Free Capital Union, A by Victoria Hendry

walking round the garden as if they owned it, and piling out the door with boxes of I don’t know what. Jeff’s mother would have taken a turn, but, of course, she would never have let them get away with it. She was a great guide to Jeff after his father died.’ She mopped her brow with her handkerchief. ‘You are very young. One must make allowances. Not an established woman.’
    I stood up to leave, but she reached out for my arm.
    ‘Don’t leave yet,’ she whispered.
    ‘I need to sort things out at home,’ I said. ‘Chap on the door if you don’t feel any better. Jeff could telephone the doctor for you.’
    ‘I don’t want to be alone,’ she mumbled. ‘I’m scared.’
    ‘But your colour is better now. Let’s get you tucked up in bed and I am sure you will be as right as rain.’
    ‘It’s not that. The police might come back.’
    ‘Well, they won’t bother you. They said they would return Jeff’s things in a few days. He hasn’t done anything wrong.’
    ‘If he is one of those objector chaps like Grant, he’ll bring them back at the drop of a hat, running all over the place, willy-nilly, scaring decent folk.’
    ‘You’ve nothing to worry about, Mrs MacDougall.’
    ‘But you see, dear, I do.’
    ‘Don’t tell me you are a Party member, too?’ I was trying to cheer her up, bring back her fighting spirit.
    ‘Most certainly not. My Struan fought for the British Empire in the last war. I still have his medals. He was proud of the Union. Look what it was like before: Highlanders jumping about the heather, bashing men in red coats. Uncouth and unshaven, the lot of them, and the women left to feed hungry bairns on thin air.’
    She looked a bit stronger and waved at Mr MacDougall’s framed medals on the mantelpiece. The clock beside them chimed and to my surprise a cuckoo popped out. ‘A gift from Schramml, that old fool. That is exactly the problem. The very nub of the matter.’
    ‘What is the problem?’ I asked.
    ‘Ask me no questions and I’ll tell you no lies. You would be the first to admit that we haven’t exactly seen eye-to-eye, although one has a duty to maintain friendly relations with one’s neighbours, while being careful not to live out of each other’s pockets. Especially,’ she added, ‘in times like these.’
    ‘With the Germans coming?’ I asked.
    She paused and looked towards the door. ‘What if they’re already here?’
    ‘I don’t think you need to worry about that. The Home Guard would be firing real bullets from their pill boxes, not crawling round the streets making eyes at housewives.’
    ‘Oh, for heaven’s sake, I need your help, Agnes. I have most unexpectedly got myself into a spot of bother, and it’s a cross I can’t bear alone.’ She blew her nose. ‘I want you to promise me that you won’t betray my trust, even if you don’t agree with what I am about to show you.’
    I was so curious that I promised. ‘Cross my heart and hope to die,’ I said.
    ‘It’s not a game,’ she said. ‘Swear on the Bible,’ and she made me take it down from her mantelpiece and place my hand on it. Small pieces of paper were sticking out from various pages. ‘Swear,’ she said. ‘May you be struck dumb if you ever betray the trust I am about to place in you.’
    ‘I swear.’
    I thought perhaps Mrs MacDougall was losing her marbles , but her eyes were very earnest. She looked afraid, like the sheep at market. ‘Don’t keep me in suspense any longer, Mrs MacDougall. I’m on tenterhooks.’
    She took my arm and we went upstairs to Professor Schramml’s flat, pausing to listen for anyone approaching before opening the door. ‘Can’t be too careful,’ she said.
    There was a sweet, sickly smell in the hall, which was in darkness. All the doors were closed. A little light from the stained glass above the front door fell in fragments of colour on the polished lino. She put her fingers to her lips and picked up a broom, which was propped against the wall.