A Time of Peace (29 page)

‘I don't want to risk losing them, so if I send prints only I can keep the film with me.'

‘Ah, yes, that is sensible. May I be of some use?'

He was, but it was just after six when they finished. She found a card-backed envelope on a shelf and addressed it to Andrew Stevenson, then put the photos and her report she'd written the night before inside and sealed it. Now how on earth could she get this to London quickly? Then she remembered her return ticket. ‘Do you have a passport, Bernhard?'

‘No, but my brother Franz does.'

‘I have a ticket for the nine o'clock flight tonight – do you think he would take this to London for me and deliver it by hand? I will, of course, pay all his expenses.'

‘I'm sure he would. The world must know about this,
Fräulein. It appears that no one is doing anything about it. Now they have cut the city in half!'

She heard the anger and frustration in his voice. He was right! Why wasn't anyone putting a stop to this?

They left the shop and ran the two blocks to Bernhard's brother. He listened, nodding his head all the time, then took the packet and with rage burning in his eyes said in perfect English, ‘I shall see that this is delivered safely.'

Kate gave him enough money for his return flight and any other expenses. She was glad she'd had the sense to bring a lot of Deutschmarks with her, as well as sterling.

He already had his passport in his hand. ‘I will let Bernhard know when the photos are in the hands of the editor.'

She looked at her watch anxiously. ‘Nearly seven o'clock – I hope you make it in time.'

‘I will, do not worry.' Then he left at a run, jumped into a car outside and roared off.

Kate breathed a sigh of relief; she'd done all she could for the moment. ‘Thank you for your help,' she told Bernhard. ‘I intended to go back tonight, but I don't want to leave now.'

‘I understand. You must have a meal and try to rest. By tomorrow the realization of what the barrier means will have sunk in, and the city will erupt, I think.'

‘I agree. The reaction has been one of numb disbelief today. That will soon turn into fury.'

They made their way back to the hotel, each one silent with their own thoughts.

At breakfast the next morning the receptionist came to Kate's table. ‘There is a phone call for you, Miss Freeman.'

She hurried to take it, hoping it was news that the photos had arrived safely.

‘Kate!' Andrew Stevenson bellowed. ‘That you? I've had a hell of a job getting through.'

‘I'm not surprised,' she told him. ‘Did you get the photos?'

‘Yes, and they're damned good. You've captured the emotion of the people. You're one great photographer.'

Praise indeed, she thought wryly.

‘I want you to stay there and work exclusively for the
Explorer.
I'll pay your fare and hotel bills.'

‘All right,' she agreed, then frowned as the line began to crackle. Are you still there?' Then she held the phone away from her ear as a stream of bad language came down the line.

‘Can you hear me, Kate?'

‘Yes, I said okay.'

‘Good, good, stay as long as you need to.'

Kate put down the phone and gave a disbelieving shake of her head. She'd achieved her ambition after all. She was now working abroad taking photos for the
World Explorer.
She had thought that dream lost.

On Monday, Jon and Gerhard joined the huge crowd at the Hindenburg Platz on the west side of the Brandenburg Gate. Everyone was quiet at first, then they became more agitated as questions were asked. West Germany was now completely sealed off. How could this be allowed to happen? Why wasn't someone doing something about it?

Jon brought Gerhard's attention to large concrete blocks being unloaded from lorries.

‘The bastards!' Gerhard spat out. ‘They're going to build a permanent wall!'

At the Brandenburg Gate some people began to throw stones, and the whole atmosphere became highly charged.

‘My God!' Gerhard gasped. ‘Look at that girl – she'll get hurt or even killed if she doesn't move away from there.'

Jon looked in the direction in which Gerhard was pointing and could not believe his eyes. He surged into action, pushing his way through the crowd. He had a reasonable repertoire of German swear words and he used them as he fought his way towards the barrier. He could hear Gerhard behind him adding a few invectives of his own as he hauled people out of the way so they could get through.

The girl had a camera to her eye and was right against the barrier, with stones flying past her head and guns
pointing in her direction, but she appeared to be oblivious to the danger.

Once Jon was close enough he lunged, grabbed her around the waist and hauled her off the wire. She lashed out with her free hand and kicked her feet, catching him a nasty blow on his shin. It was a good job she was hanging on to a camera, because if she had let loose with both hands she could have done some damage. This was no weakling he was grappling with, as he used all his strength to drag her to a safer spot.

Gerhard caught hold of her legs to stop her kicking, and between them they managed to get her away from the seething crowd. They stood her on her feet and a fist shot past Jon's head; he ducked only just in time.

As she glared at him, he could see she was incandescent with anger. ‘What the hell are you doing here?'

