Oriental Hotel

by Janet Tanner

  Along the side of the Cormorant building Brit took them, round to where the fleet of company cars – headed by two Rolls Royces – stood in a shining line.

  A chauffeur appeared. Liveried and peak-capped, he and the immaculate cars were an incongruous sight in the midst of the chaos.

  ‘Hey, you, where do you think you are going? Sorry, I did not realise it was you, Mr Brittain, sir. This is all so frightful …’

  ‘Yes. I want a car, Cheung Shu.’

  The man looked oddly gratified that Brit had remembered him and called him by name.

  ‘Yes, sir. You would like me to drive you?’

  ‘No, thank you. I’ll drive myself. Is my father in, do you know?’

  ‘Yes, sir, I believe he is. He went in and he has not come out. Do you wish to see him?’

  ‘No.’ And he’ll want to see me even less, Brit thought. ‘Just tell him I have taken the car if he wants to know.’

  ‘Yes, sir.’ He opened the car doors, respectful to the last, and his eyes betrayed no flicker of curiosity about the two women or the child Brit was carrying with him.

  As the Rolls pulled away, his hand touched his cap in customary salute. Brit steered the shining car through the narrow streets to the road that crossed the island from north to south. It climbed steeply, and looking back Elise saw the harbour, still dotted with numerous craft, spread out beneath them.

  ‘I’m taking you to Repulse Bay’, Brit said. He was driving fast, not looking at her.

  ‘The Hotel?’ she asked.

  ‘It’s the best place I can think of for the moment, but it won’t be safe for long. You’ve already seen what we are up against.’

  She nodded. ‘Brit, I simply couldn’t believe it when I saw you. What were you doing there?’

  ‘Looking for you – in a way. I went to your house and found it deserted, so I thought I would look around and try to make sure you weren’t still there and in trouble.’

  ‘But what are you doing here at all? I thought you were …’

  ‘Later!’ he said sharply and she lapsed into awkward silence.

  There was so much she wanted to say, so much she wanted to ask him, but this was neither the time nor the place. Better to stay silent and let him concentrate on driving. They could talk in privacy later.

  After a while the road began to slope down again steeply, with thick trees on the landward side and the cliffs dropping sheer away on the other. This was the ‘quiet’ side of the island, where the houses of the rich clung to their elevated positions high above the sparkling blue of the South China Sea.

  As they rounded a curve at the valley floor the Repulse Bay Hotel came into view – low, white and gracious against the back-drop of greenery, older even than the Peninsula and as stately as the Empire itself.

  Brit pulled up outside the door, went in for a few moments and then returned with the news that he had taken a suite for them. Then he accompanied them upstairs.

  His nearness was disconcerting Elise now. At first panic had subdued all other considerations; now she was impatient to be alone with him.

  ‘Bath Alex and arrange for him to have something to eat, please,’ she said to Su Ming.

  But when the door was closed after them, the hundred and one things in her mind which had been clamouring for utterance were gone and only the physical mattered.

  ‘Oh Brit, Brit …’

  She was in his arms, kissing him, feeling his lips on her face and her hair, laughing and crying with fear and joy, anxiety and relief.

  After a moment he held her away, looking down at her.

  ‘This is something I did not know about!’

  She laughed, verging on the hysterical. ‘How could you?’

  ‘Is it …?’

  ‘Yours? Of course!’

  A thousand times, in dreams, she had lived this moment. A thousand times she hugged to herself the image of warmth that would pass between them, the shared wonder of knowing that together they had created new life.

  Now he was here and she was telling him what she had been unable to tell any other living soul. Yet somehow it was almost an anti-climax, as everything seemed since the overwhelming moment when she had seen him at the Star Ferry Terminal. For the first time since she had realised she was pregnant, the baby assumed a merely supporting role. Brit was here and Brit was the lead player.

  He was standing silently looking at her, not silent as he usually was – because he had no time for foolish small talk – but for once in his life totally overawed.

