A hand touched my shoulder. I spun round and found myself facing a big blond man with a wide moustache. “Who are you?” he asked. The silent circle of eyes echoed his question.
“My name’s Fraser,” I answered.
“Fraser.” He turned the name over in his mouth as though searching for it in his memory. And then he suddenly boomed out. “Fraser! You mean the pilot of that Tudor?”
“That’s right,” I said.
“Fraser! Good Christ Almighty!” He seized hold of my hand. “Don’t know you from Adam, old man. But allow me to do the honours and welcome you back. You look about all in. Here, Joan—the coffee and sandwiches are on me. What happened? Come on, tell us all about it. We’ve got to go in a minute. What happened?” The circle of faces closed in like a pack of wolves, avid for news. Their eyes shone with excitement. Questions were hurled at me from all directions.
“There’s nothing to tell,” I murmured awkwardly. “The engines failed. The plane crashed near Hollmind.”
“And you’ve just got out of the Russian Zone?”
“Yes.” The girl thrust a cup of coffee and a plate of sandwiches into my hand. “If you don’t mind—I’d rather not talk about it.” The heat of the room was making my legs shake under me. “I’m very tired. You must excuse me. I must sit down.”
Hands gripped my arms at the elbows and half-lifted me to one of the easy-chairs by the stove. “You sit there and drink your coffee, old man. We’ll have you fixed up in no time.”
“I must speak to Mrs. Carter,” I insisted.
“All right. We’ll get her for you.”
They left me then and I grasped the coffee cup in my hands, feeling the warmth of it spread up my arms, savouring the glorious, reviving smell of it. I could hear them talking about me in the background. Fresh air crews came in to replace others that went out to their planes. The word was passed on and they took up the story, talking about me in whispers.
Somebody came and squatted down on his haunches beside me. “Glad to know you’re back, Fraser,” he said. “You must be the greatest escape merchant alive. All the boys back at Wunstorf will be glad as hell to know you’re back. We thought you’d had it.”
“Wunstorf?” I stared at him. His face seemed vaguely familiar.
“That’s right. Remember me? I’m the guy that was sitting right next to you at dinner that night you crashed. You were growling at Westrop for talking too much about the Russians. Seems he had second sight or something. I’ll see that the station commander knows you’re back.”
“Is the Wunstorf wave coming in now?” I asked.
“Yes. Just started to come in.”
“Is a man called Saeton flying a Tudor tanker on the lift yet?”
“Is he flying the lift!” The kid laughed. “I’ll say he is. Been flying for two days now and he’s got the development section puzzled as hell. Flies on his two inboard engines all the time, except on take-off, and his fuel consumption is knocking holes the size of a hangar door in all the aero engine boys’ ideas. He said you worked on the motors with him at one time. Boy, he’s certainly got them guessing. Boffins from Farnborough are flying out to-morrow with the C.T.O. of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and a big pot from the Ministry of Supply. Saeton will be in shortly.”
“How soon?” I asked.
“About quarter of an hour. The Tudors aren’t far behind us.”
An R.A.F. corporal pushed forward. He had a big web satchel with a red cross on it. “I’ve got an ambulance outside, sir. Do you think you can walk to it or shall I get a stretcher in for you?”
“You can send your bloody ambulance away,” I said angrily. Why the devil couldn’t they leave me alone? “I’m not leaving here until I’ve seen Mrs. Carter.”
The fellow hesitated. “Very good, sir. I’ll be back in a minute and then we’ll get you patched up. Nasty cut you got there. Sure you’re all right, sir?”
“Of course I’m all right,” I snapped. “I’ve walked nearly twenty miles already to-night.”
“Very good, sir.” He went to the door and opened it, and at that moment Diana came in.
Her face, devoid of make-up, looked quite haggard. At sight of me she stopped as though she couldn’t believe that I was really sitting there in an easy-chair beside the stove. “So it is you.” She said it almost accusingly. Then she came slowly towards me. “What happened? What have you done with Tubby? Why didn’t you let him jump with the others?” Her voice trembled and there was a look of dull pain in her eyes.
“You needn’t worry,” I said. “He’s safe.”
She stared at me. “You’re lying.” Her voice was suddenly hard. “You know he’s dead.”
