480
Even when I<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">swore to me with love and humor and, that night, that magic night,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">respect.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">70<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">https://m.facebook.com/groups/182281287 1297698 https://t.
99
spare.txt
481
:me/Afghansalarlibrary<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">I wish I’d asked about her husband, King George VI, who died young.
99
spare.txt
482
Or<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">her brother-in-law, King Edward VIII, whom she’d apparently loathed.
99
spare.txt
483
He<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">gave up his crown for love.
99
spare.txt
484
Gan-Gan believed in love, but nothing<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">transcended the Crown.
99
spare.txt
485
She also reportedly despised the woman he’d<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">chosen.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">I wish I’d asked about her distant ancestors in Glamis, home to Macbeth.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">She’d seen so much, knew so much, there was so much to be learned<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">from her, but I just wasn’t mature enough, despite the growth spurt, or brave<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">enough, despite the gin.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">I did, however, make her laugh.
99
spare.txt
486
Normally that was Pa’s job; he had a<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">knack for finding Gan-Gan’s funny bone.
99
spare.txt
487
He loved her as much as he loved<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">anybody in the world, perhaps more.
99
spare.txt
488
I recall him glancing over several times<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">and looking pleased that I was getting such good giggles out of his favorite<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">person.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">At one point I told Gan-Gan about Ali G, the character played by Sacha<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Baron Cohen.
99
spare.txt
489
I taught her to say Booyakasha, showing her how to flick her<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">fingers the way Sacha did.
99
spare.txt
490
She couldn’t grasp it, she had no idea what I was<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">talking about, but she had such fun trying to flick and say the word.
99
spare.txt
491
With<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">every repetition of that word, Booyakasha, she’d shriek, which would make<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">everyone else smile.
99
spare.txt
492
It tickled me, thrilled me.
99
spare.txt
493
It made me feel...a part of<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">things.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">This was my family, in which I, for one night at least, had a distinctive<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">role.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">And that role, for once, wasn’t the Naughty One.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">30.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">\ \ } EEKS LATER, BACK at Eton, I was walking past two blue doors, almost<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">exactly the same blue as one of Gan-Gan’s kilts.
99
spare.txt
494
She’d have liked<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">these doors, I thought.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">They were the doors to the TV room, one of my sanctuaries.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Almost every day, straight after lunch, it that way too.
99
spare.txt
495
A reporter asked<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">him what he thought of my time in Las Vegas, and Christie vowed that if I<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">spent the whole day with him, “nobody’s going to get naked.” The line got a<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">big laugh, because Christie is famously stout.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Before Jersey I’d gone to Washington, D.C., met with President Barack<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, visited Arlington National<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Cemetery, laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
99
spare.txt
496
I'd laid<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">dozens of wreaths before, but the ritual was different in America.
99
spare.txt
497
You didn’t<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">place the wreath on the grave yourself; a white-gloved soldier placed it with<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">you, and then you laid your hand singly, for one beat, upon the wreath.
99
spare.txt
498
This<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">extra step, this partnering with another living soldier, moved me.
99
spare.txt
499
Holding<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">my hand to the wreath for that extra second, I found myself a bit wobbly, my<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">mind flooding with images of all the men and women with whom I’d<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">served.
99
spare.txt
500
I thought about death, injury, grief, from Helmand Province to<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Hurricane Sandy to the Alma tunnel, and I wondered how other people just<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">got on with their lives, whereas I felt such doubt and confusion—and<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">something else.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">What?
99
spare.txt
501
I wondered.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Sadness?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Numbness?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">I couldn’t name it.
99
spare.txt
502
And without being able to give it a name, I felt a kind<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">of vertigo.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">What was happening to me?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">The whole American tour lasted only five days—a true whirlwind.
99
spare.txt
503
So<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">many sights, and faces, and remarkable moments.
99
spare.txt
504
But on the flight home I<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">was thinking about only one part.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">A stop-off in Colorado.
99
spare.txt
505
Something called the Warrior Games.
99
spare.txt
506
A kind of<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Olympiad for wounded soldiers, with two hundred men and women taking<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">237<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">https://m.facebook.com/groups/182281287 1297698 https://t.
