‘I don’t understand.’ Her voice had faded to a whisper. ‘It can’t be true. If you’re alive, then it’s Tubby whose body-’ Her words died away in a choking sob.
‘Tubby’s alive,’ I said again. I reached out and caught hold of her hand. Her fingers were cold and slack in mine. ‘Diana. I want your help. He’s alive, but he’s injured and we’ve got to get him out. You’ve got to persuade Saeton to fly there and get him out.’
‘What are you saying?’ Her voice was flat and toneless.
I didn’t understand her attitude. ‘I thought you’d be glad,’ I said. ‘I came straight here to tell you.’
‘Glad that you’re alive?’ She turned away. ‘Of course I’m glad, only… I loved him,’ she suddenly burst out. ‘I loved him, I tell you.’
Somebody bent over me, an officer in R.A.F. uniform with dark, boot-button eyes and a thin, aquiline nose. ‘You’re Fraser, aren’t you?’ he said. ‘They just told me.’
‘For God’s sake!’ I pushed him away. ‘I’m trying to tell Mrs Carter something.’
‘Yes, I heard. I think you’d better listen to me first. I’m the I.O. here. We know all about your plane. It crashed two miles north of Hollmind Airfield, dived straight into the ground.’
I stared at him. ‘Who told you it crashed at Hollmind?’ I demanded.
‘The Russians.’
The Russians?’
‘Yes. After denying the whole thing for days, they came through with a report yesterday. They’ve found the wreckage in the woods north of Hollmind.’ He leaned down and lowered his voice. ‘They also found the remains of one body. We didn’t know whether it was yours or Carter’s.’ His glance slid to Diana whose face was buried in her hands. ‘Now you’re safe, of course, we know whose it was.’ He straightened up. ‘Soon as you’re ready, we’ll go up to my office and I’ll get a statement from you. I’ll have to have a report ready for the station commander.’
I stared at him. Why should the Russians make such a report? It didn’t make sense. I felt suddenly scared — scared that they wouldn’t believe what I had to tell them.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The next quarter of an hour was a nightmare. I started by trying to convince the Intelligence Officer that the Russian report was nonsense. It was a mistake. He believed the information the Russians had given him. What’s more, the lieutenant who had driven me to Gatow had reported to him after dropping me at the Malcolm Club. He knew that I’d held a German orderly up with a revolver. ‘You don’t know what you’re saying — or what you’re doing, Fraser,’ he said. His voice was cold and practical. ‘Better come up to my office and then I’ll take you along to the sick bay.’
I thought of the little patrol of Red Army men in the woods near Hollmind. They knew damn well the plane hadn’t dived into the ground. ‘Can I see this report?’ I asked him.
‘It’s up at my office now.’
‘Does the report give any details?’
‘Oh, yes. It’s quite detailed. No question about it being your plane. They’ve even got the number
Two-five-two.’ He turned to the medical orderly who had returned. ‘Take Mrs Carter back to her quarters.’
‘Wait,’ I said. If I couldn’t convince him, at least I might be able to convince Diana. I pulled myself out of my seat and went over to her, catching hold of her shoulders and shaking her in my desperate urge to get her to concentrate on what I had to tell her. ‘You’ve got to listen to me, Diana.’ She lifted her head and stared at me through tear-dimmed eyes. ‘I was with Tubby yesterday. He is alive.’
The desire to believe me was there in her face. Hope showed for an instant in her eyes, but then it died and she clenched her teeth. ‘Take him away from me, please,’ she said in a whisper.
The I.O. pulled my hand away from her shoulder. ‘The Russians wouldn’t say he was dead if he wasn’t.’ He pushed me gently back into the chair. ‘Just take it › easy. You’re a bit upset — but it’s no good raising Mrs Carter’s hopes. Carter’s dead. No question of that. Now all I want from you-’
‘He’s not dead,’ I cut in angrily. ‘He’s badly injured, but he’s alive. He’s at a farm-’
‘Stop it, Neil!’ Diana screamed at me. ‘For God’s sake stop it! Why do you keep saying he’s alive when you know he’s dead? If it hadn’t been for me,’ she added in a lifeless tone, ‘he’d never have taken the job. He’d still have been with Saeton. Bill wouldn’t have crashed him. He’d have been all right with Bill. Oh, God!’
