As Ives slumped down in an armchair she added softly, “I shall never forget. Never.” But Ives was already fast asleep.
The day was the longest Frazer could remember. Although Ryder and the dead Germans had been buried the place seemed to smell of death.
He had seen the general several times and had been incensed by the man’s total lack of regret or uncertainty. If his German allies arrived and prevented his escape he would probably proclaim he was being kidnapped, taken prisoner. The dead German sailors would give weight to that. If he survived, he would not lose either.
There were several false alarms during the day. Aircraft had been sighted, but they had passed well clear of the islands and were obviously not searching or patrolling.
As the afternoon arrived and Archer reported that all the general’s valuable possessions had been loaded into the MGB’s hull where even the smallest space could be found, Allenby joined Frazer in one of the well-furnished rooms which overlooked the terrace. Beyond it lay the sea. Blue and sparkling, full of invitation.
Allenby said, “I’ll be glad to leave this place.” He looked round the room and added bittetly, “This is one target I wouldn’t mind blowing up!”
Frazer tried to break his despairing mood. “Can’t do that, Dick. One of our own brasshats will probably want to move into it shortly!”
“You really think so, Keith?” Allenby’s eyes were rimmed with fatigue. “I keep thinking about David. I should have guessed, warned him.”
Frazer eyed him anxiously. “How could you? You know the score, David knew it too. It was his turn.” He shrugged. “Let’s just concentrate on getting out of here.” He turned as the sound of a piano filtered through the door. The general was playing, and Frazer had to admit that he was good at it.
Goudie banged into the room and hurled his cap onto a chair.
“We’ll prepare to slip in two hours. Get General Tesini and his wife and son aboard thirty minutes before that. Put them somewhere safe, wherever that• is. He’s also decided to take a couple of servants after all.” He had a crumpled signal flimsy in his hand and he added savagely, “There’ll be no rendezvous with the submarine. We just had a signal. So it will be hell for leather all the way. Air cover will be provided as soon as possible.”
Frazer made a quick calculation. It would mean that Thomas and his men would be crammed aboard too. It would not be a happy trip, he thought.
Allenby asked, “What about the prisoners, sir?”
“Leave ‘em. It makes the whole thing look more convincing. They’ll probably say they were outnumbered ten to one.” He grimaced. “I would in their position.”
He crossed to the window and stared emptily at the blue sea. “By the way, the invasion is on. Operation Husky will begin the day after tomorrow.”
Allenby looked at Frazer. No wonder the high command did not want a submarine in the area as well. Any additional activity might delay things and prevent General Tesini from calling on his men to change sides.
Goudie said, “The rest of the Italian servants will remain here. They will be no trouble.”
Allenby asked, “And the other prisoner, sir?”
Something in his tone made Goudie stare at him. “We’ll leave her too. I know how you feel, but she is the enemy. She must be tied up securely when we leave, right?”
Allenby said, “If I get out of this-“
Goudie smiled. “Not if, when. Then you can do what you bloody well like, but we have a job to finish.” He clapped his cap on his unruly hair and marched out into the sunlight.
The withdrawal from the house and grounds was done in twos and threes. The servants had vanished into the kitchen and cellars, and the house assumed an air of tense expectancy.
Goudie stood by a telephone and spoke only briefly. Then he put it down and tore the wires from the wall.
To Allenby he said, “Frazer’s aboard. He’s ready to proceed.” He sounded relaxed, as he had when they had left Gibraltar. He understood the sea. To him it was a friend.
Goudie saw Leading Seaman Sullivan by the door. “Call the lookout down from the roof.”
Sullivan nodded. “Aye, aye, sir.” He cocked his head to the passageway which led to an adjoining wing. “Shall I tell ‘Swain too, sir?”
“Yes. He’s to tie up the prisoner right away.”
Sullivan hurried along the passageway, pausing only to snatch up a small silver clock from a little table. He glanced at it and decided it was worth a bit. He thrust the clok into his first-aid bag. There were bloodstains on it. Ryder’s blood. He pushed open a door and saw Ives looking down at the girl as she drank from a cup.
