'I'll stay too,' said Greenstreet.
Slater nodded. 'Be quick about it.'
Once Slater and his men were out of sight, Hepworth said, 'Bollocks, Corp, there's only one way to find him,' and began to take off his boots and trousers.
'He's right, Corp,' agreed Bell, following suit. When they had undressed to their underwear, both men lowered themselves into the water.
'Jesus, it's cold!' said Hepworth. 'Wherever he is now, I hope the sarge appreciates what we're doing for him.'
'How deep is it?' asked Sykes.
'Not very,' said Hepworth. 'Five foot maybe.' They waded up to the bridge, then back again and down the length of the farm buildings. But there was nothing.
'Where can they have gone?' said Greenstreet. Sykes thought he seemed close to tears. 'She was a great girl, Lucie, plucky as they come.'
Slater called to them from the bridge. 'Come on, you lot! The CSM wants to speak to you.'
While Hepworth and McAllister dried themselves with their battle-blouses, Sykes looked into the dark still water. As he did so, a thought occurred to him. 'Hang on a minute,' he mumbled to himself. Then he turned to the others. 'Hey, boys, I don't reckon we need to feel too gloomy just yet. Hep and Tinker haven't had a dip for nothing.'
'What do you mean?' said Bell.
'Well,' said Sykes, in a low voice, 'think about it. If he's not there and neither is Nurse Richoux, they must be somewhere else, which means one or other must be alive. They're not both going to vanish into five foot of a ten- foot-wide pond, are they?'
Hepworth's face brightened. 'Bugger me, Corp, you're right!'
'Ssh!' said Sykes. 'Keep your flaming voice down! Now, listen, don't let on that the pond's only five foot deep, all right? Not yet, at any rate. Me and the sarge have had our suspicions about the CSM and Slater for some time and if we're right then something fishy's going on and I don't think it'd be a good idea for Slater to think they're still alive.'
'You think Slater and the CSM tried to do 'em in?' said Bell.
'I'm not sure, Tinker, but maybe, yes.'
Bell whistled.
'Jesus,' said Greenstreet.
'But listen to me. If you want to help the sarge and Nurse Richoux, you follow my lead, all right?' He shone his torch at them. 'Yes?' They nodded. 'Good. Then let's go'
Blackstone had assembled the men in the drawing room of the house, a large space with electric lighting where antique tapestries and old portraits hung on the walls. He explained what had happened - how he and Sergeant Slater had been in the yard and had heard a commotion inside the house; how they had found the lieutenant unconscious and the farmer assaulting the nurse. The lieutenant had been hit on the head. It was all very unfortunate.
'So, boys,' said Blackstone, solemnly, 'it means that, for the time being, I'm in charge. And things have changed a lot for us since yesterday. We've lost our skipper and the lieutenant's out of action. More than that, we know what's going on. We've all sensed the battle hasn't been going our way, but it's now a fact that the BEF is being evacuated. It seems likely that Fifth and Fiftieth Divs are doing a hell of a job holding back the enemy in the Ypres area while the rest of the boys in between make a dash for the coast. But what the hell can we do? Forty-odd men aren't going to make any difference. Our battalion walked out and left us behind in Belgium and now Eighth DLI have deserted us too. We've done all that's been asked of us, and more, but right now, it's time we thought of ourselves.' There was a shuffling of feet and a murmur of agreement. 'Look,' he continued, 'we're all awake now, we've got some grub inside us - and it's not as if we haven't had a rest, is it? The rain's gone and we've a clear sky above us. I know it wasn't what we intended, but last evening we were heading north - you know, maybe someone's trying to tell us something. If we get going now, we can follow the Pole Star and make good progress before all those refugees are on the move. We'll be there by lunchtime and we can rest all we like. With a bit of luck, we'll be back in Blighty by the following morning.' There were further murmurs of agreement. 'The alternative is that we wait here until morning, battle against the flow of refugees, eventually get to Ypres, find our boys have already gone and end up in the bag. Or, worse, dead.' He paused again. 'So, who's with me?'
Hands were raised, and Blackstone smiled. 'Good,' he said. 'We leave in five minutes.'
'Hold on a mo', Sergeant-Major,' said Sykes, as he and McAllister entered the room. 'I know my section would rather wait here until Lieutenant Peploe comes round.'
'But there's an ambulance,' said Blackstone. 'Sergeant Greenstreet can take care of him.'
'We'd still rather stay here. It sounded to me like you were givin' us a choice a moment ago. What's more, there's also Sergeant Tanner,' Sykes continued. Another ripple of murmuring from the men. 'You see, that pond's not very deep and we've trawled it pretty carefully and found nothing. That makes me think that the sarge and the nurse got out.' The room had gone quiet now as the men listened to him. 'There's no way I could let my men leave this place until we've found both of 'em, and I'd like to think Rosso and Coop would feel much the same way.'
Cooper and Ross nodded.
'If they're still alive why aren't they here?' said Blackstone.
'Perhaps they're fearful for their safety, Sergeant- Major,' Sykes replied.
'That's ridiculous. Why on earth should Tanner feel that?'
'Maybe because he's been nearly burned to death, shot in the side, and falsely accused of rape. I'd have thought that's reason enough.' There was an audibly sharp intake of breath from the others.
Blackstone cursed to himself. He was losing them. Damn Sykes to hell. They'd taken care of Peploe and Tanner but overlooked the third man in the trio. Careless, very careless. And now the Cockney runt was on the point of ruining everything. 'And you think I was responsible for all that?' Blackstone said, hoping his feigned incredulity was convincing. 'Don't make me laugh.' He jabbed a finger at Sykes. 'Corporal, you're talking out of turn.'
'What I'd like to know,' said McAllister, suddenly speaking up, 'is where Madame Michaud is?'
'The farmer's wife?' said Blackstone. Panic now coursed through him. He glanced at Slater - help me out here.
'The farmer killed her, then attacked the nurse,' said Slater.
'You know what?' said McAllister. 'I reckon that's a load of old bollocks. I reckon the whole story's bollocks.'
'You - be quiet!' said Blackstone.
'No, I won't,' said McAllister. 'Why would a gentle old farmer suddenly do his wife in and cosh an officer when he's surrounded by that officer's troops? It don't bloody well make sense.' The men were all talking now. Blackstone had his hands in the air trying to silence them when a shot rang out. The effect was immediate. All the men stopped talking and stared at Slater, who held a revolver pointed at the wooden floor.
'Listen, all of you,' said Slater, and Sykes noticed that several men from Company Headquarters had positioned themselves by the door, fully armed. One held a Bren at his waist. 'We're leaving now. All those coming with us, move to the door. The rest stay where you are. I'm going to count to three. One.'