Dominion (78 page)

‘I was in the Norway campaign, remember?’ He picked up the pistol and examined it. ‘I can use this.’ Then he grasped it firmly and put it in his pocket.

Bert turned to Sarah. He said quietly, ‘What about you, Mrs Fitzgerald?’

She shook her head. ‘I couldn’t. Anyway, I wouldn’t know how.’ She took a deep breath, then reached into her pocket and pulled out the pellet David had handed her
earlier. She held it out. ‘But I’ll use this, if I have to.’

‘We all must,’ Ben said quietly.

‘Is there anything else we need to discuss before we leave?’ Natalia asked. She looked round them all, her gaze lingering on Sarah. ‘Because from now on we have to be
completely focused on our escape, on getting away.’

Sarah nodded. ‘I know.’ She drew a deep breath. ‘I’m ready.’

They left the hotel at half past ten, in the car. They drove out of Brighton, past the Pavilion, its domes outlined against the starry sky. Natalia was the driver, Ben beside
her. David sat in the back, Frank between him and Sarah.

They drove north out of Brighton, into the empty, frosty countryside. For a while there was silence. Then Ben said, ‘The news says the fog’s gone in London. But the casualty
departments are full of people with asthma and bronchitis, animals died at the Smithfield cattle show. There was more about that than what’s happening in Germany. They just say Goebbels is in
charge. There’s windy weather coming in tomorrow apparently, there’s going to be heavy snow in Scotland.’

‘I went to school there,’ Frank said quietly.

Sarah turned to him. He looked very pale and frightened. But he was calm, not really like a lunatic at all though there was something odd, off-key, about him. She spoke to him gently. ‘And
after that you went to Oxford, met David?’ She could imagine David looking after Frank, protecting him.

‘Yes. I’m sorry I’ve got you both in this mess.’

‘You got caught up in this by chance,’ David said. ‘Though it’s just an extension of the madness the whole country, the whole world, has ended up in, isn’t
it?’

Frank turned and looked at David. ‘You’re the best friend I ever had in my life,’ he said, suddenly.

‘Come on, Frank,’ David said jokingly. ‘You’re embarrassing me.’

Frank turned back to Sarah, his eyes glinting in the dark interior of the car. ‘No, it’s true, and this may be my last chance to say it. Your husband is a good man. He looks after
people, protects them. There’s not one in a hundred like him.’

Silence descended again. After a while they turned south, heading back towards the sea.

T
HEY DROVE INTO
R
OTTINGDEAN
, past some large houses to a village green with a pond in the centre, a skin of ice on its surface,
and a tall war memorial, a stone column topped with a cross. On a hill to the right Frank saw a large windmill, outlined against the starry sky. To the left the ground rose up to an ancient church.
Frank remembered the kind, brave vicar in London; if it hadn’t been for him, he knew, he would have wandered about in the fog until he was caught, and then – he took a long, deep
breath.

A few cars were already parked outside the large houses surrounding the green, and Natalia drew quietly to a halt between two of them. They stepped out into the freezing air. There were a couple
of streetlights, but nobody was in sight and the windows of all the houses were curtained and dark.

Natalia told them not to talk, just follow her, as quietly as possible. Frank felt his heart begin to pound as he walked beside David. Sarah and Ben were behind him and Natalia in front. They
turned into a narrow street with shops on either side, some Christmas decorations in the windows. Beyond the end of the street, moonlight shone on the sea.

Frank remembered his talk with Natalia, when he had asked to see her that afternoon. In her room he had asked her, haltingly, to give David the chance to rebuild his marriage.

He had thought she might be rude or contemptuous, but she only said, in a kindly but definite tone, ‘You don’t understand.’

He answered, ‘I suppose that’s true in a way. But I can see Sarah loves him, even though she’s so angry now. And he has feelings for her, I’m sure he has.’

Natalia lit a cigarette, inclined her head. ‘What if he feels more for me than for her?’

‘If he just abandoned her in America, think of the guilt he’d feel. David doesn’t forget people. He didn’t forget me, remember, when you asked him to get me out of the
asylum.’

Natalia smiled sadly. ‘You are so like my brother. Your problem is not that you don’t understand things, it’s that you see too much. But you must leave me and David to decide
what to do.’

‘I know,’ he answered quietly. Natalia looked out of the window, her arms crossed, her pose thoughtful, then turned back to face him.

