by Betty Walker
‘I wanted to say something then, but you seemed so fragile. And then the bombers came over.’
‘I know, I know. I’m sorry I misunderstood.’ She waved a hand at him, struggling not to blub too loudly, in case Charlie heard and came in to see what was going on. ‘I’m not upset, silly. I’m happy!’
‘Thank God.’
‘And you don’t mind that the baby … that it isn’t yours?’
‘Of course. I won’t lie to the child, though. I couldn’t do that. I hope you understand. Boy or girl, they’ll be told about their real father and what happened to him. That’s only right and fair.’ He cleared his throat, speaking with an effort. ‘Whatever else Bertie Baxter may have been, he died a hero, fighting for his country.’
‘Agreed.’
‘And you probably want to wait a while to marry so folk don’t gossip. A few months to grieve.’ He paused. ‘But before Christmas, if you approve?’
Hazel nodded, her eyes misty. ‘I can’t believe this is happening.’
‘I haven’t done this properly, have I? I’ve always prided myself on being methodical, doing things carefully so they get done right. And the most important thing in my life, the moment I’ve been dreaming about for years, I manage to completely fluff …’ George dropped to one knee and took her hand again, looking up with a shy smile. Something in his face transported her back to when they were stupid kids together, falling in love and not really sure what they wanted, so making a complete shambles of it … ‘Hazel, will you do me the honour of accepting my hand in marriage?’
So many mistakes in her life. So much regret.
But this would not be a mistake.
This was something she would never regret.
Hazel did not even need to make that promise to herself; she knew it instinctively, gazing down into his eyes. He was offering her a fresh start. This was true love, not a mockery of the real thing.
And she was going to grasp this love with both hands and never let go.
‘Yes, George,’ she breathed, ‘I will.’
For five blessed moments, they were alone together in the kitchen, just kissing and holding each other close. Then she heard the creak of a door opening, and turned to find Charlie in the doorway, wearing blue long johns and staring bleary-eyed at them both.
‘Oh, d-did we wake you?’ she stammered, moving away from George, who had also taken a quick step back, looking embarrassed. ‘Sorry, dearest.’
‘What’s going on?’ he asked suspiciously, staring from her to George, and no doubt noting their heightened colour. ‘Were you kissing my mum again?’
Before she could say anything, George cleared his throat and nodded. ‘That’s right, I was,’ he said firmly. ‘I know it probably feels too soon after your dad’s passing, and I’m sorry for that. But I love your mum, and I want to marry her and look after her properly for the rest of my life.’
There was a long silence, while Hazel dared not move, terrified that Charlie and George would argue, and maybe even come to blows. She was so used to Bertie’s hair-trigger temper, she half believed her son had inherited the same prickly temperament. And perhaps she ought to tell Charlie she was expecting again, and that she and George didn’t have time for a long courtship. But really, it was too soon in the pregnancy to be sharing her news, even with her son, and she wasn’t sure it would make any difference to him anyway.
To her amazement, Charlie merely ran a hand through his dishevelled hair, studied George for a moment, then gave a sharp nod.
‘You’ll treat her right, Mr Cotterill? No funny business?’
‘You have my word of honour,’ George told him, solemn and straight-backed, and went to shake Charlie’s hand. ‘You’re the man of the house now. Do I have your consent to come courting your mother?’
‘Only so long as you don’t hit her.’
Hazel clapped her hands to her cheeks, horribly embarrassed by her son’s frankness. ‘Charlie, please!’
‘I swear on my life that I’ll never raise a hand to your mother, either before or after we’re wed.’ George shot her a wry smile over his shoulder. ‘My own mother taught me better than that.’
‘Well, then,’ Charlie said, yawning, ‘I’m going back to bed.’ And with that sleepy statement, he disappeared, closing the door behind him.
Hazel thought she might cry. But from pure joy, not sadness.
My son is growing up, she thought.
And growing up to be nothing like his violent dad.
As George was leaving, they heard an engine roaring up the hill towards the little row of terraced cottages. An army vehicle, no doubt bringing Violet back.