‘Working!' She began to push her way back into the crowd and both men caught hold of her again.

She lashed out in fury and Gerhard caught a well-aimed punch on his chin.

‘Stop it, Kate,' Jon growled.

Gerhard checked his chin for damage. ‘Do you know her?'

‘Oh, we know each other,' Kate snapped at Gerhard. ‘Have you seen what's going on over there?' She didn't give him a chance to answer. ‘Have you seen people trying to talk to their families, and crying as they're driven away from the border? I'm going to get close-up pictures of the soldiers' faces and show the world what these unfeeling beasts are doing. Those people are prisoners now. You've no right to stop me!'

Jon studied her through narrowed eyes. He'd never
have guessed that the quiet controlled girl he'd met before could be so explosive. It was clear now that, like her mother, she cared about other people, but this one cared too much and allowed her emotions to get the better of her. He doubted Rose had ever been like that, or acted so recklessly.

‘I know exactly what is going on,' Gerhard told her icily. ‘My parents are still over there and I haven't any idea when, or if, I'll see them again. So don't you lecture me, Fräulein!'

The fire drained out of Kate and she appeared contrite. ‘I'm sorry.'

‘You could have been killed,' Jon said.

Her glance turned to one of contempt. ‘Don't be ridiculous!'

He badly wanted to shake some sense into her but he tried to make allowances for her inexperience in this kind of a situation. ‘Those soldiers are as jumpy as hell – it won't take much for them to start shooting.'

‘They won't do that!'

Just then a shot rang out somewhere further along the border. Jon raised an eyebrow in query. ‘You think not? Now, who are you working for?'

‘Your newspaper.' She was edging back into the crowd, but Gerhard blocked the way.

‘Exclusively?' When she nodded, he said, ‘Then we'll work together and you'll do as you're told.'

She bristled, offended at being spoken to in that abrupt manner. ‘Stop ordering me around. It's none of your business what I do!'

‘You never know what a crowd this angry is going to do. It's dangerous, damn it!' he ground out through
clenched teeth, not caring how much he upset her. He wasn't going to allow her to roam around this volatile city on her own. He would have a few choice words to say to Andrew when he saw him!

‘I never thought you were a coward!' she snapped.

‘Call me all the names you like, but you're going to do as I say!' He was furious with her and curled his large hands around her upper arms, making her look straight at him.

‘Don't you touch me!'

Jon released his grip and took a step back. He'd never seen such animation in her face. Her eyes were smouldering like burning coals.

‘I need pictures that show the suffering this barbarous act is causing and' – she looked him up and down in derision – ‘I can't do that if I have to stay in the background and view it from a distance.'

Gerhard stifled a laugh, and Jon said to him, rather belatedly, ‘Meet Kate Freeman.'

Gerhard shook hands politely. ‘You would do well to heed his advice, for he does know what he's doing.'

‘Advice? That was an order.' Kate's tone was scathing.

Jon clenched his jaw in exasperation – what had happened to her? During their meeting in France and the journey back, he had begun to find her appealing, but this wasn't the same woman. For her family's sake and for Eddie's, he wasn't going to let her run into danger. ‘You'll get your pictures, but you'll stay with me and do the job as safely as possible.'

He watched her struggling to accept his restrictions on her movements. He'd seen plenty of photographers in war zones and they all seemed to have one aim, and
that was to take their pictures, whatever the situation. When they had a camera to their eye, danger was forgotten in the need to capture the scene. She had the same compulsion, he realized. The only one he knew who had shown any caution was Terry, and he wished to heaven that Andrew had sent him instead. Kate was going to be a blasted nuisance because he felt he had to protect her.

She was obviously determined to get her photos, and this was a story crying out to be told in pictures, as well as in words. ‘You tell me what you want and I'll see you get it.'

Her dark eyes were still smouldering, but she had calmed down at last. ‘What I'm trying to capture is the pain and despair of the people of Berlin, East and West. I want to show not only the brutality of the act, but also the sheer inhumanity of separating family and friends.'

Gerhard nodded approvingly. ‘This is not the place – come, we shall go to another part of the border.'

They walked for about fifteen minutes. There were people all along but not as many as at the main crossing points. Gerhard stopped and pointed to a street now cut in half by the barbed wire. ‘You see the third house down?'

‘Yes.' Kate held the camera to her eye, framing the shot.

‘That is where my parents live.' He couldn't hide the anguish in his voice.

Kate swung round, her fingers moving quickly to adjust the camera, and took a photo of Gerhard's face before he grasped her intention. Then she photographed the street and the soldiers guarding the barrier.

She knew what she was doing by turning the camera on Gerhard at that moment, Jon realized, as he watched her working. Alerted, by the German's tone of voice, she had caught him when his despair was visible.

