Darkest Hour

Then his thoughts turned to Blackstone, who was proving more of an enigma than Tanner wanted to admit. There had been times since joining the company when he had been convinced that Blackstone was as evil a bastard as ever - and worse: that he was a murderer and wanted Tanner dead. He knew what he had seen on the bridge: Blackstone apparently aiming his rifle directly at him before lowering it. At that moment he had been as sure as a man could be that Blackstone had shot him. But now - well, now he wasn't so certain. The CSM had seemed so genuine in his denial when they'd talked earlier, and Tanner had to accept that the evidence he had built against him was circumstantial. There were no hard facts.

Tanner now wondered whether his knowledge of him in India - his intense dislike of him back then - had warped his view of the man these past ten days. Perhaps he had been too quick to see the worst in him, too ready to assume that Blackstone was at the heart of every bad deed he had witnessed. He still disliked the fellow, but was he himself guilty of trying to fit what scant evidence there was of these crimes around what he knew of Blackstone? Had he lost the ability to view matters objectively? All his life he had trusted his gut instinct, his sixth sense; it had saved his life a number of times. But now that gut instinct kept changing. By law a man was innocent until proven guilty; and Tanner could prove nothing. Not conclusively, at any rate.

Tanner sighed. And there was Blackstone's proposal, too. A few hours before he had been inclined to agree with the CSM's plan, but that was when the company had been without transport. If the vehicles could be successfully stolen, it would be better, he was certain, for them to stay together. But he doubted Blackstone would see it that way. No, the CSM would regard it as another deliberate act of defiance. Bloody hell, thought Tanner. It was hard enough fighting a war against the Germans without engaging in another among his own company. Perhaps, it now occurred to him, Blackstone didn't need to know - not for the time being, at any rate.

Past the sentries and back into the wood. The men were all awake now, packed up and ready for another long, gruelling day's march. They were quiet, senses still dulled from sleep, their mood sombre.

'In the nick of time,' muttered Lieutenant Peploe, as they reported to him. 'The OC wants us to form up by the edge of the wood in five minutes.'

'Sir,' said Tanner, in a low voice, 'there's enough transport, but we need to wait another hour.'

'We don't have another hour, Sergeant. We're leaving now.'

'I've got an idea, sir.'

'Go on.'

'With your permission, I'd like to take Sykes's section.

You go with the rest of the platoon, and once we've got the vehicles, we'll catch you up.'

'How will you know where to find us?'

'We'll come with you to the forming-up point and find out where Captain Barclay intends to lead us. Then we'll slip away.'

Peploe thought for a moment. 'I'm uneasy about it, Tanner. I've a feeling the OC would be against it, or else he'd want the whole company involved.'

'That would complicate things, sir. It has to be a small group acting quickly.'

'I see that, which means doing it behind the OC's back. Other grounds for concern? Well, I have a horrible feeling that if we part company in opposite directions in the middle of night, with Jerry lurking here, there and everywhere, it's the last we'll see of each other, which, frankly, would be a damn shame.' He took off his cap and tugged at his hair. 'On the other hand, it'd be madness to pass up such a golden opportunity. Does it have to wait an hour?'

'I was thinking that Jerry might be asleep by then . . . Sod it, sir. What if we go now? If we pull it off you'll have barely got over the bridge by the time we're finished. I'm presuming you'll be turning left down the road that runs alongside the river?'

'I'll make sure we do. In which case, all right, Sergeant. Go now.'

'You sure, sir?'

'Not a hundred per cent, no.' He held out his hand and Tanner took it. 'Good luck. Hopefully, I'll see you in a short while. Otherwise your absence will take some explaining.' He headed back to the rest of the platoon, waiting patiently for him in a nearby clearing.

Tanner clapped Sykes on the back. 'Right, Stan, get your section together and we'll be off.'

Sykes switched on his filtered torch, called over his men and brought them into a semi-circle. Tanner looked into their ghostly faces: McAllister, Hepworth, Bell and Kershaw - good men, who had all served with him and Sykes in Norway - and the new lads: Ellis, Chambers, Verity, Rhodes and Denning.

'What's this, Sarge?' said McAllister. 'Why aren't we going with the others?'

'We're going to get some transport,' said Tanner. He saw Hepworth's face fall. 'Don't worry, Hep, this'll be a cinch and it'll make our lives a lot easier. Not only that, it means our chances of getting out of this fix will be much higher too. So cheer up.'

'No more walking, then?' said Hepworth.

'No, all things being well.'

'In that case, Sarge . . .'

'Hold on, Hep,' said McAllister, 'we've still got to get it. This is about those Jerries Tinker and the Corp saw, isn't it, Sarge?'

'Yes,' said Tanner. 'A Jerry unit's moved into the village and, more specifically, into the farm. Now there are four vehicles parked up on the side of the road outside. Three look like those Opels we nabbed in Norway. The other's a bit different but it can't be that hard to start. We don't even need to go into the farm itself. We'll head across the fields, then into the orchard and come out at the road by the wall of the farm. I'll creep out and check the coast's clear. Then, Mac, you run forward with Ellis and set up the Bren on the other side of the road facing the archway into the yard. Stan, what have you still got in your bag of tricks? I'm wondering whether we can knock down that archway and block those other Jerry vehicles inside.'

'Not sure, Sarge. Might be tricky to get it in the right place. Could probably manage a trip-wire of some kind. Why don't we just throw some grenades at the vehicles?'

'Possibly. We'll see when we get there.'

'And what if there are guards or troops in the trucks?'

'If there are guards, we'll kill them silently. If there are troops, we'll just have to spray them with the Bren - Mac, make sure you don't fire near the engines. We need the trucks to work, all right?'

McAllister nodded.

'Right,' Tanner continued. 'Who remembers how to drive those Opels?'

'Think so, Sarge,' said Bell.

'I can,' added Kershaw.

'Good,' said Tanner. 'Kay - you take the last truck. Dusty - you go with him and give him cover.' Kershaw and Rhodes nodded. 'I'll take the smaller one with you, Hep. Stan, you're in the one next to the arch with Verity and, 'Tinker, you grab the first with Denning - all right, Dasher?'

'Yes, Sarge,' said Denning.

'Punter,' Tanner continued, turning to Chambers, 'you cover the corp. You'll all need a reamer.' He delved into his haversack and pulled out a set of five, standard issue with a Bren, but which Tanner kept for use on his rifle and as a spare should it be needed. The largest was too big, he remembered, but the rest were fine. He took four from the ring that held them together and handed them out.