For the Good of the State

access from the road down the bottom—quick getaway. The bugger must be kicking himself now, missing at that range, whether he’s still there or not—eh?’ He watched Tom. ‘But how long do we wait for him to get cold feet?

Until I get rheumatism?’

‘No.’ At that range the man shouldn’t have missed, thought Tom.

But he certainly wouldn’t miss twice, if he got a clear shot.

A clear shot! he thought suddenly, staring upwards.

‘No,’ he murmured, twisting himself off his hip on to all fours.

‘So what—’ Audley’s mouth opened as Tom raised his head above the parapet ‘—for God’s sake, man! Get down!’

Tom studied the view gratefully. If there was a hedge at the bottom of the garden he couldn’t see it, never mind the hillside beyond.

What had deceived him had been Faith Audley’s estimation of the direction of the wind: it wasn’t blowing directly towards the house, but more diagonally, so that they were only on the edge of the thick clouds of smoke which were now billowing from the orchard across the lawn.

He got to his feet. ‘Your wife said you were good with bonfires.’

He grinned happily down at the big man. ‘I can see that she was right.’

Audley stared at him for a moment, then raised himself quickly.

Price, Anthony - For the Good of the State

‘Ouch!’ He rubbed his hip fiercely. ‘Damned old bones!’ Then he considered his handiwork. ‘Ye-ess… I’d forgotten about that.’ He nodded at Tom. “That’ll be the damp stuff on the top catching—

smoke… The trick is to get the driest material underneath, with an access for air to windward—that makes for a hot heart, and then you can burn anything if you’ve graded it properly. But you must get the ash straight on the flower beds, when it’s properly cooled, and before it has a chance to rain—it’s useless once it’s been rained on, you know.‘ He climbed stiffly to his feet, to tower over Tom.

‘Is that so?’ said Tom politely.

‘Yes. The rain washes out the potash.’ Then Audley gestured towards the archway. ‘Do you think it might be advisable to run like hell now, while we can? Before I exhibit unbecoming twitches of fear—?’ He started to move before Tom could reply. ‘In fact, I think I’ll lead the way, just in case you’ve forgotten it.’

Tom followed him back into the kitchen passage, and watched him lock the back door and shoot a massive iron bolt.

‘There now!’ Audley turned to him. ‘I observe that you are unarmed. But I take it that you have your armament in your car?’

‘As a matter of fact… no, Dr Audley.’

‘What?’ Audley started to move again. ‘But I thought you fellows were all armed to the teeth—’ He flung the words over his shoulder ‘—apart from which, I had the impression that you said that you had come to babysit me—?’

‘Yes—’ Tom had to trot to keep up with him as they reached the Price, Anthony - For the Good of the State kitchen ‘—but we weren’t expecting—’

‘Not expecting?’ Audley cut him off as he prised a 12-bore shotgun off two wooden pegs on the wall above the fireplace.

‘Now where the hell are the cartridges—?’ He frowned around the enormous kitchen.

‘They’re on the table,’ said Tom, pointing.

‘Ah!’ Audley broke the 12-bore and loaded it. ‘That comes of having a good wife, by God! Not that she isn’t going to give me hell for this!’ He snapped the gun together. ‘Not expecting? I thought that was what girls say, whose mothers didn’t teach them the facts of life, Sir Thomas Arkenshaw.’ He thrust the gun into Tom’s hands. ‘Here—you take it—you’re the ruddy expert! And your reflexes are evidently better than mine. And so they should be.’ He waited while Tom examined the weapon. ‘Do you think he’ll have another try?’

It was no good saying that he didn’t know, so Tom shrugged. ‘I wouldn’t have thought so. But if he’s stupid enough to miss, then perhaps he’s stupid enough to try.’ But first things first. ‘I don’t want to wait for him on the ground floor, anyway.’ He looked around. ‘And… where’s your wife—and your daughter?’

‘You don’t need to worry about them.’

‘I’ll be the judge of what I’ll worry about, Dr Audley. Where are they?’

“They’re safe. That’s all you need to know.‘ Audley made an obstinate face. ’This is an old house. It’s got nooks and crannies in it that it would take you hours to find. You let me worry about their Price, Anthony - For the Good of the State safety, Tom Arkenshaw—you just worry about me. Because that’s who I’m worried for.‘

So that was what ‘Limejuice’ had signified— Take cover!— thought Tom. And that was why Audley had relaxed once the family codeword had been transmitted, and his family was safe. ‘Very well, Dr Audley. Then I want to get you one floor up. And I want some back-up before I get you away from here. So I need to make a phone-call.’

Audley shook his head. ‘You don’t need to worry about that, either. Faith will have made that call. That’s the first half of Limejuice—she knows what to do.’ He pointed towards the door through which they had first entered the kitchen. ‘I’ll lead the way

—’

‘No.’ Tom pushed past him. ‘Which way at the top of the stairs?’