by Mark A Biggs
* * *
Olivia
‘The post office is this way,’ Elinor said to me, while taking my arm and gently guiding me around the corner.
On reaching the post office I fumbled in my pocket for the box key. Max and I had agreed that it was essential that I maintain momentum, approaching and then opening the box with confidence. We believed this would draw the least attention to me. While fumbling for the key, I couldn’t help myself from stopping and surveying the surroundings.
‘Olivia, are you all right?’ asked Elinor.
‘Quick, take my arm. Look as though you are helping me.’
Elinor placed her hand under my elbow and together we went inside to where the post office box was waiting. Upon opening the box I was surprised to see three envelopes, which I quickly removed, and slipped into my pocket.
‘Let’s go,’ I said.
We left the Post Office making our way for a little girls’ shopping expedition before heading to the rendezvous point.
* * *
Max
‘I see you have been shopping as well,’ I called to Olivia as she and Elinor entered the Ships Inn.
‘My goodness, I hardly recognised you Max. You don’t scrub up half too bad,’ said Olivia.
‘You don’t look half bad yourself in that charcoal suit. You sexy thing you.’ Then, deciding to not worry about Elinor or even try to hide what we were doing, I said, ‘Did you get it?’
Olivia placed three envelopes on the table and I added, ‘Did anybody see you?’
‘I’m not sure.’
‘What did you see?’
‘Excuse me,’ said the waitress. ‘Are you ready to order?’
After making our selections from the Menu, Olivia continued with her account. ‘I thought two people were watching from across the lane. I did glance at them as we were leaving but they didn’t seem to be paying us any attention. If it was us they were waiting for, I don’t think they were expecting two women.’
Having finished her account, Olivia opened the first envelope. It contained two credit cards; one in the name of Max Williams and the other, Olivia Williams. The second contained £2,000 in cash. Picking up the last envelope, Olivia looked over to me and I nodded. She opened the envelope to reveal its secret; the missing piece of information, a clue, for us to find and recover Janus. In her hand she held a single piece of paper.
‘What does it say?’ I said.
‘It’s a two line message.’
‘Can you read it aloud?’
‘The first line says, Sacred pop group and pale fellow confused in duke’s country. The second line is, Angry chiseller operated at ground level. It makes make no sense to me. What do you think?’
Olivia pushed the paper over toward me. Taking it and surveying the writing, I said, ‘Obviously it’s some kind of clue but it’s not the code we were expecting; there are no numbers.’
‘Do you mind if I look?’ asked Elinor.
I passed the paper across the table. Elinor picked it up and studied it intensely with a frown of concentration appearing on her forehead. I could see her mouthing the words silently to herself, which she did a couple of times before saying, ‘Yes. Yes, I see it now. It’s simple. It’s a cryptic crossword clue. I am sure of it.’
‘I hate cryptic crosswords, so can you unravel it?’ I said.
Elinor hesitated and I could tell she was thinking hard. ‘If I tell you, will you take me with you?’
‘Now that’s not what I thought she was going to say,’ said Olivia. ‘What do you think?’
‘Elinor, can Olivia and I talk in private, just for a minute?’
Elinor rose from her chair and saying, ‘I need to powder my nose,’ she left us alone.
‘Max, I can’t stop thinking of what happened to Kate and Edward. If Elinor comes with us she might not come back but I also know we need her help. The three of us travelling together are much less conspicuous and we are unlikely to be recognised.’
‘I feel the same; we do need her but, at the same time, I don’t want to exploit her by putting her in danger.’
‘Let Elinor decide… but I already know what she will say.’
‘I agree, but I suggest we don’t mention Janus by name.’
Olivia was right; despite our telling Elinor that her life may be in danger and telling her of Kate and Edward and the explosion, she wanted to come anyway. We said we were trying to recover an item which people were willing to kill for. We also said that, right now, it would be best if she did not know what the item was. Elinor seemed contented and didn’t ask any questions.
