by Nigel Seed
“I think we might be warmer back in bed, don’t you?”
He nodded and they walked back to the stairs and up, holding hands. Back in the room he stood behind her and slipped the dressing gown off her shoulders then let it slip to the floor. He slid his hand around her smooth firm body and cupped her breasts. She reached back and he felt her hand slide between their bodies and take hold of him.
“Hmm. It seems like we all have the same idea,” she said, as she turned around to face him.
Chapter 37
Jim was walking back up towards the site as the sun peered over the hill tops. He had picked up Peter from his father’s cottage as he walked by and they were accompanied by a very excited collie dog who ran back and forth sniffing everything and trying to encourage them to walk faster.
“Nice dog,” said Jim.
“Aye, that’s Bracken, my best. He hardly needs any commands when he is working the sheep. He took over as lead dog when Sam got too old.”
As they came in sight of the trackway up to the site they could see the military truck was off the road and at the bottom of the slope. Geordie and Ivan were checking the slope to make sure it was wide enough for the heavy vehicle to make it up. Satisfied, they walked back to the vehicle and greeted Jim.
“Morning, sir,” said Ivan. “Looks like we should be able to get up there as long as we don’t slide on this wet grass. I’ll take it really slowly.”
“I thought Geordie was going to be driving?”
“He was, but the bruises he picked up falling into the pit have stiffened up and you know these trucks can take a bit of muscle in low gear and four wheel drive.”
Jim turned to Geordie. “Looks like you won’t be heaving the boxes around in the tunnels either? Probably best if you take over from one of the SF guys and watch the track for unwelcome guests. Then they can all have a workout with our special weights.”
“Thanks, boss. Didn’t want to wimp out, but I am ruddy stiff this morning and not in a good way.”
“No need to be smutty, Helen isn’t here to appreciate it. Right, if you are ready Ivan, let’s see if you can get this beast up there.”
Ivan climbed into the cab of the heavy, camouflage painted vehicle. He started the engine and they could hear the gearbox grinding as he set the controls for all wheel drive and low ratio. The three men stepped clear as he started the truck creeping slowly forwards. At very slow speed, Ivan took the heavy vehicle up the track, careful not to have the wheels start to spin and lose traction. With the engine growling, the truck climbed slowly and without a pause up the track and over the ridge, out of sight of the village.
As Jim walked up behind it he checked the tracks left in the grass. There had been little room to spare and at one point, half of the offside wheel had been above the drop.
“We are going to have to be very careful coming back down with tons of extra weight on board.”
“You could always go the long way round,” said Peter. “That track is wider and flatter.”
“There’s another, easier way up? You might have mentioned it.”
“You never asked me about it. It’s up the hill towards where I was watching you from and then it drops down to the road further up the valley.”
“Well, if you know anything else that might make things easier don’t wait to be asked, eh?”
They reached the top of the ridge and found that Ivan had backed the truck up to the tunnel entrance and dropped the tailgate. The lieutenant was waiting with him as they approached. The dog ran across and greeted him like a long lost friend, jumping up, wriggling around his legs and then rolling over to have his belly tickled.
“I see you’ve met Bracken. Looks like you have a new friend,” said Jim.
“Yes sir, it certainly does. What would you like from us this fine grey morning?”
“First off, my sergeant is slightly injured so if one of your men can hand him a weapon he will be our security. Then Ivan and I will go in and make a final check for booby traps. After which, with Peter’s help, we seven will do the hard work shifting the material out of the hide and into the truck.”
“Fine, sir, my last two should have finished their breakfast down in the pub by now so we should be ready for some weight training, by the time you’ve finished your checks.”
Jim and Ivan entered the underground hide and carefully checked once again that no further traps, for the unwary, had been left in the piles of gold crates. In itself, that was hard labor as each box had to be moved slowly to be checked under, to ensure there were no spring triggers or grenades in place. After almost two hours of painstaking work they were satisfied it was safe to begin the harder labor of moving the gold up to and through the tunnel.
The work settled into a dull, but taxing routine. The low, narrow tunnel in particular generated skinned knuckles and bruised heads, all accompanied by a deal of heartfelt swearing from the soldiers, as they worked. Helen arrived, but rather than embarrass them she quietly withdrew back to the warmth of the lounge in the pub, leaving them able to vent their anger on the awkward boxes and the unforgiving tunnel walls.
The truck bed slowly filled with evenly spread flat boxes, then the larger crates of coins and other artifacts were manhandled out of the ground and up into the back of the vehicle. With the chambers empty, for the first time in over seventy years, the tired and sweaty men leaned against the truck and contemplated their prize.
“Do we know how much all of that is worth?” said one of the Special Forces soldiers.
“Not really, but at today’s price of £749 per ounce you can be sure it’s the most expensive Army truck on the motorway today. Now, what I would like is for you, Lieutenant, to ride up front with my Sergeant Major driving and your three men need to be in the back as security. We will stop at the Fish and Chip shop in the village to get you something to eat on the way, then we don’t stop again until London. OK?”
