Back Room Girl by Francis Durbridge

Author:Francis Durbridge
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780008242022
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2017-12-12T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER XVIII

The Old Priory

‘This is just like old times, eh, Charlie?’

Roy, leading the way up the combe, paused for a moment to allow the others to catch up.

‘It sure is,’ said Charlie, as he and Leyland came up with him, ‘except that it’s a bit quieter. Still, we don’t want any guns popping on this trip, or flares to light us up.’

They stood listening for a moment. The night was quiet, except for the usual noises of the countryside and the far-off chuffing of a train. The moon had not yet risen, and the bottom of the combe, from which they had just emerged, was as black as the inside of a bag, as Charlie put it, though if they looked up through the trees they could catch glimpses of the stars.

‘Well, come on,’ said the Chief. ‘Surely you young chaps aren’t exhausted already? I’d like to get some sleep before the night’s out.’

Roy, ignoring this sally, turned and resumed the climb to the road which separated them from the Priory. They were roughly following the line they calculated Delouris’ men must have taken when they were taking Pat away, and aiming to come out on the road where Charlie had surprised them.

Roy stopped again a few minutes later. ‘We’re nearly up to the road,’ he said in a low undertone. ‘Don’t make any noise.’

He had gone on about a dozen yards further when he paused again and sniffed the air. ‘Smell anything?’ he asked the Chief.

‘Yes,’ said Leyland. ‘Someone’s having a smoke, and pretty foul stuff it is, too.’

‘That means they’ve probably got a guard out on the road, or, more likely, under cover on their side of it. Unless, of course it’s a poacher. I’ll soon find out. It’s just my cup of tea. I’ll give you a whistle when the coast’s clear.’

‘All right,’ whispered Leyland, ‘but for heaven’s sake be careful.’

‘Want me to come with you?’ asked Charlie. ‘I used to do a bit of this sort of thing, too, you know.’

‘No, thanks,’ said Roy. ‘You stay here with the Chief. He’ll need you if anything goes wrong.’

He moved silently forward, and the others waited, tense in the darkness. The seconds after he had gone seemed minutes. At last they heard a few scuffling sounds, followed by a grunt and a strangled groan. Then silence, broken by a low whistle. Leyland and Charlie climbed cautiously up to the road and saw a dark figure on the other side.

‘It’s all right,’ said Roy in low tones. ‘I’ve got him here.’ ‘Him’ was the figure of a man slumped at his feet. ‘It was a guard all right. He never knew what hit him. Here, give me a hand with tying him up. We don’t want him coming to and giving the alarm at an inconvenient moment.’

Charlie produced one of several lengths of rope they had brought with them and the man was soon trussed and gagged. They rolled him out of sight under some bushes, then stood listening

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