They followed a well-defined path trp out of the valley and then she pressed his shoulder and pointed and he swung the machine into a track that cut across the dark earth like a white line in the night
The wind on his face carried the good fresh smell of the sea and he could taste the salt on his lips and then they came over a small rise and the dark line of^ the cliffs was no more than fifty yards below.
He cut the motor and turned as she dismounted. “Is this the place?”
She nodded. “The cliffs are a hundred feet high here. At their base there is an old jetty and a boathouse where my father kept his boat before the war for the fishing. Now the1 Germans have forbidden us to use it.”
He pulled the body from the sidecar and laid it on the-ground. Then he put the machine into neutral and let it roll towards the edge of the cliffs.
He hoisted the dead man on to his back and went down the slope. For a moment he stood at the edge, looking at the white line of surf breaking on the rocks below, and then he tossed the body down after the machine and went back to the girl.
She was standing at the top of the rise where he had left her and he was conscious that she was looking at him through the darkness.
“I’m sorry you had to get mixed up in this,” he said awkwardly. “It’s been a hell of a night by any standards.”
She stood quite still without saying anything and he moved closer. “Are you all right?”
And then she started to cry and he put an arm round her gently, pulling her close. After a while, they started back through the darkness towards the farm.
Of Action and Passion
Oliver Van Horn’s villa was perched on the extreme end of a narrow finger of rock that jutted out into the calm waters of a secluded bay on the other side of the headland from the town. It was a two-storeyed building with a flat roof arid stood in a couple of acres of garden surrounded by a high wall.
They went down the hillside and crossed the white dusty strip of road and approached cautiously. The great. iron-bound gates stood open. They moved inside and Katina led the way along a narrow flagged path between olive trees.
The garden was a riot of color, the night air heavy with the scent of flowers. Palms lifted then” heads above the wall and gently nodded hi the cool breeze and a fountain splashed in a fish pool in a small clearing.
They could hear the low murmur of voices from somewhere near at hand and Katina moved forward quietly and crouched down.
They were on the edge of the circular driveway in front of the main entrance. A German command staff car was parked at the bottom of the steps and two NCOs in grey uniforms and forage caps lounged beside it smoking cigarettes.
A moment later, the front door opened and two men moved out into the lighted porch. Lomax recognised Van Horn at once from the many photos he had seen. Lean and wiry in a white linen suit, his clipped moustache and grizzled hair prematurely grey.
The other man was a German staff officer, a colonel of infantry and astonishingly young for such a rank with, a mobile intelligent face.
He limped heavily as he went down the steps and climbed into the car and Van Horn stayed in the porch. He raised his hand as the car moved away, scattering gravel, and then went back inside.
As the door closed, Lomax turned to Katina. “Who was the German officer?” v
“Colonel Steiner. He is in command here.”
“They looked too bloody friendly for my liking,” Boyd said.
She shook her head. “Mr. Van Horn depends on Steiner’s goodwill for all his medical supplies. That’s why he plays chess with him every week.” She got to her feet. “I think it would be better if we went round to the rear of the house.”