Winston's Spy by Robert Webber

Author:Robert Webber
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Troubador Publishing Ltd
Published: 2020-05-17T16:00:00+00:00

XX

The train that carried Alex to Hampshire was packed, and he was glad that Simon had reserved a seat for him. Many more-senior officers glowered at him through the glazed panel in the door, expecting him to surrender his seat to them, but Alex remembered Charles’s assertiveness on their recent trip to Manchester and was not to be bullied. When the train arrived at Woking, most passengers detrained – those in naval uniform to catch a connexion to Portsmouth, and those in the army to await the train to Aldershot. Now that the train was less cramped, a steward informed the remaining first-class passengers that the restaurant car was open for luncheon. Two of his fellow travellers in the compartment took up the offer, but Alex was not at all hungry.

The train arrived at Brockenhurst eventually, and Alex gathered his belongings and disembarked. Knowing that the army had commandeered the branch line from Brockenhurst to Lymington for military goods use only, to take freight to the pierhead at Lymington, Alex went in search of the car that they had promised would await his arrival. The train was nearly an hour late, and he wondered whether the driver would have got fed up waiting, but he need not have worried. Sitting casually in the buffet, immaculately dressed and smoking a cigarette calmly while leafing idly through a newspaper, he found Charles Phipps.

‘Charles!’ Alex greeted him.

‘Hello, old boy, this truly is a fine kettle of fish! I did not expect to see you again so soon, and I hear from my sister that congratulations are in order. Well done, old chap. Conversely, I also hear that you have taken your eye off the ball. Tut, tut! Come on, the car’s waiting,’ Charles chided gently.

Charles led Alex out of the station. The khaki Austin motorcar was waiting directly outside the station entrance, on the taxi rank, much to the annoyance of the local cabbies.

‘Oi! You need to get a proper job to park there!’ one shouted as they approached the car.

Charles smiled at them and waved his swagger stick. After putting Alex’s luggage in the boot, he and Alex got into the car. ‘Making friends again, eh, McKenzie?’ he asked the driver, who smiled before pulling out of the station and turning right towards Lymington.

Charles chatted to Alex on the short drive to the Grange and asked him all about Teddy. ‘Beattie says she’s adorable; hats off, dear boy, hats off… but if you want to see her again, forget about her until your task is completed.’

*

The car turned into the Grange, and Alex was made immediately aware of increased security. Not only was there a sergeant checking the validity of their paperwork, but there were also two soldiers standing on either side of the barrier, with their rifles ready to be used. A soldier raised the gate, and, as they approached the old house, there was far more military activity than previously.

The driver brought the car to a halt, and Charles and Alex got out and retrieved Alex’s luggage.

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