by Hilary Green
Margaret prowled restlessly across the room. ‘I hate being cooped up like this!’
‘So do I,’ Leo agreed. ‘But it’s better than Risley, isn’t it?’
The dark girl smiled suddenly. ‘Sure, it’s better than that sodding hole!’ Then she looked contrite. ‘Oh, I know. You don’t like women to swear.’
‘I just don’t like to hear you using the same sexist vocabulary as a man,’ Leo said quietly. ‘Being equal doesn’t mean coming down to their level.’
Margaret came over to the bed where Leo was lying and sat on the edge of it. ‘Oh Beth, you put me to shame! You’re so – so fine and – clear. But I tell you why this is better than Risley. At least here we can be on our own.’
She put out her hand and touched Leo’s cheek. Leo lay without moving.
‘Meg, I told you – right at the start.’
The other girl sighed. ‘I know, I know. We’ve to dedicate ourselves, save our energy … and what I’m thinking of is a mortal sin. But you don’t believe in the immortal soul and eternal hell-fire!’
‘No,’ Leo said, ‘but you do. We shan’t know which of us is right until it’s too late; but I have no intention of living my life carrying the burden of your guilt.’
Margaret looked away. ‘Who’s asking you to carry anything?’
‘Nobody. I just wouldn’t have any choice in the matter.’
There was a silence, then Margaret looked round and touched her hand. ‘I’m sorry. I won’t talk about it again.’
Leo pressed her fingers briefly and then swung her legs off the bed. ‘Come on. You and I have done too much lying around lately. If we’re going to be any use when the time comes we need to be fit. Does Reilly have any music, do you think?’
‘Music?’ Margaret repeated, following her to the door. ‘What sort of music?’
It turned out that Reilly was not a musical man, but Liam Connor had a quite extensive collection of cassettes. Within minutes Reilly found himself banished from the kitchen, where the table was pushed to one side while the two girls stretched and twisted their bodies to the insistent rhythm of a disco beat. He watched from the door as Margaret panted and groaned as she strove to follow Leo’s movements. Then his attention switched to Leonora herself and his eyes narrowed as he watched the elegance and suppleness of her body – a suppleness which would come only with long and regular practice.
At nine o’clock that evening they were sitting over the remains of a meal, watching the news on television. There was a lengthy report of the search for the two women, but it was clear that the police had no definite lead. There was also an item on the latest ‘supergrass’ trial in Northern Ireland which occasioned many muttered imprecations from around the table. As the bulletin went on it began to look as though Leonora had not been able to substantiate her claims for the influence of her organization. Then the picture switched to the Home Office. In the street outside thirty or forty women and a sprinkling of men were parading in a steady drizzle with placards bearing slogans such as – ‘GET OUR SONS OUT OF ULSTER’; and ‘WOMEN AGAINST MILITARY OPPRESSION’. Over the whole gathering hung a banner emblazoned with a rising sun and the words ‘DAUGHTERS OF SUNRISE’. When the Home Secretary left there was a good deal of booing and catcalling and jostling with the police, though no actual violence.
When the item came to an end Patrick Connor reached out and switched off the television.
‘Well, you can certainly deliver the goods, it seems,’ he commented with a broad smile.
‘Of course she can! How often does she have to prove it?’ Margaret exclaimed fiercely.
All eyes turned to Reilly. He looked from one to the other.
‘All right,’ he said at length. ‘Just what is it you’re suggesting. If we decide to trust you, what are you aiming to do?’
Leo leaned forward, her eyes alight with a sudden intensity.
‘Don’t you see, we’re all working for the same thing. You want freedom for your people. We want freedom for the people of this country too. We want an end to the old, oppressive, male-dominated regime. Oh, don’t talk to me about a woman Prime Minister, who’s only got where she is by beating the men at their own game! We have to pull down the whole system and start again. But to do that we have to discredit the present government and make it impossible for them to govern. That’s where your aims and ours converge…’
She spoke on, her voice urgent and persuasive, her face glowing. She had learnt early how to hold an audience, how to captivate them in a magic web of words, but she had never used the technique to better effect than she did that night. The discussion continued into the small hours, but by the time they went to bed three, at least, of her audience were hers for life.