The SF men all nodded and started to climb into the vehicle to make themselves as comfortable as possible on the hard wooden crates. Geordie walked back from his position watching the track and handed the MP5 submachine gun he had borrowed back to its owner. With Peter in the cab to show the way, Ivan slowly drove the large vehicle up the slope towards the new track down into the valley. Geordie and Jim closed the entrance hatch into the tunnel and covered it over with grass and debris as they had originally found it.
Jim straightened up and started to move off.
“Just one more job, boss,” said Geordie and fishing in the pocket of his jacket, he brought out a small block of explosive and a detonator. “We need to get rid of that last grenade before some daft kid finds it and takes it to school.”
“Bloody hell! I had forgotten that in all the heaving and grunting.”
“Ah well, that’s why you bring a sergeant along on a job like this, for the small details. I borrowed the charge from the engineer detachment at the barracks when we picked the truck up.”
Geordie walked across to the ruined hut and placed the charge on the grenade. He inserted the detonator and started the timer. He walked slowly away watching his footing so that he did not stumble and fall inside the blast radius. Both men walked to the top of the ridge and then ducked down behind it. The sound of the explosion was muffled by the stone walls, but was still loud enough to convince them that the explosive in the old grenade had still been viable. They checked that the explosion had destroyed it completely, then set off to walk back down into the village to pick up Helen.
As they passed his cottage, they called in to see Peter’s dad. Peter was there by now and confirmed that the truck was in the pub car park waiting for them. Both of the civilians were relieved to hear that their task was now complete with the gold on its way back to a nation that would never know what these two men had done for it. They shook hands with Jim and Geordie as they left. The two soldiers paused just long enough to stroke Bracken’s head and then set off down the street.
Chapter 38
The drive though the countryside and then south down the motorway was reassuringly boring. They had reduced the need for heavy security by emptying the second hide by stealth. Jim sat in the back of the hire car and ignored the conversation between Helen and Geordie. They had been incredibly lucky with the first two hiding places and had scored a major success with both of them, but the clues for the next two hides were very thin. A painting of a horse-drawn cart seen on the side of a van seventy years ago, with no indication of where it came from, was going to be tough to find.
The other hide seemed to be somewhere near to Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain. The land around there was open and had been crossed for many years by thousands of troops using the military training area. Not to mention the thousands of tourists who visited the ancient standing stones. Anything hidden around there must have been artfully done and would probably be hell to find.
He finally fell asleep. He woke when the sound of the engine changed as Geordie throttled back to leave the motorway as they reached London. It was late and the streets were much emptier than during the day, which would be a relief to Ivan hauling the big truck through the streets of the capital.
They pulled up at the back of the Bank of England. Jim was pleased to see the four SAS men spread out away from the truck and vanish from view. Ivan was leaning against the cab as they waited for the bank employees to open up to receive the second treasure as Jim walked over to him.
“Hi boss, long, day eh? I’m just about cream crackered after all that driving. Good job its Friday so I can get a lie in tomorrow morning.”
“A break would be welcome, but I think I am going to be up worrying about our clues to the rest of the gold wherever it is hidden. The clues we have are not a lot of help.”
“Speaking of which, I’ve got a niggle at the back of my mind.”
“Go on.”
“Well, we know there were twenty tons of gold given to the Auxiliary Units and it was split into four equal loads, right?”
“That’s right. So what’s bothering you?”
“I’ve been driving trucks like these for most of my army career and you know how heavy the steering gets when they are fully loaded? Especially at slow speed.”
“I’ll take your word for it. But where are you going with this.”
“This truck didn’t feel difficult enough to be fully loaded. I don’t think I was carrying the best part of five tons. We might have a fifth problem, or maybe more.”
Jim stared, then slowly said, “I really hope you are wrong for a change. We are going to have to check the figures with Sir Richard when we see him.”
“What figures would those be, Major?” said the cultured voice from behind him.
Jim turned to see the Bank of England governor striding towards him across the broad pavement. Tonight he looked very different from the cultured aristocrat he had appeared in Downing Street, with a lumpy blue, woollen jersey over his brown corduroy trousers.
“Ivan here has identified a possible problem. I think we need to go into the bank to talk about it rather than out here.”
“Very well, come on inside we can talk while we watch the unloading. The doors are open now if you would care to have this vehicle driven inside.”
They watched as Ivan climbed back into the cab and drove the army truck down the slope and into the bank.
“Not the most secure vehicle I have ever seen, Major. Could you not have called for an armored security van?”
“Don’t you worry, Sir Richard, that truck had four heavily armed SAS soldiers on board, it doesn’t get much more secure than that.”
Sir Richard grunted and led the way into the bank. As they passed the hire car Jim waved for Helen to join them.
“Another member of my team, Sir Richard. This is Helen Jennings, the granddaughter of one of the men who loaded up the gold during an air raid all those years ago.”