  ‘Mine?’ he said at last. ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘As sure as I can be. No – one hundred per cent certain. I know it’s yours, Brit.’

  He half turned away. ‘And Gordon? What does Gordon say about it?’

  ‘Not a lot. I don’t want to talk about Gordon.’

  He looked at her sharply. ‘Where is he?’

  ‘I don’t know. Oh, he hasn’t left me if that’s what you mean. He’s in the Volunteer Defence Corps. He took us to the Peninsula Hotel for safety and said he would come back for us. But he didn’t and I don’t know why.’

  Brit brought his fist crashing hard against his side.

  ‘God damn him for keeping you here! But for his stubbornness you would be safe in Australia now.’

  ‘He was jealous, Brit; you can’t really blame him,’ she said, surprised to find herself defending Gordon. ‘And he has been trying to get me to go to Singapore. The night before all this began, he took me to dinner with Hugh de Gama and the two of them talked me into going on his yacht to stay with friends there.’

  ‘Well, it’s a little late for that now,’ Brit said roughly. ‘Singapore was attacked on the same day as we were.’

  Her eyes widened. ‘But I thought Singapore was a fortress city?’

  ‘And I always said it was vulnerable from the air. Those guns pointing out to sea are a hundred years out of date.’

  ‘Then you think Singapore …’

  ‘I think it will fall, yes. Not as quickly as Hong Kong – that will come down like a ripe plum. But fail it will. And it’s not only Singapore and Hong Kong, of course. The whole of Malaysia is under attack. And the Americans are in the war now.’

  ‘The Americans?’

  ‘The Japs bombed their base at Pearl Harbor. I don’t know how many lives and ships were lost, but at a guess I should say a hell of a lot. Pearl Harbor was always a sitting target.’

  ‘Pearl Harbor!’ Elise repeated, stunned. It seemed that the little yellow men were suddenly everywhere. Not so long ago, ordinary people had laughed at them, scoffed, joked about their size, their eyesight, their lack of intelligence. How many were laughing now?

  ‘We have to get you out.’ Brit was pacing the room. ‘When is the baby due?’

  ‘Another week, but I think it may come sooner.’

  He swore. Don’t panic me! She wanted to say. You’re always so calm that if I see you worried then I know we are in real trouble.

  ‘The Philippines!’ His voice was soft, almost as if he were talking to himself. ‘Manila’s been attacked too, I believe, but there is a strong US presence there. Uncle Sam doesn’t keep his bases short of anything. And it’s only about two days’ sailing away. There’s just a chance …’

  She went cold. ‘What are you talking about?’

  ‘If I could get you to the Philippines I think the US Air Force would fly you out when they evacuate their own people – if there’s anyone left, that is.’

  ‘But how would we get there?’

  ‘By yacht.’

  ‘Across the sea?’ her voice was rising. She had had enough of sea voyages and all their dangers to last a lifetime. Now, with the air full of Jap planes and their fleet probably pushing confidently ahead, he was talking blithely of sailing to the Philippines by yacht. ‘You must be crazy, Brit! We would never make it!’

  ‘There is a chance that you would. A chance you have to take!’

  ‘And supposing we didn’t …’ She was tremblin
g now. ‘Surely we are safer here?’

  ‘Elise!’ He caught at her arms, pulling her round and holding her so that their eyes met. ‘Listen to me. Hong Kong is going to fall to the Japs – very, very soon. And when it does, there will be hell to pay for anyone who is still here. This is not a war game, with both sides obeying the rules as if it were some deadly cricket match. The Japs are not the English. They have a streak of cruelty in them which has to be seen to be believed. When they take Hong Kong, those who are not killed in the fighting will be taken prisoner and kept in the most appalling conditions. I know. I’ve spent the last nine months in China …’

  ‘I knew it!’ she said. ‘Oh Brit, I was so worried about you!’

  ‘Never mind about me now,’ he said roughly. ‘ I had a job to do and I did it to the best of my ability. I don’t think it was enough, but I was lucky to get away with my life – and back to Hong Kong in time to take care of you. Which is what I propose to do if you will just shut up and listen to me.’

