Under the Radar by David R. Ewens

Author:David R. Ewens
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781781482018
Publisher: Grosvenor House Publishing
Published: 2016-09-13T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

Sojourn at Socketts Heath

‘Why go all the way to Grays?’ said Lily. ‘Why go all the way to London for that matter, if London is only a stepping stone to Kent?’

Neither Emma nor Sterling had noticed that the old woman was the only one not to have got off the bus with the church crowd.

She came down the aisle of the bus and sat heavily in the seat that Simone had previously occupied. She patted her heart. ‘Goodness, I haven’t had this much excitement for years. Who would have thought it, just coming back from seeing my sister in Clacton?’

Emma smiled at the old woman, as if she was pleased to be the source of the excitement.

Then she said, ‘Surely, if we’re going to Kent, we have to go through London. There’s the Dartford crossing, but we’re going by bus. Anyway, that’s an obvious crossing point.’

‘There are plenty of ways to get across the Thames,’ said the old woman, ‘and the more you get into London the easier it is. The Blackwall tunnel. The foot tunnel from the Isle of Dogs to Greenwich. Stratford International station. In fact, any number of road and railway bridges, any number of tunnels. You could go by bus, train, tube, Docklands Light Railway, riverboat from the Isle of Dogs. But from what you say those men will be keeping an eye on all the obvious places, and now they know roughly where you are your options are more limited. Trains go to Fenchurch Street and Liverpool Street. Buses go from Lakeside to the next hub. And of course, no offence intended, you’re conspicuous. So don’t bother with London at all.’

Facetious ideas slipped into Sterling’s head. Yeah, swim over the Thames. Put buoyancy tanks on the wheelchair. He kept quiet.

‘So….’ said Emma.

‘So, go down to Tilbury Docks and take the passenger ferry to Gravesend. From there, just go up to the railway station and get a train. No one would think of watching Tilbury or Gravesend.’ Lily’s air of quiet triumph fell just short of smugness.

‘Sounds like a plan,’ said Emma. ‘How do you know all about transport in this neck of the woods, Lily?’

‘I grew up in Romford. When I was doing my teacher training at Avery Hill back in the late 40s, I had a teaching practice placement in Gravesend. My father and I looked at it, and we worked out that if I went back home to Romford for those six weeks, I could get a train to Tilbury Docks and the ferry across the river. The school was a 15-minute walk the other side. That was a wonderful time. And my husband worked at the Department for Transport, so I knew everything from him. He’s long gone. I’m 85 myself.’

‘85,’ said Emma. ‘No spring chicken then.’ She had the knack of making cheeky into charming.

‘I live at Socketts Heath, just short of Grays. You can get a bus the other way from there. Cedric knows where I get off. The only snag is, by the time you get to Tilbury Docks, the ferry will have packed up.

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