“Tubby’s all right,” I repeated. “He’s alive.”
“I don’t understand.” Her voice had faded to a whisper. “It can’t be true. If you’re alive, then it’s Tubby whose body——” Her words died away in a choking sob.
“Tubby’s alive,” I said again. I reached out and caught hold of her hand. Her fingers were cold and slack in mine. “Diana. I want your help. He’s alive, but he’s injured and we’ve got to get him out. You’ve got to persuade Saeton to fly there and get him out.”
“What are you saying?” Her voice was flat and toneless.
I didn’t understand her attitude. “I thought you’d be glad,” I said. “I came straight here to tell you.”
“Glad that you’re alive?” She turned away. “Of course I’m glad only … I loved him,” she suddenly burst out. “I loved him, I tell you.”
Somebody bent over me, an officer in R.A.F. uniform with dark, boot-button eyes and a thin, aquiline nose. “You’re Fraser, aren’t you?” he said. “They just told me.”
“For God’s sake!” I pushed him away. “I’m trying to tell Mrs. Carter something.”
“Yes. I heard. I think you’d better listen to me first. I’m the I.O. here. We know all about your plane. It crashed two miles north of Hollmind Airfield, dived straight into the ground.”
I stared at him. “Who told you it crashed at Hollmind?” I demanded.
“The Russians.”
“The Russians?”
“Yes. After denying the whole thing for days, they came through with a report yesterday. They’ve found the wreckage in the woods north of Hollmind.” He leaned down and lowered his voice. “They also found the remains of one body. We didn’t know whether it was yours or Carter’s.” His glance slid to Diana whose face was buried in her hands. “Now you’re safe, of course, we know whose it was.” He straightened up. “Soon as you’re ready, we’ll go up to my office and I’ll get a statement from you. I’ll have to have a report ready for the station commander.”
I stared at him. Why should the Russians make such a report? It didn’t make sense. I felt suddenly scared—scared that they wouldn’t believe what I had to tell them.
VIII
THE NEXT QUARTER of an hour was a nightmare. I started by trying to convince the Intelligence Officer that the Russian report was nonsense. It was a mistake. He believed the information the Russians had given him. What’s more, the lieutenant who had driven me to Gatow had reported to him after dropping me at the Malcolm Club. He knew that I’d held a German orderly up with a revolver. “You don’t know what you’re saying—or what you’re doing, Fraser,” he said. His voice was cold and practical. “Better come up to my office and then I’ll take you along to the sick bay.”
I thought of the little patrol of Red Army men in the woods near Hollmind. They knew damn well the plane hadn’t dived into the ground. “Can I see this report?” I asked him.
“It’s up at my office now.”
“Does the report give any details?”
“Oh, yes. It’s quite detailed. No question about it being your plane. They’ve even got the number—Two-five-two.” He turned to the medical orderly who had returned. “Take Mrs. Carter back to her quarters.”
“Wait,” I said. If I couldn’t convince him, at least I might be able
to convince Diana. I pulled myself out of my seat and went over to her, catching hold of her shoulders and shaking her in my desperate urge to get her to concentrate on what I had to tell her. “You’ve got to listen to me, Diana.” She lifted her head and stared at me through tear-dimmed eyes. “I was with Tubby yesterday. He is alive.”
The desire to believe me was there in her face. Hope showed for an instant in her eyes, but then it died and she clenched her teeth. “Take him away from me, please,” she said in a whisper.
The I.O. pulled my hand away from her shoulder. “The Russians wouldn’t say he was dead if he wasn’t.” He pushed me gently back into the chair. “Just take it easy. You’re a bit upset—but it’s no good raising Mrs. Carter’s hopes. Carter’s dead. No question of that. Now all I want from you——”
“He’s not dead,” I cut in angrily. “He’s badly injured, but he’s alive. He’s at a farm——”
“Stop it, Neil!” Diana screamed at me. “For God’s sake stop it! Why do you keep saying he’s alive when you know he’s dead? If it hadn’t been for me,” she added in a lifeless tone, “he’d never have taken the job. He’d still have been with Saeton. Bill wouldn’t have crashed him. He’d have been all right with Bill. Oh, God!”