  ‘But Brit – at least in a prison camp we would be alive.’

  He grimaced. ‘I’m not getting through to you, am I? The chances are that in a Jap prison camp you would die slowly and miserably. There will be no proper food, maybe only contaminated water to drink. When you go down with disease, as you surely will, there will be no medication available. It is just possible that you might survive, yes. But I doubt whether Alex would. And a new-born baby would have no chance at all.’

  She had blanched as he spoke, now she stood shocked into silence.

  Never, throughout any of the situations they had encountered together, had he tried to minimise the seriousness of the dangers they faced. He had always told her exactly what he thought.

  It was because he was totally without deception, she thought. He deceived neither himself nor other people. Instead he saw things clearly, as they were, and if they made unpleasant viewing he did not turn away from the sight.

  Always he had maintained Hong Kong would fall. Now it looked as if he was about to be proved right, as had happened so often before. And his description of the prison camp; sounded suddenly only too feasible.

  Sickness, hardship, cruelty – for herself, she might have taken a chance on her own ability to survive. But her children …

  A voyage to the Philippines might be a voyage into danger. But it might also be a move to freedom. If Brit thought it a gamble worth taking, then she must trust his judgement.

  As for Gordon … She did not know where he was, even whether he was alive or dead. He would want her to do her best for Alex and the baby now that the end had come, she was sure. The responsibility was all hers.

  She took a deep, steadying breath and raised her eyes to meet Brit’s.

  ‘When would we leave?’

  ‘As soon as I can get the yacht here.’

  ‘How long would that take?’

  ‘Tonight. You could sail under cover of darkness.’

  ‘What about you?’

  ‘I can’t come with you, Elise.’

  ‘But why? Why not?’ she cried.

  ‘I am still technically a serving officer in the Royal Air Force. To come with you would be construed as desertion.’

  ‘But …’

  ‘You will have a competent crew on the yacht, I’ll see to that.’

  Terror seized her. She could face anything if only he was there. Alone, with Su Ming and Alex to take care of, and a baby who could choose any timenow to put in an appearance, she couldn’t do it!

  ‘Brit, you must come with us!’ she cried. ‘Please – you must!’

  A muscle moved in his cheek, ‘ You can do it, Elise,’ he said quietly.

  ‘I can’t, Brit. I simply can’t!’

  ‘You can.’ He touched her chin, lifting it with one finger. ‘A woman who can fight all the officials in Cairo and travel half-way round the world alone can do anything.’

  Her lips were trembling. ‘I wasn’t alone.’

  ‘In the beginning you were. Do you remember the first time I saw you? In the restaurant at Shepheard’s? Do you know the first thing that struck me about you? Not your looks; not your classy expensive clothes, or the way you can bring a room alive when you smile. No, the first thing I noticed about you was your courage. You were so alone and so damned determined. How those stuffed shirts at the consulate held out against you for so long, I shall never know. You had guts then, Elise, and you have guts now. You may not think so – while I am here, you are still relying on me. But when you are alone you will find that courage again. It’s there, my love, and you will draw on it because you must. And Su Ming and Alex and the baby will all draw on your strength too and you will be equal to it.’

  ‘Oh Brit, I don’t know …’ Her cheeks were wet with tears.

  ‘Go to the Philippines, Elise, and put yourself in the hands of the Americans. And after the war I will find you and we will be together: you, me, Alex and the baby.’

  ‘Oh, Brit …’

  His mouth quirked suddenly, an expression of something like wonder crossing his face.

  ‘It’s really funny – I never expected to be a father.’

  Impulsively she caught at his hands, spreading them out across her stomach.

  ‘Feel it, Brit! Your son is going to be a boxer, judging by the way he punches me. Or maybe a footballer. His feet are pretty big, too.’

  ‘What if it’s a girl? Does it mean she’ll be a footballer, too?’

  And she was laughing in the midst of her rears.

