Darkest Hour

Hands were raised, and Blackstone smiled. 'Good,' he said. 'We leave in five minutes.'

'Hold on a mo', Sergeant-Major,' said Sykes, as he and McAllister entered the room. 'I know my section would rather wait here until Lieutenant Peploe comes round.'

'But there's an ambulance,' said Blackstone. 'Sergeant Greenstreet can take care of him.'

'We'd still rather stay here. It sounded to me like you were givin' us a choice a moment ago. What's more, there's also Sergeant Tanner,' Sykes continued. Another ripple of murmuring from the men. 'You see, that pond's not very deep and we've trawled it pretty carefully and found nothing. That makes me think that the sarge and the nurse got out.' The room had gone quiet now as the men listened to him. 'There's no way I could let my men leave this place until we've found both of 'em, and I'd like to think Rosso and Coop would feel much the same way.'

Cooper and Ross nodded.

'If they're still alive why aren't they here?' said Blackstone.

'Perhaps they're fearful for their safety, Sergeant- Major,' Sykes replied.

'That's ridiculous. Why on earth should Tanner feel that?'

'Maybe because he's been nearly burned to death, shot in the side, and falsely accused of rape. I'd have thought that's reason enough.' There was an audibly sharp intake of breath from the others.

Blackstone cursed to himself. He was losing them. Damn Sykes to hell. They'd taken care of Peploe and Tanner but overlooked the third man in the trio. Careless, very careless. And now the Cockney runt was on the point of ruining everything. 'And you think I was responsible for all that?' Blackstone said, hoping his feigned incredulity was convincing. 'Don't make me laugh.' He jabbed a finger at Sykes. 'Corporal, you're talking out of turn.'

'What I'd like to know,' said McAllister, suddenly speaking up, 'is where Madame Michaud is?'

'The farmer's wife?' said Blackstone. Panic now coursed through him. He glanced at Slater - help me out here.

'The farmer killed her, then attacked the nurse,' said Slater.

'You know what?' said McAllister. 'I reckon that's a load of old bollocks. I reckon the whole story's bollocks.'

'You - be quiet!' said Blackstone.

'No, I won't,' said McAllister. 'Why would a gentle old farmer suddenly do his wife in and cosh an officer when he's surrounded by that officer's troops? It don't bloody well make sense.' The men were all talking now. Blackstone had his hands in the air trying to silence them when a shot rang out. The effect was immediate. All the men stopped talking and stared at Slater, who held a revolver pointed at the wooden floor.

'Listen, all of you,' said Slater, and Sykes noticed that several men from Company Headquarters had positioned themselves by the door, fully armed. One held a Bren at his waist. 'We're leaving now. All those coming with us, move to the door. The rest stay where you are. I'm going to count to three. One.'

Half a dozen men from 11 Platoon stepped forward, but the rest, including all of Peploe's platoon, remained where they were.

'What are you going to do now?' said Sykes. 'Shoot us like you did those Jerries?'

'Shut up!' said Blackstone, then said to Slater, 'Don't even think of it, Ted. We'll put them in the cellar.' He wondered for a moment whether Slater might ignore him and shoot them all anyway. Christ alive, he thought, and his stomach lurched. It was one thing killing Nazis, but to slaughter men on your own side - men you'd lived alongside for the past couple of months? That was a step too far.

'If you insist,' said Slater, pushing past him. 'Right,' he said, waving his Webley, 'those of you with weapons, drop them on the floor and get into single file.' He shoved several men forward.

The entrance to the cellar was in the kitchen across the hall from the drawing room and the men, most of whom were stupefied by the turn of events, were led there at gunpoint, then shoved through the door. Ten feet below, at the bottom of a flight of stone steps, there was a large, cold, musty cave, its vaulted bays partially stacked with wine. 'There,' said Slater, as he followed them. 'Have a drink on us.' He grabbed a couple of bottles. Then, satisfied that the men were all there, he walked backwards up the stone steps and shut the door.

'How can you do this?' protested a corporal from 11 Platoon.

'More easily than you'd think,' said Slater, and closed the door.

From the cellar, the only light the men could see came from the outline of the door. In silence, they heard a padlock click shut across it. Then there was a heavy scraping sound as furniture was moved in front of it. Finally, the lights went out, and a minute later, they dimly heard the ambulance being driven away.

Tanner heard the ambulance leaving, too, opened his eyes and wondered where the hell he was. Lying on straw with a pounding head and, he realized, someone close to him with their arms round him. He jolted into full consciousness.

'You're awake,' said a voice.

The nurse. 'Where am I?'

'In one of the stables.' She unfolded herself from him and Tanner felt a wave of cold as her warm body moved away from his. 'I'm sorry for the intimacy, but you were wet and cold. I didn't want you to get hypothermia. How's your head?'

'Sore.' He propped himself up on his elbows. 'What happened?'

'One of your men tried to rape me,' she said, her voice catching. 'I got away and jumped from a window into the pond. I saw you looking for me but you were hit from behind and pushed out.'

'Slater hit me with his pistol. Knocked me out.'

'I saw you fall and pulled you out - only just in time. One of them - the man who killed Monsieur Michaud - he came looking for us with some other men. They had torches, so I dragged you behind this barn. There was a strut