‘Welcome to our team,’ I said to Elinor.
‘Thank you,’ she replied.
Our attention was drawn to a couple who were seated at the table right next to us. Rather than moving so that we could continue our conversation, we decided to wait for our lunch to arrive; a choice I had been much anticipating. From the menu I had not been able to resist the chips. Unhealthy salt and fat are on the banned list at homes for those trying to extend their final day of reckoning by a few meagre minutes or perhaps an hour.
When lunch was served, a bowl of hot steaming golden hued chips was placed in front of me. One at a time, I lifted each chip and dipped it into tomato sauce before surveying its golden brown surface, to ensure it was covered by the white crystals of salt. Finally, as if sipping a glass of fine wine, I slowly raised the chip to my mouth and enjoyed the explosion of flavours of a forbidden fruit.
‘That was a really nice lunch,’ I said when I’d finished and, checking no one was still in ear shot, continued. ‘Elinor, you said you could solve the clue. Can you tell us where are we going?’
‘A church in Mawnan, Cornwall and you are looking for a stone cross which is lying on the ground.’
I looked at Olivia, instantly knowing the church, the one overlooking the River Helford. The river was where many of the SOE operations were staged during the war.
‘How can you get that from that?’ I asked, pointing to the clue on the page.
‘It’s quite easy when you do these things every day. Sacred pop group refers to “The Church”, “pale fellow” can become “wan man” which is an anagram for “Mawnan”. The word “confused” points to it being an anagram. And “duke’s country” refers to the Duchy of Cornwall.’
‘And the next line?’
‘“Angry” becomes “cross”. “Chiseller” becomes, “stonemason” and “ground level” becomes, “fallen”.’
‘You must be kidding,’ I said.
Leaving the Ships Inn, we made our way back to the car for the journey to Elinor’s home and then to Cornwall. Within minutes of exiting the car park we were speeding along Stoke Hill Road, out of the city and surrounded by beautiful fields. I am not sure if Elinor was in less of a hurry, or I was becoming accustomed to her driving, but I felt far more relaxed on the return journey. We passed through a little hamlet and then veered right, on to a road signposted Danes Hill Road.
‘That’s strange; don’t look, but I think we are being followed,’ said Elinor glancing again in the mirror. ‘Maybe I became a little paranoid after your warnings. Just to be on the safe side, I’m going to turn right up ahead and go through a place called Poltimore. We can get back on this road from there, but it’s a detour no one would ordinarily take.’
Elinor slowed the Mercedes, indicating a right turn towards Poltimore. Ignoring Elinor’s instruction I looked out the back window to see the following red SUV. As we turned so did it.
‘Elinor, I think you are right, they may be following. Why don’t you put a bit of distance between them and us. That should tell us once and for all,’ I called from the back seat.
Olivia and I were thrown sideways in our seats as Elinor floored the Mercedes, taking the first left hand sweeping corner at a speed I found unbelievable. Either the car’s handling was outstanding or Elinor could really drive. In what seemed just seconds, we entered Poltimore approaching a T intersection which looked mor
e like a triangle. The tyres screeched as she wrenched the steering wheel to the left and, using the whole road to take the corner, we rocked off in a new direction.
‘They are still with me,’ Elinor called in a voice which could not hide the stress of the car chase.
Looking out through the front windscreen I saw the corners unfold in a blur. A tight left was followed, almost immediately, by a sweeping right before opening onto a small straight.
Crunch.
The sound was of the SUV smashing into the rear of our car, knocking me forward in my seat. Moments later we were rammed again and sent spinning out of control up the road. I braced myself for an impact which never came as rather than crashing, we spun into an intersection. Elinor floored the Mercedes and we rocketed past a farm, before braking severely for a T intersection which I could see fast approaching.
