Shadows of Deceit (11 page)

“We could stay in a pub over there for a couple of nights. Do you know the area at all?”

“’Fraid not, but it’ll be fun to explore. Has this to do with Darlath again?”

“Yes. I believe he’s provided a few projects in the past for the group.”

They continued talking and relaxing for about an hour then Eileen suggested that she should take Harry back to her flat.

“It’ll be warmer and more comfortable than my place.” Harry said, “So the answer is yes, lets go!”

The couple turned to wave farewell to Steve but he appeared to be preoccupied in whispered conversations with his ‘guests’ to notice them leaving.

The next morning Harry travelled over to the garage to meet up with Steve and Tommy. From there he telephoned Andrew and Dermot to explain that he had agreed to go to Kintyre and that Eileen was delighted to accompany him. Steve appeared to be suffering from a hangover.

“A hard day yesterday was it?” Harry asked.

“The day was alright but the night developed into a real swine, too much spirit and ‘two’ many hangers on.”

He held up two of his fingers to indicate the second ‘two’ as the women that had remained with him.

“Never again, ever.”

“Vera’s making another brew so that may help.”

Tommy ventured in a quiet voice. He then turned to Harry,

“I spoke to Dermot earlier and assuming you were going on the excursion he’s asked us to fund your trip and supply a car. So you might as well take one of the old Standards today. I’ve also got an identity card for you.”

Tommy opened his desk drawer and gave Harry the card.

“Here, don’t raise any questions and, if you’re asked, don’t reveal the source.”

“I understand. Thanks, I’m grateful.”

“Andrew supplied me with your current address in Argyle Street which is entered here and the previous details shown were small guest houses in Glasgow and London that have all been abandoned through bomb damage. There’s enough misinformation contained to confuse anyone interested if you’re ever stopped.”

“That’s a big help, thanks again Tommy.”

Vera came into the office with a tray of tea. She nervously edged the tray onto the desk. Although desperately trying to avoid it, all the mugs slid and clinked together causing some of the contents to splash onto the surface of the desk. She left without looking at anyone, her cheeks now bright red with embarrassment. Tommy retrieved an old duster from the drawer and dabbed his desk, a remedy that he had carried out apparently without complaint on numerous previous occasions.

“Have you thought of the route you’ll take Harry?”

“Yes, I had a look at a map earlier. Out towards Dumbarton, the Loch then Arrochar, Invarary and south to Glenbarr. It looks a pretty remote area to me.”

Steve agreed,

“Yes, before the war it was mainly used by walkers and cyclists but not so many now, especially at this time of year anyway. The roads are a bit rough so take it easy. Another thing, when you do find a suitable beach or cove to land a boat remember to watch out for any minefields.”

“Minefields?”

Tommy joined in,

“We think a lot of the beaches across there have false minefield signs up but don’t take any chances, remember we will be meeting the boat at night.”

“So there are pathways between these areas?” Harry asked.

Steve turned to face Harry,

“Yes, the locals still use the beaches themselves sometimes; you’ll find the mined areas are mainly in the dunes with clearly marked pathways down to the beaches. As Tommy said we believe most of the marked areas are decoys, we didn’t really expect Hitler to invade the west coast of Scotland for God’s sake!”

Harry appeared not to be too reassured by that potentiality.

“OK. I’ll watch out for them. My main aim is to find a road leading down to the strand where we can hide a getaway van under cover. Hopefully there’ll be some trees nearby or at least it might be sheltered from view by farm buildings”

“That’s exactly what’s needed.” Tommy said, “Whilst you’re there make sure you get some tide times for the next month.”

“Right.”

Tommy opened his desk drawer again and handed an envelope to Harry,

“Here take this, there’s enough cash for you to enjoy yourselves for a day or so. Just pretend you’ve been given a few days break from work, I’m sure you’ll find a pub that’ll be glad to take you in.”

“I understand, I - we - won’t let you down.”

“I’ll get the car out for you.”

Tommy led the way to the back yard where the black Standard was parked.

“Not in the best condition, but it’s fuelled up and shouldn’t cause you any problems. There’s a spare five gallon can in the boot. Now off you go and enjoy yourselves!”

Harry sat in the driving seat and started the engine. But he quickly discovered that there was a rare technique needed for engaging first gear. After several ear splitting whines the gearbox finally accepted Harry’s selection and he slowly and bumpily moved forward. The noise attracted a grinning mechanic who emerged from the workshop to wave Harry off.

Two days later Harry and Eileen set off for Kintyre in bright sunshine.

Back in Glasgow Steve stopped at a newsagent early one morning on his way to work. He had to weave his way through the vegetable market stall holders who were beginning to set up their displays opposite the pawnbrokers. Inside the shop, whilst waiting to be served, his eyes scrutinised the scene outside through the window, ‘old Police habits seldom die’ he thought. He then noticed Andrew’s front door open and to his astonishment Darlath appeared from inside. Darlath looked up and down the street before stepping out. As he did so Steve watched him turn and wave to someone unseen at the top of the stairs. Steve grinned,

‘Gotcha at last!’

The journey towards Kintyre was slow but without incident. Eileen had prepared a picnic lunch which they enjoyed sitting by the banks of Loch Lomond. From there they travelled west and then down towards the peninsula. Harry continually eyed up the coastal roads for any potential secluded beaches. But he knew from looking at maps the previous days that the most favoured area was likely to be further south near Glenbarr. As the afternoon wore on they decided to head back north to Inveraray to look for accommodation for the night.

