The Hidden War by David Fiddimore

Author:David Fiddimore [David Fiddimore]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780330507295
Publisher: Pan Macmillan UK

PART THREE

The Air Bridge

Chapter Seventeen

Russian Greg was out of town. I wondered if he was poking around in the bones of the Pink Pig, or had just disappeared for a week because he couldn’t face me because of it. The Brits weren’t saying much, and a call I put through to the Americans at Tempelhof didn’t exactly start a bush fire. So I ended up in the Leihhaus for a couple of days.

When I’d told the Old Man I was flying out to Germany he hadn’t said anything else about Frieda. Neither did I, so I left without her. In my opinion Berlin hadn’t been a place for a woman for years . . . too many people dropped bombs on it. I became sorry when Magda walked into the Leihhaus with a cheap brown paper envelope she’d picked up from the BFPO post office at Gatow when she came off duty from the hotdog and doughnut machine. It was addressed to me. It had been opened.

Magda asked, ‘Who’s Frieda?’

‘Did you open this?’

‘Yes. Who’s Frieda?’

‘Do you always open other people’s mail?’

‘Not always. Don’t you ever say thank you to people who deliver it? We do in my country.’

‘Thank you, Magda.’

‘Don’t mention it. Who’s Frieda?’

‘I think that she’s my boss’s bit of fluff. She’s German and wants to find her relations. I was supposed to bring her here with me, but deliberately forgot. I may be in for a bollocking when I get back.’

I dropped a transport manager five dollars to borrow his jeep, and picked up Frieda on the Gatow apron. Randall taxied the drab Oxford up to the admin blocks. I could see that he had applied black registration markings to it now, but they were so small that you needed a microscope to read them with. As I helped Frieda down from the door, a gust of wind lifted her dark blue dress around her waist, and a passing squaddie whistled. She was like that I think – without meaning to, she attracted attention wherever she went. Despite an antagonism I felt towards her I couldn’t understand, I thought that she had nice little pins. Her stockings alone were worth as much as a Berliner’s weekly pay. I smoothed her dress down instinctively, and she said, ‘Thank you, Charlie.’

She rested her hand on my shoulder as she stepped down from the aircraft. I felt as if she was scalding me with her touch.

‘No problem. Welcome to Germany.’

‘Welcome home, you mean.’

‘Yes. I suppose so. Do you want me to fix you up at one of the British clubs, or do you have somewhere to stay?’

‘I have Geoffrey’s flat. It’s not far from here. I’ll give you the address.’ Geoffrey was Geoffrey Halton of course. Was there anyone on the make who hadn’t helped themselves to a little bit of Germany? Randall appeared at the Oxford’s door and handed me down her small suitcase and a plain raincoat.

‘Decent trip?’ I asked him.

‘Company could not have been better.’ For a moment I thought he was going to blush.

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