‘All officers should support escape attempts. It’s in the King’s Rules and Regulations. Don’t you remember?’
‘But we all had to sign that thing they made us sign in Singapore, saying that we promise not to escape.’
‘That was signed under duress. Everyone knows that. We were all crammed into those filthy barracks at Selarang and told we couldn’t leave until we signed that paper. Nobody’s going to take any notice of that. I’m going to speak to him. He might be able to think of something … Some way to help us. I’m going right now.’
‘Hey, be careful,’ warned Tom, but Ian was already striding across the camp towards the officers’ hut.
When he came back, about an hour later, Ian could not hide the grin that was spreading across his face.
‘It’s fine. He said to go ahead when we’re ready,’ he said, settling himself down on the ground beside the others.
‘You’re joking. What did he say?’ Harry was smiling too.
‘He said he would cover for us the first few days. Make up something about extra men in the hospital hut. When they finally discover that we’ve gone, though, he’s prepared to say that it was on his orders.’
The others’ mouths dropped open in unison.
‘What the hell?’ began Tom.
‘Well, he thinks that they would never touch him. He’s the only English bloke at camp who speaks fluent Japanese. He’s the interpreter, isn’t he? Without him, they wouldn’t be able to explain what work needs to be done. It would be chaos. No work would get done. The Japs wouldn’t risk that for their precious bloody railway. What about the glory of the Emperor and whatever?’
‘I suppose that’s right, isn’t it? He’s the only one they wouldn’t dare to touch,’ said Harry slowly.
‘Yes. He’s going to see if he can get us some extra rations to take with us.’
They all looked at each other, amazed that their dream might after all come true at last. But their elation was tinged with fear, of what would happen if they were caught, of what lay ahead and beyond the camp, of the dense jungle with its teeming life of dangerous creatures and poisonous plants.
Lying on his bunk of bare bamboo now, Tom thought about what answer he would give Ian. He was torn. Should he leave the camp with Harry and Ian, and give himself a chance to get away from all this, a chance for freedom and a future? Or should he do what he knew was the right thing to do, stay behind with Archie and make sure the boy made it through his illness and through his captivity?
4
Laura sat beside the bed and watched her father drift off to sleep. The daylight gradually faded and soon the only light in the room was from the gas fire. Very gently, so as not to wake him, she leaned forward and eased the cigarette end from between his fingers, scattering ash onto the blanket. She stubbed it out in the grate.
Then she crept across to the door, cursing each creaking floorboard, glancing back to check he wasn’t stirring, and left the room. Shivering in the hall, she grabbed her coat and pulled it around her shoulders. Then tiptoeing to the table she lifted the telephone receiver. She glanced at her face in the hall mirror. She looked pale and tense, and her hair was still damp from the rain.
She dialled the number to her apartment. It rang and rang, then the answer-phone clicked in, and her own voice spoke to her, gratingly cheerful: ‘Hi, this is Laura. I can’t come to the phone right now. Please leave a message.’
‘Luke,’ she whispered. ‘It’s me. If you’re there could you please pick up? I’ve been trying to get hold of you for a couple of days. I’m in London. Dad’s had a fall. I need to talk to you. Are you there?’ She waited, holding her breath until there was a bleep at the other end signalling the end of the tape. She hung up.
‘Damn.’
She picked up the phone again, dialled the number to the office in Paris, asked to be put through to Adam.
‘Hi, Laura. You OK?’ came his bright tone. She could picture him working at his antique desk in the vaulted office, the lights of the Trocadero twinkling through the tall windows behind him.
‘How’s your dad doing?’ he asked.
‘Well, he’s pretty down, I’m afraid. He’s had a really bad fall. I think I’ll probably need to stay in London for a couple of days.’
‘Don’t worry about the work, Laura. It shouldn’t be a problem. Jeremy can cover for you at the Banque-de-Clichy completion meeting tomorrow. All the documents are drafted thanks to your hard work. You take as long as you need.’
‘Thanks. I’ll give you a call tomorrow.’ She was about to ring off when he cut in again.
‘Oh, and when you come back we can have that dinner I promised you. I was going to book the Trianon for Friday evening.’
‘I’m not sure …’ she hesitated, pulling a face at herself in the mirror.
‘No strings attached, Laura. I just want to thank you for everything you’ve done on the Clichy takeover.’
She shivered as she remembered that drunken moment at the New Year’s party. She could hear the thumping music, could feel his hands on her breasts, could taste the red wine on his tongue.
‘Let’s talk about it when I get back, shall we?’ she said.
‘Sure.’ Was there a trace of hurt in his voice?
‘Give my very best wishes to your dad. I hope he gets better soon.’
She put the phone down and caught sight of herself in the mirror again. Her cheeks were flushed. She frowned at her reflection.
‘You bloody idiot,’ she said out loud.
She heard a cough from the top of the stairs and looked up to see Ken standing there in a striped dressing gown. He was red in the face and swaying slightly on the top step. How much had he