Sullivan said curtly, “The guv’nor’s orders, ‘Swain. Truss ‘er up. We’re leavin.’ ” He took a pace towards her. “I’ll do it “
“Keep your hands to yourself! I can manage here!”
Sullivan peered at him and bared his teeth. “Oh yeh?” But he recognized the danger and turned on his heel. He called, “Don’t know wot you’re bothered about. She’s a Kraut, like the others!”
The door slammed and in the sudden silence Ives could hear her forced breathing. She had fallen asleep on several occasions during the day. But each time she had awakened violently, as she had relived the nightmare of what had been done to her. Even when she slept, she had cried aloud in short anguished sentences. Ives wished he could understand German so that he could have helped in some way.
He asked, “You heard what he said?”
She stared up at him, her eyes searching his face. “Yes. Must you tie me?” She was shaking again as if she had a fever.
He stopped beside her. “I will not make it tight. But it will be better for you.” She did not understand and he persisted. “If your people come, and they will very soon, they might think we had treated you better than the others. They might even believe-“
She nodded slowly. “That is what they will believe.”
Ives picked up a length of cord, hating it and what he must do.
He said, “The general’s servants will take care of you. They are frightened.”
He knelt at her feet; the bare ankles were raw from being lashed to the chair in spite of the ointment he had got from the general’s wife. He took one ankle in his hands. It felt smooth and cool although the air in the room was hot and oppressive. Or was it? Is it me? The general’s wife had told him that the girl’s name was Christiane. It seemed important that he should know it. What was the point? She probably believed’ that her country would win the war anyway. They might at that from some of the cockups he had seen. He tightened the cord and pushed his fingers between it and her leg, leaving it as loose as he could without making it obvious.
Once when she had been asleep she had almost rolled off her makeshift bed. It must have been a nightmare. Ives had eased her back again and had adjusted the blanket. But before he had done so he had seen her breasts again as the tunic had parted across them. He had wanted to touch them if only to wipe away the memory and ease the pain of the bruises.
As he got to his feet she held out her hands for him to tie them, but her eyes never left his face. She must have understood his indecision; perhaps she even knew what he had been thinking.
Ives stood back and looked at her. “That should do it.”
She nodded. “It does not hurt. Thank you.” Her eyes followed him as he put on his cap and buckled on his belt and holster.
Ives heard Goudie talking to Allenby and the clink of a
glass. God help us if Goudie gets pissed now, he thought vaguely. That’s all we need.
He made up his mind and returned to the chair. “I-I’d like to ask you something.” Already he was feeling lost, stupid. “It’s just that I-
She asked quietly, “What is it? Tell me.”
Ives said desperately, “I’d like to kiss you, Christiane. Before I go.”
She stayed quite still and silent, her lips slightly parted as she stared up at him.
Then she began to cry, her eyes
shining with tears as she looked at him.
When he made to comfort her she said between sobs, “Don’t you see? You asked! You did not steal!”
Ives bent down and touched her cheek with his lips. She turned her head and their mouths came together for just a few seconds.
Ives touched her shoulder. “Maybe one day-“
She shook her head. “I shall not forget you.”
The door closed behind him and Ives strode past Sullivan without seeing him.
Alone in the room the girl called Christiane lowered her head and cried without restraint. Ives had saved her sanity. And now he was gone.
Allenby watched Ives as he walked along the passageway. He had never seen him look so grim and the realization pushed his own despairing thoughts aside.
“All right, ‘Swain?”
Ives looked at him, his face slowly clearing, like a cloud passing away.
“Yes, sir. I suppose so.”
They both turned as Goudie clattered down a narrow stairway which led to a terrace on the roof.
“I’ve been shouting for you, Allenby!” He recovered himself and added in an almost matter-of-fact tone. “We’ve got company. Come and see.”
They followed him up to the terrace. It was evening but the flagstones were still hot from the sunshine. The sky had changed again, more clouds, but tinged with pink, like fluffy lumps of coral.
