We'll Meet Again

by Lily Baxter

  ‘What are you doing here?’

  She spun round to face a stern-looking ward sister with a faint shadow of a moustache on her long upper lip. ‘This ward is closed.’

  ‘Sorry, sister. My mistake.’ Meg ducked her head and sidled past the irate nurse.

  ‘I’ll report this to your supervisor.’

  Panicked and desperate to find Rayner, Meg broke into a run. More by luck than judgement she found Simone in a tiny ward kitchen making hot drinks for the patients.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ Simone demanded angrily. ‘And why are you dressed like a ward maid? What have you done, you silly cow?’

  Meg wrenched the mobcap off her head, allowing her hair to fall loose around her shoulders. ‘He’s gone. They’ve all gone,’ she said breathlessly. ‘Where have they taken Rayner?’

  ‘There was a suspected case of typhoid. They’ve taken the lot of them back to the underground hospital.’

  The white walls spun in dizzying circles and Meg grasped the edge of the table in an attempt to steady herself.

  ‘Don’t you dare pass out on me,’ Simone hissed in her ear. She thrust the mug of hot milk into her hands. ‘Here, drink this. Then you’d better get going, and keep away from here in future.’

  The milk slid down Meg’s throat. She could feel it warming her empty stomach and almost miraculously she began to feel better. ‘Thanks. But I don’t want to get you into trouble.’

  ‘Never mind the apologies, just go.’

  ‘I will, but first tell me if there’s any way I can get a message to Rayner.’

  Simone snorted with laughter. ‘D’you think I’m a bloody miracle worker?’

  ‘You have your contacts.’

  ‘I can’t help you.’

  Meg put the mug down on the table. ‘Then I’ll just have to do something myself.’

  ‘If you’re caught hanging around the underground hospital you’ll bring the Feldpolizei down on the lot of us.’

  ‘I don’t understand.’

  ‘They’ll make you talk. You won’t be able to help yourself but they’ll drag it from you.’

  ‘What? I don’t know anything.’

  ‘You know about Gerald and his friends. That’s enough.’ Simone cocked her head on one side, holding her finger to her lips. ‘Someone’s coming,’ she whispered. ‘Get out of here now before they start asking questions.’

  This was not the time to argue. Meg shot out of the kitchen, ignoring the outraged protests of the orderly who was about to enter the room and whose toe she trod on in her haste. She ran towards main reception, tearing off the overall and dropping it on the floor. Even when she was safely outside the hospital she kept running until she reached the Tostevins’ house, collapsing over the threshold as Hannah opened the door.

  The pungent odour of sal volatile brought her gasping to her senses.

  ‘Take it easy, Meg.’ Pearl’s voice and face floated somewhere above her head.

  Meg struggled to sit up but was thrust back into the chair. ‘I must see Gerald.’

  ‘Drink this.’ Pearl pressed a glass of water into Meg’s hands and helped her raise it to her lips. ‘Take your time and then tell me what happened.’

  Meg swallowed a mouthful of water and choked. ‘They’ve taken Rayner to the underground hospital.’

  ‘He’ll be safe there.’

  ‘I must speak to Gerald.’

  ‘You can’t. He’s gone.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Don’t get upset again.’ Pearl took the glass from Meg’s nerveless hand and put it on the kitchen table. ‘He’s safe with his friends. They’re going to help him.’

  ‘Tell me everything,’ Meg said urgently. ‘I’m not leaving here until you do.’

  ‘You shouldn’t have made me bring you here, miss.’ Billy’s voice was muffled by the thick white fog that enveloped them both as they clambered down the steep wooden steps leading to the cove below. Meg could hear the soft sucking sound of the waves on the beach and breakers further out to sea as the swell encountered the jagged rocks. The cold salt air filled her lungs as she clung to the railings. She almost missed her footing on the slippery surface, and as she made a grab for anything that would save her from falling, her fingers tore at the rock face, breaking her nails and making her bite her lip to stop herself from crying out in pain. Catching hold of a slippery clump of thrift, she clung on desperately, and with a supreme effort she managed to conquer her nerves. Moving cautiously she found a foothold, and went down, down into the swirling, choking blanket of fog. By the time she reached the sandy cove her knees had turned to jelly.