99
spare.txt
507
:me/Afghansalarlibrary<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">part, each of whom inspired me.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">I watched them closely, saw them having the time of their lives, saw them<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">competing to the hilt, and I asked them...how?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Sport, they said.
99
spare.txt
508
The most direct route to healing.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Most were natural athletes, and we hobbled away together, I always felt such love for<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">him, and I sensed love in return, but also some embarrassment.
99
spare.txt
509
I was half<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Willy’s size, half his weight.
99
spare.txt
510
I was the younger brother: he was supposed to<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">save me, not the other way around.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Over time the scraps became more pitched.
99
spare.txt
511
Small-arms fire was<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">introduced.
99
spare.txt
512
We’d hurl Roman candles at each other, make rocket launchers<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">from golf-ball tubes, stage night battles with two of us defending a stone<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">pillbox in the middle of an open field.
99
spare.txt
513
I can still smell the smoke and hear<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">the hiss as a projectile rocketed towards a victim, whose only armor would<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">be a puffer jacket, some wool mittens, maybe some ski goggles, though<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">often not.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Our arms race accelerated.
99
spare.txt
514
As they do.
99
spare.txt
515
We began to use BB guns.
99
spare.txt
516
At<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">close range.
99
spare.txt
517
How was no one maimed?
99
spare.txt
518
How did no one lose an eye?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">One day all six of us were walking in the woods near their house, looking<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">for squirrels and pigeons to cull.
99
spare.txt
519
There was an old army Land Rover.
99
spare.txt
520
Willy<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">and the boys smiled.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Harold, jump in, drive away, and we'll shoot you.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">With what?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Shotgun.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">No, thanks.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">We’re loading.
99
spare.txt
521
Either get in and drive or we shoot you right here.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">I jumped in, drove away.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Moments later, bang.
99
spare.txt
522
Buckshot rattling off the back.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">I cackled and hit the accelerator.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Somewhere on their estate was a construction site.
99
spare.txt
523
(Hugh and Emilie<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">were building a new house.)
99
spare.txt
524
This became the setting for possibly our fiercest<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">battle.
99
spare.txt
525
It was around dusk.
99
spare.txt
526
One brother was in the shell of the new house,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">taking heavy fire.
99
spare.txt
527
When he retreated we bombarded him with rockets.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">63<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">https://m.facebook.com/groups/182281287 1297698 https://t.me/Afghansalarlibrary<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">And then...he was gone.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Wheres Nick?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">We shone a torch.
99
spare.txt
528
No Nick.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">We marched forward, steadily, came upon a giant hole in the ground,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">almost like a square well, alongside got back to us.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">226<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">https://m.facebook.com/groups/182281287 1297698 https://t.me/Afghansalarlibrary<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">The persons you're following...what’s their status?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">I shook my head and thought: Most of them are gone, because you've<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">been so slow.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">I said: They've split up and we’re down to one bike.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Permission to fire.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Dave said to use the Hellfire.
99
spare.txt
529
I was nervous about using it, however; I<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">shot the 30-mm cannon instead.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Mistake.
99
spare.txt
530
I hit the motorbike.
99
spare.txt
531
One man down, presumably dead, but one<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">hopped off and ran into a building.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">We circled, called in ground troops.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">You were right, | told Dave.
99
spare.txt
532
Should ’ve used the Hellfire.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">No worries, he said.
99
spare.txt
533
It was your first time.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Long after returning to base, I did a sort of mental scan.
99
spare.txt
534
I’d been in<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">combat before, I’d killed before, but this was my most direct contact with<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">the enemy—ever.
99
spare.txt
535
Other engagements felt more impersonal.
99
spare.txt
536
This one was<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">eyes on target, finger on trigger, fire away.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">I asked myself how I felt.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Traumatized?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">No.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Sad?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">No.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Surprised?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">No.
99
spare.txt
537
Prepared in every way.
99
spare.txt
538
Doing my job.
99
spare.txt
539
What we’d trained for.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">I asked myself if I was callous, perhaps desensitized.
99
spare.txt
540
I asked myself if<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">my non-reaction was connected to a long-standing ambivalence towards<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">death.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">I didn’t think so.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">It was really just simple maths.
99
spare.txt
541
These were bad people doing bad things<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">to our guys.
