To Touch the Clouds : The Frontier Series 5 (46 page)

‘I didn’t know,’ Alex said quietly. ‘The last couple of months have been a bit hectic and I have had little chance to follow up on anything since I returned home.’

‘As her friend I would ask you to visit Giselle,’ Louise beseeched. ‘Most of her other friends have disowned her because in their eyes she is German. I only know my friend as a person with ambitions to make this world a better place.’

‘I will see her,’ Alex ceded. He was surprised at the depth of Louise’s friendship for the woman whom, he had to admit to himself, he had never stopped loving. ‘I will arrange to go to Holsworthy as soon as possible.’

‘Good,’ Louise said, satisfied that she had done something important for the sake of friendship. ‘I think that we should be returning to your party before George starts thinking that you and I are having an affair.’

‘You are really marrying my brother?’ Alex asked as they walked back to the house.

‘Your question has a disbelieving note to it,’ Louise replied. ‘Why would I not marry George?’

‘Oh, nothing,’ Alex answered, avoiding expressing his dislike for his brother.

Inside the house they were assailed by the pungent smell of tobacco smoke and the heavy perfumes of the ladies. ‘I believe that you have not yet availed yourself of a flight in
my cousin’s aeroplane,’ Alex said, causing Louise to glance sideways at him with a curious look.

‘I have no doubt that Mr Matthew Duffy has a very strong charm and dashing appearance when it comes to the ladies,’ she said with a smile. ‘But he is a man destined to forever roam places where a lady cannot go. I will admit that when I first met your cousin I was almost swept off my feet, but when you and he just simply disappeared without telling anyone I was brought firmly back to earth.’

‘So you admit that Matthew held some interest to you?’ Alex asked with a smile. ‘I would hate to think that he might be more attractive than my brother.’

‘If you are attempting to play cupid, Alex, forget it,’ she said, accepting a flute of champagne from a passing waiter. ‘I am happily betrothed and the banns have been posted for what George has promised to be the social event of the year. I also know that it will be my duty to ensure that the Macintosh dynasty is continued with the presentation of a son to the family line.’

Maybe the reproduction of another George Macintosh, Alex mused. Not a pleasant thought. ‘Well, I shall raise a glass to toast your happiness,’ he said but without conviction, for Alex not only strongly disliked his brother but now had a gut feeling that he had some connection to their betrayal in the past months on the mission. Although he did not have proof, knowing his brother as he did, Alex could only think that he was responsible for the leak of information to the Germans.

Patrick saw his son chatting with his future daughter-in-law and excused himself from the company of a couple of Sydney’s more prominent entrepreneurs who were already discussing what a bonanza the war meant to their future profits.

‘Father,’ Alex said when Patrick joined them, ‘I was just telling Louise what a wonderful addition she will be to the family.’

‘She will,’ Patrick said. ‘Louise, if you will excuse us for just a moment.’

‘Certainly, Colonel,’ Louise replied, sweeping away to join her father and mother who had been cornered by a fat banker and his equally fat wife.

‘What requires the privacy?’ Alex asked, sipping from his champagne.

‘I have not had the opportunity to tell you that there is a vacancy for a company commander in my battalion,’ Patrick answered. ‘I have kept it open while you were away. That is, if you don’t mind continuing your career under your father’s command.’

‘If it means my own company, I would serve the devil,’ Alex replied. ‘No, I have no objection to serving under you, Father. Thank you for your faith in me, considering I let you down on the mission.’

‘You did not let me down,’ Patrick hurried to counter. ‘What went wrong was because of circumstances beyond our control. As it is, the assault on Rabaul went very well and now the Imperial German Navy has had all its communications in the Pacific cut, foiling any plans to carry out raids on our Eastern seaboard.’

‘We were betrayed, weren’t we?’ Alex asked quietly, casting a look at his brother engaged in animated conversation with a group of businessmen.

‘We were,’ Patrick answered. ‘But it is nothing that I can prove.’

‘You really mean that you suspect George somehow betrayed the mission to the Germans,’ Alex continued. ‘My own despicable brother, a traitor to his country.’

‘You cannot say that,’ Patrick said. ‘He is of your flesh and blood, and no matter what happens, you have to remember that.’