  ‘You all right?’ Billy’s large hand gripped her shoulder.

  ‘Yes, yes. I’m fine but I can’t see anything. Are they here?’

  ‘Shh.’ Billy clamped his hand over her mouth. ‘Sound carries on a night like this. Stay here. I’ll be back in a minute.’

  Suddenly she was alone as Billy disappeared into the soup of fog and darkness. She could hear his feet squelching on the wet sand and then nothing but the rhythmic motion of the waves. Meg shivered as the dampness chilled her bones. It had been blisteringly hot for the last few days, punctuated with fierce thunderstorms followed by a sudden calm that had brought the fog sweeping across the island. Perfect conditions if an escape were to be made. Something rustled nearby and instinctively she moved forward, crashing into a warm human body. Her cry of alarm was instantly muffled by a man’s hand.

  ‘Meg, what the hell do you think you’re doing here?’

  Gerald’s voice close to her ear made her want to cry with sheer relief. ‘Thank God it’s you.’

  He wrapped his arms around her shivering body. ‘You must go at once. Billy shouldn’t have let you come.’

  ‘He couldn’t stop me. I had to come to try to make you see sense. You mustn’t do this.’

  ‘I can’t stay. It’s better this way.’

  ‘You’ll be killed.’

  Gerald’s arms held her like a vice. Meg could not see his face clearly but she felt his breath warmly caressing her cheek. His damp clothes smelt faintly of woodsmoke and pine and she could feel his heart beating beneath the coarse wool of his guernsey.

  ‘If I die in the attempt it’s better than living on here without you,’ he said, tracing the contour of her face with his finger.

  ‘It doesn’t have to be like this.’

  ‘I love you, Meg. I don’t feel like your brother and I won’t stand by and watch you give yourself to someone else, especially when he’s the bloody enemy. It would be a slow death.’

  ‘But think about your mother and Simone and our father, who loves you deeply, I understand that now. Think of them.’

  ‘I am thinking of them. This is the best way out for all of us.’

  ‘It’s time. Come on.’ Hugh’s voice cut through the darkness.

  Gerald released her, backing away. ‘Goodbye, Meg.’

  ‘Please don’t go.’ She ran after him, stumbling over small rocks and splashing through deep pools of ice-cold seawater, but just as she reached the water’s edge strong arms held her back.

  ‘Please be quiet, miss. You’ve got to let him do this.’

  Leaning her head against Billy’s shoulder, Meg struggled with guilt and grief. Gerald was leaving because of her and she was helpless to prevent him going to almost certain death. She could just make out the shape of the boat as it was launched into the waves, and it was frighteningly small.

  She raised her hand in a feeble attempt to wave but the vessel was swallowed up by the fog and all she could hear was the gentle slicing of the oars as they cut through the waves.

  ‘We’ve done all we can,’ Billy said, hooking his sinewy arm around her shoulders. ‘Best get away from here before the fog lifts.’

  ‘Do you think they’ll make it?’

  ‘God willing, and only if the wind doesn’t change.’

  She was numb with cold and a deep sense of loss and foreboding as she allowed Billy t
o lead her back up the beach. At the bottom of the steps she turned for one last look, but suddenly the mouth of the cove was clearly visible and even more disturbingly she could see the outline of the small craft. She gripped Billy’s arm. ‘I can see the boat. The fog is lifting.’

  ‘By God, so it is, but only from ground level. I don’t think the lookouts could see them from the cliff tops.’

  ‘Better pray that they can’t,’ Meg said, placing one foot on the first step. ‘Please God, please don’t let it clear until they’re out to sea.’

  Climbing upwards was much harder than climbing down and they had to stop frequently. Meg’s legs trembled and her muscles screamed in pain as she forced herself to continue her ascent, glancing over her shoulder every now and then to peer anxiously out to sea.

  ‘Go on,’ Billy urged from below. ‘Don’t stop.’

  They were about halfway up the cliff when the first shot rang out. Meg clung to the hand rail, praying for their deliverance. A volley of shots echoed round the cove, ricocheting off the cliffs. It seemed to Meg that all hell had been let loose. The air was thick with the smell of cordite.