99
spare.txt
542
Doing bad things to the world.
99
spare.txt
543
If this guy I’d just removed from<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">the battlefield hadn’t already killed British soldiers, he soon would.
99
spare.txt
544
Taking<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">him meant saving British lives, sparing British families.
99
spare.txt
545
Taking him meant<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">fewer young men and women wrapped like mummies and shipped home on<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">hospital beds, like the lads on my plane four years earlier, or the wounded<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">men and women I’d visited at Selly Oak and other hospitals, or <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">https://m.facebook.com/groups/182281287 1297698 https://t.
99
spare.txt
546
:me/Afghansalarlibrary<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Dont read it, darling—<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">I cut him off.
99
spare.txt
547
I wasn’t about to hear that nonsense again.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Also, I wasn’t a boy anymore.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">I tried a new argument.
99
spare.txt
548
I reminded Pa that these were the same shoddy<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">bastards who’d been portraying him as a clown all his life, ridiculing him<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">for sounding the alarm about climate change.
99
spare.txt
549
These were his tormentors,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">his bullies, and now they were tormenting and bullying his son and his<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">son’s girlfriend—did that not inspire his outrage?
99
spare.txt
550
Why have I got to beg<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">you, Pa?
99
spare.txt
551
Why is this not already a priority for you?
99
spare.txt
552
Why is this not<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">causing you anguish, keeping you up at night, that the press are treating<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Meg like this?
99
spare.txt
553
You adore her, you told me so yourself.
99
spare.txt
554
You bonded over<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">your shared love of music, you think she’s funny and witty, and impeccably<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">mannered, you told me—so why, Pa?
99
spare.txt
555
Why?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">I couldn’t get a straight answer.
99
spare.txt
556
The conversation went in circles and<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">when we hung up I felt—abandoned.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Meg, meanwhile, reached out to Camilla, who tried to counsel her by<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">saying this was just what the press always did to newcomers, that it would<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">all pass in due time, that Camilla had been the bad guy once.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">The implication being what?
99
spare.txt
557
Now it was Meg’s turn?
99
spare.txt
558
As if it were<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">apples to apples.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Camilla also suggested to Meg that I become Governor General of<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Bermuda, which would solve all our problems by removing us from the<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">red-hot center of the maelstrom.
99
spare.txt
559
Right, right, I thought, and one added<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">bonus of that plan would be to get us out of the picture.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">In desperation I went to Willy.
99
spare.txt
560
I took advantage of the first quiet<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">moment I’d had with him in years: The end of August 2017, at Althorp.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Twentieth anniversary of Mummy’s death.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">We rowed the little boat out to the island.
99
spare.txt
561
(The bridge had been<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">removed, to give my mother privacy, to keep intruders away.)
99
spare.txt
562
We each had<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">a bouquet of flowers, which we set on the grave.
99
spare.txt
563
We stood there awhile,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">having our own </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">I turned.
99
spare.txt
564
There, in the hedgerow.
99
spare.txt
565
One eye.
99
spare.txt
566
And one glassy lens.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Then: that chubby face.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Then: that demonic rictus.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Tweedle Dumb.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">48.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">T HE ONE GOOD THING about Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber was that<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">they made me ready for war.
99
spare.txt
567
They filled me with choking rage, always<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">a good precursor for battle.
99
spare.txt
568
They also made me want to be anywhere but<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">England.
99
spare.txt
569
Where are my goddamned orders?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Please send my orders.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">And then, of course, as so often happens...<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">I was at a music festival and my cousin tapped me on the shoulder.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Harry, this is my friend Cressida.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Oh.
99
spare.txt
570
Um.
99
spare.txt
571
Hello.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">214<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">https://m.facebook.com/groups/182281287 1297698 https://t.me/Afghansalarlibrary<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">The setting was inauspicious.
99
spare.txt
572
Lots of people, zero privacy.
99
spare.txt
573
Also, I was<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">still suffering a broken heart.
99
spare.txt
574
On the other hand, the landscape was lovely,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">the music was good, the weather was fine.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">There were sparks.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Soon after that day we went to dinner.
99
spare.txt
575
She told me about her life, her<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">family, her dreams.