It was mid afternoon before they decided to find somewhere to eat. The demonstrations were growing in size and spreading throughout the city. The first shock had faded, and fury was taking over. Gerhard took them away from the main streets to a quiet area where he knew of a small family-run café.

After the meal Kate stood up and slung the camera bag over her shoulder, then, after thanking Gerhard, she turned to walk out of the café.

‘Just a minute.' Jon beat her to the door. ‘Where are you going?'

‘I don't think that's any of your business, but, as you asked, I'm going to develop my films, make prints of the best, then try to find a way to get them back to London.'

He noted her sharp tone and knew he hadn't been forgiven for dragging her away from the barrier. He really wished she wasn't here; it was a distraction he could do without. ‘Why don't you take them back yourself? I'm sure I could arrange transport for you.'

‘I'm not going. You needn't worry, though, I'll keep out of your way.' She eyed him up and down disdainfully. ‘I know how much you hate commitment of any kind.'

He lowered his head until they were eye to eye. ‘As I've already said, you're wasting your time throwing insults at me. You'll stay with me all the time and we'll work together, or I shall dump you on the first mode of transport I can find out of this city.'

‘You really are not a very pleasant man,' she snapped.

‘And you,
Miss Freeman
, are a pain in the backside, so are you going to do as you're told, or do I have to demand that Andrew recall you?'

She gave him a triumphant smile. ‘That won't make any difference. I'll simply sell to another paper and that won't please the Chief. I'm freelance,
Mr Devlin.
'

Gerhard hustled them outside. ‘There is enough anger in this city without you two sniping at each other. Now, where are you staying?' he asked Kate.

‘The Hotel Saxony.'

‘I know it; we'll collect you at eight o'clock tomorrow morning, and all three of us will work together. As reporters, it's our job to let the world know what's going on here.' He turned to Jon. ‘Are you in agreement with that?'

‘Perfectly.' He was quite amused at the way Gerhard had stepped in and defused the situation. He had been right to do so. For some reason he and Kate had begun to strike sparks off each other, and that was something new for them. ‘Where are you going to develop the film?'

‘There's a photographer's near the hotel. The owner let me use his darkroom yesterday, and I'm sure he will again.'

Gerhard wrote his address on a piece of paper. ‘When you have the photos ready, bring them to me and I will see that they are delivered to London at once.'

‘Can you do that? I'd be very grateful.'

Jon noticed the way her smile charmed Gerhard. She really was a beautiful woman, but he'd be a fool to let that influence him. She was stubborn, argumentative and trouble!

‘Yes, I'm an expert at moving information around the
world.' He returned the smile with warmth. ‘I'm on my home ground. I've got excellent connections in Berlin.'

‘I'll do the prints right away; it shouldn't take me more than two hours,' Kate said. She hurried away, eager to get on with the job.

Gerhard and Jon both had reports to write and file with their respective papers, so they returned to the apartment.

‘Okay.' Gerhard gave Jon a quizzical glance over the rim of his coffee cup. ‘Who is she?'

Jon settled comfortably on the sofa and told him about Rose, the Freeman family, and as much as he knew about Kate, including the newspaper reports of her kidnapping and the trial.

‘No wonder she fought so hard when we grabbed her. That experience must still be vivid in her mind.'

‘I expect it is.' Jon put his cup down and gazed into space for a few seconds. ‘I'm damned if I can make her out. Every time I meet her she's a different person. She's wonderful with the children at the home – so warm and caring – and then she turns into the wildcat we met today. I just can't fathom her.'

Gerhard laughed. ‘I can tell you exactly what I think of her. She's the most beautiful woman I've ever seen.'

‘Fancy her, do you?' Jon studied Gerhard with fresh eyes. His friend was good-looking in a rugged way, with fair hair and blue eyes. He was well educated and able to turn on the charm when necessary. Jon guessed he must be in his mid thirties.

‘Yes, I like her. Do you mind?'

Jon looked surprised. ‘Why would I mind?'

‘You show such concern for her safety that I thought you might be after her yourself.'

‘Oh, no.' He held up his hand in horror. ‘After the fiasco with my last romantic attachment, I've sworn off women.'

‘The field is clear for me, then.'

‘I wouldn't have thought she was your type. She'll be difficult to handle.' Jon didn't like the look in Gerhard's eyes when he talked about Kate.

‘I've never looked for an easy life.' Gerhard grinned and set to work on his report, and said without looking up, ‘Jealous, Jon?'

Jon ignored that last remark and picked up his pen. He lost track of time, as he always did when he was writing. He was just making the final alterations to the report when there was a knock on the door.