They stood waiting together at the end of the garden path until her friend had stumbled out of the truck, and it had driven slowly away in the darkness.
Violet was weeping, and it was clear that things had gone horribly wrong since they’d seen her drive off to Swelle Farm. Hazel was horrified by her appearance and shaking hands. How much damage had the bombing done?
‘What is it, Vi?’ With George’s help, Hazel supported her into the house and shut the door. The woman looked awful, her face blotchy, eyes red-rimmed. ‘What on earth’s happened?’
‘Joe’s mother is dead,’ Violet told them both in an agonised whisper, clawing at her face as she sobbed. ‘And the c-c-colonel thinks I’m a spy.’
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Everyone else had gone outside for their morning tea break. Eva alone still sat at her desk, her back to the underground room, peering down at the silent machine in front of her.
Come on, she kept thinking. All the other machines were whirring round noisily. But not hers.
Do something, damn it.
The chair she was sitting on was straight-backed with an uncomfortable seat. Ordinarily, she would have been waiting in the comfier chairs in the training room down the corridor and only come out when she heard the machine start up as a message arrived. But she dreaded not being in her seat at the right moment and messing up the timing.
Finally, to her relief, there was the ticking and clacking of an incoming message.
Right on cue.
She ran her finger along the ticker tape as it spewed off the roll, and smiled to herself before tearing the section cleanly.
‘Better give that to me,’ a voice said smoothly from behind her.
She jumped, looking round into Rex’s face.
‘How long have you been standing there?’
‘Long enough to know you’ve been sitting there for ages, waiting for a message as though you knew one was coming.’
She felt her colour rise, but said nothing.
‘Come on.’ He snapped his fingers, his expression calm and expectant. ‘Can’t have top-secret messages falling into the wrong hands, can we?’
‘Funnily enough, that’s just what I was thinking.’ Eva whisked the piece of ticker tape behind her back as he reached for it. ‘Sorry, Rex, no can do. I have a feeling it wouldn’t be a terribly good idea to let you take it either.’
‘What on earth are you talking about?’ He paused. ‘Is this about last night? I know you were planning to dance the night away. You can’t pin that on me though. Hardly my fault the damn Jerries flew over.’
‘Isn’t it?’ she asked lightly.
‘Sorry?’
‘Well, it’s odd how the bombers knew about Eastern House.’
He blinked. Then gave a short laugh under his breath. ‘You’re such an innocent, Eva. It’s charming, really.’
She stared, puzzled.
‘It’s hard to keep anything a secret when the place is crawling with soldiers,’ he explained gently, ‘half of them writing letters home to Mum and Dad.’
‘You think someone here talked?’
‘Loose lips sink ships.’
‘Or get bombs dropped on civilians, in this case. Someone was killed in last night’s raid, you know.’ She studied him closely. ‘The Germans missed this place and bombed a farmhouse further along the coas
t by mistake. I expect the two buildings look quite similar from the air.’
‘Yes, I heard that. It’s too bad.’
‘Will they come back and try again, do you think?’
‘Depends on whether the Jerries know they hit the wrong target. I don’t imagine they realise that yet.’ He reached around her for the piece of ticker tape, and she backed away again. His frown intensified. ‘Here, what are you playing at? This isn’t funny, Eva. Are you going to give me that message or do you want me to tell the colonel?’
‘Maybe I should save you a job and find my father myself.’ She took a deep breath, her heart beating fast. ‘You see, I don’t think you can be trusted with this message.’
Especially, she thought, if it was true what he’d said about the enemy not knowing yet that they had hit the wrong target. To keep Eastern House safe from further bombing raids, it was vital that Rex Templeton should be prevented from passing on more intelligence to the Germans.
His eyelids flickered but his expression didn’t change. ‘Very funny, ha ha.’ He clicked his fingers again. ‘Now come on, be a good girl and hand it over. I think you’re the one who can’t be trusted.’
‘I imagine Daddy would be quite curious to hear about your other life.’
‘My other life?’