Chapter Five
Over the next three days Daltry Street became the focus of a variety of activities. The Gas men spent another day poking around in the hole they had dug and consuming frequent mugs of tea; and when they had finished the Post Office decided to perform a similar operation a few yards further on. A newspaper seller set up a pitch at the corner and appeared every afternoon, at about the time the workmen were packing up, with the evening papers. Meanwhile, ‘Paul Smart’ ran into some cronies in the local pub and invited them back to his room to play cards. Before long there was a regular poker school in session. The visitors came and went very quietly and they usually brought Mr Bagley a bottle of Guinness or a packet of cigarettes, so he raised no objection.
Across the road, neighbours became used to the sound of disco music pulsing from the back kitchen, but no one had actually seen the two new residents. Up in his room, Stone bit his fingernails and resisted the temptation to go and knock on the door under some pretext, in the hope of catching a glimpse of Leo; while in London Nick raged through endless routine procedures designed, he was convinced, simply to keep him occupied.
On the Wednesday Reilly came in with a set of false documents for each of the girls, which identified Margaret as a cousin of his who had just arrived from Ireland and gave Leo yet another new identity as Mary Bland, a schoolteacher recently divorced and currently unemployed.
‘You might as well claim your social security,’ he said tersely, ‘we can’t afford to keep you indefinitely.’
The next day Stone saw them emerge for the first time since they arrived. Leaving his gambling companion (in this case Theta Two) to continue the task of keeping an eye on the house and photographing anyone who went in or out, he slipped down the stairs and reached the street just in time to see them turning the corner. It was a disappointing outing, involving a long wait at the social security office and a couple of brief stops for shopping before they returned to the house; but at least he had seen Leo, and he knew she had seen him. Furthermore, she was wearing a green scarf over the auburn wig, a prearranged signal meaning ‘all’s well – nothing to report’.
The next evening Reilly, who had been out all afternoon, pushed his plate aside at the end of the meal, leaned his arms on the table and said,
‘Right. I’ve got some new instructions. Headquarters have decided to give you a chance to make yourself useful, Elizabeth.’
‘Not before time,’ Leo commented. ‘Go on.’
Reilly glanced at the Connor brothers. ‘You remember that quarry we reconnoitred a month or two back?’ They nodded. ‘There’s a quarry over in North Wales,’ he explained, ‘where they keep explosives. Their security is pretty tight, always two armed men on duty at weekends and overnight and a couple of dogs, but I think I’ve seen a way of getting through it…’
‘What do we want with explosives, for what we’re going to do?’ Liam Connor asked. Reilly glared at him and Leo had the impression that his brother had kicked him under the table, for he fell silent.
‘What’s the plan?’ asked Patrick.
‘The main difficulty is approaching the building where the stuff is kept without alerting the guards,’ Reilly said. ‘There’s plenty of cover around the perimeter from trees and spoil heaps, but the bui
lding is in the middle of an open area with no cover for a hundred yards in each direction. However, there is a public footpath that skirts the edge of the site. See, here.’ He spread an ordnance survey map on the table and pointed. ‘It’s very easy to miss it just where the new fence has been put up round the quarry, so it wouldn’t be surprising for someone to lose their way.’ He looked up. ‘That’s where you girls come in. You’ll get yourselves up like a couple of hikers. We’ll drop you here,’ he pointed to a road, ‘and you can walk over the hills. When you get to the quarry you go to the main gate and attract the attention of the guards. Tell them you’ve lost the path and ask for a drink of water or something – anything to get you inside. If you use your obvious – advantages, you shouldn’t have any trouble. As soon as you’re inside you pull the guns you’ll be carrying in your rucksacks and hold them up.’
‘What about the dogs?’ Leo asked.
‘That’s my job,’ he returned. ‘I’ll be up on the rim of the quarry with a rifle. As soon as I see you inside I’ll shoot the dogs. Then I’ll get down and join you. By that time you should have the guards tied up and the keys to the building where they keep the explosives. After that it’s a straightforward removals job.’
