Darkest Hour (51 page)

'All right,' said Slater, once Blackstone had
explained his plan. 'But we should leave it another hour. Make sure everyone's
properly asleep.'

'All right. You can have the girl after I'm done.'

'Not my type,' muttered Slater. 'And there's a shotgun
in the kitchen. I saw it earlier. I'll get that and I've got the captain's
Webley too.' He grinned. 'Hang on a minute. I bet there are supplies in that
blood-wagon. Some chloroform could come in handy.'

Blackstone chuckled. 'I like it. I'll go and talk to
the sentries outside the front while you have a little rummage.'

It was a quarter to midnight when they crept into the
dairy next to the house and, from there, found some steps and an open door that
led into the kitchen. Using their torches they soon spotted the shotgun resting
in a corner by an old oak dresser. Both barrels were loaded. Slater smiled.
'They were always going to be,' he whispered. 'After all, this is a time of
war.'

They trod softly up the stone stairs. From the landing
there were a number of rooms but they had already guessed from the open windows
they had seen in the yard where the farmer and his wife, and the lieutenant,
were sleeping. Stealing down the corridor, Blackstone saw, to his relief, that
the lieutenant's door was ajar. He listened and heard his slow, rhythmic
breathing, then nodded to Slater. Putting on his respirator, Slater took out a
two-ounce tube of chloroform and entered the room. Blackstone waited
breathlessly, but half a minute later Slater reappeared, taking off his gas
mask. 'He's out for the count. You go and get him, then have your oats,' he
whispered. 'I'll sort out Mr and Mrs Farmer.'

Lieutenant Peploe was laid out on his bed, still wearing
his trousers and shirt. Blackstone listened to the faint breathing, then
hoisted him onto his shoulders with a gasp, staggered out of the room and up
the second flight of stairs to the top of the house. He was hot and breathing
heavily by the time he got there, and, he realized, his senses weren't quite as
keen as he would have liked. He'd had too much of that damned wine. He shook
his head, then moved towards the door at the end of the short passage.

It opened before he had reached it, and there, before
him, was the nurse, hastily buttoning the neck of her dress. 'What's the
matter?' she asked. Her dark hair, he noticed, was cut short and hung to her
shoulders. She had a trim, shapely figure.

'It's the lieutenant,' he said. 'He's unwell.'

She switched on the corridor light, then glanced up at
him guardedly. 'All right,' she said. 'Put him on the bed.'

He did so, then stood back. At that moment, there was
a commotion from below. The farmer's wife screamed, then there was a crash and
the farmer himself began to shout.

'My God, what on earth's going on?' said the nurse,
alarm in her voice.

'Never you mind,' said Blackstone, grabbing her wrist.

'Let go of me!' she shouted, but Blackstone had both
her wrists now and pushed her to the floor. She was wriggling and kicking as he
heard Slater and the farmer thumping up the stairs.

'You nearly done, Will?' Slater called.

'No, I'm bloody not,' he gasped. 'Keep still, will
you, lass?'

'Too bad,' said Slater. 'I'm coming up.'

Blackstone saw the girl's eyes widen as Slater entered
the room. Turning, he saw his friend's hand was over the farmer's mouth and the
shotgun was pressed to his side. Now he flung the man against the wall, then
calmly pulled the trigger. Plasterwork fell as Monsieur Michaud slumped to the
floor. Blackstone was momentarily stupefied, then felt a violent pain in his
groin. Rolling over in agony, he was conscious of the nurse jumping to her feet
and running out of the room.

'For God's sake, Will!' snarled Slater. He took off
after her, and as Blackstone, still wincing, got to his knees, he heard a
second blast and then, faintly, a splash.

Tanner had been awake the moment he heard the shotgun.
Others were stirring too, but he grabbed his MP35 and ran out of the barn,
across the yard and into the house. Flailing in the dark, he was halfway up the
stairs when the second shot rang out. Flinching, he hurried on.

'Sir!' he shouted. 'Sir!'

It was not Lieutenant Peploe coming down from the top
landing, but Slater.

'Sergeant Tanner,' he said, his voice more animated
than Tanner had ever known it. 'I never thought I'd say this, but thank God
you're here.'

'What the bloody hell's going on?' He noticed the
sergeant was holding a Webley revolver.

'It's the farmer,' he almost gabbled. 'He tried to
have his way with the nurse. Too much grog. He's whacked his wife, struck the
lieutenant with his shotgun, then Blackie and me got there and we had a bit of
a tussle. I'm looking for the girl.'

'What? Where did she go?'

'I don't know - I think she may have jumped out of a
window. I heard a splash.'

Tanner glanced up to the landing, then into the room
nearest him. He went in and ran to the window, forced it wide and leaned out.
Then there was a crack on his head and his mind went blank.

In the top room, Blackstone could hear men shouting
and talking outside as they hurried across the yard. The pain had eased, and so
he moved Peploe from the bed and swung the door into the lieutenant's head.
Looking up, he saw Slater at the top of the stairs.

'We've got be quick, Will,' said Slater, urgently, as
he ushered him back into the room. 'You need to go out into the yard and tell
the men what's happened. The sky's cleared and the stars are out. Explain to
them that the best course for them is to start heading for the coast. We can
use the Pole Star, but my guess is we've been heading north anyway. Make it
convincing, all right?'

Blackstone nodded. 'What about Tanner?'

'I don't think we need to worry too much about him. I
coshed him over the head and pushed him out of a window into the pond. He's
probably drowned. You can tell them he jumped after the nurse. I'll go and
search for them now. If either of them's found, they won't be making any
trouble, that's for sure.'

'And the farmer's missus?'

'I've dealt with her.'

Blackstone swallowed. 'All right, Ted.'

'Good - you do the talking, and I'll hunt for Tanner
and the nurse.'

He hurried off, leaving Blackstone in the top bedroom.
The CSM glanced back at Monsieur Michaud's lifeless body and tried to think
clearly. He could hear the men in the yard and in the house downstairs. Slater
spoke to some of them as he passed. Hurrying to the window, he leaned out and
said, 'All right, boys, everything's under control.' Then, as he dashed for the
stairs, he saw Sykes, McAllister and Greenstreet, the medical orderly.

'What's going on?' said Sykes.

'A bit of a to-do with the farmer, lads,' said
Blackstone. 'Can you come up here and give me a hand with the lieutenant? I'm
afraid he must have been coshed.'

Sykes pushed past and hurried to Peploe. 'Sir?' he
said, and then, as he checked the lieutenant's breathing, he noticed Monsieur
Michaud's bloodied body. 'Christ alive!' he said, jolting backwards.

'Slater got him,' said Blackstone, then turned to
Greenstreet. 'I'm sorry, mate, but the bastard was trying to have his way with
your nurse friend.'

Panic spread over Greenstreet's face. 'Where is she?'

'She got away from him - kneed him where it hurt most,
I think. We got here just after he'd fired a shot at her on the landing. Then
Ted pounced on him and eventually managed to shoot him. We never saw her, but I
think she jumped out of the window in the adjoining bedroom.'

'Oh, my God,' said Greenstreet, leaving Peploe to run
down the corridor and into the next room. 'Lucie!' he shouted, from the window.
'Lucie!'

Following him, and deliberately blocking the top of
the stairs, Blackstone said, 'Slater's taken some men to look for her.'

'Then I must go and help,' said Greenstreet.

'No. You stay here and make sure the lieutenant's all
right. There's enough people already searching for her.' Blackstone ran down
the stairs.

'Sergeant,' Sykes called to Greenstreet.

'Sorry-yes, I'm coming,' Greenstreet replied. 'This is
bloody unbelievable.'

Sykes saw him glance at Monsieur Michaud as he came
back in. Then Greenstreet cleared his throat and said, 'We should take the
lieutenant back to his room. Can't leave him to come round in here with - with
all that blood.'

Sykes and McAllister lifted Peploe, carried him down
the stairs and laid him on his bed. Greenstreet felt his pulse, then put his
ear to Peploe's mouth.

'He's still breathing, all right.'