‘Don’t say anything to the others, please. We all have to concentrate on our escape now.’

Frank said, ‘I won’t.’ He took a long, deep breath. ‘But there was something else I wanted to ask. About tonight.’

Natalia turned into a tiny street of little cottages fronted with dark flint. She approached the second cottage. Like all the other buildings they had passed it was in
darkness. But when she went up to the door it opened a crack; someone had been watching. She whispered the mission password, ‘Aztec.’

The door opened wider and Natalia went in, the others following. For a moment they were in complete darkness. Then a light was switched on and they saw they were in a small room with battered
furniture, photographs on the mantelpiece. A stocky man in his forties in a heavy blue jersey stood in the middle of the room. His face was lined and weatherbeaten, stubble on his seamed cheeks,
but his small, dark eyes were sharp and alert as he looked them over. ‘Any problems?’ he asked quietly. His deep voice had a strong country accent.

‘None,’ Natalia said.

‘Anyone about?’

‘Nobody.’

‘We’ll go through to the back.’

They followed him into an untidy kitchen, smelling strongly of fish. He drew a pair of dirty curtains shut and waved them towards a wooden dining table where hard chairs and a couple of stools
had been drawn up. ‘Sit down.’ He joined them at the table, gnarled hands clasped together.

‘All right,’ he said. ‘Give me your first names.’

They told him. ‘I’m Eddie. I’m a fisherman,’ he said. ‘I’m going to row you out to the submarine. I’ve a big old rowing boat, I’ve left it down at
the beach. Some of you will have to help me row, we’re going out about a mile. I’ve got the bearings and a red torch to flash out to sea, when we get near. You’ll see the sub as
we approach; it’s big. They’re expecting us at one a.m., we need to get rowing out by twelve thirty. It’s only just gone half past eleven, we’ve plenty of time.’ He
nodded to the darkened kitchen window, and gave them a gap-toothed smile, his first sign of friendliness. ‘You need to know exactly where you’re going if you’re in a boat,
there’s an old submerged pier out there. I’ve fresh clothes for you here, heavy dark clothes. You’ll need them, it’s going to be very cold out at sea. Understand?’

They all nodded silently.

‘We’ve had people walking up and down on the cliffs since morning with binoculars, there’s no sign of anything unusual out to sea. And the village has been quiet all
day.’ He looked round them once more, his eyes lingering on Frank, as most people’s did. ‘Is everyone ready?’

‘Yes,’ Natalia said.

‘Has anyone any experience of rowing?’

David said, ‘I rowed for Oxford. Haven’t done much since, but it’ll come back.’

‘Good.’ Eddie picked up a pair of binoculars and slung them round his neck. ‘Go on up, then,’ he said. ‘Up and change. Men to the left room, women to the
right.’

They went upstairs. Frank and David and Ben changed into thick sweaters in a tiny bedroom, then heavy trousers, boots and peaked caps. When they were finished Ben put his cap at a jaunty angle,
grinned at them, and said, ‘All right, me hearties?’ in a mock-Long John Silver accent. David managed the flicker of a smile. He looked at Frank. ‘We’re going to be all
right. We’re almost there now.’

Frank nodded. ‘You haven’t said much since we arrived,’ David said. ‘Sure you’re okay?’

‘Yes,’ Frank answered quietly.

They went back outside. Eddie took the lead. They walked down the main street in silence, then at a signal from him they crossed the coast road, which ran at right angles to
the High Street. There was a hotel opposite, a sign hanging from a pole creaking gently in the light breeze from the sea. Next to it a sharply angled stone path led down towards the water, between
high concrete banks. They followed Eddie down. At the bottom of the path was a promenade, bounded by cliffs on both sides. Steps could be seen leading down from the promenade to the little beach.
Eddie said, ‘Wait here a moment. I’ll look around. Get your eyes accustomed to the dark.’

He went forward, the rest of them standing at the end of the path, between the high banks. There was no light now, apart from the half-moon which made a long pencil of silvery light on the sea.
Frank, looking at the others, felt a sudden sense of distance, as though none of this were anything to do with him any more. He thought suddenly of his flat in Birmingham. He would never see it
again. He realized he didn’t care.

He heard Sarah speak quietly to David. ‘I was just thinking of Mrs Templeman. I don’t know why. I suppose I wonder what she’d think of it all.’

‘She’d think we were doing the right thing.’

‘And Charlie?’

‘A great adventure.’ There was a catch in David’s voice.

