Secrets and Shadows (17 page)

Barry quickly sized up the terrain as he approached the van to get the tow-rope. The vehicle had crashed into a rock that was perhaps twenty yards off the small mountain road. The surface of the hillside was uneven, with marshy ground and bog holes scattered about. Crucially, though, there was an expanse of dry-looking land between the road and where the van had hit the rock and come to rest. It should be possible to reverse the van and drive it back to the road, which meant that they weren’t going to be stranded here. But first there was the matter of Pawlek and the tow-rope, and as Barry climbed into the back of the vehicle he heard the other man’s voice.

‘Hurry up!’

‘All right, I’m coming,’ cried Barry, as he located a long, tightly bound rope that was wedged behind the spare wheel. He climbed
out of the van and made his way down the steep slope to where Pawlek was still trapped in the bog hole, and still with the pistol aimed at Grace. Barry looked carefully to see if Pawlek had sunk any further. The mud and water were about chest-high – enough to keep him trapped but not enough to drown him.

‘Come on!’ said Pawlek.

Barry had the rope in his hand, ready for throwing, but something stopped him.

‘What are you waiting for?’ demanded Pawlek.

‘We’ve only your word you’ll do what you say,’ said Barry.

‘I will. There’s no gain in killing you.’

‘Isn’t there?’

‘Look,’ said Pawlek, obviously making an effort to sound reasonable, ‘I’m going to be out of the country pretty soon. You saw the radio, I used it to call a submarine. I’ll be gone after dark. I just planned to leave you two in the wilds. By the time you walk to civilisation, I’ll be long gone. But we’ll all be alive.’

Barry thought hard, trying to gauge if he could really trust him.

‘Otherwise,’ said Pawlek, his voice hardening again, ‘Grace will die. And probably you too. You’re nearer now, and I’m a good shot.’

Barry’s mind was racing as he continued weighing up how much of this might be bluff and how much might be true.

‘I give you my word as an officer and a gentleman,’ said Pawlek. ‘Throw me the rope and we all walk away unharmed. Otherwise…’

Barry looked at Grace. He could see that she was really frightened
and that she believed Pawlek’s threat to kill her. And yet she didn’t beg for mercy. Nor did she try to sway him to give Pawlek the rope. He was impressed by her bravery and in that moment he knew that he couldn’t risk letting Pawlek shoot her.

‘All right,’ said Barry resignedly. Then he tied one end of the rope to the hazel tree and threw the other end to Pawlek, hoping this wasn’t the biggest mistake of his life.

Grace watched carefully as Pawlek awkwardly wrapped the rope around himself, feeding it under his armpits. She saw that he was going to tie it in a loop and then use it to pull himself out. So far he had kept the pistol trained on her, but to tie a knot he would have to use two hands – which would make aiming the gun very difficult. If she was going to make a run for it, that would be her opportunity. But it was risky. He might regain his aim quickly and shoot her. Whereas if they went along with his scheme, the worst that they faced was a very long walk in the mountains.
If he was telling the truth, that is.
But even if he was, they would still be letting a Nazi spy escape.
And if he wasn’t telling the truth?
If he decided that he wanted no witnesses, what was to stop him shooting them both and heading off to his submarine rendezvous?

Maybe it would be better to take a risk than to rely on the word of a spy –
a man who told lies for a living.
Grace pondered it a moment more then suddenly made her mind up. She stood staring
into space as Pawlek experimented with the rope. She tried to look dejected, wanting to give Pawlek the impression that she was frightened into submission, and therefore no threat to him.

From the corner of her eye she could see that Pawlek was concentrating on the rope, and when he moved his gun hand to tighten the loop, Grace didn’t hesitate. She dived to the ground. ‘Run,

Barry, run!’ she cried.

Without rising or looking up she rolled away at speed over the rough ground, desperately willing herself to get out of Pawlek’s line of fire. Two shots rang out, deafening in the still of the evening, and Grace saw a final blur of the setting sun as she fell backwards into the ferns.

Barry looked in horror as Pawlek fired the pistol at Grace. He saw his friend fall back into the ferns and he was consumed with anger. Forgetting all thoughts of escaping, he reacted on instinct, grabbed a fist-sized granite rock and ran towards Pawlek. His momentum took him down the hill at speed but what happened next seemed to unfold almost in slow motion. Pawlek was still gripping the rope with one hand and trying to swing round to aim the pistol with the other. Before he could get a shot off, Barry had closed the gap between them. He reached the edge of the bog hole and flung the rock, catching Pawlek solidly on the head. There was a sickening thud, and Pawlek fell backwards into the bog hole, the
pistol flying from his hand, with only the rope that was looped under his arms keeping his unconscious form from falling forward and sinking down in the squelching mud and water.

Barry immediately scooped up the pistol from where it had landed on the ground. He swung around and aimed it at Pawlek. He felt his finger tightening on the trigger, but the other man was clearly unconscious, and Barry hesitated to shoot him in cold blood. Instead, he lowered the pistol and started towards the ferns where he had seen Grace falling.

‘Grace!’ he cried, terrified of what he might find, ‘Grace!’

‘Here! Over here!’