‘As a spy.’
‘What in God’s name …?’ His jaw hardened. ‘How dare you?’ There was a tense silence, then he took a step towards her. ‘All right now, enough of this nonsense. Give me that message or face the consequences.’
Eva was a little alarmed by the menacing look in his eyes, but kept her hand firmly behind her back. ‘No,’ she said, raising her chin as she added, ‘and I really don’t think you ought to be threatening me.’
‘Is that so?’ Rex made a snatch for her arm, but she danced out of reach. Flushed, he swore loudly, moving after her. ‘You spoilt brat! Wait until I get hold of you …’
‘Admit you’re a spy!’ she hissed, ducking round behind a large row of glass-panelled cabinets that divided the room, housing machines that constantly whirred and ticked.
‘You’re insane.’
She ran to the far end of the machine cabinets and looked round, only to find him advancing upon her, having guessed what she would do.
Fleeing back the other way, she yelled, ‘There’s no point denying it. I’ve been in your room, Rex. I’ve seen what you keep hidden there, sewn into your mattress.’
His heavy footsteps stopped.
She too shrank to stillness with her back against a glass-panelled door, listening to the sound of his laboured breathing on the other side of the cabinets.
‘I don’t know what you mean …’ he began cautiously.
‘Liar!’
Rex trod swiftly round the end of the cabinets, his eyes narrowing as he saw her. ‘Very well,’ he drawled, his manner changing now his secret was out in the open. ‘So you’ve got me. I’ve been moonlighting for the other side.’ He came slowly towards her, an unpleasant smile on his face as she walked backwards, her eyes wide with apprehension. ‘The problem is, little Miss Know-It-All, I’ve got you too. There’s nobody else here. What’s to stop me from taking that message away from you, and strangling you before you can tell your precious daddy about me?’
Eva swallowed, convinced that he meant it. ‘Well,’ she said huskily, ‘there is one thing that could stop you.’
‘And what’s that?’
‘I’m not as stupid as you think. I already told Daddy about you.’
Rex stopped dead, staring at her in disbelief.
‘Right, I’ve heard quite enough.’ To her relief, her father came out from his hiding place in the adjacent messages room, flanked by two other officers. He was holding a pistol, and his voice boomed the full length of the room, making Rex jump and look round. ‘Step away from my daughter at once, you traitor.’ He shook his head, sounding magnificently angry. ‘Spying for the enemy, eh?’
Rex froze, staring at him in silence.
‘Cat got your tongue, Professor Templeton?’ her father continued. ‘I’m afraid that will never do. Especially after those incriminating papers we found in your quarters. I think it’s time you and I had a chat, man to man. Before I have to send you back to London under arrest. Yes, your presence has been requested. Seems there are a few people in Whitehall who’d like a word with you too.’
But Rex had other ideas. He grabbed Eva before she realised what he was planning, twisting her in front of his body like a human shield.
‘Better not shoot, Colonel,’ he said coldly, ‘or you’ll be killing your own daughter. Put that gun down.’
Her father looked horrified, but did not lower his pistol. ‘Don’t be a fool, Templeton. The place is crawling with soldiers. You can’t get away.’
‘Oh, can’t I?’ Eva felt Rex wrestle with something in his jacket pocket, then found herself staring into the dark, business-like muzzle of a pocket pistol. He pressed it against her temple with a cracked laugh. ‘Time for us to go. Not a move or I shoot the girl.’
Eva felt her skin go cold at those words. Would he really kill her?
Rex pushed her forward a few steps, and then a few more, all the time heading for the tunnel that led outside. They passed her father and the other officers, who watched their progress in silent consternation.
One of the officers made a move, but her father held him back. ‘Steady, there.’
‘That’s right, better not try anything stupid.’ Rex sounded oddly calm despite his desperate situation. ‘Let me go, Colonel, and your daughter gets to live. Try to stop me, and her brains will be all over the floor.’
Eva blenched, sure now that he wasn’t bluffing.