  ‘I hope not! I’d like it to be a boy, anyway. And I think he should be called after you. Gerald, I mean – not Brit.’

  For a moment they stood there, close together, just two people in love who would soon be parents. Then all too quickly the cold wind of reality shivered over them.

  ‘I shall have to go if I’m to arrange for the yacht.’ Brit moved away, looking out of the window.

  This side of the island was still untouched by the fighting; looking out at the blue-green sea surrounded by the encompassing coastline, it was impossible to believe in the horror and destruction so close by. ‘Stay here until I get back.’

  She shivered. Gordon had said much the same when he had left her at the Peninsula and he had not come back. As if reading her thoughts Brit turned back, holding and kissing her.

  ‘Don’t worry, my love. This is the easy part.’

  She nodded. Already she was aching with the effort of remaining calm.

  ‘We shall be here. We’re not going anywhere! Except, I suppose, to the Philippines!’

  His lips touched hers again; his hands squeezed her shoulders.

  But already she sensed he had gone from her mentally, planning

  ahead to what had to be done.

  I must leave something with him, she thought. Something precious

  to me which he can keep until we’re together again.

  Her fingers found the catch of her mother’s locket and unfastened

  it from her neck. She had not taken it off since her mother died;

  now she pressed it into his hand.

  ‘Wear this for me.’

  He nodded, closing his fingers around it.

  ‘Bye, sweet.’ He slid his hand down to her stomach. ‘Bye, baby.

  See you soon.’

  ‘Not too soon, I hope!’

  Their eyes smiled at one another and then he was gone.

  With his going, confidence suddenly left her and it took a colossal

  effort to pull herself together once more.

  He says you can do it and so you can. For Alex’s sake. For the

  baby’s. And for Brit’s – most of all, for Brit’s …

  It was dark when he returned and they were all ready and waiting: Alex clean and fed, grizzling sometimes, silly-excited sometimes as are all overtired children; Su Ming pale but calm, more afraid of being taken prisoner by the Japs than she was of the unknown perils of the sea; and Elise, feeling as if she was living a nightmare, yet somehow behav
ing and speaking quite normally.

  The yacht was anchored in the bay, a light shape against the dark, and the small boat Brit had used to come ashore was pulled up on the narrow strip of beach. Carrying Alex on his shoulders, he led the way through the bushes.

  There was a Chinese in the boat. As he saw them approaching he jumped out and began to pull the little craft into the water again. Brit put Alex on to one of the seats and Su Ming, who had taken off her shoes and waded after them, also climbed into the boat.

  Elise, however, hung back. Her feet had dragged, and it was not only the weight of the baby that seemed to pull her down. The whole of her body felt heavy now, leaden and numb, and she felt sick.

  This was the moment of parting and the pain of it was sharp agony at the core of the desolation. She tried to speak, to form thoughts with words, but nothing would come. The agony was mute as well as blind, so all-consuming that it seemed to possess her utterly.

  As she stood with feet anchored in the shingle, she saw Brit’s shadow turn from the boat and wade back towards her.

  ‘Come on, my love. You have to go now.’

  Still she could not move, and when he reached her he swung her up into his arms as easily as if she had weighed no more than Alex.

  ‘Oh, Brit …’ Her arms were around his neck and for a moment they remained motionless. Then his lips bent to touch hers for the last timeand the sharp edge of pain within her was tinged with unbearable sweetness.

  In love and despair she clung to him, but he was too strong for her. The kiss he ended, touching her lips gently once more – then he was moving, walking through the small breakers to the boat and setting her down as he had set down Alex.

  The outboard motor was running. He said to the Chinese, ‘ Take care of them,’ and his voice was rough.

  Then to Elise, ‘I will come for you after the war. And I won’t let you go again.’

  She only nodded, pressing his hand. Then the boat was moving and she could no longer touch him. There was a foot of water between them … two feet. She leaned out over the bows as if drawn by invisible strings and the knife-edge of pain was raised to a silent scream: