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Chapter 6
Incursion
“She was complaining about children in the dining room again!” says NurseCathy.
“What time was that?” asks AuntSylvie, “Were any of the kids in the dining room?”
“At around 08:15 they were walking along the corridor. Peter was taking the primary kids to school. Everything was perfectly normal, no excessive noise, it was all running like clockwork. The kids all finished breakfast on time. ShortFuse and MegaBite were the last to leave just before 08:00. By the time the retirees started filtering in they had the room all to themselves. She was just having one of those days!”
“So there was no actual incursion into the dining room then? What did the Colonel do?”
“That’s the problem! He wasn’t there.”
“Is he unwell?” asks AuntSylvie, “if he dies before Miss Gibson does we’ll have to develop some new interventions. Or everybody’s going to suffer!”
In the absence of medication, treating a little old lady with dementia is something that NurseCathy has been working very hard at. AuntSylvie willingly provides all the support she can, though there’s nothing better than having the Colonel on hand to help with some cognitive stimulation and his settling influence.
Miss Gibson rarely flares up, and when she does the Colonel can nip it in the bud in an instant. He’s an interesting character, a Manxman who retired long before the amalgamation of the services, and he steadfastly refuses to adopt the modern rank of Captain. Fortunately he’s still in full possession of his faculties, and he’s a perfect gentleman. And although it’s antiquated, he’s perfectly entitled to use the rank of Colonel.
He’s fond of Miss Gibson, even though she can be a handful at times. She went a bit dotty a few years ago. Now, aged 73 she’s two years younger than the Colonel, and they get
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