It had seemed like such a good plan when she spoke to her father after the air raid had finished. To entrap Rex into revealing himself. They’d hoped he would give away precisely who he was working for, and why, perhaps in order to boast to her about it. But although Rex had admitted to being a spy, perhaps because her proof had been too conclusive to bother denying, he had not given away anything else of use to the British government.
And why would he?
Rex had never been genuinely attracted to her, after all. She had been a means to an end. Walking out with her had been one more way to gain the trust of the brass higher up, getting close to the colonel’s daughter while covertly passing on decryption keys and classified messages to the enemy.
She could not let this evil man get away. He would probably shoot her anyway. Unless she could disarm him before he was out of the tunnels.
As they reached the doorway, she spotted the fire bucket a few feet ahead, full of sand. Pretending to stumble, she slumped against him with a groan.
‘Stand straight!’
‘Sorry,’ she moaned, ‘I feel so faint …’
‘For God’s sake!’
As she drooped in his arms, Rex tried to grab her up again, but she had hold of the heavy metal fire bucket. Using all her strength, she swung it round into his knees, taking him by surprise.
He swore in pain, staggering back, and raised his arm to shoot. But a sharp, deafening crack dropped him to his knees, and his gun skittered away across the floor. At first, Eva didn’t understand what had happened, backing away in bewilderment. Then she saw her father’s arm still pointing in their direction, pistol in hand, and smelt smoke on the air.
The two officers ran forward to secure their prisoner, who was groaning now as he rolled about on the floor.
‘Got him in the buttocks, by the look of it,’ her father said crisply, holstering his pistol, and then apologised to her. ‘Sorry, not what I’d have liked you to witness. But couldn’t let him escape. Or risk him shooting you, eh?’
‘Quite,’ Eva agreed drily.
Her father reached her and gave her a quick, rough hug. ‘Bit shaky, my dear? Perfectly natural. You’ve had a nasty shock.’
‘I’ll survive.’
‘Of course you will. You’re my daughter, aren’t you?’ H
e beamed down at her indulgently, then turned to Rex, his look suddenly fierce. ‘No need to make all that noise. We’ll get a doctor to you soon enough. Not that you deserve it, threatening to shoot my daughter, and bringing those bombs down on us last night. An innocent woman was killed in that raid. You’ll pay for that.’
Eva looked down at Rex too, feeling sick now that it was all over. ‘Why did you do it? Why betray your country?’
Rex grimaced, clearly in pain. ‘We didn’t all have your advantages in life,’ he spat out. ‘Don’t judge what you can’t understand.’
Her father made a noise under his breath, and drew her away. ‘Come on, m’dear,’ he said gruffly, ‘let’s get you away from that worthless man.’
Her father supported her out of the tunnel, into the bright sunshine, where she stood dazed, watching seagulls wheeling above them in a brilliantly blue Cornish sky. He hurried away to send for a medical team to attend the professor, and then guided her to a bench on the lawn below, in the shade of a large beech tree.
‘Right, where’s that message?’ her father asked. ‘The one our friend was so eager to intercept.’
‘Oh, yes.’ Eva took a deep breath and handed over the ticker tape. She watched curiously while he read it. ‘What’s it about, anyway?’
‘Nothing more important than a shopping list,’ he said with a wink, and pushed it into his pocket. ‘But the trick worked a treat. Now, if you’re feeling better, I’ve got something for you.’
Eva was surprised. ‘Something for me?’
He drew out a crumpled letter from inside his jacket pocket. ‘It arrived a while ago, but I didn’t feel right letting you read it before now. No hard feelings, I hope.’
She turned the envelope over and saw her name on it, yet it had already been opened.
Outrage filled her. ‘You read a private letter? Addressed to me?’
‘A father’s prerogative,’ he said gruffly. ‘Listen, you were quite shaken up after that near miss in London. I was just trying to protect you.’
‘Daddy!’
‘You’ve got the letter now, haven’t you? No point making a big song and dance.’ He cleared his throat, then gave a nod. ‘Right, I’ve got business to attend to. People waiting to see me. If there’s anything else you need—’