‘How do we get the stuff out?’ Leo asked.
‘That’s where you come in, Liam,’ Reilly said. ‘There’s a forestry road, do you remember – here? You can get the car up it to within about four hundred yards of the buildings. You drop me, and then take the car round to that point. As soon as you hear me shoot the dogs start cutting the fence so we can bring the stuff through. Then come up and help us carry it to the car.’
‘Right,’ Liam nodded.
‘What about me?’ his brother asked.
‘You’re not coming on this one,’ Reilly told him. ‘I want you to go to Gloucestershire – but I’ll tell you about that later.’
Connor frowned and for a moment Leo thought he was going to argue, but he nodded and said no more.
‘Right,’ said Reilly. ‘Let’s get down to details…’
*
The following morning Stone was gazing moodily across the street and sipping a mug of coffee when he saw Leo at the window of the front bedroom. It was the first time she had shown herself except for the outing the day before, but what jerked Stone out of his morning lethargy was the fact that she was tying round her neck an amber scarf which had also been among the pack of clothes Nick had given her when she escaped from the prison van. Stone put down his mug and reached for his radio.
‘Theta Two, this is Delta One. Come in please.’
‘Theta Two,’ came the reply. ‘Go ahead.’ ‘I’ve just had a warning signal from Omega. I don’t know what’s going down, but I may need wheels. Can you get round here fast?’
‘On my way, Delta One.’
Two minutes later the black Sierra slid to a standstill a short distance up the street, but another hour passed before the door of the house opposite opened and Leo came out with Margaret, Reilly and Liam Connor. As they got into Reilly’s car Stone sauntered casually up the road and climbed into the Sierra.
‘Where are we going?’ asked Don Stevens, who answered to the code name of Theta Two.
‘For a picnic, by the look of things,’ Stone replied. ‘Got your bucket and spade?’
As they nosed through the morning shopping crowds Stone switched on the receiver and smiled as it picked up the steady bleep of the homing device.
‘OK. You can drop back a bit. She’s carrying the bug.’
He picked up the microphone and called Theta One at the control centre which had been set up in the derelict factory.
‘We’re heading west at the moment. Can you send out a back-up car, just in case of emergencies? And put a helicopter on standby – we may need aerial surveillance. Also inform Control in London.’
‘Roger, Delta Two,’ Max replied. ‘Kappa One and Two are on call. They’ll be driving a white Capri. I’ll keep in touch. Out.’
For the next couple of hours the two cars followed their electronic guide across country and into the Welsh mountains, always keeping far enough back to avoid any risk of being seen by Reilly or any of his companions. As they approached the fringes of Snowdonia the roads grew narrower and steeper and they were frequently held up by holiday-makers towing caravans and boats, roof racks piled high with camping equipment. Then, beyond Corwen, the direction-finder told them that their quarry had turned south. The B road, scarcely more than a lane, climbed through a narrow valley then dipped and twisted, following the contours of the hillside. Abruptly Stone said,
‘Watch it. They’ve stopped.’
Don slowed the car to a crawl. After a few seconds Stone said,
‘OK. They’re off again, No, wait! We’ve got two signals now, diverging. Clever girl! She’s managed to plant one of the bugs on someone else.’
‘The question is,’ Don commented, ‘is she still in the car, or is she the one who got out?’
‘No way of knowing.’ Stone frowned. The car rounded a bend and passed through a plantation of larches. On the right-hand side was a stile with a signpost indicating a public footpath. ‘Here!’ he said quickly. ‘This is where they must have got out of the car.’
For a second of indecision he hesitated, then,
‘Drop me here. My money’s on Leo being on foot now. You stay with the car. I’ll keep in touch.’
‘OK.’
