it-where could they-all have disappeared to?
Dunkirk, he thought sickly. The Small Vessels Pool was here while I was gone. But it couldn’t have been. The Lady Jane was still here. Commander Harold would have been the first to volunteer, and they couldn’t possibly have gotten their boats ready so fast. There had to be some other explanation. He sprinted down the quay to the Lady Jane. “Commander Harold!” he called. “Where’s everyone gone?”
No answer. He ran aboard, called down the hatch, and when there was still no answer, climbed down the ladder to see if the Commander was down in the hold.
Maybe he missed it like I did, Mike thought, but the Commander wasn’t asleep in his bunk. He must be at his granddaughter’s.
Mike ran over to the Crown and Anchor to ask Daphne where that was. The door to the inn was open, and next to it a bicycle was leaning against the wall. Mike went in. And nearly collided with the Commander, who was on the phone. “Put me through to the officer in charge of the Small Vessels Pool! The one who was in Saltram-on- Sea this afternoon!” he was bellowing into it. “Then put me through to the Admiralty! In London!” He spied Mike. “Incompetents, the lot of them! And they’re in charge of saying what’s seaworthy and what’s not!”
The Small Vessels Pool turned him down, Mike thought. That’s why he and the Lady Jane are still here.
“Said they need our boats for a special mission,” the Commander bellowed. “Special mission! The French have botched it, and they need us to go get our boys off before Hitler shows up. Say they need every boat they can get, and then tell me the Lady Jane’s not seaworthy!”
Well, seaworthy or not, it was the only boat left in town. He was going to have to get the Commander to take him to Dover in it. “Commander-” Mike began, but the old man went right on.
“Not seaworthy, and then they take the Sea Sprite and the Emily B! The Emily B!” he thundered. “With a bad rudder and a captain who couldn’t steer his way to the counter for a pint. And then, when I volunteered to pilot one of their convoys for ’em, told me I was too old! Too old? What do you mean, there’s no one at the Admiralty?” he bellowed into the telephone. “Don’t they know there’s a war on?”
“Commander-”
He waved Mike away. “Well, then let me speak to the undersecretary! What about? About the war you’re losing!” He slammed the earpiece into the cradle. “Incompetent fool! I’ll have to go the Admiralty myself!”
“Go?” Mike said, but the Commander had already stormed out the door past him.
“Commander, wait!” Mike called, starting after him. “I need you to-”
“You’re back,” Daphne said, blocking his way. “Was Mr. Powney at home?”
“No… I need to-” he said, trying to get around her.
“You missed all the excitement,” Daphne said. “An officer from the Small Vessels Pool was here-”
“I know-hang on, I’ve got to catch the Comnmander.” Mike pushed past her and outside, but the Commander, on the bicycle, was halfway down the street.
“Commander!” Mike shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth, and took off after him, but he was pedaling right past the quay. What the hell was he doing? You can’t ride that bicycle all the way to London. It would take him a week, and besides, he was heading the wrong way. No wonder the Small Vessels Pool wouldn’t let him lead a convoy. And now what? he thought, watching the Commander pedal out of sight, and then turning back toward the pub.
“Wasn’t Mr. Powney home?” Daphne asked, coming to meet him.
“No.”
“I can’t imagine what’s keeping him.” She linked her arm in his. “You must be worn out, walking all that way.” She led him back into the inn. “Come into the pub room, and I’ll make you a nice cup of tea. The officer was a Navy lieutenant, and a very handsome one, though not nearly so handsome as you,” she said, glancing flirtatiously over her shoulder at Mike as she put the kettle on. “He said, ‘I need every craft that can float to go to Dover straightaway.’”