'What about his head?' asked McAllister.

'A bad bump, that's all. He's out cold, though.' He
stood up. 'Look, I'm sorry, but I've got to find Lucie.' Muttering under his
breath, he hurried from the room.

When he had gone, Sykes said, 'There's something going
on here, Mac.' Now he remembered Tanner. 'And where's the sarge - where the
bloody hell is he?'

'I don't know,' said McAllister. 'I haven't seen him.'

'Jesus Christ,' muttered Sykes. 'Right. You stay here,
Mac, and keep an eye on the lieutenant. I'm going to look for the sarge.'

He ran from the room, down the stairs, across the hallway
and out into the yard. 'Has anyone seen Sergeant Tanner?' he said, grabbing at
the others. 'Where's the sarge?'

'It's all right, boys,' said Blackstone. 'Sergeant
Tanner jumped out after the nurse, but there are men looking for them.'

'Sod that,' said Sykes. 'Three Section! To me!'

He ran from the yard, around the front of the house
and down to the moat, his men following. As he ran he took his torch from his
pocket, although up ahead, lights were already flickering along the pond's
bank. He slowed now, sweeping his torch across the narrow strip of water. It
was still and dark, thick with weed and bulrushes.

'Keep your eyes peeled,' said Sykes.

Slater came over to them. 'I'm sorry,' he said. 'We've
searched the whole length but there's nothing.'

'There must be,' said Sykes. 'Didn't the sentries see
anything?'

Slater shook his head. 'They came into the yard when
they heard the shots. We've looked - we've had half a dozen torches on it, but
there's a lot of weed and God knows what else in there.' He called over the
rest of his men. 'Come on, he said. 'I know the CSM wants to talk to everyone.'

'We'll just have another quick look,' said Sykes. 'He
is our sergeant.'

'I'll stay too,' said Greenstreet.

Slater nodded. 'Be quick about it.'

Once Slater and his men were out of sight, Hepworth
said, 'Bollocks, Corp, there's only one way to find him,' and began to take off
his boots and trousers.

'He's right, Corp,' agreed Bell, following suit. When
they had undressed to their underwear, both men lowered themselves into the
water.

'Jesus, it's cold!' said Hepworth. 'Wherever he is
now, I hope the sarge appreciates what we're doing for him.'

'How deep is it?' asked Sykes.

'Not very,' said Hepworth. 'Five foot maybe.' They
waded up to the bridge, then back again and down the length of the farm
buildings. But there was nothing.

'Where can they have gone?' said Greenstreet. Sykes
thought he seemed close to tears. 'She was a great girl, Lucie, plucky as they
come.'

Slater called to them from the bridge. 'Come on, you
lot! The CSM wants to speak to you.'

While Hepworth and McAllister dried themselves with
their battle-blouses, Sykes looked into the dark still water. As he did so, a
thought occurred to him. 'Hang on a minute,' he mumbled to himself. Then he
turned to the others. 'Hey, boys, I don't reckon we need to feel too gloomy
just yet. Hep and Tinker haven't had a dip for nothing.'

'What do you mean?' said Bell.

'Well,' said Sykes, in a low voice, 'think about it.
If he's not there and neither is Nurse Richoux, they must be somewhere else,
which means one or other must be alive. They're not both going to vanish into
five foot of a ten- foot-wide pond, are they?'

Hepworth's face brightened. 'Bugger me, Corp, you're
right!'

'Ssh!' said Sykes. 'Keep your flaming voice down! Now,
listen, don't let on that the pond's only five foot deep, all right? Not yet,
at any rate. Me and the sarge have had our suspicions about the CSM and Slater
for some time and if we're right then something fishy's going on and I don't
think it'd be a good idea for Slater to think they're still alive.'

'You think Slater and the CSM tried to do 'em in?'
said Bell.

'I'm not sure, Tinker, but maybe, yes.'

Bell whistled.

'Jesus,' said Greenstreet.

'But listen to me. If you want to help the sarge and
Nurse Richoux, you follow my lead, all right?' He shone his torch at them.
'Yes?' They nodded. 'Good. Then let's go'