  ‘Go on. Go on.’ Billy was on the step below, pushing her upwards.

  Meg fell onto the grass at the top of the cliff, gasping for breath. She found herself staring at a pair of booted feet and the muzzle of a rifle was poked in her face with the abrupt command in German to put her hands up. Billy was seized by rough hands and dragged across the ground.

  ‘Stop that,’ Meg cried, struggling to her feet. ‘Leave him alone. Can’t you see he’s an old man?’

  The German soldier dug the rifle into her ribs. ‘Silence. You don’t speak.’

  At this moment Meg didn’t care if the whole German 319 Infantry Division was surrounding her. Her only concern was for Gerald, Hugh and Tom in their bid to escape from the island. In the time it had taken for them to climb the steps, the fog had lifted completely and a warm westerly breeze had parted the clouds, allowing a pale yellow moon to light up the scene. She made a move towards the edge of the cliff, desperate to catch a glimpse of the boat, but she was dragged backwards and her hands bound behind her with a length of rope. She looked helplessly across at Billy but he shook his head. They were forced to walk at gunpoint along the narrow cliff path, torn at by brambles and stumbling over stones, until they came to the gun emplacement.

  ‘Inside.’

  Billy was thrown in head first and Meg tumbled in after him. It was dark and the air was stale with the rank smell of human sweat and gun oil, but the soldiers withdrew, leaving them on their own. Meg could hear their booted feet stamping up and down on the concrete as they kept watch outside.

  Billy was coughing and his breathing was laboured.

  ‘Are you all right, Billy?’ Meg’s eyes gradually became accustomed to the dark and she could see him doubled over and retching miserably.

  ‘Winded, that’s all.’

  ‘I hope they got away.’ She struggled to a sitting position and leaned against the cold, damp wall.

  ‘Yeah, me too.’

  They lapsed into silence, broken only by Billy’s occasional cough and the sound of the sea crashing on the rocks a couple of hundred feet below. It was cold and dank and there was no way of escape. Meg did not much care what the Germans did to her at this moment; all her thoughts were with Gerald and the men who had been with him. Brave and gallant but misguided. If only he had listened to reason and stayed on the island. Guilt battled with grief. He was her brother and her friend and he had risked his life because of a situation that was not of their making. She choked on a suppressed sob.

  ‘They did what they had to,’ Billy said, almost as though he had read her thoughts. ‘They were young and wanted to fight.’

  ‘You talk as though they’re dead.’

  ‘Don’t think they stood much of a chance, miss.’

  Meg closed her eyes, and when she opened them again she realised that she must have fallen into the deep sleep of physical and mental exhaustion. Her head ached and the ropes cut into her wrists. Cramps shot through her arms and legs and the damp seemed to have permeated her whole body. A faint grey light shone through the slits in the concrete, and although she had lost all sense of time she realised that it must be daybreak. She glanced anxiously at Billy who was slumped on one side, his stertorous breathing the only sign that he was still alive.

  A sudden burst of activity outside banished the last hazy remnants of sleep. A vehicle pulled up outside with the squeal of brakes, followed by the sound of brisk footsteps and curt orders given in German. Bolts were drawn back, the steel door screamed on its hinges and a man wearing the uniform of a high-ranking German officer stepped into the confined space, filling it with his presence. Sunlight flooded in behind him leaving his face in shadow.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  For a moment Meg clung to him, barely able to believe that this was not part of her dream, and then reality hit her like a slap across her cheek. The hows and whys of his being there were insignificant details. The wonderful truth was that he was here now, holding her so tightly that she could hardly breathe. The terrors of the last few hours were banished to the realms of a nightmare. ‘Rayner.’

  ‘Are you hurt, Meg?’ His voice was deep with concern.

  ‘I’m all right.’ Safe in the circle of his arms, she leaned her head against his shoulder, giving herself up to the luxury of being held by the man she loved, but she knew in her heart that the danger was far from over. She forced herself to remain calm and objective. ‘Please take a look at Billy. I’m really worried about him.’