Eddie returned. ‘It looks all clear,’ he said quietly. ‘We’re going to cross the promenade and go down the steps to the beach. Come on now, follow me. Slowly now, one at
a time, don’t rush.’

David watched as Ben followed Eddie out onto the promenade. Frank was next, then Sarah. He was about step forward himself when he felt Natalia’s hand on his arm. He
looked round. He couldn’t see her face properly in the shadowed mouth of the pathway but it looked serious, grave.

‘Listen, David,’ she said quickly. ‘We’ve only a moment. I’m not coming with you.’

He stared blankly. ‘What do you mean? You must—’

‘I don’t want to go to America. That’s not where the struggle is. It’s here, in Europe, the climax is coming at last. I have to be part of it. I’m going back to
London. And you – you belong with your wife.’

‘But why—’

She put her finger to his lips. It tasted of the salty air. Her brown hair stirred in the breeze. ‘Your friend Frank came to see me.’ She smiled wryly. ‘What he said tipped the
balance. And – I could never settle to a safe life again, even with you. Every time I thought I had one, you see, it was taken away.’

Footsteps could be heard coming back from the promenade; the others would be wondering why they hadn’t appeared. Natalia said, ‘Ben is in charge from now on.’ She grasped
David’s arms and kissed him quickly. He saw tears shining in those slightly slanted eyes. She said, quietly, ‘
Ich hob dich lieb.’

He held her. ‘What did you say?’

‘It’s what your mother said to you. It means “I love you”. Forgive me for not telling you before.
Ich hob dich lieb
, David.’ And then she turned away and
walked rapidly back up the path, disappearing from view quickly in her heavy dark clothes. Ben appeared beside him. One hand was in his pocket, where his gun was. ‘Whit the fuck’s
gaun’ on?’ he hissed.

‘It’s Natalia,’ David said. ‘She’s not coming, she’s staying behind.’

‘Jesus.’ Ben hesitated for a moment, looking up the path.

‘She said you’re in charge now. Come on,’ David added, quietly, a catch in his voice. ‘I never even knew her last name.’

‘Naebody did.’

Then Sarah appeared at the mouth of the pathway, Frank and Eddie beside her. Eddie asked anxiously, ‘What happened?’

‘Natalia’s stayin’ behind,’ Ben answered.

Sarah looked at her husband. ‘Why?’

Ben said, ‘Never mind. She’s gone. I’m in charge now. Come on.’

The five of them crossed the promenade and descended a flight of stone steps, clinging to a slippery metal rail. The whispering line of the surf was surprisingly close, the tide high. Eddie
pointed over to a large, dark, concrete groyne about twenty yards away. The moonlight cast a shadow beside it. ‘The boat’s over there,’ he said quietly. ‘Let’s go and
get it upright. It’s gone a quarter past twelve.’

They walked the short distance to the boat, their feet crunching on the shingle. It was hard keeping their balance in the dark; Sarah almost slipped and David took her arm. She looked at him and
nodded thanks.

Then all hell broke loose. The boat heaved up from below, knocking Eddie and Ben to the ground. A sudden blur of dark figures surrounded them and strong arms grasped David’s hands, pulling
them behind him. Looking wildly to his left and right he saw that Sarah and Frank were similarly pinioned, held by men dressed in black clothes, with black balaclavas and blackened faces. A fourth
man was dragging Eddie to his feet, while another struggled on the ground with Ben. Ben was strong but his assailant was stronger and a moment later he too was hauled to his feet, arms behind
him.

There was a sixth man with them, stouter than the others. He stood by the boat, looking round. ‘There’s one missing,’ he said in a German accent. ‘The Resistance
woman.’ He walked over to David, looked at him, nodded briefly. ‘Mr Fitzgerald. I recognize you from your photographs. Where is she?’

‘Who?’

‘The other woman who should be with you.’

‘She didn’t come,’ David said.

The German frowned, puzzled. He took off his balaclava. ‘Then who leads you?’

Ben said, ‘I dae, ye fuckin’ fat Nazi cunt.’ The tall thin man holding him twisted his arm violently, making him cry out. ‘Commie poof,’ the man spat, and David
realized he was British. Eddie and Frank stood still, unmoving. Eddie’s eyes were full of rage but Frank’s were unfocused, looking straight ahead at the sea. David thought, it’s
what he’s expected all along and he was right. We’re not going to be able to save him after all.