Sir Richard bowed slightly, but said nothing as he took Helen’s outstretched hand and held it for just long enough to make her uncomfortable. They moved into the bank unloading area and watched the old gold crates being lifted onto motorized pallet trucks that took them away in batches, through a wide corridor, to some vault they could not see.
“Very well, what is this problem with figures you think you have?”
“Well, Sir Richard. Our understanding was that the bank shipped 20 tons of gold bars and other artifacts out to the Auxiliary Units in four equal loads. Is that correct?”
“As far as I know, yes. But what is the significance of that?”
“Based on twenty years of experience handling trucks like that one, my Sergeant Major does not believe we had 5 tons on board tonight. The truck felt too light.”
“Oh really! You think you can weigh gold bullion by the feel of a truck’s steering wheel? Forgive me if I am a little doubtful, Major.”
“Nevertheless, I think it would be prudent to check how much we have recovered so far to see if it is half the amount originally sent out during the war.”
“I don’t think that is necessary, but no doubt you will go over my head if I decline?”
“No doubt at all, Sir Richard. I have no wish to leave this job only partly done. That is not the Royal Engineer way.”
Chapter 39
The ringing of Jim’s mobile phone woke him. It took him a couple of seconds to recall he had not set the alarm for this morning. He rolled to his left and reached across Helen to the phone on the bedside table.
“Sorry,” he said, as she grunted at him. He thumbed the button to connect the call and said “Wilson”.
“Ah, Major. Richard Wallace here. Sorry to wake you so early, but since your request has kept me out of my bed all night I was sure you wouldn’t mind. It seems I owe you another apology. It seems that you can actually weigh gold bullion by the feel of a truck’s steering wheel.”
“I’m sorry, Sir Richard, I’m still a little hazy. What are you talking about?”
“You told me last night that your Sergeant Major didn’t think he was carrying a quarter of the gold we gave to the Auxiliary Units in 1940. It seems he was correct. With two loads here we expected there to be some 10 tons, but when we checked through the night we came up short by two tons.”
“So somewhere between the bank and the hiding places each load lost a ton of gold? That’s no coincidence. Somebody planned that. Sir Richard, thank you for the update and I hope you catch up on your sleep shortly.”
Jim heard the disgruntled governor mutter as he hung up the phone and could not help but smile. He was beginning to enjoy irritating this pompous individual. He sat up in bed and started to work out what he knew and whether any of his information might help to find the location of the gold that had been spirited away.
He felt a tap on his arm and looked down at Helen.
“Well, if you are going to wake a girl up this early you might at least provide some entertainment.”
He smiled and snuggled down next to her, sliding his hand across her firm, flat stomach and leaning in to kiss her. She reached up and pushed him onto his back before throwing a shapely leg across his.
“I think you should let me drive this morning, before I go off to see my girlfriend for coffee and gossip.”
“Always happy to oblige a lovely lady.”
Chapter 40
That Sunday morning Jim and Helen strolled along the embankment of the Thames holding hands like a couple of teenagers. They had a quiet lunch on a floating restaurant close to Cleopatra’s Needle and watched the traffic plowing up and down the murky river.
Over the coffee Jim looked into those steady green eyes and said, “OK, so what have you been waiting to tell me?”
“You’re getting better at reading the signs,” she said. “My Granddad is coming back from his holiday so I need to go home to Henfield to look after him.”
“When do you have to go?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
“Not much notice. You could have told me that a while ago.”
“I could but that would have put a damper on this weekend and I didn’t want that.”
“Fair enough. And I have enjoyed the weekend with you. I’d better ring my team and tell them I will be late in tomorrow.”
“Why? I can take myself to the station.”
“Don’t spoil it; I was going for the romantic goodbye on the station platform.”
“Good plan. You really are getting back into the swing of this dating thing, aren’t you?”
Jim stood and walked to the stern of the boat to phone Ivan and Geordie. Ivan answered immediately, as usual, even though he was jogging across St James’s park at the time on his usual Sunday fitness run. Geordie took time to answer.
“I didn’t interrupt anything, did I?” asked Jim.
“Sadly, no boss. Sam is at a final rehearsal for the play she’s in. It opens tomorrow and there were some minor glitches to iron out. I was just dozing on the sofa and watching an old episode of Friends.”
“I never did like Friends. I could never see the point of it.”
“Not very PC to say that, boss.”
“Not PC? How do you mean?”
“Well not liking Friends could be classed as ‘Rachel Prejudice.’”
“I’m sure that means something to fans of the show. You’ll have to explain it to me tomorrow over lunch.”
He returned to Helen.
“There is something you could do for me when you get back to your granddad.”
“Anything,” she said.
“He recalled seeing four removal vans at the bank when they loaded the gold. But we now know that the gold was divided into more than four loads somehow. Can you ask him to try and remember if there was another vehicle there that night? Could he have misremembered?”
“Why would you think he might be wrong?”
“It was a long time ago, on a dark night, during an air raid and sadly he is an old man whose memory might be fading. The mind can play tricks and memories deteriorate over time. Maybe jogging his memory a little with that bar of gold will bring it back for him.”