She's Out (51 page)

Mike made it on to the motorway. No roadblock was as yet set up but he didn’t look back, he just kept on driving. It was a long drive home and he wasn’t safe yet. He wouldn’t
be until he boarded the plane. He didn’t give any thought to the women. He just drove and stayed within the speed limit.

The final stages were hampered by exhaustion but not one of them flagged. They pushed themselves on. They had galloped across the fields, up through the woods, keeping to cover
as much as possible. They galloped down from the woods into the manor grounds, their bags thrown from their horses and left by the side of the lime pit, which was open and ready.

Julia leapt from Helen in her haste to start ripping open the mailbags. She hurled the money into the skip and threw the bags into the lime pit. Connie rode up, hurled her bags to the ground
and, still sodden from the lake, wheeled her horse round and galloped off, passing Dolly, the last to return, just as she headed down from the woods.

Julia grabbed Dolly’s bag, ripping it open. The money was stacked high in the open skip but she never stopped and, as the pit gurgled and hissed, she pressed the empty canvas mail bags
down with a rake. Without pausing for breath, she dragged the corrugated iron across the pit. She hooked up the skip chains to the old truck standing by in position and began to drag it across the
pit, over the corrugated iron. It left deep indentations in the wet ground – the rain had not stopped all night.

Meanwhile, the rest of the women restabled the horses, gathered up the cladding used on their hooves and took them to the stable yard tip. They threw them in and set fire to them but they were
so wet they took a while to ignite. The horses’ tack was replaced in order. No one spoke – they could hardly draw breath from exhaustion and panic – but they were still going by
their plans, even down to replacing the stable-keys in their hiding place. Then they went to the parked Mini, where Gloria was waiting patiently at the wheel. They almost had to haul Dolly inside
she was so tired. But it was not over, not yet.

By the time they returned to the manor, Julia had still not finished. She was hoovering up the money from inside the skip, then emptying it into thick black rubbish bags, each one tied hard at
the neck. Gloria ran from the Mini as the others moved into their jobs, lifting the bags, stashing them into the back of the car. They pushed and squashed them inside as bag after bag was tied and
handed over.

Gloria and Connie began a slow studied walk, eyes to the ground to look for any single note that might have come loose. They didn’t need any torches now as the sun was coming up and it was
light. The Mini stashed to the roof, Julia and Ester drove out. They knew they could be stopped at any second and neither spoke as they drove on, both their mouths bone dry with nerves. They still
had not seen a single police car as they drove into Norma’s cottage pathway and round the back to the barn.

It was pitch dark, and Julia used a small map torch held in her mouth to force open the door of the old coal chute. It had been painted as the cottage was now centrally heated but the chute was
wide enough to take a coal bag and long enough for the bags to be rammed against each other. The other end of the coal chute was blocked off, bricked over down in the cellar. All they had to do was
stuff the bags down the hole and replace the covering. Julia had brought some blackened putty to replace any dislodged from the wall as the door had not been opened for years. It was painted black,
with design and date picked out in white and red – a feature of the old cottage wall. Now it was more of a feature to them because it held all their money. They had to shove hard to get the
door to shut when they’d finished.

Dolly had now joined Connie, who was on her hands and knees searching the ground. The shotguns had been ditched in the lake, the mailbags were hopefully rotting, but still it was not over
– not until Dolly was satisfied they were in the clear. One note and they’d be screwed. They found four or five but kept on searching as Gloria raked over the deep tracks left by the
skip. She brought stones and branches and stamped them down to disguise any movement around the pit.

They did not stop until Julia and Ester returned. Then they parked the Mini and headed into the kitchen. Dolly set light to the black book in front of them and threw the ashes into the
waste-disposal unit. All their equipment had already been dumped in the local tip but still they checked that there was no incriminating evidence around the house. It was almost seven o’clock
before Dolly ordered them to change and get into their beds. They’ll be coming and they’ll be around for a long time. We just sit tight, stay calm, and keep on here as if nothing ever
happened. This is the most difficult part. Any one of you can blow it so it’s up to you all now, and I dunno about you lot but I’m totally knackered.’

She walked slowly up the stairs and they saw her going to her room. No one congratulated anyone, Connie broke down crying and Gloria gave her a squeeze, telling her to hold it together. They
then went their separate ways to bed.

Julia hugged her pillow tightly, the exhaustion still held at bay by adrenalin. She watched as Ester flopped back on the pillows. ‘Well, so far so good. We did it.’

Ester drew up the sheets around her chin and turned away. Julia leaned over her. Ester was crying and Julia kissed her shoulder, but didn’t say anything because she felt like weeping
herself.

Connie cried herself to sleep.

Gloria lay wide awake, waiting for the knock on the door. She was still waiting when she fell into a deep sleep of exhaustion like the rest of them.

Dolly, in her room, couldn’t stop smiling. It felt so good –
she
felt so good. She couldn’t think of sleeping and she had one eye on the clock, waiting to hear if Mike
had made it home without any trouble. In the end she felt her eyes drooping and couldn’t stay awake. She slept with her arms clutching her pillow like a lover.

Mike let himself into the house. He emptied the money bags, putting the cash into two big suitcases and covering them with clothes he’d already got prepared. He then sat
in the dining room, watching the mailbags burn. It took a long time and a whole packet of firelighters as the canvas was supposed to be fire resistant. He even poured some white spirit on top of
them but it was a hard job for them to catch alight. Then he took the ashes outside and tipped them into the dustbin, went back in and emptied two rubbish bins full of junk Susan had chucked out
while she had been packing. It was a while before he was satisfied the ashes could not be found.

Angela was fast asleep in his bed. He stood watching her from the doorway. She looked so young and innocent that he couldn’t resist kissing her just one last time. She woke with a
start.

‘Will you call home and tell Dolly you and the kids are okay? Do it now, so she’s not worried about you.’

She yawned and sat up as he walked to the door. ‘I’ll get the girls dressed and start breakfast.’

Dolly could hardly raise her head. Her whole body felt stiff all over as if she’d been in a boxing match. She blinked as the phone cut through her brain and eventually
reached out for it. It was Angela, just to say they were fine and would get the first train back.

‘Good.’ Dolly leaned back on her pillow. ‘Get a cab from the station, will you? And some fresh bread from that little corner shop.’ She hung up and looked at her bedside
clock. Mike was home safe. He’d made it. She closed her eyes, wondering if they all would. Any moment she knew the scream would go up and she would bet any of the cash they’d got
stashed away that the manor would be one of the first places they started at. ‘Well, let them come,’ she whispered to herself. We’re ready and waiting.’

A
ngela, as instructed by Dolly, had caught the first train back to the manor. She had not used the local station but the mainline station, again as
instructed by Dolly, who didn’t want Angela getting off the train into a swarm of cops. She simply used the excuse that, as it would be so early, Angela wouldn’t be able to get a cab at
the local station so it was better to use the main-line one.

Angela arrived back at the manor at eight o’clock. The girls were about to run upstairs but she told them to stay quiet and not to wake up the house. She set about preparing breakfast, the
girls laying the table and helping her.

Angela hadn’t known any of the women to sleep in so late and she asked one of the girls to check if Helen of Troy was in the stable, wondering if they had all gone out for an early ride.
The girls remained outside, calling back that Helen was in the stable. Angela fried eggs and bacon, sausages and some cold potatoes. It was all keeping warm in the oven when the women came down,
bleary-eyed and still wearing their dressing gowns.

‘Hi! Had a late night, did you?’ Angela asked, as she started getting out the plates.

‘Yeah, we had a bit of a night,’ Gloria muttered.

‘Aren’t you going riding today?’ Angela asked. It was unusual for them not to be up and out by now.

‘No. Stables have got some kids’ party so we can’t,’ Ester said as she creaked into her chair.

‘There was something going on at the station,’ Angela said as she served the eggs and bacon.