She was beside herself and I sat there staring at the misery which made her face look wild and wondering how the devil I could convince her that her husband was alive. I turned to the I.O. “I want to see the station commander,” I said. “I want a plane put at my disposal to-night. Do you think he’d do that?”
“What do you want a plane for?” His tone was the sort you use to placate an excited child and I saw him exchange a quick glance with the medical orderly.
“I want to fly to Hollmind Airfield,” I answered quickly. “If I can land at Hollmind I can get Carter out.”
“Is that ambulance still here?” he asked the medical orderly.
“Yes, sir. Mr. Fraser told me to send it away, but I thought I’d better——” He stared at me without finishing the sentence.
“Good! Come along, Fraser. You need a good, hot drink, warmth and a bed. We’ll soon have you fixed up.” His hand was on my arm, gently but firmly raising me from my seat.
I flung him off. “Can’t you understand what I’m trying to tell you? Tubby Carter is alive. He didn’t die in any crash.” It was on the tip of my tongue to say there hadn’t been any crash, but I knew he wouldn’t believe that, not unless I told him the whole story and I wasn’t going to do that until I had seen Saeton. “He’s at a farm, being cared for by the local doctor. He’s got a broken arm, several broken ribs and a pierced lung and he needs treatment.”
“Now, be reasonable, Fraser.” The I.O.’s hand was back on my arm. “We all understand how you feel. But it’s no good pretending he’s alive just because you’re worried that you jumped when he was still in the plane. We’ll get all that sorted out later. Now come on up to the sick bay.”
So they were going to pin that on me! I felt the blood rush, hammering, to my head. Damn them! At least that wasn’t the truth. I’d gone back for him, hadn’t I? I felt a sense of utter frustration taking hold of me.
And then Diana’s hand was on my arm. “Why do you keep on talking about a farm?” she asked. The desire to believe me was back in her face.
I told her about the Kleffmanns then and about their son Hans. “Tubby is lying in Hans’s old room,” I said. I half-closed my eyes, forcing to my mind the picture of that room. “The wallpaper has butterflies on it and it’s littered with faded photographs of Hans. The bedstead is of iron and brass and the single dormer window looks out on to the roof of a barn.” I seized hold of her shoulder again. “You’ve got to believe me, Diana. You’ve got to help me persuade Saeton to fly in to Hollmind to-night. Please—please, for God’s sake believe what I’m trying to tell you.”
She stared at me and then she nodded slowly, half-dazed. “I must believe you,” she said half to herself. Her eyes searched my face. “You do know what you’re saying, don’t you? You aren’t lying—just to protect yourself?”
“To protect myself?”
“Yes—so that we’d think you didn’t leave him to——” She stopped and bit hold of her lip. “No. I can’t believe you’d do that. I guess you mean what you say.” She looked up quickly at the I.O. “Leave us a minute. Do you mind? I’d like to talk to him.”
The I.O. hesitated and then turned away to the coffee counter.
“How did you know Bill was here?” She was leaning forward and the unexpectedness of her question nearly caught me off my guard. I was feeling wretchedly tired. The warmth of the stove was making me sleepy. I pushed my hand over my face. “One of the air crews, a fellow from Wunstorf, told me,” I answered. I shook myself, trying to keep my mind clear. I mustn’t tell her what really happened. If I did that Saeton wouldn’t help me. “Can you find out when he’ll be in?” I asked her. “I’ve got to speak to him. Once I get up there in the terminal building they’ll start questioning me and then they’ll push me off to hospital or something. Saeton must take me to Hollmind. Tubby’s got to be flown out to-night.”
“Why are you so set on Bill going?” she asked.
“He was a friend of Tubby’s,” I said. “It was Tubby who got those engines made for him, wasn’t it? Damn it, he owes Tubby that?”
“There’s no other reason?” She hesitated, staring at me hard. “You say you jumped, leaving Tubby in the plane?”
Again the quickness of her question almost caught me off my guard. “I said nothing of the sort. Don’t try and pin anything like that on to me,” I added angrily.
“Then why was he hurt and not you?”
