This was a bit of a blow. I could write, of course. But that meant delay. ‘What about a wire?’ I asked.
‘I should think that would get through all right,’ she replied.
I hesitated. A wire was not quite so private as a ‘phone call or a letter. But it seemed the only thing. ‘Will you send a wire, then?’
‘Of course, I’m off duty till this evening.’
I scribbled it down on the back of an envelope. ‘Please obtain full details Vayle librarian Thorby since thirty-six stop May be of vital importance stop Will phone for results early Friday.’ I wasn’t too happy about it. It would have been so much more satisfactory to have spoken to him. I could only hope that he would read between the lines and realise just how important it was”.
I handed it to Marion. ‘I hope you can read it,’ I said.
She glanced through it. There was a slight lift to her eyebrows. But that was the only sign she gave that it was unusual. She asked no questions. And I was not inclined to explain the situation. Now that it came to committing myself on paper I felt too uncertain to risk any discussion of my suspicions.
She slipped the envelope into her pocket. ‘I’ll send it off as soon as I’ve had my lunch,’ she promised.
‘That reminds me,’ I said. ‘I suppose I ought to go and have mine. I’m on again at one.’
“Then you haven’t much time-it’s twenty to already.’
I got up. ‘What about a drink this evening?’
‘I’d love to. But I’m on duty at eight.’
That’s fine,’ I said. ‘I come off at seven. I’ll meet you here as soon after as I can make it. That is, of course, Hitler permitting.’
‘I hope he will.’ She smiled. It gave me a sudden sense of confidence, that smile. It made me want to stay and talk the whole thing over with her. But I had to get my lunch, and so I left her there, sipping her beer.
The afternoon went slowly. There were no alarms and I had plenty of time for reflection. When we came off at three we tried to get some sleep. This afternoon siesta was now a daily ritual. Without it, I am certain, we could never have kept going. It was easy to see who were the town dwellers and who were accustomed to working in the open air. Micky and Fuller went to sleep on their beds in the hut, not bothering to take off anything but their battle blouse and with at least one blanket over them. The rest of us stripped down and lay out in the sun.
Though I had plenty on my mind, I had no difficulty in going to sleep. We were wakened at a quarter to five. As usual, I felt worse after my brief sleep. It would probably have been more intelligent to rest under cover, but the sun attracted me too much. The sense of leisure was infinite. The thought of the hot, dusty streets of London made Thorby seem for a brief period a holiday camp.
I did not bother to go down to the mess for tea, even though it was the last good meal of the day. The sun had made me very weak and the idea of putting on battle dress and walking down to the square was quite repugnant. What several of us did was to make tea on the site. This was a much better proposition in every way, for the tea in the mess was really quite undrinkable. Then in the evening we would get food in the Naafi.
We were off again at seven and I went straight down to the canteen tent. It was already crowded. Several of the lads from the other site were there. I looked round, but could see no sign of Marion Sheldon. In the end I got myself a drink and went over and joined the others.
I kept a close watch on the entrance, but she did not come. At first I thought she must have been delayed. But by half-past seven I was wondering whether she had forgotten all about it. I began to feel rather peeked. Trevors had joined us and the whole of our detachment was there. The number of bottles on the table mounted rapidly. The place was insufferably hot and beginning to get noisy. I felt out of tune with it and very tired.
Shortly after eight Elaine came in and joined us. I didn’t know how friendly she was with Marion, but I thought she might be able to tell me what had happened to her. But it was rather awkward. She was sitting at the end of the table with Trevors and the two sergeants. I waited, trying to pluck up courage to approach her. But I fought shy of the laughter that my concern about a particular Waaf would certainly evoke.
Then one or two began talking about going to the supper canteen for food, and when they got up I joined them.
As I passed Elaine I said: ‘What’s happened to Marion tonight?’
She looked up at me over her shoulder. ‘Oh, she’s got herself into trouble over something. Four days fatigues. Shall I give her your love?’ There was a wicked gleam in her eyes.
I felt a sudden emptiness inside me. ‘What’s she in trouble over?’ I asked.
“She was very secretive about it, my dear.’ Again I was a are of that gleam in her eye. I felt uncomfortable. You’re not by any chance the cause of it, are you? You didn’t seem to waste much time last night.’
I didn’t know what to say. I had a horrid premonition. And because I feared that she might be right, I felt tongue-tied. I was suddenly aware that the whole table was silent, listening to our conversation.
She squeezed my arm in a friendly gesture. ‘It’s all right. I’ll give her your love.’ And she gave me a sugar-sweet smile.
I replied with what I fancy must have been a very sheepish grin and went with the others out of the tent. As we crossed the square to the big block of the Naafi Institute, behind which was the supper canteen, Kan said: ‘She’s a little bitch, isn’t she?’
‘Oh, I don’t know,’ I said. ‘I was a bit vulnerable, wasn’t I? I’d arranged to meet Marion there at seven and she didn’t turn up.’
He laughed. ‘She’s still a little bitch. You don’t know Elaine. She can be really sweet, though her “my dears” are a bit reminiscent of the cheap side of Piccadilly. At other times she’s just a cat. Tiny thinks she’s a paragon of all the virtues. He’s very simple. But she’s as promiscuous as it’s possible to be in a camp. She just naturally wants every man she sees.’
I said nothing. What was there to say? I didn’t care a damn about Elaine. What was worrying me was why Marion had got into trouble.
‘You’re very moody, old boy,’ Kan said. ‘You’re surely not worrying about your girl friend. I mean, a few fatigues are nothing in anyone’s life.’
‘I’m just a bit tired, that’s all,’ I said.
The canteen was already pretty full. We took the only table that was vacant. It was against the wall nearest the kitchen. The heat was almost unbearable. We all ordered steak and onions. Whilst we waited for it we had more beer.
‘Well, here’s to our night’s bag, Kan,’ said Chetwood, raising his glass to his lips.
‘What do you mean — your night’s bag?’ demanded Beasley, a youngish lad from the other side.
It started quite good-naturedly. But it soon became heated.
‘Well, what fuse were you firing? Fuse twelve? Well, listen, ducky, that ‘plane crashed on the edge of the ‘drome. It couldn’t have been more than three to four thousand yards away when you opened fire. Fuse twelve would have been well beyond the target.’
‘My dear fellow, I saw it burst just by the nose of the ‘plane.’
‘Well, John had the glasses on it and he says ours burst just outside the wing. And it was the wing that crumpled. Anyway, you were a layer, weren’t you? How the hell could you see? I was laying too, and I could see nothing. The flash was absolutely blinding.’
The argument was interminable. It seemed rather pointless. The main thing was that the troop had brought the plane down. At last we got our food. I had just started eating when I saw Andrew Mason come in. He stopped in the doorway to look round the room and then made straight for our table. He looked agitated.
‘You’re wanted at the office at once, Hanson. Mr Ogilvie wants to see you.’