Don stopped the car and Stone jumped out and swung himself over the stile. The path led upwards through the larches, came out for a moment onto an open shoulder of hill and then dropped down again into another wooded area. Stone followed it at an easy pace, keeping an eye on the hand-held receiver which he had carried with him ever since Leo left Risley. He was tempted to hurry on, hoping to catch a glimpse of the person he was following. Some instinct told him it was Leonora but logic insisted that she could equally well still be in the car. It was a perfect day for a bit of fell-walking, with a clear blue sky that made you feel as though a shutter had been opened onto the infinity of space and the air, at this altitude, as sharp as a champagne bubble. Somewhere a skylark was flinging a shower of silver notes over the landscape and for a moment a cuckoo called in the next valley. Stone drew a long breath, and wished that he was walking with Leo, rather than a couple of hundred yards behind her.
*
A mile or so further on, as the car crested a rise, Reilly said,
‘Drop me here. I can make my way over the hill from this point. You know where to meet me.’
There was a road junction here, and a few cottages; hardly enough to be called a village but sufficient to merit their own public call-box. Reilly watched until Liam and the car had disappeared over the rise, glanced at his watch and then entered the box and made a brief call. After that he climbed a dry-stone wall and set off briskly across the short turf, sending half a dozen sheep scuttering away over the hill. He was wearing walking boots and carried a rucksack, like any other mountain walker. The only thing that might have seemed unusual, up there, was that he also appeared to be carrying a fishing-rod.
Stone’s path followed a wide curve around the shoulder of the hill. He was about to cross another stile when his radio bleeped. He sat on the top bar and answered it.
‘Delta One.’
‘Delta One, this is Theta Two. The car is now parked at the end of a forestry road, but our tall, dark friend isn’t in it. Nor are the ladies.’
‘Thank you, Theta Two. Where are you, exactly?’
Don gave him a set of coordinates which put him about a mile away on the far side of the hill.
‘Roger, Theta Two,’ Stone replied. ‘Maintain observation.’
He put his radio back into his pocket and spread the map on his knee, studying the route of the path as it converged with the road which the car had taken. It was then that he saw the quarry.
For a moment or two he sat very still, studying the landscape ahead of him and listening, his mind racing. Then he got off the
stile and set off at a steady jog along the path. After a short distance he came to a fence which dropped down from the hill on his left and then turned and skirted the edge of the path, which ran once again through trees at this point. Stone hesitated for a moment, then turned off the path and began to climb, following the line of the fence up through scrubby bushes and out onto the open hillside. From here he could see that, as he suspected, the fence encircled the quarry which was like a huge, semi-circular bite taken out of the hillside. The footpath lay along the bottom of it, but where he was climbing the ground rose until the rock face which being quarried dropped in a two-hundred-foot cliff to the flat area where the small collection of buildings and the machinery stood, idle now for the weekend.
Stone’s radio bleeped again. This time it was Viv Vivian in the Kappa Two car.
‘Listen, man, I don’t know if it’s anything to do with us, but two car-loads of fuzz have just passed us. They’re heading in your direction, and they’re in a hurry.’ Stone felt his guts twist themselves into a knot. Viv voiced his thoughts. ‘You don’t think they could have picked up Omega’s trail, do you?’
‘It’s possible,’ Stone replied, ‘but God knows how. Where are you, Kappa Two?’ ‘Parked in a lay-by on the main road. Theta Two followed the car up into the woods but he told us to hang back here.’
‘Roger, Kappa Two. Stay where you are, and let me know if you see any further police activity. Are you in touch with Theta One at base?’
‘Affirmative, Delta One.’
‘What is the position regarding the chopper I asked for?’
‘Standing by at RAF Towyn.’
‘Tell them to scramble it. I’ve got a feeling we may need all the help we can get. Delta One out.’
Stone thrust the radio into his pocket and took the last hundred feet at a scrambling run, keeping low so that no one in the quarry would see him against the sky-line. When he reached the shoulder of the hill he dropped down behind an outcrop of rocks and studied the scene below him. He saw the girls at once, standing on the far side of the gates which barred the entrance, talking to two security men. The conversation was animated and, now that he was still, he could just hear Leo’s voice and the familiar, mischievous laugh that had quickened his pulses so often before. It was not hard to guess what her aim was, and knowing her as he did it was impossible to believe that she would not succeed.