‘Oh, yeah, what?’ Gloria asked, as she poured the tea.

‘I dunno, but there were loads of police and all along the lanes were more patrol cars. They even stopped us in the taxi.’

‘You don’t say,’ said Julia, as she buttered her toast, and then asked casually if the morning paper had arrived.

She passed it over. ‘It’s got nothing in it.’

Dolly walked in, her hair in pin curls. Unlike the others she was dressed. ‘Angela love, go and get the girls inside. They’re getting filthy out there in the yard.’

Angela went out without argument and Dolly sat down. She reached for the teapot, was just about to pour a cup when the sirens wailed. ‘Well, here they come,’ she said quietly.

They all watched her as she continued to pour the tea. The front door bell echoed through the house, and Angela opened the back door. ‘There’s police all over the place!
They’re up in the woods.’

Dolly looked at Ester, jerking her head. ‘Go see what they want.’

Ester hesitated only a moment before she pulled her dressing gown closer and they could hear her flip-flop slippers as she went into the hall.

The police were searching every house within a five-mile radius of the station and that included every outhouse, stable and barn, every greenhouse. Every standing building was being searched
from top to bottom, and the Thames Valley police pulled in every man possible to sweep the area. Scotland Yard’s Robbery Squad were already at the scene of the raid as hundreds more officers
were drafted in to the immediate area to assist in the search. No vehicle had been found, no witness; the raid appeared to have happened without a single person seeing it.

The police interviewed the women and they all stated they were at home together the entire evening, went to bed at around eleven fifteen. They had heard nothing and kept up a bewildered act that
might have been up for an Oscar, as they asked what had happened. A murder? A rape? A kidnapping? But they were told nothing as the uniformed officers began the search outside. They searched every
cupboard, every chest and wardrobe, the roof, the chimneys, under the floorboards, the sauna area. The police were polite, diligent and stayed there for almost eight hours until they had to move
on. They found nothing.

By lunchtime the press had arrived and now it was headlines in the evening papers: the biggest train robbery in history had taken place and Thames Valley were using more than four hundred
officers to comb the entire area. By now the police knew that a man masquerading as a police officer had daringly held up the train, and the robbery had been committed by possibly five or six men.
They had been armed, and the public were warned that if they should have any evidence or suspect anyone, they were to act with caution as the men were deemed to be dangerous. The owner of the
speed-boat had been arrested but released after questioning. The signal box attendant, Jim, had also been questioned and released as the police drew up the lists of suspects. They had, as yet,
found no evidence, and had no clues as to the present whereabouts of the stolen money. The amount was not disclosed.

The women did not dare believe they had got away with it as the searches and questioning never ceased throughout the first three days after the robbery. Helen of Troy had been
examined but not taken in for questioning, as Julia joked with the police.

Everyone in the area who owned a horse was contacted. Even the local stables were questioned and their horses examined but the train driver could only describe the horse that had been standing
on the line as shiny and black. The rain-soaked cape had made Helen of Troy appear that colour but as she was chestnut brown, it let her off the hook.

Every day they came and went away. Dolly knew she was a prime suspect but, if she was, they didn’t take her down to the station for questioning. They didn’t take any of them in; they
just continued to comb the area. Norma’s cottage became a stop-over for the locals to drop in for tea. She had arrived home on the morning of the raid and, although she had invited a search,
hers was the only house that was not done over. They had a look at her three-year-old hunter, but she assured them he was in no way capable of riding across live cables. She suggested they maybe
try the nearest circus.

The officers had laughed. It was the audaciousness of the crime that couldn’t help but hook them all in. It was called the Wild West Hold-up by the
Sun
and from then on every paper
referred to the raid in jokey cowboy terms.

In some ways Norma was disappointed that when all the excitement had gone down – a raid at her local station no less – she had been on duty outside a cinema in the West End for some
big charity. The crowds had got out of hand and she had been called in with two other officers, but nothing untoward had happened apart from a soaking as it had rained all night long. By now she
had replaced her cape and hat but it had been a long, boring, wet night.