Oriental Hotel (54 page)

She froze, eyes wide, hope surging through disbelief. It just couldn't be. So many times she had imagined she had seen him and been mistaken. Now, in the midst of all this terror and chaos …

But she was not mistaken.

‘Brit!' she shouted. ‘
Brit
!'

Her voice was lost in the uproar and he had not seen her. He was moving on, still looking around.

Oh God, to see him now, to be so close and then to lose him
…

‘Brit!'

He could not possibly have heard her; her voice was just one of many in the clamour. But somehow, miraculously, he was looking in her direction. She dragged her arm free of Su Ming's grip, waving wildly.

‘Brit – Brit!'

And he saw her. She knew the moment he recognised her and almost fainted with the overwhelming relief.

Brit – Brit – you're here. And I need you so much. Oh, how I need you
!

The tears were gathering in her eyes now; by the time he had fought his way through the crowd they were pouring down her cheeks. She swayed towards him, forgetting Alex and Su Ming and the pushing, noisy Chinese and Europeans, forgetting even that she was pregnant with his baby and he did not even know it.

Only when she saw his expression of surprise did it occur to her, and then, ridiculously, she was laughing.

‘Oh Brit, I don't believe it! I don't believe you're here!'

‘Come on, let's get you out of this crush.' He picked up Alex and pushed Elise and Su Ming bodily back up the sloping jetty, against the oncoming tide of refugees.

‘But we've got to get to Hong Kong Island!' she protested.

‘Not that way!' As he led them along the quayside he asked roughly, ‘ Where's Gordon?'

‘I don't know. He had to go with the Reservists. Don't look like that – he had to go, Brit.'

He did not bother to answer; he was busy calling out in Cantonese to the skipper of a sampan which was approaching the harbour wall. The air rattled with the heavy engines of Japanese bombers, shells whistled down through the clear still air and the earth trembled beneath their feet.

The skipper called back. Elise would not have understood, even if she could have heard, but he brought the sampan round, steadying it against the wall with his wiry brown arms.

‘Come on.' Brit handed Alex to the Chinese, then climbed down himself and took Elise's hand. She stepped down unsteadily, her weight sending her off-balance and her legs almost collapsing as she reached the rocking base of the sampan. Su Ming followed and the boatman cast off.

The water of the harbour was choppy, churned up by the scurrying craft. A Japanese plane droned overhead and she ducked automatically, putting her head against Brit and pulling Alex close to her. But the dreaded sound of falling bombs did not come; nor, to her surprise, the crackle of anti-aircraft fire, though the plane headed towards the island.

The harbour crossing, usually a few minutes' calm enjoyment, seemed extended to nightmare length. One small boat with which they drew level was crammed with badly wounded men, watched over by a nurse who was also wounded.

Elise had been clutching Alex closely to her in an effort to spare him the horror but when they landed on the island and looked back towards the mainland, there was no escaping it.

Kowloon could have been a part of Dante's inferno. The smoke, which had seemed a choking blanket when they had been on that side of the harbour, could be seen from here as a kaleidoscope of strange, swirling patterns, dense black and lighter shades of grey; through it and beyond licked the fearsome vermilion flames from the burning oil-tanks.

They stared, overwhelmed by something close to disbelief. Was it possible that they had been there only ten minutes ago – in that hell? But it was so, and they would still be there but for Brit.

‘Come on!' He swung Alex up into his arms again.

‘Where are you taking us?'

Brit's face was hard and set. He merely glanced over his shoulder as he answered, ‘As far away from this as possible. Quickly!'

Hong Kong Central was only a little less chaotic than Kowloon. Refugees who had made the crossing milled about aimlessly, while troops who had been withdrawn grouped and re-formed.

Brit pushed through them with his customary long strides and Elise and Su Ming almost had to run to keep up with him.