Somehow Elinor executed a left turn on to a road leading us back towards Poltimore. I looked behind to see what has become of our pursuers. The SUV clipped the bank as it attempted to negotiate the intersection and maintain its pursuit. Once again we entered Poltimore and the triangle which, only moments earlier, we had negotiated. This time we swung right heading down the wrong side of the road, narrowly missing the tree growing in the middle of the triangle.
‘Max!’ called Elinor. ‘Are they still with us?’
Looking back I saw nothing and momentarily felt relieved. But, before I could report, the SUV came into view.
‘They’re still with us and gaining at an amazing rate of knots.’
The SUV caught us just as we approached the intersection with Danes Hill road. A violent shudder and the sound of smashing panels rocked the car and sent us screeching through the intersection and, following a small excursion, we found ourselves in a farmyard.
Elinor launched the Mercedes into the field and followed the road heading back towards Exeter but on the other side of the fence I saw a closed farm gate approaching. Rather than braking, Elinor smashed the Mercedes straight through it.
A driveway on the other side led us onto Stoke Hill where, unfortunately, the SUV was waiting for us and narrowly missed our rear quarter panel.
‘I should be able to outrun them on the straighter bits of road heading back into Exeter,’ Elinor said, her voice almost drowned out by the howl of the V8.
In an instant, the car was travelling at over 100mph, braking and squealing as it negotiated the sweeping curves and not slowing as we came back to the built-up area on the outskirts of Exeter and where we had to negotiate traffic. Although we seemed to have the right of way, we approached and then passed through the first busy intersection at such a speed that the other vehicles using the intersection had no chance of seeing us coming. Looking back, I saw two cars stopped in the intersection and another car smashing into the stationary cars having swerved to avoid the speeding SUV.
Looking back out of the front windscreen, I saw cars parked on the left hand side of the road meaning we shared the equivalent of one lane with oncoming traffic. I could see Elinor repeatedly pulling the dip switch, flashing the headlights at oncoming vehicles, telling then we had no intention of giving way. We parted the oncoming cars as Moses parted the Red Sea. Our speed was way too hot as we approached a roundabout and, despite heavy braking, we launched across the middle of the roundabout, narrowly missing a tree obviously strategically placed to cause havoc in case of a car chase.
Looking back, I saw the SUV follow our flight path. We both landed on the wrong side of the road with parked cars to our right. Elinor swerved back into our lane but only for the briefest of moments before she swerved right again, weaving in and out of slower cars that blocked our progress.
Approaching the next roundabout, it was obvious that Elinor was not going to make any attempt to keep to our lane. She went straight ahead and we narrowly avoided cars as they traversed the roundabout. A light truck swerved in front and toppled onto its side, as if in slow motion. I saw the SUV skidding sideways and coming to a complete halt to avoid the truck, before continuing the chase. Again we were on the wrong side of the road. I could see an exit but it was blocked by vehicles preparing to enter the roundabout.
Elinor veered the Mercedes to the left and we headed the wrong way around the roundabout. Smoke was pouring from the tyres as we slid sideways with the nose pointing into the roundabout and the back pointing out. A flick of oversteer and she had us heading back down the road from whence we came, but only briefly. I was swung violently to the right, held in place only by my seatbelt, as Elinor threw the car left. For a brief second I saw the name St James Road as we accelerated up this new highway.
We were fast approaching a T intersection and I watched as Elinor unsettled the car with a flick of the steering wheel to the left. At that very moment, I felt the SUV clip us from behind and for the second time we were sent spinning through an intersection. The rear of the car slammed into a white house on the other side of the junction. Looking forward again, I saw the red SUV which was now stopped in the middle of the road, blocking our escape. The driver’s and passenger’s doors opened and the occupants, apparently unconcerned at being seen by the onlookers, exited. The Mercedes was stalled. Elinor tried the key and the engine turned over, but did not start. The two men watched from beside their car. Elinor tried the car again. Nothing happened.
‘It won’t start,’ she called in panic.
‘You have done well Elinor, really well. Count to three and then try again,’ I said.
