The Ha'penny Steps. Book 1. Maruska's Story by C R Spencer

Author:C R Spencer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Crime, London Blitz, Thriller, Espionage, Murder, Black marketeering
Publisher: Phoneme52
Published: 2024-07-03T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

December 1940

London

The Alien Tribunal Board

Maruska Bergman gathered her documents and laid them out on her kitchen table. The house was empty. She had heard Porteous return not long after she had gone to bed after the heavy raid, but he didn’t come to her. He left just after five-thirty for the early shift up at Smiths in Cricklewood. She looked at the papers and sighed. Her whole life was laid out on those few sheets. She had no certificate of birth to prove she was born in Czechoslovakia, but that was irrelevant now that it was the German Sudetenland.

She examined her medical certificates. These were beginning to show signs of wear and tear since they had been removed from the glass frames that had been so proudly displayed in the family home in Karlsbad. She smoothed them out and laid them carefully in a Manila folder she had lifted from Porteous’ store downstairs. Porteous had also forged a reference from Madame Collier in Chelsea under the name of Maruska Bergman on some stationery that she had liberated from the Chelsea shop.

She threw off the dressing gown and poured lukewarm water over herself standing in the tin bath. She dried herself off, squatted and checked that all was well with the little silk bag. She looked around the flat; a flat that she had been happy in for over a year. Perhaps they might not let her return to gather some personal items before they interned her? Porteous’ words were ringing in her ears, ’They give you time to get your affairs in order...’ She hoped he was right because her affairs were definitely not in order.

She stood next to the full-length mirror and examined her naked body. Her figure was still good, but perhaps her breasts were a little smaller. All that cycling was doing her good.

Maruska Berman walked into Paddington Town Hall just before eleven in the morning. An ancient commissionaire in full regalia greeted her. He asked,

“Good morning, Madam. How can I be of assistance today?”

“The Alien Tribunal Board, please.”

His face dropped, “Oh, another one,” he scowled and responded abruptly.

“First floor, take the left corridor; you’ll find a lady seated at a desk. Register with her...”

He turned away to greet a couple before she had time to answer. She sighed and went up the ornate stone steps. A prim looking female was sat at a makeshift desk at the end of the corridor. Maruska walked up to her and said,

“Doctor Maruska Bergman; I have an appointment at eleven.”

The woman never looked up. She raised her hand as if to silence her, “Have you got your paperwork?”

Maruska dropped the Manila file on the desk with a thump. The woman finally looked up and peered over her half-moon glasses,

“Take a seat. The clerk will come and get you when she is ready.” She waved a hand at a row of chairs, picked up the file and began to look through it. She ticked off Maruska’s name on a list attached to a clipboard.

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