The Guest Who Stayed

by Roger Penfound

  The three of them followed the throng of people out of the station and into the high street. The road was like a scene from a picture postcard. Tea rooms and eating places adorned with colourful canopies stretched along both sides of the street, interspersed with curiosity shops and stalls selling flags and souvenirs.

  They made their way to the bridge in the centre of Wroxham which crosses the River Bure. Here was a scene of nautical frenzy. Boats of all sizes jostled for mooring places against the congested bank. Sailing boats with their sheets half hoisted foundered in the middle of the waterway as inexperienced sailors struggled to control their vessels. Gleaming new motor boats with ‘throaty’ engines wove their way through the chaos. Couples and young families in hired rowing boats steered random courses through the congestion.

  After twenty minutes of enjoying the colourful chaos, they followed a footpath which wound along the river bank and away from the town. The path took them past busy boathouses with people engaged in all the paraphernalia of launching boats into the water. Beyond the boat houses were small holiday cottages scattered amongst the trees and, further still, the path crossed through meadows with cows ambling slowly to the waterside to drink from the cool water.

  After an hour of walking and talking, the heat of the sun was making it uncomfortable to continue.

  “Let’s just sit by the water’s edge,” suggested Alice. “I’ll be content just watching for a while.”

  “I’ll join you,” added Flora. “I’ve done enough walking for now.”

  The two girls rested on a grassy bank by the water’s edge whilst Jed explored reed beds nearby. Alice and Flora dozed as the warmth induced a pleasant drowsiness. Dragonflies flitted through the grass, the gentle humming of their wings providing a mellow backdrop to the tranquillity of the surroundings. Suddenly, they were woken by excited calls from Jed.

  “Hey, Alice, Flora, look what I’ve found!”

  “Are you alright? Mind you don’t go falling in now,” replied Alice, sleepily.

  “I’ve found a boat hidden in the reeds here. I think it’s some sort of punt.”

  Flora got up from the bank and wandered over to where Jed was busy removing reeds from a narrow inlet.

  “See here, Flora, I reckon it’s still floating.”

  Flora stared at the punt, still half hidden. It was low in the water but the inside appeared to be dry. Flaking green paint covered the hull and the rotting remnants of once plush cushions were attached to the back rest of the seat. The punt had clearly seen better days and had probably been consigned to this watery grave before the outbreak of war.

  “How about a ride?”

  “What are you two planning over there?” shouted Alice as she reluctantly picked herself up from the grassy embankment.

  “We’re going for a boat ride. Are you coming?” called back Jed.

  By now he had pulled the punt from the reeds and placed it by the bank where it lay bobbing gently in the shallow waters.

  “We can’t take it without asking,” said Alice. “It must belong to someone.”

  “I doubt it does now. Someone’s just left it here – probably someone who never came back from the war.”

  “Just a short ride then – and close to the bank,” replied Alice, not wanting to appear a killjoy.

  Jed clambered into the punt and picked up a long pole which was stowed on the floor. Alice and Flora followed gingerly behind, positioning themselves on the remnants of the seat. The punt moved slowly forward as Jed thrust the pole into the mud. Alice held tight to her seat and kept her eyes on the bank to make sure it stayed within grasping distance. After some faltering manoeuvres, Jed got the hang of the pole and the boat glided forward. Alice began to relax and Flora hummed a tune. The water was calm and the sun’s rays reflected off the shallow bottom. As they continued along the bank, the broad began to narrow as it joined again with the main river. Jed felt a current begin to pull at the boat and found it more difficult to control.

  “Jed, stay closer to the bank,” said Alice nervously as the front of the punt begun to swing away from the shore.

  “I’m trying,” replied Jed, struggling with the pole. The front of the punt was now pointing into the centre of the broad and the boat was beginning to turn in an arc.

  “Jed, stop messing about,” said Flora anxiously. “Get us back to the bank.”