He swiftly moved through the ferns, then came upon her. She looked shaken from having tumbled backwards down the hillside but she didn’t seem to have any obvious injuries as she sat up gingerly.

‘Are you OK?’ he asked, hunkering down beside her.

Grace nodded. ‘I’m fine.’

Barry felt a flood of relief that Pawlek’s shots had missed her.

‘You got the gun,’ she said.

‘It flew out of his hand when I hit him with a rock. He’s out cold.’

‘Oh thank God, Barry. I was so scared.’

‘Me too,’ he answered with a wry grin. ‘Me too.’

Grace tried for a smile in return, then instead reached out and hugged Barry for a moment.

He hugged her back, relieved that they had outwitted so
dangerous an enemy, then he rose to his feet and held out his hand to help her up. ‘Sure you’re OK?’

‘Just a few scrapes.’

They made their way back to the bog hole where Pawlek was slumped unconscious. A trickle of blood had run down his forehead, but the rope tied to the hazel tree prevented him from slumping under the surface.

‘What do we do now?’ asked Grace.

‘The bumper on the van is caved in, but the wheel looks all right. I’ll push the bumper out with a bit of wood, then I reckon I can drive the van back up onto the road.’

‘Right.’

‘The sun is going down over there,’ said Barry pointing. ‘So if we try to drive in the opposite direction it will bring us east, and eventually we’ll reach the coast.’

‘What about Mr Pawlek?’

‘Looks like he won’t be making his submarine,’ said Barry, unable to keep the bitterness from his tone.

Grace looked at him. ‘Are you saying…are you saying we just leave him here?’

‘He tried to shoot you, Grace. He was ready to kill both of us.’

‘Even if he was. You said yourself, he could die of exposure out here.’

Barry thought of all the innocent civilians in Liverpool who had been killed because of people like Mr Pawlek. Would one death in retaliation be so awful?

‘Barry?’ said Grace softly. ‘Are you really saying we should just leave him?’

‘He’s a Nazi, Grace.’

‘I know,’ she answered. ‘But we’re not.’

Barry thought back to what Mum had said about British values. And how the best way to win against the likes of Hitler was to stay true to normal, decent values despite the depths to which the Nazis stooped. He stood lost in thought for a moment as the twilight deepened, then he turned to Grace. ‘OK, then,’ he said. ‘We’ll tie him hand and foot, and take him back as a prisoner.’

He handed Grace the pistol. ‘You hold onto this, I’ll go and free the mudguard. Then we’ll tie the rope to the back bumper and use the van to haul him out. All right?’

‘Fine.’

‘OK,’ said Barry his spirits lifting again in the knowledge that they were doing the right thing. ‘Let’s bring back a prisoner!’

Grace was impressed by how Barry handled the van. First he freed the mudguard like he had said, then he proved how well his Uncle George had taught him to drive, manoeuvring the vehicle up the hillside, with just enough revving of the engine to slowly pull the prostrate form of Mr Pawlek forward and out of the bog hole.

‘OK Barry, that will do!’ Grace cried. She saw him stopping the vehicle, the engine still idling as he got out to untie the rope
from the bumper. She knelt beside the unconscious drill teacher, who looked a mess with his bloodied head and filthy, mud-sodden clothes.

Grace undid the rope that had been looped under his arms, drawing it up over his head. Suddenly Pawlek grabbed her left arm, and Grace screamed in shock. She had put the gun down on the ground, thinking herself in no danger from a man who was injured and unconscious.
But she shouldn’t have underestimated someone as cunning as Pawlek!
And now his eyes were wide open and he was lunging for the gun. Grace felt a surge of anger. It was partly directed at herself, but mostly at Pawlek, whom she could have left stranded in the bog hole. Instead she had behaved decently, and this was her reward. She couldn’t let him get to the gun, but she knew that he was stronger than her and would overpower her before Barry could join in. She had one chance, and one chance only, and with very ounce of her strength she drove her right fist at her opponent, aiming for his wounded head. She was rewarded with a roar of agony as Pawlek clutched his bloodied head wound, then Grace rolled away from him and scooped up the gun.

She could see Barry approaching at speed, but this was her fight, and she held the gun with both hands and pointed it at Pawlek.

‘Don’t,’ he cried, ‘please.’

Grace aimed at his chest. She was furious at Pawlek for tricking her, and he was a highly dangerous Nazi who couldn’t be trusted not to try something else.

‘Please,’ he said again. ‘Don’t shoot. Please.’

Grace hesitated. She looked at his swollen forehead and the blood trickling again into his eye, and her fury abated a little. ‘OK,’ she said finally in a voice still cold with anger, ‘you lie face down on the ground with your hands behind your back. Do it, now!’

Pawlek obeyed her.

Grace came up behind him and pressed the gun against the back of his neck. ‘Barry will tie you, hands and feet, and if you try anything I’ll shoot you. One more trick, one wrong move, and I’ll empty this gun into you! Understand?!’

‘Yes.’

‘Certain?’

‘Yes!’

‘You think you’re so smart, don’t you? How does it feel to be beaten by a couple of kids?’

Pawlek had no answer, and Grace kept the gun pressed to the back of his neck but looked over at her friend and nodded.