Alex shook his head in disgust. ‘The worst part of it all is that my brother is marrying a truly wonderful lady. I only wish that Matthew had been given the chance to take her up in his aeroplane then things might have worked out differently.’

‘You are to report to BHQ tomorrow no later than midday, Captain Macintosh,’ Patrick said, diverting the conversation away from George and his future with Louise Gyles. ‘The adjutant will fill you in on your new command.’

‘I am requesting leave for another forty-eight hours,’ Alex countered. ‘I have a vital task to do.’

‘Given your past experiences, I think that I can grant that,’ Patrick replied. ‘Just be on parade no later than 0600 hours next Monday.’

‘Thank you, sir,’ Alex answered, reverting to his role not as a son but as a new company commander, obeying his CO’s directions.

‘But what is more important than taking command of your company as soon as possible?’ Patrick asked out of curiosity.

‘Love, Father,’ Alex answered with the trace of a smile. ‘Just love.’

Patrick immediately knew what his son meant and felt a shiver of apprehension. ‘You know Giselle is interned as an enemy alien?’

‘I didn’t know until Louise told me a short while ago and that is a matter of politics,’ Alex waved off. ‘I plan to visit her and her mother at Holsworthy first thing tomorrow.’

‘You do realise that if it is known you are consorting
with an enemy alien it might reflect badly on your military career,’ Patrick cautioned.

‘What would you do, Father?’ Alex countered. ‘If you were in my shoes?’

Patrick extended his hand to his son. ‘You go and see your young lady,’ he said gently. ‘Heaven knows that there is enough suffering and misery ahead of us in this war. I have long learned that life can be a fleeting thing, and if you can have just a little happiness in the meantime, you snatch it. I will get Angus to drive you out to see Giselle and her mother. Please pass on my condolences about Herr Schumann.’

Alex watched as his father turned his back and made his way over to John Hughes who had just arrived. Alex realised that beneath the exterior of the professional soldier was a loving father who was also prepared to put his own reputation on the line for him. He was overwhelmed with love for the tough, stern man who had always dominated his life and for a brief moment reflected on the grandfather he had briefly known when he was younger – a big, tough, man with a black eye patch who had roamed the world fighting other people’s wars.

Alex realised that he was simply the next in line to a tradition of men prepared to put their lives at risk for a cause and wondered if he would be able to live up to the standard already set by his father and grandfather. ‘I love you, Father,’ he said softly and raised his glass to his father’s back. ‘And here’s to you, Michael Duffy,’ he continued. ‘In whichever heaven allows the lonely a place of peace.’

On the other side of the crowded room, Matthew was at a loss among the strangers who congratulated him on his
miraculous escape from the hands of the Hun, an expression he was hearing more and more of to describe the German enemy. He had noticed Louise escorted by George when they arrived at the house an hour earlier and found that he was still infatuated with the beautiful young woman. After an hour, Matthew smiled when she glanced over at him, and his gesture was returned before Louise turned again to George to say something. Matthew noticed George look in his direction and scowl.

‘I don’t think your brother is very pleased to see me back,’ Matthew said when Alex joined him, bearing two glasses of good quality Scotch.

‘I get the same impression from my brother about my safe return, too,’ Alex said, passing a glass to Matthew. ‘I suppose you are hoping to hear from your cobber, Randolph.’

‘Yes,’ Matthew answered. ‘I asked your father had he heard from him but he appeared to be a bit evasive on the subject of his whereabouts. The colonel said that Randolph was last heard from in Pearl Harbour on a quest to find Nellie and then just dropped the subject. It makes me a bit uneasy that nothing has been heard since from Texas Slim. It’s not like him to just drop off the map.’

‘Maybe Uncle Arthur might know something,’ Alex said, swilling his Scotch around in the crystal tumbler. ‘After all, Randolph worked for Uncle Arthur and I know that Arthur had a good deal of time for him. You should try Arthur tomorrow to see if he can throw a bit of light on Randolph’s uncharacteristic silence.’

‘I think I will,’ Matthew replied, his eyes fixed on Louise as she moved gracefully about the room chatting with guests.

Alex noticed Matthew’s attention fixed on Louise. ‘I tried to remind my future sister-in-law that she had not
availed herself of a flight in your aeroplane,’ he said with a wide grin.

‘Who do you mean?’ Matthew asked, feigning ignorance.