She was beside herself and I sat there staring at the misery which made her face look wild and wondering how the devil I could convince her that her husband was alive. I turned to the I.O. ‘I want to see the station commander,’ I said. ‘I want a plane put at my disposal tonight. Do you think he’d do that?’
‘What do you want a plane for?’ His tone was the sort you use to placate an excited child and I saw him exchange a quick glance with the medical orderly.
‘I want to fly to Hollmind Airfield,’ I answered quickly. ‘If I can land at Hollmind I can get Carter out.’
‘Is that ambulance still here?’ he asked the medical orderly.
‘Yes, sir. Mr Fraser told me to send it away, but I thought I’d better-’ He stared at me without finishing the sentence.
‘Good! Come along, Fraser. You need a good, hot drink, warmth and a bed. We’ll soon have you fixed up.’ His hand was on my arm, gently but firmly raising me from my seat.
I flung him off. ‘Can’t you understand what I’m trying to tell you? Tubby Carter is alive. He didn’t die in any crash.’ It was on the tip of my tongue to say there hadn’t been any crash, but I knew he wouldn’t believe that, not unless I told him the whole story and I wasn’t going to do that until I had seen Saeton. ‘He’s at a farm, being cared for by the local doctor. He’s got a broken arm, several broken ribs and a pierced lung and he needs treatment.’
‘Now, be reasonable, Fraser.’ The I.O.‘s hand was back on my arm. ‘We all understand how you feel. But it’s no good pretending he’s alive just because you’re worried that you jumped when he was still in the plane. We’ll get all that sorted out later. Now come on up to the sick bay.’
So they were going to pin that on me! I felt the blood rush, hammering, to my head. Damn them! At least that wasn’t the truth. I’d gone back for him, hadn’t I? I felt a sense of utter frustration taking hold of me.
And then Diana’s hand was on my arm. ‘Why do you keep on talking about a farm?’ she asked. The desire to believe me was back in her face.
I told her about the Kleffmanns then and about their son Hans. Tubby is lying in Hans’s old room,’ I said. I half-closed my eyes, forcing into my mind the picture of that room. ‘The wallpaper has butterflies on it and it’s littered with faded photographs of Hans. The bedstead is of iron and brass and the single dormer window looks out on to the roof of a barn.’ I seized hold of her shoulder again. ‘You’ve got to believe me, Diana. You’ve got to help me persuade Saeton to fly in to Hollmind tonight. Please — please, for God’s sake believe what I’m trying to tell you.’
She stared at me and then she nodded slowly, half-dazed. ‘I must believe you,’ she said half to herself. Her eyes searched my face. ‘You do know what you’re saying, don’t you? You aren’t lying — just to protect yourself?’
‘To protect myself?’
‘Yes — so that we’d think you didn’t leave him to-’ She stopped and bit hold of her lip. ‘No. I can’t believe you’d do that. I guess you mean what you say.’ She looked up quickly at the I.O. ‘Leave us a minute. Do you mind? I’d like to talk to him.’
The I.O. hesitated and then turned away to the coffee counter.
‘How did you know Bill was here?’ She was leaning forward and the unexpectedness of her question nearly caught me off my guard. I was feeling wretchedly tired. The warmth of the stove was making me sleepy. I pushed my hand over my face. ‘One of the air crews, a fellow from Wunstorf, told me,’ I answered. I shook myself, trying to keep my mind clear. I mustn’t tell her what really happened. If I did that Saeton wouldn’t help me. ‘Can you find out when he’ll be in?’ I asked her. ‘I’ve got to speak to him. Once I get up there in the terminal building they’ll start questioning me and then they’ll push me off to hospital or something. Saeton must take me to Hollmind. Tubby’s got to be flown out tonight.’