“We’ll come back down again tomorrow and do a slow search around the Glenbarr area. Now let’s find a bar and relax before dinner.”

“That’s what I hoped you’d suggest; it’ll also be nice to have a bath and change of clothes. I really am enjoying this.”

They found lodgings at the George & Dragon at Inveraray. Their accommodation on the first floor was reached by an impressive wooden stairway, and their bed was a large, high, four poster with Jacobean patterned curtaining. The room, like most of the pub downstairs, was decorated with very old dark wooden panelling around the walls.

Harry hung his jacket and mac up in the wardrobe as Eileen kicked her shoes off,

“Today was a good day, you know I can’t remember the last time I had a day’s holiday,”

Eileen said as she tried unsuccessfully to climb onto the bed.

“Here I’ll lift you up.”

They both laughed as Harry hauled Eileen up onto the bed and then he followed and lay down beside her. He turned to face her,

“Let’s rest here for an hour before going down to dinner, is that OK?”

“Yes, it’s getting cold now anyway, so why don’t we climb into the bed?”

“Race you.”

Harry said as he immediately stripped off his clothes and settled under the blankets. Eileen quickly followed and within a minute they were lying together, warm, content and very much at ease with each other.

The late afternoon sun had now disappeared and a fresh westerly wind rattled the sash window frames and threw columns of leaves spiralling skywards into the cold air outside. They slept deeply after making love and awoke to the sound of knocking at their bedroom door.

“I’ll be there in a sec.”

Harry said trying desperately to find his clothes in the dark.

“It’s OK you don’t have to open the door.”

The soft Scottish accent of the landlord’s wife came from the passageway. She continued,

“It’s just to say we will be serving dinner in about twenty minutes.”

Eileen responded,

“Thank you, yes we will be there soon, thanks.”

Within half an hour they were downstairs enjoying dinner. Afterwards they made their way into the bar and were acknowledged by some other guests and a few locals. Harry bought drinks and they sat together on a large settle near the fireplace that faced the bar. They had started chatting about the plans for the following day when they were distracted by the entrance of an old ginger haired, well-built man dressed in a faded green tweed jacket and plus fours. His voice boomed around the room as he greeted some of the locals,

“Good evening one and all. Ah! The host of this hostelry, where is he dear friends when one most needs his services?”

The barman appeared,

“Good evening Crispin, your usual?”

Crispin’s voice echoed around the room as he responded,

“Your finest ale dear sir.”

As the barman prepared the drink Crispin looked around the room and addressed the strangers,

“Dear guests pray accept me as you find me. Welcome to this beautiful inn. The very best in Scotland I would wager and I am sadly not on the payroll. But my daily attendance at the bar here provides generous turnover for the establishment each fiscal year.”

“Your drink Crispin.”

The man pulled a handful of coins from his pocket and assembled them into piles on the counter,

“When this is gone then I must away home to my dear spouse who at this very juncture is preparing victuals for me.”

The barman took some of the coins away and put them into the till.

“Now to my crossword.”

Crispin turned and faced Harry and Eileen who happened to be nearest to him. Again the voice boomed out,

“I’m having great difficulty today, one clue is ‘emitting light from heat’ which I’d guessed as incandescent?”

Harry smiled across at him,

“Yes, I think that sounds right, so where is your problem?”

“Well dear boy if ‘incandescent’ is correct then it’s ‘A’ is the beginning of a four letter word for a London suburb, any ideas, you see I don’t frequent the city so much as I used to?”

Harry and Eileen thought for a moment but couldn’t determine what the answer could be. They continued drinking and chatting to each other. About five minutes later Harry had a flash of inspiration. He called across to Crispin,

“What about ‘Acne’ does that fit?”

The room erupted with laughter and Crispin’s face went bright red just seconds before he too joined in heartily. His laughter and spluttering lasted a full minute before he was able to calm down again,

“Acne, did you hear that barman, acne?”

Crispin broke into further laughter that became infectious as everyone followed him.

“Sorry, but it just seemed to fit.”

Harry said slightly embarrassed that his suggestion caused such noisy amusement. Crispin then scrutinised his newspaper again and occasionally wiped tears of laughter from his cheeks with a large brown handkerchief.

“Oh stupid buffoon I am, look!”

He held the newspaper up for all to see.

“I’ve been trying to answer in the wrong space. If incandescent is correct then the London suburb, four letters, comes down from the bloody ‘S’ not the ‘A’. So Soho is correct. Then ‘relating to aircraft’ the ‘A’ down is ‘aero’. Brilliant it all fits thank you my dears, one and all.”

The room then calmed down as couples began to talk with each other again without being disturbed by him.

“Shall we have another drink?” Harry said to Eileen.

“Yes please, but let’s go and stand at the bar.”

They walked over and stood alongside Crispin. Harry ordered his drinks.

“Can I get you one, sir?”

Crispin turned towards Harry and raised the back of his hand to his mouth, his eyes looking up at the ceiling whilst carefully weighing up the offer,

“I should not dear fellow.” A slight pause ensued, “But, just perhaps a small tincture.”

“Your usual then?”

The barman asked knowing such generosity had never been refused in the past.

“Such pleasures help to stimulate one’s mind; thank you yes.”

Crispin turned towards Eileen,

“Dear Madam let me introduce myself, I am Crispin Montrose, Actor, writer, producer and artistic director.”

“Oh, pleased to meet you. I’m Eileen and this is Harry. We’re staying a few days and travelling around the area. A bit of a holiday really.”

“Utterly charmed to meet you both.” The drinks arrived, “And thank you again.”