‘You bloody well know what I mean, old boy,’ Alex replied. ‘Believe me, she is a good woman and deserves a better man than my brother.’

‘You mean someone like me,’ Matthew said lightly.

‘Even you,’ Alex answered, grinning at his cousin.

Dust rose in small puffs as the soldiers stamped down on the ground, changing the guard. The grass had long been beaten flat within the barbed wire confines of the internment camp on the outskirts of Sydney.

Outside the gate Alex stepped from the motor vehicle and received a salute from the slouch-hatted guard posted at the main entrance. Alex had opted to wear his uniform as he knew it would allow him to pass more easily through the system in the civilian camp.

‘Want me to go with you, Captain Macintosh?’ Angus asked in a growl, regarding the slovenly appearance of the guard at the gate with the eye of a former sergeant major of an elite British regiment.

‘No, you stay with the car,’ Alex replied. ‘I shall not be too long.’

‘Good then, sir,’ Angus answered.

Alex made his way to the main administration building to obtain a pass from a clerk on duty and stepped outside with directions to the accommodation of Giselle and her mother. He walked along row after row of white tents and even a street of ramshackle huts which he could see were quickly becoming a tiny town of interned merchants. His uniformed appearance was met with indifferent stares by
the internees or, in some cases, hostility from the younger men and women. Alex ignored the eyes that followed him. Then he saw Giselle. She was walking towards him, a small basket tucked under her arm. They both stopped walking when they saw each other.

It was Alex who then continued walking. Giselle had an expression of complete surprise on her face at his appearance in the camp and appeared transfixed by his presence.

‘Giselle,’ he said when he was within an arm’s length of her. ‘I know that you did not betray us and I have come to you to seek your forgiveness for even harbouring the slightest thought that you might have.’

A sad look crossed Giselle’s face. ‘I am so happy to see that you are safe and well,’ she answered. ‘I prayed that you would return to your family.’

‘I have returned to you,’ Alex said, aware of the many curious eyes upon them. ‘I am going to get you and your mother out of here.’

‘How can you do that?’ Giselle asked with a note of despair.

‘By marrying you as soon as possible,’ Alex said, causing tears to well in Giselle’s eyes.

‘Oh, Alex, my love, I have dreamed so often that you and I would grow old together, but you are a soldier in your country’s army and I am an enemy of your nation.’

Alex had an overwhelming urge to sweep Giselle into his arms but was also aware that any sign of affection from him could bring retribution down on her and her mother from their own countrymen interned in the camp. He withdrew his hand lest that indicate any intimacy between them. ‘My father is a very powerful man in this country and I am sure he will help set you and your mother free. In the meantime
I will move heaven and earth for us to wed – even if it must be in this place.’

Tears rolled down Giselle’s cheeks. ‘Oh, Alex, I would marry you in hell if that was required for us to be man and wife. I know that we cannot express our feelings for each other here in public but I want you to know that every fibre of my being aches for you. I only want to be held in your arms and loved – as I would love you. But I must leave you now and go to my mother before those watching us become suspicious and brand me a traitor to the Fatherland.’

‘I will return,’ Alex said, choking back his feelings. ‘And when I do it will be with a rabbi.’

‘You would do that?’ Giselle gasped in astonishment.

‘Of course, my love,’ Alex answered. ‘You are my main reason for living.’

Arthur Thorncroft had been unable to attend Alex and Matthew’s homecoming party, as he had been away in the country on a business trip. So it was a pleasant surprise when Matthew Duffy arrived at his office first thing in the morning. They greeted each other warmly with hugs and back slapping and Matthew gave a brief description of his and Alex’s experiences since they had departed Australia several weeks earlier.

Arthur called for his one remaining employee, Miss Myrtle Birney, to make them a pot of tea. Myrtle had remained behind and was now employed as Arthur’s personal assistant although the job did not entail much these days.

‘No one has heard from my cobber, Texas Slim,’ Matthew finally got around to saying after exhausting his narrative concerning the failed mission.

‘That is not true,’ Arthur said to Matthew’s surprise.
‘George Macintosh has known for some time that Randolph is currently incarcerated in Hawaii on an old charge. He was sentenced to six months hard labour. So, George has told no other person of Randolph’s whereabouts.’