She prattled on about how the men had grabbed their gear, loaded their boats, reassembled the Sea Sprite’s engine, and set sail in less than two hours. And I missed it, Mike thought. Like I missed the bus-
Was that the sound of a car? Mike jumped up and ran for the door, Daphne right behind him, in time to see a battered roadster go roaring by with the Commander at the wheel, both hands clenching it and his eyes fixed firmly on the road, looking neither to right nor left. “Wait!” Mike shouted and ran out into the street, waving both arms to signal him to stop, but he roared off, heading north, in a cloud of white dust, and out of sight.
Mike turned furiously to Daphne. “You told me there was no one else in town with a car!”
“I forgot about the Commander’s old roadster.”
Obviously.
“He hasn’t driven it since the war started. Where do you suppose he’s going?”
To London, Mike thought. And then, when he can’t find anyone at the Admiralty, to Dover. Where I have been trying to get since five this morning.
“I am sorry,” Daphne said. “He said he was going to put it up on blocks. But it’s just as well. He’s a dreadful driver. You’re much better off going with Mr. Powney. Are you very angry with me?” she said, pouting prettily.
“Angry” isn’t the word, he thought. “Is there anyone else here with a car you’ve forgotten about? Or a motorcycle. Anything. I have to get to Dover today.”
“No, no one else. But I’m certain Mr. Powney will be home before tonight. The Home Guard meets on Wednesday nights, and he never misses.”
And he doesn’t like to drive in the blackout, which means the soonest he’ll be willing to take me is tomorrow morning, and it’ll take all morning to get there. The evacuation would be half over.
He couldn’t afford to waste any more time here. He’d already missed three days of the evacuation he could never get back. I’m going to have to go back through to Oxford to make Badri find me a drop site closer to Dover.
“Don’t be angry,” Daphne was saying. “I’ll fry you a nice piece of cod for your tea, and Mr. Powney will be here by the time you’ve eaten it.”
“No, I’ve got to go.” He stood up. “I have to file my story with my paper in London.”
“But your tea’s nearly ready. Surely you’ve time-”
Time’s just what I don’t have, he thought. “No, I’ve got to get it in the afternoon edition,” he said and walked quickly out of the pub, out of the village, and up the hill, anxious to get to the drop before it got dark. The shimmer would be less visible in the daytime. Whichever boat had been offshore last night and prevented the drop from opening was halfway to Dover by now, but he wasn’t taking any chances. And the earlier he left 1940, the earlier Badri could set the new drop for.
I won’t care if it takes Badri a month to find me a new drop site, he thought, trudging up the hill. It’ll give me a chance to catch up on all the sleep I’ve lost. Or get over his time-lag. Whichever it was, he could barely make it up the hill. Thank God he was nearly to the top. I hope I don’t fall asleep waiting for the drop to open and miss it-
A half dozen children stood on the edge of the cliff, right above the path down to the beach, talking excitedly and pointing out at the Channel. He looked where they were pointing. A smoky pall covered the horizon, and several black columns rose from it. The fires of Dunkirk.
Christ, what next? Maybe I can bribe them to go away, he thought, and started over to them, but they were already scrambling down the path. “Wait!” Mike called, but it was no use. There were more children down on the beach, and several men. One of them had a pair of binoculars, and two of the kids were standing on Mike’s rock for a better view.
They’d be there till sundown, and if the fires themselves were visible from here, half the night. And in the meantime, what the hell am I supposed to do? he thought. Just stand here and watch my chance at observing the evacuation go up in smoke? Boats full of rescued soldiers were already pulling into Dover.
He turned angrily and started back down to the village. There had to be some other way to get to Dover. The Lady Jane was still here. Maybe Jonathan could pilot it. Or I could. He could follow the coast. And end up on the rocks. Or at the bottom of the Channel, he thought, remembering the water in the hold, but he went out to the quay anyway. Jonathan might know somebody who had a motorbike. Or a horse.
But Jonathan wasn’t on board. “Ahoy! Jonathan!” Mike called down the hatch. “Are you down there?”
No answer. Mike climbed down the ladder, stopping just above the water, which had gotten deeper since this morning. It was nearly up to the bottom rung. “Jonathan?”
