The '44 Vintage

head back at the Frenchman. 'What sort of perimeter defences has it got?'

'Barbed wire, two fences. With mines in between.'

'That won't stop him. It didn't stop us on Easy Red at Omaha, Doc —and the krauts were throwing all kinds of shit at us. So it sure as hell won't stop him breaking in.'

'But he has no need to. He waits only for the Germans to leave, Sergeant. You worry about him, but he does not worry about you—he thinks you are dead, is that not so?'

'Okay. So we're dead—?'

'Therefore he waits for the Germans to leave, and they can only leave by the main entrance—it is the only way open to vehicles. So it is there that he will be watching, to see them go, so that he may bring his own vehicles in at the same point. De Courcy nodded in agreement with himself. 'But we—we will be watching at the West Lodge. Because the Germans have a guard-post there—it is from there that they watch the river and patrol the perimeter wire through the wood. That will be our point of entry.'

The frown was becoming a fixture on the American's face. 'Now you're really losing me, Doc. If the krauts weren't on the alert I might just get us through the wire and the mines—I got enough practice for that on Omaha. But if there's a guard-post there how's that going to get us to the chateau ahead of the major?'

'But very simply, Sergeant!' De Courcy sat back on the bunk. 'The last thing the Germans will do before they leave—the very last thing—will be to withdraw their guards from the perimeter. That will be our signal to enter.' He lifted his hands expressively. “Then as they leave by the front entrance, we will move in behind them before the major enters.'

There was still doubt in Winston's eyes as he shifted their attention to Audley. 'What d'you think, Lieutenant?'

'It sounds . . . logical,' said Audley. 'If they really are evacuating the chateau completely.'

'There is no doubt about that,' cut in De Courcy confidently. 'It is not simply that they have said as much. For two days now they have been burning their documents—that is the surest sign of all.'

'Just so long as they don't leave a rear guard,' said Winston, looking round the ambulance. 'We don't have the muscle to fight the real war.'

Price, Anthony - [David Audley 08] - The '44 Vintage

De Courcy shook his head. 'They will use all their men for the escort—with things as they are, they are too nervous to do anything else, believe me. They are not looking for trouble any more.'

That was an echo from the past, Butler recalled bitterly—an echo of what the major himself had said on the evening he had joined Chandos Force. And in that at least the major had spoken the complete truth: it had never been the Germans who had threatened the success of the operation; they had made all their own trouble, one way or another.

'Okay. So what then?' Sergeant Winston conceded the point grudgingly. 'We get to the chateau maybe a couple of minutes ahead of the major—like firstest with the fewest. So what then?'

De Courcy looked at Audley quickly. 'Then ... it is the major you want. One clear shot tout simplement.'

Audley swallowed tout simplement like a spoonful of liquid paraffin. 'Yes.'

'Then this way you will have your best chance of it. He will come up the driveway from the main gate—

an avenue of trees of perhaps six hundred metres . . . then there is the old donjon— how d'you say?' De Courcy searched for the translation.

'The keep,' said Audley. 'You mean a tower, like at Chenonceaux?'

'A tower—yes. It was the original fortification beside the bridge over the river. But now it is a ruin, an emptiness. Merely the walls stand.'

'It was all a ruin in the old days, pretty much, wasn't it?' said Audley.

'Until the Englishman came, yes. He rebuilt the chateau, and they were working on the bridge—they completed that just in time for the Germans. But the donjon is still unrepaired . . . But no matter! Beside it is the bridge, and beyond the bridge on the other side of the river lies the chateau.' De Courcy lifted a finger. 'So . . . the major must cross the bridge—and the open space in front of the chateau too. And on the bridge there is no cover.' He paused. ' And all you want is one clear shot.'

For a second no one spoke, then Winston turned to Audley. 'Lieutenant—?'

Tout simplement, thought Butler. It seemed too good—and too simple —to be true. It even had the priceless advantage of giving them a chance of escape afterwards, since one man with a gun could cover the bridge after the shot had been fired, discouraging pursuit.

'He'll send in a patrol first to check out the place,' said Winston. “To make sure all the krauts have gone.'

Price, Anthony - [David Audley 08] - The '44 Vintage

Audley nodded. 'So he will. But we can lie low ... or rather, we can lie high, up in the chateau . . .' He frowned with concentration. 'He'll send in a patrol. But if they report it's all clear, then he'll come in alone . . . with just the ones who are in on the plan.'

'That smiling sonofabitch sergeant, you mean?' Winston growled.

It would be two clear shots if the American was holding the gun. And maybe not just if he was, thought Butler vengefully.

'And the sergeant-major,' said Audley. 'I suppose there could be others too, but I can't think he's planning to split the loot too many ways.'

'Yeah. And the fewer there are in on the deal, the less chance there is of anyone ever realising what he's done, I guess,' Winston agreed. He grinned at Butler suddenly. 'What d'you think, Jack? You reckon you're good enough with that thing?' He pointed to the Sten on Butler's lap.

Butler drew a sharp breath. It hadn't occurred to him that he would be given the assassin's job, but he realised instantly that it made sense, however unwelcome the task. Whatever the defects of the Sten for the role, its rate of