“Because——” I dropped my head into my hand, pressing at the corners of my eyes with finger and thumb, trying to loosen the band of strain that was tightening across my forehead, “I don’t know,” I said wearily. “For God’s sake stop asking me questions. All I want you to do is to get Saeton for me.”
Diana caught hold of the lapels of my German greatcoat. “You’re lying!” Her voice hissed between her clamped teeth. “You’re lying, Neil. I know you are. You’re hiding something. What is it? You must tell me what it is.” She was shaking me violently. “What happened? What really happened?”
“Leave me alone, can’t you?” I whispered. If only she’d leave me alone, let me think. “Get Saeton,” I added. “I want to talk to Saeton.”
“Something happened that night. Didn’t it? Something happened. Neil—what was it? Please tell me what it was?” She was kneeling beside me now and her voice had risen hysterically. I could feel the sudden silence in the room, feel them staring at me—the regular air crew boys, men who knew nothing about my story, who would be judging me in the light of Diana clinging to my greatcoat and crying out, “What happened? What happened that night?”
“Wait till Saeton comes,” I said wearily.
“What’s Bill got to do with it? Was he the cause of it?” She looked wildly round and then swung fiercely back on me. “Will you talk if Bill is here? Will you tell me what really happened then?”
“Yes, if you’ll get him to fly out to Hollmind to-night. He can land at the airfield and then we’ll get Tubby out. Tubby will be all right then.”
“Hollmind is a disused aerodrome. I checked that yesterday when I got the news. Are you sure he’ll be able to land there?”
“He’s done it once.”
“What do you mean?”
I pressed my head into my hand. “Nothing,” I said. If I didn’t get some sleep soon I’d be saying the first thing that came into my mind. “I didn’t mean anything,” I murmured. “I don’t know what I’m saying. I’m very tired, Diana. Get Saeton for me, will you; and stop asking me questions.”
She hesitated as though on the brink of another question. But all she said was, “Bill isn’t here yet.”
The I.O. was back at my side now. “You want Saeton? He’ll be here any minute now. The first Tudor has just come in. You worked with him
on these engines of his, I understand?”
“Yes.” I didn’t want to talk any more. The idea that the authorities wouldn’t help me was firmly fixed in my mind. Saeton was the only man who could help me. I sat there, stupid with the warmth of the stove and the fatigue of my body, feeling the blood drying in a crust on my temple, watching the door. Air crews moved in and out and as they passed they stared at us silently as though we were some queer tableau entirely divorced from the solid, everyday routine of flying in and out of Berlin.
Then at last the door was pushed open and Saeton came striding in followed by his crew. He was almost past us before he saw me. He checked, rocking back on his heels as though for an instant he had been caught off balance. Then his features set themselves into a smile of welcome. “Hullo, Neil!” He reached down and grasped my shoulder. “Glad you’re safe.” But I noticed that his eyes didn’t light up with his face. They were hard as slate and withdrawn as though wrestling with the problem of my presence. He had a silk sweat rag knotted round his throat and his flying suit was un-zipped, making him appear more solid than ever. “Well, what happened? How did you get out?”
“I hitched a ride and walked the rest,” I said.
There was an awkward silence. He seemed to want to put a question, but his eyes slid to the others and he remained silent. I knew suddenly that he was nervous. I hadn’t thought of him as a man who could ever be nervous, but as he lit a cigarette his hands were trembling. “You’ve heard the news, have you? About the engines, I mean. They’re proving even better than we expected—twenty per cent increase in power and a forty-five per cent reduction in fuel consumption. They’re going to be——”
“Tubby is alive,” I said.
“Alive?” The echo of my statement was jerked out of him as though I’d hit him below the belt. Then he recovered himself. “Are you sure? You’re not” He stopped, conscious of the silence of the others watching him. “Where is he?”
“In a farmhouse near Hollmind Airfield.”
“I see.” He took a long pull at his cigarette. The news had jolted him and I could see he didn’t know what to do about it. He glanced at Diana and then at the I.O. who drew him on one side. I saw the man’s lips frame the words “Russian report” and I could almost have laughed at the thought of an R.A.F. Intelligence Officer giving Saeton the details of what had happened to that plane when all the time it was sitting out there on the FASO apron unloading fuel.
Air Bridge Page 22
