Zygmunt, they called him. We managed to save him, hut there was his cousin that died.’
‘Klemens Wach,’ said Cooper.
‘Aye. Have you talked to old Zygmunt?’
‘Not yet.’
‘He won’t tell you much. No, not him. He wouldn’t tell you that, when we found him, he was holding on to his cousin like a mother holding a hahy. He won’t tell you that his cousin’s arm had been cut off at the shoulder, and that Zygmunt was trying to hold it on, with the blood spurting everywhere in the snow. His Hying suit was covered in it. When we found them, we thought for sure that we had two dead ones together, hut he was alive, just. It was his cousin’s blood that he was soaked in. You might get the impression that I think badly of McTeague. But imagine how old Zygmunt feels. And they say he’s never talked about it all these years. A thing like that eats at a man. He won’t have forgotten, or forgiven. Take my word for it — the one wish of his life would have been to find McTeapnc. It
o
stands to reason. I would have done the same, too.’
Cooper nodded. ‘Mr Rowland, has anybody else been to talk to you about this?’
‘Like who?’
‘I was thinking of a Canadian woman called Alison Morrissey.’
‘Ah,’ said Rowland.
‘Has she been?’
‘No, but there was a bloke called Baine. A journalist. He’s been here, and he mentioned the Canadian. He said she’s related to Pilot Officer McTeague.’
‘She’s his granddaughter.’
‘I don’t know what he thinks I might tell her,’ said Rowland. ‘I couldn’t tell her any more than I’ve told you. And I don’t suppose that’s what she wants to hear, is it?’
‘No, I don’t think it is.’
‘Well, then. I’m not going to lie to the woman. So what’s the point of her coming here? She won’t like what I have to tell her. I told that to Baine. And do you know what he said?’
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‘I can’t imagine.’
‘He said that perhaps my memory was faulty anyway. Can you credit that? Perhaps my memory was faulty. I didn’t reckon much to that. Did he mean he wanted me to lie?’
‘You can only remember what you saw and heard/ said Cooper.
Rowland watched him, his mouth moving silently in the automatic grimace of hahitual pain.
‘Do you think I should talk to her?’ he said. ‘Is that what you’re here for?’
‘It’s entirely up to you,’ said Cooper. ‘It has nothing to do with me at all.’
‘Aye?’
Rowland tried to rest his hands in his lap, but didn’t seem to find the position any more comfortable. He moved restlessly in his chair. He appeared to be saying it was almost time tor Cooper to ^o.
‘There must have been a lot of people up there after the crash,’ said Cooper. ‘Members of the mountain rescue tea, local police, RAF investigators …’
‘All of those. And the Home Guard,’ said Rowland. ‘You remember the Home Guard?’
‘Mr Rowland, I don’t remember any of it.’
‘Ave too vounp, aren’t you? Everybody’s too young these
V V O* . V, , O
days. The Home Guard were blokes who were too old or not
y
fit enough to join up. And there were some that were in the reserved occupations farmers and miners and such. It was Home Guard men who were set to watch over the wreck, but they were none too keen on their task.’
‘Would any of them still be around?’ said Cooper.
‘Nay, lon^ ^one. We’re goin$? back fifty-seven years, you know. There’s only a few of us left, the ones like me, that were only lads at the time. The rest arc pushing up daisies. There’s only me that remembers the crash, and the Pole, Zy^munt. And George Malkin.’
‘Do you know Malkin?’
‘Oh yes, 1 remember both the Malkin boys. They were kids back then lived on a farm the other side of Blackbrook
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Reservoir, just across the moor. I remember seeing them hanging about on Irontongue Hill we had to chase them away from the wreck a time or two. Their dad came and took them home eventually. Rut they were both that sort of lad - inquisitive, adventurous.’
‘An aircraft crash must have been quite an adventure if you were a child.’
‘Yes, the Malkin boys,’ said Rowland, ‘they used to get everywhere. Their dad had taught them to be independent, and it would never have occurred to them that they couldn’t look after themselves. It’s something the kids don’t learn these days, independence.’ Rowland shook his head. ‘If you ask me, they’re ruining a whole generation.’