Cormorant House stood beyond a broad band of green on the far side of the road which ran from east to west across the landward side of the island. It was a smart building which occupied a whole block, three storeys high and surrounded by a wide verandah. Above it the Cormorant pennant fluttered bravely and Elise was struck by the thought that it was unlikely to be there much longer. She had no breath to say anything, however – besides the ache in her back, a stitch was niggling in her side and her whole body felt racked with discomfort, requiring all her concentration to get through the next moment, and then the next.

Along the side of the Cormorant building Brit took them, round to where the fleet of company cars – headed by two Rolls Royces – stood in a shining line.

A chauffeur appeared. Liveried and peak-capped, he and the immaculate cars were an incongruous sight in the midst of the chaos.

‘Hey, you, where do you think you are going? Sorry, I did not realise it was you, Mr Brittain, sir. This is all so frightful …'

‘Yes. I want a car, Cheung Shu.'

The man looked oddly gratified that Brit had remembered him and called him by name.

‘Yes, sir. You would like me to drive you?'

‘No, thank you. I'll drive myself. Is my father in, do you know?'

‘Yes, sir, I believe he is. He went in and he has not come out. Do you wish to see him?'

‘No.'
And he'll want to see me even less
, Brit thought. ‘Just tell him I have taken the car if he wants to know.'

‘Yes, sir.' He opened the car doors, respectful to the last, and his eyes betrayed no flicker of curiosity about the two women or the child Brit was carrying with him.

As the Rolls pulled away, his hand touched his cap in customary salute. Brit steered the shining car through the narrow streets to the road that crossed the island from north to south. It climbed steeply, and looking back Elise saw the harbour, still dotted with numerous craft, spread out beneath them.

‘I'm taking you to Repulse Bay', Brit said. He was driving fast, not looking at her.

‘The Hotel?' she asked.

‘It's the best place I can think of for the moment, but it won't be safe for long. You've already seen what we are up against.'

She nodded. ‘Brit, I simply couldn't believe it when I saw you. What were you doing there?'

‘Looking for you – in a way. I went to your house and found it deserted, so I thought I would look around and try to make sure you weren't still there and in trouble.'

‘But what are you doing here at all? I thought you were …'

‘Later!' he said sharply and she lapsed into awkward silence.

There was so much she wanted to say, so much she wanted to ask him, but this was neither the time nor the place. Better to stay silent and let him concentrate on driving. They could talk in privacy later.

After a while the road began to slope down again steeply, with thick trees on the landward side and the cliffs dropping sheer away on the other. This was the ‘quiet' side of the island, where the houses of the rich clung to their elevated positions high above the sparkling blue of the South China Sea.

As they rounded a curve at the valley floor the Repulse Bay Hotel came into view – low, white and gracious against the back-drop of greenery, older even than the Peninsula and as stately as the Empire itself.

Brit pulled up outside the door, went in for a few moments and then returned with the news that he had taken a suite for them. Then he accompanied them upstairs.

His nearness was disconcerting Elise now. At first panic had subdued all other considerations; now she was impatient to be alone with him.

‘Bath Alex and arrange for him to have something to eat, please,' she said to Su Ming.

But when the door was closed after them, the hundred and one things in her mind which had been clamouring for utterance were gone and only the physical mattered.

‘Oh Brit, Brit …'

She was in his arms, kissing him, feeling his lips on her face and her hair, laughing and crying with fear and joy, anxiety and relief.

After a moment he held her away, looking down at her.

‘This is something I did
not
know about!'

She laughed, verging on the hysterical. ‘How could you?'

‘Is it …?'

‘Yours? Of course!'

A thousand times, in dreams, she had lived this moment. A thousand times she hugged to herself the image of warmth that would pass between them, the shared wonder of knowing that together they had created new life.

Now he was here and she was telling him what she had been unable to tell any other living soul. Yet somehow it was almost an anti-climax, as everything seemed since the overwhelming moment when she had seen him at the Star Ferry Terminal. For the first time since she had realised she was pregnant, the baby assumed a merely supporting role. Brit was here and Brit was the lead player.

He was standing silently looking at her, not silent as he usually was – because he had no time for foolish small talk – but for once in his life totally overawed.

