‘There was an officer, a captain called Peploe. Light ginger hair, round face, medium height. There was another man – a man all the others look up to. His name is Tanner. He has medals for bravery. He is tall, with dark hair and pale eyes.’
‘I know this man,’ said Balthasar. ‘It must be the same one. I’m sure of it.’
‘There was a sergeant called Sykes. Small – an explosives expert. And two others but he does not know their names. The explosives came from one of Pendlebury’s arms dumps. He had been bringing them to Heraklion before the invasion. They were moving them out again before the British evacuated. Most of it is in a cave in the mountains, but they blew up what was left in the town.’
Balthasar nodded. ‘That explains a great deal. And what about the sixth man?’
‘Captain Alex Vaughan. He worked with Pendlebury in Heraklion. Mandoukis knows this man. He is a soldier but with a unit called Middle East Commando.’
‘So how much in the way of supplies do they still have?’
‘He thinks a fair amount. They do not have much ammunition but plenty of explosives.’
‘And where are they being held?’
Mandoukis described the cave and how to get there. ‘It’s not far. An hour’s walk from Krousonas. He does not think there are any immediate plans for them to leave this base. There are other
Mandoukis was speaking again, jabbering rapidly.
‘For God’s sake,’ said Balthasar. ‘What is he saying now?’
‘The British soldiers are due to leave soon,’ the interpreter told him. ‘He says a British U-boat is coming.’
‘Where?’
‘It has not been decided exactly, but they are planning to use the monastery at Preveli. It is quite isolated down there, but there is a beach below the cliffs.’
‘And where is this place?’
‘On the south coast. A few kilometres east of Plakias and south-west of Spili.’
‘Spili? A command post is being set up there already. And when is this submarine due to come?’
‘He’s not certain. They were awaiting confirmation but hoping it would be soon, either Saturday or Sunday. The Tommies will travel to the monastery overnight, remain there for a day and leave the following night. That is the plan.’
‘That’s four days’ time.’ Balthasar clapped his hands together. ‘Good. This is all most useful.’ He stepped outside the tent. Dawn was spreading across the valley, the air alive with birdsong. He stretched. It was not only Alopex and his guerrillas who had been a thorn in his side, it was those damned Yorks Rangers too. But a plan was now formulating in his mind. A plan that would kill two birds with one stone. He smiled to himself. He would have his revenge yet.
At the cave, the mood had been tense that day, Tuesday, 3 June. No one was quite sure how much Mandoukis knew or, indeed, what he might have told the enemy. Among the Cretans there was wide-spread disappointment, anger and even incredulity that one of their people could betray them all.
‘You know how proud they are,’ Vaughan told Tanner. The captain was up and about, his arm in a sling. ‘They’re very nationalistic, fiercely independent. Cretans first, Greeks second, and slaves to no one. But now they’re waking up to the reality of the situation. Crete is occupied by the Germans. Old feuds will be reopened, men will be betrayed. Long-valued friendships will be tested and trust replaced by suspicion.’
‘It seemed so obvious to me,’ said Tanner, as they sat beneath one of the mountain oaks, the leaves offering them dappled shade. ‘Mandoukis, I mean. Even if there was only the faintest of suspicions, he should have been locked up somewhere.’
‘They didn’t want to believe it, though. It’s different for you. Until the other day you had never met Mandoukis. You could see the implications of his wife’s imprisonment and his freedom with an entirely pragmatic eye. You might have reacted the same way if this was England and one of your oldest friends was in Mandoukis’s position.’
‘Maybe you’re right, sir,’ Tanner conceded.
‘It’s taken a bit of the gloss off our venture the night before, though, hasn’t it?’
‘Yes.’ He picked up a small stone and threw it away. ‘These people are brave, but they’re not trained. Alopex and Satanas are good leaders, I’ll give you that, and men like Alopex are prepared to fight hard and dirty, but there will always be a limit to how much irregular troops can achieve. There’s a bit of ammunition now but it won’t last. How are these people to keep going? They can’t live in the mountains for ever.’
Vaughan smiled. ‘You sound just like Pendlebury. He had exactly the same concern. It’s what he kept trying to get across to our masters in Cairo and London.’
‘And these mountains,’ said Tanner. ‘It’s all right now. It’s summer and warm, and it’s only been a few days. But it’ll be a different kettle of fish when winter comes.’
‘There’ll be snow. I worry how they’ll survive. These men are loyal enough towards the
‘I’ve half a mind to try and stay here, you know. I like this place. I could help them.’
‘And there’s Alexis Kristannos too.’
‘Well, yes, there is.’
‘You’d find it very frustrating, Jack. And you really do need to speak the lingo, and have the patience of a saint. It would be one disappointment after another – supplies not arriving, headstrong Cretan guerrillas doing the opposite of what you tell them, shortages of everything. You’re a fine soldier, but the liaison officers here need different skills. Military prowess is almost the least of it.’
‘I’m sure you’re right, sir. And the ammunition will soon run out. Without it, we’d not be helping at all. We’d just be extra mouths to feed.’
‘We already are. We’ve done our bit – and you have especially, Jack – but most of your men have done nothing since they arrived. Cleaned weapons, slept, eaten the guerrillas’ food – and that’s been about it. Ten men who have done nothing but eat their food. That’s why we need to get off the island as quickly as possible. The best help we can be is to keep fighting the Germans – and at the moment, that means in North Africa. I also think they hope that if they help to return lots of our stranded soldiers, we’ll give them more arms and supplies.’
‘They need to keep us sweet, eh?’
‘I think they assume so.’
Tanner wiped his brow; even in the shade and high in the mountains, it was warm. ‘And when it’s all over,’ he said, ‘I wonder how many of them will still be alive. How many villages will have been razed.’ He shook his head. ‘It’s going to be tough for them, isn’t it?’
‘Yes.’
‘And all because our commanders keep making such bloody stupid mistakes.’ He flung a stick onto the ground. ‘When are we going to get someone who’s got a bit of fire, sir? That’s what I’d like to know.’
Soon after, Alexis found him. ‘Come with me,’ she said. ‘I want to show you something.’
Tanner followed as she led him up the spur above the cave. Climbing a goat track through the thick vetch, they had soon left the secluded encampment behind.
‘We are nearly there,’ she said, taking his hand in hers. Tanner’s heart quickened, not from the exertion of the climb but from the touch of her skin on his. At last, they crested a ridge and suddenly the mountain range was spread before them all the way to the coast. And there was Heraklion, not the bomb-damaged mass of rubble, but a patch of white, dazzlingly bright against the deep blue of the Aegean. The folds and ridges of the valleys below spread away from them, while beyond, hazy in the distance, was the next great chain of mountains.
‘It’s incredible,’ he said. ‘Yours is a truly beautiful island, Alexis.’
‘I can still believe it is a peaceful place when I’m up here,’ she said. She turned him around so that they were looking at the highest peak of the entire chain. ‘And that is Mount Ida. The birthplace of Zeus.’
Tanner followed her gaze, then clasped her shoulders, bent down and kissed her. ‘I’ve been wanting to do that since the moment I first saw you,’ he said.
‘I wanted you to.’ She laughed, then placed her arms around his neck and pressed herself into him.
‘What will you do?’ he asked.
