Free The Sea Break by Antony Trew Page B

“Probably them. We’ll drive past slowly.”
    They passed the stationary car and the Newt and McFadden confirmed that it was the rest of the party. Widmark stopped and reversed, parking the Buick in front of the Studebaker so that both cars were clear of the roadway. They got out of the car and David Rohrbach and Johan le Roux came up to them. Hans le Roux and Mike Kent got out of Rohrbach’s car and there was some leg-pulling and laughter. They lifted the bonnet of the Studebaker and with a torch and some tools pretended to work on its engine. The others gathered round and for the next thirty minutes Rohrbach, Johan and the Newt gave the newcomers all the information they could. After questioning them Widmark seemed satisfied with what had been done.
    “We’ll have to work fast now,” he said. “It’s only three days to the no moon period. What’s the latest gen on the sailing of Clan McPhilly and Tactician ?”
    Hans hissed, “Car coming!” and they bent over the bonnet. The headlights of the passing car lit up the scene momentarily, then it was gone.
    The Newt lit a cigarette and went back to Widmark’s question. “Artur—the tugboat chap—reckons they’ll finish loading on the twenty-fourth.”
    “What’s the drill after that?”
    “They leave the loading berth and anchor in the stream until two or three of them are ready. Then they sail during the hours of darkness, sometimes joining up with a convoy outside or if they’re fast enough sailing independently.”
    “Which of the two are we going to use?” David Rohrbach asked.
    “Preferably the bigger ship, the Clan McPhilly. But I’m going to have a look at their captains before I decide.”
    Widmark was keenly interested when he heard that Rohrbach and Johan might be invited to a party on the Hagenfels. “Terrific!” he said, “but you’ll have to make it snappy. There isn’t much time left, David.”
    Rohrbach laughed dryly. “That’s what Mariotta said. They’re seeing Lindemann tonight. She’ll let us know at breakfast to-morrow, Steve.”
    “Don’t drop any bricks. Be careful if it’s on. But you may get some marvellous gen. Try and get the skipper and his chums plastered. See if they let on in any way about being ready for sea.” He lit a cigarette, the flare of the match revealing his dark intense face. “Mariotta’s remark may not mean much. You tell me she’s going back to her people in Northern Mozambique in a few days. That was probably what she meant by soon or not at all. ”
    “Maybe, Steve. But she looked as though she’d dropped a clanger.”
    Widmark stroked his chin. “The latest intelligence reports I saw in Cape Town were very vague. Rather played down what they’d said before. You know the sort of thing— Hagenfels may run for it or she may not. Take your choice.”
    “That’s precisely what we’re going to do,” said the Newt.
    “Yes, it is.” The way Widmark said it didn’t sound as though failure was one of the things he was worrying about.
    Ten minutes later the party broke up, the cars pulled away from the side of the road and turned and re-entered the main road, the Studebaker making for Peter’s, and the Buick going back up the road towards the Polana. When the two cars dropped their passengers in darkened streets in the Polana and Ponta Vermelha areas, the breeze from the sea had become an easterly wind, and stars shone through gaps in fast-moving clouds.
    Widmark parked his car and went into the hotel. It was late and the bar was empty but for two befuddled young men who drooled at each other in owl-like seriousness. He sat at the far end, refused the bartender’s attempts at conversation, anddrank two Coivoisseurs in fairly quick succession. Then, responding to their stimulation, he ordered a third and when it was finished gazed moodily at the empty glass, weighing the possibility of a fourth but deciding against it and for bed.
    The lift stopped at an upper floor, he said good night to