  Jed pushed hard with the pole but the water was deepening now and the punt failed to respond. As the boat surged forward, Jed almost fell from the back as the pole failed to make contact with the bottom.

  “Try paddling,” yelled Jed as he crouched at the back and flailed his hands in the water. Alice and Flora both splashed ineffectively as the punt moved rapidly away from the bank.

  “What are we going to do?” yelled Flora.

  “It’ll be OK, just hold on,” shouted Jed. “The current will carry us to the end of the broad. There’s sure to be someone there.”

  “Oh my God, look!” shrieked Alice. “Look what’s happening to the floor.”

  The wooden planks that formed the bottom were no longer lying flat. Instead they were breaking up and water was gushing into the punt.

  “We’re sinking!” cried Flora. “I can’t swim. We’re going to die.”

  “Shut up, Flora,” snapped Alice. “You’re not going to die. Someone will see us.”

  By now the water was pouring into the front of the punt and the decking was perilously close to the water level.

  “Get someone’s attention,” shouted Jed. “It’s our only chance.” He stood on the rear decking waving his arms. “Help, help, we’re sinking! Over here, somebody help us!”

  There were boats in the distance and others moored by the bank, but nobody appeared to respond to the call. Suddenly, the front end of the punt dipped under the surface. Flora screamed as water swirled around her. Then the boat began to cartwheel, slowly lifting Jed above the two girls until he lost his grip and plunged into the broad. As the punt slipped away from beneath them, Flora began to scream and thrash around.

  “You swim for the shore, Alice. I’ll help Flora.”

  Jed grabbed Flora. He was a strong swimmer. Flora, however, had never swum and was panicking – tugging at Jed’s shirt. Jed tried to swim on his side, holding Flora in front of him with her head above the water. But she struggled, gasped for air and pushed him beneath her. Jed found himself fighting for breath – his lungs bursting from lack of oxygen. Only his nose and mouth were above the surface as the whole weight of Flora bore down on him. He took a deep breath so he could hold his head below water. As the air became exhausted he felt himself slowly becoming disconnected from what was going on above him. His head dropped back and he felt himself losing touch with Flora. The surface seemed to be receding and there was an eerie silence around him. Is this it? Is this how it’s all going to end? Is this how it feels to die?

  Suddenly, he felt a hand grab his collar. Uncomprehendingly, he gasped and took in a gulp of water. He felt himself being dragged upwards until suddenly sunlight dazzled his eyes. He was assaulted by a confusion of noise. Someone was calling his name. He heard the sound of an engine close by and the words of an unseen person.

  “You’ll be OK. We got here just in time. Thought we’d lost you.”

  He found himself being hauled onto the deck of a cruiser and laid on the polished wood decking. He heard Flora coughing and the barely intelligible sound of Alice shouting.

  “That was a bloody stupid thing to do. You nearly killed us. Thank God for this man. He saved our lives.”

  As Jed recovered and coughed water from his lungs, he slowly took in his surroundings. He was on a modern motor launch, bedecked with brass fittings and teak inlay. An older man dressed in white slacks and a blue peaked cap was tending to him whilst a young woman wearing shorts and a blue striped shirt was clutching the boat’s steering wheel.

  “We heard your shouts before you went in but we were too far away. By the time we got here you were already und
er the water.”

  “A stupid, stupid thing to do,” he heard Alice repeat over and over in the background. Pushing himself up from the floor, he looked to see what had happened to Flora. She was propped up at the other end of the boat, apparently unharmed.

  “We’ve hired this boat for a week. The best we can do is take you to Wroxham.”

  “But all our things are on the shore,” he heard Alice saying. “We need to go back there.”

  Back on the shore, they sat by their belongings, wet and exhausted. There was an embarrassed silence which was eventually broken by Alice’s strained voice.

  “You should have known better. You should have known it would be rotten. You nearly killed Flora and me.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s no good being sorry now, Jed. I’ve changed my opinion of you.”

