Parker nodded and turned away, his low urgent tones cutting through the babble of voices.
'Right. Take up these stretchers. Move back, all of you, to the other side of the road ? and keep quiet. Keep very quiet, if you ever want to see home again. Corporal Fraser?'
'Sir?'
'You and your men ? do you wish to come with us? If we go aboard that ship it's highly probably that we'll be sunk within twelve hours. I must make that clear.'
'I understand, sir.'
'And you'll come, then?'
'Yes, sir.'
'Have you asked the others?'
'No, sir.' The corporal's injured tone left no doubt about his contempt for such ridiculously democratic procedures in the modern army, and Farnholme grinned in the darkness. 'They'll come too, sir.'
'Very well. On your head be it. Miss Drachmann?'
'I'll come, sir,' she said quietly. She lifted her left hand to her face in a strange gesture. 'Of course I'll come.'
'And the others?'
'We've discussed it.' She indicated the young Malayan girl by her side. 'Lena here wants to go too. The other three don't care much, sir, one way or another. Shock, sir ? a shell hit our lorry tonight. Better if they come, I think.'
Parker made to answer, but Farnholme gestured him to silence, took the torch from the sergeant and advanced to the edge of the dock. The boat could be seen now, less than a hundred yards away, vaguely silhouetted by the distant beam of the torch. Even as Farnholme peered through the heavy rain, he could see the flurry of white foam as someone in the sternsheets gave an order and the oars dug into the sea, back-watering strongly until the boat came to a stop and lay silently, without moving, a half-seen blur in the darkness.
'Ahoy, there!' Farnholme called. 'The Kerry Dancer!'
'Yes.' The deep voice carried clearly through the falling rain. 'Who's there?'
'Farnholme, of course.' He could hear the man in the sternsheets giving an order, could see the rowers starting to pull strongly again. 'Van Effen?'
'Yes, Van Effen.'
'Good man!' There was no questioning the genuineness of the warmth in Farnholme's voice. 'Never been so glad to see anyone in all my life. What happened?' The boat was only twenty feet away now, and they could talk in normal tones.
'Not much.' The Dutchman spoke perfect, colloquial English, with a scarcely discoverable trace of accent. 'Our worthy captain changed his mind about waiting for you, and had actually got under way before I persuaded him to change his mind.'
'But ? but how do you know the Kerry Dancer won't sail before you get back? Good God, Van Effen, you should have sent someone else. You can't trust that devil an inch.'
'I know.' Hand steady on the tiller, Van Effen was edging in towards the stonework. 'If she sails, she sails without her master. He's sitting in the bottom of the boat here, hands tied and with my gun in his back. Captain Siran is not very happy, I think.'
Farnholme peered down along the beam of the torch. It was impossible to tell whether Captain Siran was happy or not, but it was undoubtedly Captain Siran. His smooth, brown face was as expressionless as ever.
'And just to make certain,' Van Effen continued, 'I've got the two engineers tied in Miss Plenderleith's room ? tied hand and foot by myself, I may say. They won't get away. The door's locked, and Miss Plenderleith's in there with them, with a gun in her hand. She's never fired a gun in her life, but she's perfectly willing to try, she says. She's a wonderful old lady, Farnholme.'
'You think of everything,' Farnholme said admiringly. 'If only???'
'All right, that'll do! Stand aside, Farnholme.' Parker was by his side, a powerful torch shining down on to the upturned faces below. 'Don't be a bloody fool!' he said sharply, as Van Effen made to bring up his pistol. 'Put that thing away ? there's a dozen machine-guns and rifles lined up on you.'
Slowly Van Effen lowered his gun and looked up bleakly at Farnholme.
'That was beautifully done, Farnholme,' he said slowly. 'Captain Siran here would have been proud to claim such a masterpiece of treachery.'
'It wasn't treachery,' Farnholme protested. 'They're British troops, our friends, but I'd no option. I can explain???'
'Shut up!' Parker cut in brusquely. 'You can do all your explaining later.' He looked down at Van Effen. 'We're coming with you, whether you like it or not. That's a motor lifeboat you have there. Why were you using your oars?'
'For silence. Obviously. Much good it did us,' Van Effen added bitterly.
'Start the motor,' Parker ordered.
'I'll be damned if I will!'
'Perhaps. You'll probably be dead if you don't,' Parker said coldly. 'You look an intelligent man, Van Effen. You've got eyes and ears and should realise we're desperate men. What's to be gained by childish obstinacy at this stage?'
Van Effen looked at him for a long moment in silence, nodded, jammed his gun hard into Siran's ribs and gave an order. Within a minute the engine had come to life and was putt-putting evenly away as the first of the wounded soldiers was lowered on to the thwarts. Within half an hour the last of the men and women who had been standing on the dockside were safely aboard the Kerry Dancer. It had taken two trips, but short ones: Corporal Fraser had been about right in his estimate of distance, and the ship was anchored just outside the three-fathom shoal line of the Pagar Spit.
The Kerry Dancer got under way just before half-past two in the morning, the last ship out of the city of Singapore before she fell into the hands of the Japanese later on that same day of 15th February, 1942. The wind had dropped away now, the rain fined to a gentle drizzle and a brooding hush lay over the darkened city as it faded swiftly into the gloom of the night. There were no fires to be seen now, no lights at all, and even the crackle of desultory gunfire had died away completely. Everything was unnaturally, uncannily silent, silent as death itself, but the storm would break when the first light of day touched the rooftops of Singapore.
Farnholme was in the bleak, damp aftercastle of the Kerry Dancer, helping two of the nurses and Miss Plenderleith to attend to the bandaging and care of the wounded soldiers, when a knock came to the door ? the only door, the one that led out into the deep after well. He switched out the light, stepped outside and closed the door carefully behind him. He turned to look at the shadowy figure standing in the gloom.
'Lieutenant Parker?'
'Yes.' Parker gestured in the darkness. 'Perhaps we'd better go up on the poop-deck here ? we can't be overheard there.'
Together they climbed the iron ladder and walked right aft to the taffrail. The rain had quite stopped now, and the sea was very calm. Farnholme leaned over the rail, gazed down at the phosphorescence bubbling in the Kerry Dancer's creaming wake and wished he could smoke. It was Parker who broke the silence.
'I've a rather curious item of news for you, sir ? sorry, no 'sir '. Did the corporal tell you?'
'He told me nothing. He only came into the aftercastle a couple of minutes ago. What is it?'
'It appears that this wasn't the only ship in the Singapore roads tonight. While we were coming out to the Kerry Dancer with the first boatload, it seems that another motor-boat came in and tied up less than a quarter of a mile away. A British crew.'
'Well, I'll be damned!' Farnholme whistled softly in the darkness. 'Who were they? What the hell were they doing there anyway? And who saw them?'
'Corporal Fraser and one of my own men. They heard the engine of the motor-boat ? we never heard it, obviously, because the sound of our own drowned it ? and went across to investigate. Only two men in it, both armed with rifles The only man who spoke was a Highlander ? chap from the Western Isles, Fraser says, and he'd know. Very uncommunicative indeed, Fraser says, although he asked plenty or questions himself. Then Fraser heard the Kerry Dancer's boat coming back, and they had to go, He thinks one of the men followed him, but he can't be sure.'
