CHAPTER ELEVEN
‘I’LL go over it again,’ Rogan said.
He leaned across the table, the map spread before him and they crowded around, Fletcher almost knocking over the oil lamp in his eagerness.
‘Paddy leaves here first in the cattle truck and parks it at the gravel pits this side of Kendal. We follow five minutes later in the Morris van, Hannah at the wheel, the rest of us in the back with the dummy sacks. We pick Paddy up on the way.’ He glanced at Morgan, ‘You and Fletcher will be in uniform as I’ve described.’
‘The post of honour,’ Morgan said mockingly.
‘There isn’t one. We get to Rigg no more than five minutes before the armoured van. I go in with Paddy, handle the stationmaster. Hannah backs up to the loading bay and you two get those sacks inside on the double. Then Hannah takes off and waits at the gravel pits.’
Hannah nodded calmly and Rogan went on, ‘Paddy gets into the stationmaster’s uniform and starts to sweep the platform. We wait for the armoured van.’
‘They don’t get out till he tells them the train’s coming,’ Morgan said. ‘That doesn’t leave much time.’
‘We’ll have to work fast, that’s all. The moment they drag the first couple of sacks off the loading bay into the baggage hall, you smack them down good and hard. We aren’t playing patty fingers.’
‘Then what?’
‘You and Fletcher put on their caps. That’s the one part of the uniform we can’t duplicate.’
‘What if they don’t fit?’
‘Make them fit. Wear them at an angle-anything. Then open the door and out with the dummy sacks.’
‘How many?’
‘God knows. We’ll take six. If there’s more, they’ll have to have some money back. That kind of a sack stuffed with notes can weigh as much as a hundredweight. We don’t have time to mess about.’
‘What happens on the platform?’
‘You play it by ear. According to Colum, the duty men on the train change as often as the van crews so nobody should question you. There’ll be a clearance chit. Get it signed, crack a joke and that’s it.’
‘What about the stationmaster? How do we know they’ll accept Paddy in his place?’
‘No trouble there. They don’t have a regular station-master at Rigg. They send out anyone available from Kendal.’
There was a small silence and Fletcher glanced at Morgan. ‘What do you think?’
‘Looks good to me.’ He turned to Rogan. ‘What about mailbags? They’re not easy to come by, not in a place like this.’
‘I was hoping you might be able to suggest something.’
‘I know a bloke in Manchester who’s good at that sort of thing.’
‘Fine,’ Rogan said. ‘You and Fletcher can take a run down in the brake in the morning. You could pick yourself up a couple of uniforms at one of those war surplus places.’
‘Suits me,’ Morgan said. ‘I could do with a look at the big city again.’
‘No hanging around/ Rogan said. ‘I want you back here by dark, and lay off that stuff,’ he told Fletcher, who was pouring whisky into a tumbler at the sideboard. ‘You’ll need all your wits about you on Friday.’
‘You mind your business, Jack, I’ll mind mine,’ Fletcher said and moved out into the passage.
Morgan lit a cigarette and flicked the match into the fire. ‘Just one thing bothers me-what happens when we get back here?’
‘We sit tight till Saturday, then go our separate ways.’
‘When do we slice up the cake?’
‘We don’t. You get what’s coming to you from O’More’s agent in Liverpool a fortnight later as agreed.’
‘Why not here on the great day?’
‘You disappoint me, Morgan. I thought you had brains.’ Rogan shook his head. ‘We’ll stick to the contract.’
‘All right for you,’ Morgan said. ‘You’ve got your line of retreat worked out, but -what about Fletcher and me? There’ll be more scuffers than hikers on these roads be foreyou know where you are.’
‘Then lie up here for a week or two. Move out when the fuss dies down.’
Morgan nodded. ‘Maybe you’ve got something there.’ He yawned. ‘Think I’ll take a walk before turning in.’