It seemed like a long three seconds before Elinor turned the key. The car fired back into life and the V8 screamed its vengeance. Elinor, obviously seeing an opportunity for escape, released the brake and the car accelerated, pointed straight for the SUV’s driver. He had just enough time to dive back inside the car as we struck the open door which went flying from its hinges.
‘We will have to take another way home,’ said Elinor now in a calm and controlled voice.
Without slowing the pace, we raced back the way we came, turning right then right, then left and right and left onto a more major road. Here she slowed and then drove as if nothing had happened. We made our way back towards Clyst Hydon but the car did not sound well. If we did make it back, I thought, the car was finished.
‘Fine driving Elinor,’ complimented Olivia. ‘Max, they must have been watching the drop point.’
‘My thoughts exactly. It’s likely, during the chase, that they have taken the car’s registration and have the means of tracing it. When we get back Clyst Hydon we can risk only five minutes before we flee. Elinor, don’t pack, just grab some essentials. If you have a mobile phone or any other electronic devices, leave them behind. They will track your phone if you take it. Five minutes, not a second more.’
‘What about clothes and money?’ Elinor asked with some concern in her voice.
‘Bring nothing, Max and I will take care of everything.’
‘Last night, when you arrived… Is this why you had no luggage?’
‘Unfortunately, yes,’ said Olivia.
Steam was billowing from the Mercedes’ radiator as we pulled up in front of Grange Cottage. Elinor leapt from the car and ran into the house while Olivia and I carried our new belongings around the back to the Jaguar. With the car loaded, I drove around to the front to where Elinor was already waiting. It was as if we were professionals; four minutes after arriving we were underway. Speeding away, I looked back to Grange Cottage through the mirror and prayed that Elinor would return soon.
‘I’m so sorry Elinor, we both are,’ said Olivia. ‘Max and I didn’t mean for you to become embroiled in our misadventure.’
‘It’s okay, you did warn me. To tell you the truth, I didn’t think anything would actually happen. I mean, really happen. I’m not sure if I am petrified or excited. What happens now?’
‘Max, what do you think?’
‘I think we should go somewhere safe for the night and take stock. Somewhere we can plan our next move. Elinor, do you have any ideas of where we
could go and hide?’
My question was followed by a few seconds’ silence. Looking in the mirror to see if she had heard the question, I could tell that Elinor was thinking.
‘Dartmoor National Park is not far from here and I doubt any one will expect us to go up there. I know a nice old pub in Postbridge, the East Dart Hotel; we should be able to stay there.’
The drive to Postbridge took only an hour and the scenery along the way, the wildness of the downs, was stunning but eerie. Watching the wind rip across the barren, rocky and desolate landscape with the haunting grey and overcast sky above, had given life to the moors, which at times closed in around the car. Any moment you expected to see the hounds of the Baskervilles or a deranged murderer jump out in front of the car. Then the moors had given way to beautiful wetlands with running streams. They were places of life but also peace. This was a place of contradictions. We had seen few cars and none had followed us. Bringing the Jaguar to rest beside the East Dart Hotel, I knew the moors would give us sanctuary for the night.
With the exception of not having a thatched roof, the East Dart Hotel looked like your quintessentially English pub. It was a white two storey building that looked old and loved. Wagon wheels hung on its exterior.
Upon entering the pub, we were greeted warmly by the landlady who introduced herself as Rosie. She told us that they had only nine letting rooms but, fortunately, two were vacant for tonight. After booking in, we headed upstairs for a nanna nap and agreed to meet in the lounge in an hour’s time.
‘Max, after we have been to the church cemetery, what are we going to say to Elinor? Are we going to take her to wherever it is we are sent?’ asked Olivia. ‘And what about Cliff?’
‘This feels like déjà vu; didn’t we have this same conversation just before Kate and Edward were killed?’
‘We can’t let that happen to Elinor. We’ve already turned her life upside down; who knows when she will be able to go home.’