  Jed knew the prank had been stupid. What started out as an innocent adventure could have been fatal.

  “But he saved my life, Alice,” spluttered Flora as she regained her composure. “Without Jed, I’d have drowned. He kept my head above water till that boat arrived. It wasn’t his fault. We all agreed to the trip. I owe you my life, Jed.”

  Jed raised his head from his chest and smiled weakly at Flora.

  “It’s OK, Flora, it’s OK.”

  “Well, maybe I was a bit harsh,” said Alice, sensing that she didn’t have an ally in Flora. “I blame myself for agreeing to it. I don’t go along with pranks and that sort of thing. But Flora’s right, Jed. You did save her life. That was brave.”

  Jed struggled to find suitably contrite words but none came. A light wind rustled through the grass and made them suddenly aware that their clothes were soaking wet.

  “I don’t know how we’re going to get home like this,” bemoaned Alice. “They won’t let us on the train looking like drowned rats.”

  ‘Special Motor Show of Austin Cars’ stated the leaflet that Jack held in his hand. ‘For one week only W. Vincent of Castle Street, Reading will be displaying a fleet of Austin cars and offering trial runs’.

  Jack checked the name above the showroom he had come to visit. He could see a flurry of activity around twenty or so cars which were parked on the forecourt opposite. A slight feeling of unease still troubled him. He had never in his life before spent money unnecessarily. It had been drummed into him as a child that any spare money had to be saved for the inevitable rainy day. But now it was different. Soon he would have more money than he had ever dreamed of and only three years, five at the most, to enjoy it. When he was freed from his contract with Deltic, he would take off and see where fate led him. But he needed transport. He needed a car. Deltic had advanced him a small sum of money and here at these show rooms he would make his first ever luxury purchase.

  He walked along the lines of cars, knowing little about what to look for. An Austin Twenty Coupe, priced at eight hundred and fifty pounds. An Austin Twenty Landaulette priced at eight hundred and seventy five pounds. To Jack’s eyes, most of the cars looked very posh and a little conservative. But at the end of the line his attention was drawn to a car finished in bright yellow. It had a black fold back roof and large chrome headlamps. He ran his fingers over the bonnet and smiled at the graceful lines. The sales literature stated that it was an Austin Twenty Tourer priced at six hundred and ninety five pounds – which Jack considered more reasonable.

  “Can I interest you in a test drive, sir?” It was the ubiquitous car salesman. Usually Jack would have made his excuses and left, but this time he bit his tongue and politely accepted the offer. He had learned to drive in the army and most of his experience had been behind the wheel of a three ton truck.

  Jack sat in the driving seat whilst the salesman cranked the engine into life. It let out a gutsy roar and the accelerator responded briskly to Jack’s first tentative contact.

  “When you’re ready, sir,” advised the salesman, who was now seated in the passenger seat.

  Jack depressed his right food hard and released the brake with his left hand, just as he had the three ton army lorries. With a squeal of tyres, the Austin leapt from the forecourt like a pouncing tiger, scattering onlookers and salesmen alike. Jack hauled on the brake causing the car to spin in the road and startle a horse which set off down the street at a gallop with its cart still attached. Now he was in the road, he decided that the best option was to continue.

  “Learn to drive in the army did we, sir?” said the salesman, clinging to the edge of his seat. Gradually gaining control, Jack headed down the leafy suburban street with his speedometer indicating fifty miles per hour.

  “Goes well, doesn’t she?” Jack observed enthusiastically to the salesman.

  “Yes, sir, but people normally keep their speed down to about twenty miles an hour in residential areas.”

  As the suburban roads gave way to country lanes, Jack asked for the hood to be folded back. Then with the sun on his face and the wind grabbing at his hair, he felt more happy and free than he’d felt in a long time. His darker memories were forced into the recesses of his mind and for a while he looked forward to the future.