‘Mine?' he said at last. ‘Are you sure?'

‘As sure as I can be. No – one hundred per cent certain. I
know
it's yours, Brit.'

He half turned away. ‘And Gordon? What does Gordon say about it?'

‘Not a lot. I don't want to talk about Gordon.'

He looked at her sharply. ‘Where is he?'

‘I don't know. Oh, he hasn't left me if that's what you mean. He's in the Volunteer Defence Corps. He took us to the Peninsula Hotel for safety and said he would come back for us. But he didn't and I don't know why.'

Brit brought his fist crashing hard against his side.

‘God damn him for keeping you here! But for his stubbornness you would be safe in Australia now.'

‘He was jealous, Brit; you can't really blame him,' she said, surprised to find herself defending Gordon. ‘And he has been trying to get me to go to Singapore. The night before all this began, he took me to dinner with Hugh de Gama and the two of them talked me into going on his yacht to stay with friends there.'

‘Well, it's a little late for that now,' Brit said roughly. ‘Singapore was attacked on the same day as we were.'

Her eyes widened. ‘But I thought Singapore was a fortress city?'

‘And I always said it was vulnerable from the air. Those guns pointing out to sea are a hundred years out of date.'

‘Then you think Singapore …'

‘I think it will fall, yes. Not as quickly as Hong Kong – that will come down like a ripe plum. But fail it will. And it's not only Singapore and Hong Kong, of course. The whole of Malaysia is under attack. And the Americans are in the war now.'

‘The Americans?'

‘The Japs bombed their base at Pearl Harbor. I don't know how many lives and ships were lost, but at a guess I should say a hell of a lot. Pearl Harbor was always a sitting target.'

‘Pearl Harbor!' Elise repeated, stunned. It seemed that the little yellow men were suddenly everywhere. Not so long ago, ordinary people had laughed at them, scoffed, joked about their size, their eyesight, their lack of intelligence. How many were laughing now?

‘We have to get you out.' Brit was pacing the room. ‘When is the baby due?'

‘Another week, but I think it may come sooner.'

He swore.
Don't panic me
! She wanted to say.
You're always so calm that if I see you worried then I know we are in real trouble
.

‘The Philippines!' His voice was soft, almost as if he were talking to himself. ‘Manila's been attacked too, I believe, but there is a strong US presence there. Uncle Sam doesn't keep his bases short of anything. And it's only about two days' sailing away. There's just a chance …'

She went cold. ‘What are you talking about?'

‘If I could get you to the Philippines I think the US Air Force would fly you out when they evacuate their own people – if there's anyone left, that is.'

‘But how would we get there?'

‘By yacht.'

‘Across the sea?' her voice was rising. She had had enough of sea voyages and all their dangers to last a lifetime. Now, with the air full of Jap planes and their fleet probably pushing confidently ahead, he was talking blithely of sailing to the Philippines by yacht. ‘You must be crazy, Brit! We would never make it!'

‘There is a chance that you would. A chance you have to take!'

‘And supposing we didn't …' She was trembling now. ‘Surely we are safer here?'

‘Elise!' He caught at her arms, pulling her round and holding her so that their eyes met. ‘Listen to me. Hong Kong is going to fall to the Japs – very, very soon. And when it does, there will be hell to pay for anyone who is still here. This is not a war game, with both sides obeying the rules as if it were some deadly cricket match. The Japs are not the English. They have a streak of cruelty in them which has to be seen to be believed. When they take Hong Kong, those who are not killed in the fighting will be taken prisoner and kept in the most appalling conditions. I
know
. I've spent the last nine months in China …'

‘I knew it!' she said. ‘Oh Brit, I was so worried about you!'

‘Never mind about me now,' he said roughly. ‘ I had a job to do and I did it to the best of my ability. I don't think it was enough, but I was lucky to get away with my life – and back to Hong Kong in time to take care of you. Which is what I propose to do if you will just shut up and listen to me.'