  ‘Of course.’ Rayner set her back on her feet and with a deft movement untied the ropes that had cut into her wrists leaving them sore and chafed. He went to kneel beside Billy, raising him to a sitting position. ‘It’s all right, Meg. He’s not injured, as far as I can see.’

  Billy opened his eyes. ‘It’s you, Captain.’

  Rayner helped him to stand and freed him from his bonds. ‘We must get you both to safety. Don’t say anything. Just follow me.’

  He was about to open the door but Meg caught him by the arm. The question that she hardly dare ask tumbled from her dry lips. ‘What happened to Gerald? Did he get away?’

  He hesitated for a moment and then he shook his head slowly. ‘It was a gallant attempt but they didn’t stand a chance.’

  ‘The fog must have protected them.’

  ‘It had lifted.’

  ‘Bugger!’ Billy muttered. ‘Begging your pardon, Miss Meg.’

  ‘It could be a mistake? They were a long way from the guns.’ Meg’s eyes searched Rayner’s face for an answer, but even as she spoke she knew that what he had said was the truth. She bent her head to hide the tears that flowed unchecked down her cheeks. ‘Poor Gerald.’

  ‘He knew the risks. He was a brave man.’ Rayner’s voice cut crisply through her misery. If he felt regret, he was not allowing it to show. ‘You are more important now. I’ve got to get you two away from here. Keep calm, follow me and don’t say a word.’

  Meg gulped and wiped her eyes on her sleeve, hooking her arm around Billy’s shoulders. She could feel him shaking and his weathered face had crumpled into a contour map of lines. She must be strong for both of them. ‘We’re ready. Open the door.’

  Stepping outside into the pale early morning sunlight, Rayner strode off, motioning them to follow him. The soldiers snapped to attention as he passed, and suddenly he was just another German officer. Loving him as she did, Meg had managed to push their different loyalties to the back of her mind, but now they were painfully clear. Returning the salutes of his men, Rayner walked towards a parked staff car. The driver saluted smartly and opened the door, standing stiffly to attention. Ignoring Meg and Billy, Rayner slipped into the front seat leaving them to scramble into the back as the driver leapt in and started the engine. As the car sped through the narrow lanes Meg was beginning to feel anxious. ‘Where are you taking us?’

  ‘You’ll find
out soon enough. You are both under arrest.’ Rayner’s curt reply startled her even though common sense told her that he was acting out a part. Within minutes they were driving through the gates of Colivet Manor and Meg suppressed a sigh of relief.

  ‘Hauptmann Dressler will deal with you both,’ Rayner said, as Meg and Billy climbed stiffly out of the staff car. He turned to the driver with a curt command in German.

  ‘Danke, Herr Major.’ The driver marched off towards the stable block at the back of the house.

  With a ghost of his old familiar smile, Rayner turned to Meg. ‘The promise of breakfast does wonders for morale.’

  She stared at him, her tired mind struggling to come to terms with everything that had happened in the last few hours. ‘You’ve been promoted to major?’

  ‘It’s just a title. It doesn’t mean anything.’

  Billy coughed and shuffled his feet. ‘Can I go now?’

  ‘Yes, and you should rest,’ Rayner said, shaking Billy by the hand. ‘Last night’s activities won’t be mentioned. I’ll see to that.’

  ‘Thanks,’ Billy said gruffly and, with a weak attempt at a grin, he loped off towards his cottage.

  ‘Poor Billy. He had been Eric’s friend for years and he was fond of Gerald. Now he’s lost them both.’

  ‘I understand. I’m truly sorry.’

  He sounded sincere but Meg could not help feeling that to him Gerald’s death was just one of the misfortunes of war. He was eyeing her warily, his expression carefully controlled. Tense, nervous and exhausted, Meg felt an irrational wave of anger wash over her. How dare he walk back into her life after disappearing from the hospital ward and not even attempting to get word to her? She thought of the anxious days and sleepless nights that she had spent worrying about him, and now he stood there calmly flaunting the rank of major. It had not taken him long to resume his position in the enemy ranks, and she, like a fool, had been overjoyed to see him. ‘You’re not sorry at all,’ she said slowly. ‘You hated Gerald.’