  “Only one thing we can do,” said Alice. We’ll just have to let them dry on us. It’s still hot so they should be dry in a couple of hours.”

  “You mean sit in wet clothes for two hours?” protested Flora. “I can’t do that. I’ll catch me death. Why don’t we take them off to dry?”

  “Don’t be daft, we can’t just sit here naked. We’ll be arrested,” protested Jed.

  “I don’t mean we walk around naked. See that meadow over there? We make our way carefully so as not to leave a trail and lay in the long grass so no one can see us. Then we take our clothes off to dry and have a sleep in the sun whilst they’re doing.”

  “You’ve forgotten something,” protested Jed. “I can’t strip off in front of the two of you, it wouldn’t be proper.”

  “Don’t see why not,” replied Flora with a suppressed giggle. “We’re friends.”

  They collected their belongings and made their way into the meadow. The wetland reed grew as high as their chests. Moving in single file, they managed to leave virtually no evidence of their trail. They selected a patch of ground with shade provided by overhanging trees and proceeded to flatten out a small area. Jed tried to busy himself by removing twigs from the ground in order to avoid being the first to undress.

  “No one’ll see us here,” announced Flora. And with that, she proceeded to pull off her dress and remove her underclothes. Jed was unable to stop himself looking with admiration at her body, her full rounded breasts, her olive skin and her contoured thighs. Alice undressed too and lay down beside Flora, revealing an athletic body, slim and white as porcelain.

  “Come on, Jed, get them clothes off,” demanded Flora. Alice and me’s got our eyes closed. We’re not going to see anything.”

  Jed pulled off his clothes and felt the warmth of the afternoon sun embrace his body. He felt more alive than ever in his life before. He looked at the two naked girls lying on the grass in front of him, Alice with her eyes screwed tight shut and Flora peeping through half closed lids. He lay on the grass next to Flora, squinting at the blue summer sky dotted with wisps of white cloud. A feeling of supreme happiness seemed to take hold of his body and he sighed with the intensity of the emotion he felt.

  “I hope you’re not having any of them imaginings,” he heard Flora whisper with a giggle.

  The Guest Who Stayed: Chapter 6 – September 1920

  It was against everything he’d been taught – to get emotionally involved with informants. The rules were precise. The informants knew the risks and they volunteered their services. You didn't ask why, you just did your job. So why had he allowed himself to get involved with Yvette and potentially risk the operation?

  He looked at her sleeping now beside him. For a short while the tension under which they constantly lived had gone. She looked peaceful, her long black hair spread across the pillow. He knew she had lovers in the past �
� she was skilled at making love. But they didn’t speak of this or of their past. They lived only for the moment. They both knew this time would come – the looks, the touches, the innuendo. In peace time there would have been flirting, laughter, banter – perhaps talk of love. But in war you seize what you can quickly. So whilst Simone was out visiting newly recruited informants, they had taken the opportunity. There were few words spoken – just greedy and passionate sex. He had sensed past pain in the way she made love. There was anger. She bit and clawed at his back. She made it clear what she wanted him to do. When she reached a climax, it was intense and private. He was there as a means to an end – not as her lover. Yet somehow he was excited and exhilarated by their lovemaking. It was free of commitment and took place in a vacuum suspended somewhere between life and death.

  In her dreams he could see that she was elsewhere. Her face was relaxed and happy now. Perhaps it was her childhood on this small farm. Perhaps she was with a former lover. Once a whispered name slipped from her lips; was it Gilbert or Pierre? It didn’t matter. It was another world – a different universe.

  She stirred and her eyes opened. Their eyes met briefly.

  “Ma cherie,” he whispered.

  She smiled, kissed him briefly on the lips then rose quickly from the bed. He watched her silhouetted against the window. Her body was contoured with firm muscles developed from working on the farm but the roundness of her hips and breasts endowed her with a simple beauty. Her olive skin suggested a Mediterranean link somewhere in her ancestry.