Allenby hesitated as Goudie said, “Stay where you are, both of you.”
Allenby saw the moored German vessel and thought suddenly of Ryder’s terrible screams, of the faces above the boat’s bulwark before they were blasted away by his bomb. He saw the black cross painted on the boat’s foredeck, but nothing different.
Goudie said quietly, “Not there. Look below the headland.”
Allenby felt his stomach muscles contract. Two black shapes motionless on the carelessly ruffled sea. They must have come round the other side of the island, keeping inshore and out of sight.
Allenby found he was whispering. “What are they?”
Goudie gave a short laugh. “Oh, they’re old friends of mine. E-Boats.” No one would know that better than Goudie. Allenby watched his profile to gauge his reactions and their chances. If any.
Goudie said, “They’ve anchored. It’s very shallow there. If they intend to enter the yacht haven or move closer to the landing stage they may prefer to wait until daylight.” He glanced at the clouds. “It’ll be dark soon anyway. My guess is that they intend to stay where they are. They can cover the landing stage as well as our hideout around the headland. They won’t know fully about us until they land a party to investigate. But my guess is that they got the emergency signal.” .
He looked at Ives, his mind busy. “Get back to the boat, Cox’n. Tell Lieutenant Frazer we’re leaving immediately. Prepare the depthcharges, minimum setting.” He smiled crookedly. “Even with that it may blow our arses off.”
He watched as Ives strode away. “Good hand, that one.”
Allenby said, “Shall we fight them, sir?”
“If we do we’ll lose, believe me.” He clapped Allenby’s shoulder, the first time he had offered such a gesture. “We’ll catch them on. the hop. Our only chance. They’re anchored half a cable apart. I intend to pass between them at full throttle. How does that suit?”
Allenby shrugged. “It’ll be lively.”
“It will that.” He touched his holster. “That girl. She can tell the Germans everything about us.” He saw Allenby’s face and said quietly, “No. Not my style.” He gave his sad grin. ” ‘Sides which, Ives would never forgive me!” He quickened his pace down the stairs and through the deserted house.
“Pity Creeping Jesus isn’t here. It might do him good to be around when one of his pet schemes falls apart!”
They saw the shadowed yacht haven and the motor gunboat’s black outline by the pier.
Allenby looked back but the house was hidden by the sloping land. He thought of Ives and the girl, an enemy, he was leaving behind. Of Major Thomas and of David Ryder buried with only a muttered prayer in the general’s garden. Of all the others who would die the day after tomorrow whether their scheme worked or not.
Goudie said sharply, “Well, let’s see what the little lady can do, eh?”
10
LAST CHANCE
LIEUTENANT COMMANDER JOHN GOUDIE stood at the rear of the MGB’s bridge, hands on hips as he watched the final preparations for leaving their mooring.
Frazer climbed to the bridge and saluted. “All stowed, sir.”
Goudie smiled. “Such formality all of a sudden.”
Frazer said, “Force of habit, sir.” He thought of the packed hull beneath his feet. One burst of cannon shell through that lot and it would be like a slaughterhouse. “I’ve put the general and his wife and son in the W/T cabin. I’ve crammed in the servants as well.” He tried to smile. “No room for dancing, I’m afraid.”
Goudie watched him impassively. “Makes sense. They’ll have the galley directly forrard of ‘em, the officers’ heads and then the engines just abaft with the bridge right above. The wardroom isn’t much but they’re inboard of it, so they are as well protected from flying bits and pieces as they can be in this boat. Good show, Pilot.”
Frazer added, “Major Thomas’s men are mostly on the messdeck, although I put their Bren gunner down aft. We may need a bit of extra firepower.” He recalled the soldier with his wrist bandaged and tied to his chest, the one he had smashed down with his revolver such a short time ago. In his heart Frazer knew he would have shot him but for the need for silence. Poor David Ryder had made even that unimportant. The soldier had turned to look at him as a seaman had bustled him below. Frazer could not recall seeing such hatred on a man’s face before.
