I felt bold enough to break in with, ‘No. I’ll take the nigger’s watch. I’m already wearing one of the Lieutenant’s shirts. That just leaves my flying jacket. I was attached to that.’
McKechnie said, ‘I wondered when the N word was comin’. Someone always has to remind me. Sometimes I think that white folk are on a duty from God just to remind us blacks that we are black. In case we missed it.’
‘Thanks,’ I said, and, ‘What about my jacket?’
The Colonel said, ‘I don’t suppose you would consider accepting mine in exchange? I get them made privately, and flown over. Quality’s good.’
‘So’s the exchange,’ I told him, and shook hands on it.
You’ve seen the film. The two cars drawing up on the country road a hundred yards apart; the space between lit by their searching headlights. Part of me was asking, Haven’t they heard of the fucking blackout? There was a big black mass on the side of the road where the headlights met. After a few seconds I realized that I’d seen it before, and that there were the bodies of dead German soldiers in it, and maybe a couple of dozen rats. That’s why I wasn’t surprised when Cain and Abel stepped into the light alongside it. Cain had the Sten around his neck on its string, and his right arm was resting on top of it, as if it was a sling. The USAAF Colonel stepped out to meet them, handing his leather A1 jacket back in to me as he did so. He took McKechnie with him. I thought that that said something. I asked Kilduff what they were doing. He said, ‘Negotiating.’
‘Is there anything to negotiate?’
‘Nah.’ He was turned from the driving seat to look at me. There was less anger in him now. ‘It’s just form really. We been doing this a lot longer than you Brits. Capone an’ Legs an’ Lucky: they been doing it all the time till they got caught.’
‘Who’re they?’
‘Charlie,’ he asked me, ‘where you been all your fucking life?’ There was genuine pity in his voice.
The Chevy engine rumbled on, so I couldn’t catch what was being said: perhaps I wasn’t supposed to – you never know. Eventually the Bird Colonel came back to me and drawled, ‘It’s all right now. Just get out, and walk up to the light. You’ll find a US Colonel there. Stop, shake hands with him, then walk on by to your own folk.’
‘Why shake hands?’
‘We . . . ll.’ It sounded like waal. ‘I don’t know, rightly. Perhaps it’s just a matter of politeness, and no one will shoot you if you do that.’
‘I’d better do it then.’ Then I said, ‘Goodnight, Colonel,’ as I scrambled out into the night, and, ‘Thank you.’ Although I don’t know why.
He said, ‘You’re welcome, son,’ and, in a lower voice, ‘Why don’t you get away from these bums as soon as you can? They’re not your kind of people.’
‘I’ll remember that, sir,’ I told him. I had been right to say Thank you, after all.
‘If we meet again, you call me Jimmy, most everyone else does.’
‘Yes, Colonel.’
He was a big man, so his leather flying jacket fitted nicely over my battledress: I pulled it on as I walked. The man I shook hands with asked me, ‘Is that Jimmy Stewart back there?’
‘I think it was, sir. It is a film star, anyway. I’ve seen him.’
‘You don’t have to call me sir, boy: it seems to me that we’ve both been in the same boat.’
‘No, sir. Why are we having this conversation anyway, instead of just walking on?’
‘Just to irritate the mother-fuckers, son. I don’t suppose you know what the fuck this was all about?’
‘No; sorry.’
‘Thought not; me neither.’ He sighed, then he said, ‘Good luck, son,’ and walked on. I guessed that he’d be in trouble when they got him back, so I offered, ‘And you, Colonel.’
Out of the light was Kate, with a jeep parked up behind her. There were three men standing around her: England, Raffles and Cliff. Cliff moved out of the dark, and snarled, ‘Can’t you stay out of trouble for a minute?’ at me, before stalking off to the jeep without another word. He started it savagely, fucking up the gear change, and tearing off down the road behind the Americans, who had already turned the Chevy and powered away into Paris. I had to jump out of his way.
In the car I asked them, ‘Before I say thank you, would someone mind telling me what the fuck is going on?’
‘Say thank you first,’ Les advised me, ‘while we work out the rest. Nice jacket by the way.’
‘Was that bloody great charge sheet about me accurate? Kilduff said he got it from the RAF.’
‘I would imagine that the Yanks embroidered it a bit – just to make you talk. Did you, by the way?’
‘No. They gave me a bit of a beating first, just to encourage me. After that I found a stubborn streak I didn’t know I had. I told them Cliff’s name – I didn’t reckon I owed him any favours.’
‘He won’t like that if he finds out.’
‘He won’t find out.’ That was Major England taking part for the first time. ‘We won’t tell him, and neither will the Yanks. Who beat you up?’
‘Their thug Bassett, in the library, with a stick. He was careful to choose my shoulders.’
‘You need an MO?’ That was Raffles again.
‘No. Some American doctor at the hospital spread some jallop on them. They feel better than at any time since the accident. I must find out what it was.’
‘What are you going to do about it?’
‘I’m going to get a gun, go back and do the sadistic bastard in.’
‘No you’re not,’ the Major told me. ‘We’re off to Belgium before anything else goes wrong. Les and I have
