Free Darkest Hour by James Holland Page B

boots heavy on the tarmac as the men tramped up and down, wheeled
to the left, then halted almost as one. The sergeant admonished them for
slovenliness. A miserable, useless lot, they were.
    Tanner smiled to himself, momentarily distracted, only
for darker thoughts to return. He wondered whether the lieutenant would reach
Torwinski in time. Perhaps Barclay had already contacted the police. Perhaps. Tanner couldn't help believing that Torwinski
was still in grave danger, yet catching any would-be murderer was, he knew,
probably the only chance they would have of finding evidence that would nail
anyone for this crime. The flattened verge would probably have recovered
already. Neither Captain Barclay nor any of the other officers had shown much
appetite for Peploe's claims. And would the police be any more interested?
After all, who cared about a few Poles? If whoever had done this had any sense,
they'd keep clear of Torwinski and leave him be.
    Lying on his bed, Tanner smelled wafts of tobacco
smoke, felt a cool breeze drift across his face and realized, to his annoyance,
that he was awake. Opening his eyes, he saw Corporal Sykes standing in the
doorway, his slicked-back hair shining in the sun, his field cap tucked into
the epaulette of his battle-blouse. Between finger and thumb, he brought the
cigarette to his mouth, then noticed Tanner was watching him.
    'Oh, Sarge, you're awake.'
    'No thanks to you, Corporal.' Tanner sat up.
    'Sorry, Sarge. I was wondering whether or not I should
wake you. Only I've something to tell you.'
    'What? It'd better be good, that's all I can say.' He
glanced round at the others, all still fast asleep. McAllister was snoring
gently.
    Sykes motioned him outside. Tanner buttoned his
battle-blouse, grabbed his field cap, then stood up and stepped out of the hut.
A glance at his watch - a quarter to one - and a fumble in his breast pocket
for his cigarettes.
    'What is it, then, Stan?' he asked, putting a
cigarette between his lips.
    'I woke up about midday and knew I wouldn't get back
to sleep again so I got up and wandered around a bit. There's quite a lot of
activity going on 'ere all of a sudden. Some ack-ack guns 'ave turned up and
there's lorries going back and forth. I spoke to one bloke, and apparently a
couple of batteries are moving in.'
    'You haven't heard, then?'
    'Heard what?'
    'We're going to be out of here soon. Jerry's launched
his attack. We're on twelve hours' notice to shift it over to Belgium and join
the rest of the battalion.'
    'Bloody 'ell! Well, that explains it.' He wiped a hand
across his mouth. 'Frankly, Sarge, I’m glad. Don't like this place. Sooner
we're out of here the better, far as I'm concerned.'
    'I agree. Just wish we could leave a few people
behind, that's all. Anyway, you didn't wake me up to tell me a few guns've
arrived. At least you'd better not have done.'
    'No, no - course not. No, what I was going to say was
that I've seen the company quartermaster sergeant over by the stores. And guess
what?'
    'What?'
    "E's got a big limp.'
    'Has he now?' Tanner allowed himself a faint smile.
'Could have had it a while, though.'
    'That's just it, Sarge. He hasn't. At least, he didn't
have it yesterday cos I saw him and he was walking fine.'
    'Interesting, Stan. Very interesting.'
    'So, anyway, I was about to talk to him when the CSM
comes over and starts talking to me instead. Friendly as anything, he was,
asking me all about myself and handing out smokes. And all the while he was
steering me away from CQS Slater and those stores. Eventually he said,
"Well, you go and get some more rest while you've got the chance,"
and gave me a wink and a pat on the back. Said it very nice but I knew it was
an order, so I came back and had another smoke, wondering whether I should say
anything to you.'
    'That's just like Blackstone. He's the biggest two-
faced bastard I've ever known. Says one thing, means another.'
    'Yes, but what I wasn't sure about was whether he was
steering me away