Well, they all need us now, he thought.
A light blinked from the opposite side of the haven. Goudie had sent Archer and a seaman across to the headland with their tiny dory to keep an eye on the anchored E-Boats. He had already reported that the Germans had been calling up the transport vessel at the landing stage with a signal lamp. They must surely be wondering what was happening.
The telegraphist read the hesitant signal and said, “Dinghy putting off from one of the E-Boats, sir.”
Goudie rubbed his chin. “One of those rubber things. It’ll take all of fifteen minutes.” He saw an overalled figure on the bridge ladder and snapped, “All set to move, Chief?”
“Shiner” Wright, the ERA who controlled the MGB’s power and machinery nodded. “As I’ll ever be, sir.”
Frazer had rarely seen the ERA, and wondered how it could be possible in such a small vessel.
“We’ll go straight out as soon as Archer’s aboard. We’ll ditch the dory, there’s enough bloody weight already.”
They had offloaded spare mooring wires, fresh water, canned food, anything that might knock a knot off their speed if they managed to get past the E-Boats.
Goudie eyed the Chief calmly, “Good luck.”
Paddles splashed in the evening shadows and Frazer saw the dory coming alongside. There was a different mood in the boat, he thought. Subdued, even angry. It hung over them like a cloud.
Goudie said, “Put your tin-lid on, Cox’n!”
Ives reached down for his steel helmet. He hated the thing, it reminded him of the Blitz on London. He was about to point out that nobody else was wearing one when Goudie added dryly, “You are important and you won’t be able to duck and dodge like the rest of us, right?”
Ives pulled the chinstrap into place. “Right, sir.” His fingers brushed across his cheek as he recalled her tears, the taste of salt on their lips when they had kissed. If anyone knew they would laugh their heads off.
Goudie clambered over the forepart of the bridge and stood on top of the small chartroom.
He did not have to raise his voice, it was like a tomb.
Anyway, the Germans were on the other side of that darkening finger of land.
Allenby stood beside Frazer
and watched as the dory was kicked away from the side and Archer walked forward to the two-pounder.
Goudie said, “We will go out at full speed. Within minutes after that we shall be in action. Now, gun crews, listen to me. I know you’ve all been in combat several times, but in the heat of battle even the veteran can forget. Remember that E-Boats have steel hulls, not like our wooden jobs. So concentrate on their upper decks and bridges. Maximum fire to starboard as we shall be closing as near as possible to the E-Boat on our port side.” He glanced aft, his calm features and folded arms somehow impressive against the pink clouds.
“Depthcharge party, don’t drop them until you get the order.” He hesitated. “That’s all, lads. Good hunting.”
Frazer watched the faces of those nearest him. The youthful telegraphist, Ives and the machine gunner below the starboard wing of the bridge.
They couldn’t have looked much different at Trafalgar or Jutland, he thought.
Goudie’s scarred boots landed on the gratings and he said, “You go aft with the depthcharges and Oerlikons, Allenby. And don’t forget, they’ll be feeling a bit low and thinking of Ryder who would have been there with them.”
Frazer looked at Allenby. Was he noticing the astonishing way Goudie seemed to be able to think of even the smallest detail?
Allenby smiled. “I’ll see you later, Keith.”
Frazer touched his cap. “You’d better. Keep your head down. “
Goudie looked around the bridge. “Let go forrard. Let go aft.” The lines snaked aboard and Goudie said, “Bear off forrard!”
The MGB moved slowly away from the pier, pushing the abandoned dory and a drifting boathook aside as the gap of water widened between hull and land.
Frazer watched, waiting for the moment. It would be just their luck if the engines failed to respond in this unorthodox departure.
To Ives Goudie said, “If the bridge is knocked out, take over until Mr. Allenby can come from aft. This has to be done exactly right. There’ll be no second chance.”
He took his unlit pipe from his slacks and jammed it into one corner of his mouth.
The Volunteers Page 14
