She retorted, ‘No, you’re not.’ Then, ‘Can you remember what happened yet?’
Tony stared at his empty glass. ‘Not really. We were working inshore, the skipper was hoping to catch one of Rommel’s transports slipping out of North Africa.’ He tensed and Ransome saw his fingers tighten around the glass like claws. ‘There was a flash right under the bows.’ He was speaking so quietly that they could hear the wind swishing against the windows. ‘The next thing I knew, I was in the drink. I don’t recall much else. Just vague pictures. A boat, the fishermen who later turned out to be partisans. Then there was the little doctor they brought from their village. He did what he could. I’d be dead otherwise.’ He glanced up and realised his mother was in the doorway listening. ‘Sorry, Mum.’
‘Did you see the doctor again?’ His father was looking at him as he might when he had been a child.
Tony lowered his head, as Jack Weese leaned forward and took away his glass.
‘The Germans shot the poor little bugger when they pulled out.’
Ransome said, ‘I shall never forget that day on the beach.’
Tony seemed to shake himself, to be glad of the interruption. ‘And what about you?’ His eyes moved between them. ‘What have you been up to?’
She spoke first. ‘We went to the concert at Buckfastleigh.’
Tony grimaced. ‘Classics, eh? Seeing Fantasia at the local cinema is as close as I get to that kind of stuff!’
But his eyes asked, Are you in love? Have you become lovers ?
Eve turned and put her hand on his. Ransome could feel the others watching, just as he could sense her quiet defiance.
‘The sun’s out, Ian. Take me to see the boat, please?’
His mother called, ‘Don’t be too long. I’m dishing up in half an hour.’ She beamed at her two sons. ‘Officers or not!’
Ransome put a short oilskin coat about her shoulders before they left. There were always several such coats around the house, used by the family and boatyard workers alike.
Outside they were met by bright sunshine, cold and hard, the air crisply clean. There was even a slight vapour of steam rising from some of the canvas-covered boats in the yard, the winter sun drying out puddles of overnight rain.
He put his arm round her shoulders and together they walked through the rough, untended grass, past the familiar boatsheds and slipways, scattered pieces of rusting engines, bilge pumps and other discarded clutter.
They said nothing until they had gone to the lower slope of the boatyard where Barracuda stood apart from all the rest, covered from stem to stern by a black tarpaulin. That too was steaming slightly, and Ransome felt a pang of sadness. Was she a part of the impossible dream too? She might stay here forever, rotting away, forgotten.
Then she turned and looked at him, her long hair whipping across her mouth so that only her eyes were clearly visible.
‘Something’s wrong, Ian. What is it? Please tell me. Remember our promise – no secrets.’
He gripped her gloved hands, and wanted to hug her.
‘The refit has been cut to a minimum. We’re on the move again.’
She said in a small voice, ‘Not home for Christmas?’
‘Not this time.’ Try as he might he could not raise the dullness from his voice. In war why was one day different from another?
Well, it was this time. Four years of it, and he had never been at home for Christmas. It had not seemed that important before.
’But why?’ The words were torn from her, so that she became the girl he had first met in this yard once again.
He thought of Lieutenant Commander Gregory’s explanation when he had been told the same thing for Ranger. ‘Can’t give us a bloody minute, Ian. They think we’re expendable, the whole damn lot of us!’
But he replied, ‘We have to keep all the lanes open. With the war moving as it is, big ships will be sent where they’re in the most advantageous positions.’
She hugged his arm with hers. ‘For the Second Front?’
Ransome nodded. He glanced around the yard, remembering Jack Weese’s contempt for the boxlike landing-craft they were building. There were only two half-completed ones here now. That was all the evidence they needed. The Allies were ready to move again, or soon would be when the weather improved. All the people who had been screaming and demanding a Second Front would get their wishes. How many more had to die to satisfy those who never endured the agony of battle?
She sensed his mood and faced him, her hands gripping his arms while she looked directly into his face.
‘Nothing is going to keep us apart, Ian! Now it’s my turn to help you.’ She pulled him around the sleeping Barracuda and pointed across the estuary, towards the tiered houses of Polruan on the opposite side. ‘We’re not going to lose it now! Remember how my family used to stay at that cottage over there, every year? I used to think of nothing else, dream of the moment when I would be able to come and see you, show you my paintings and sketches. Once, I came but you were away training with the navy.’
‘I didn’t know, Eve.’
She did not seem to hear. ‘I went back to Polruan and cried my heart out. My father probably thought I’d got myself into trouble.’ She gave a laugh, so bitter than Ransome barely recognised it. ‘How could he know even if he wanted to? That I was yours then, and I’ve never looked at another man!’
Ransome held her, felt her body trembling through the rough oilskin.
She said, ‘You’re a wonderful person, and you just haven’t any idea, have you? The way you treat people, make them smile when there’s precious little to grin about nowadays – it fills my heart. With love, with pride, everything!’
Ransome said, i was afraid to show how I felt about you. But you know now.’
Something in his tone made her turn towards him again, her eyes shining.
‘I want to be married here, to be with you always, to come down the aisle knowing we both mean it, and when the church bells ring—’
Ransome held her more tightly. Even that was a brutal reminder. No church bells rang any more. Only if German parachutists were reported to be landing. Many bells had been sent to the war effort for scrap.
She was crying quietly against him, but said in a stronger voice, ‘That’s how it will be.’ Then she moved away and stood on the edge of the slope, framed against the swirling current below, her hair streaming in the breeze. ‘I just want to be with you.’ She must have heard his steps through the wet grass and said, ‘Not yet.’ Her arm pointed across the Fowey River. ‘I can see the cottage, next to the one with blue shutters. Is it empty?’
Ransome watched her shoulders, the way she was holding herself by force.
He said, ‘Yes. Most of them were for holidaymakers. They’re not suitable for the military either.’
Then she swung round, her eyes very large and bright, but not with tears anymore.
‘One day, soon, could we—’
‘Could we what?’ He thought he knew, but dared not even imagine it.
She joined him on the slope and stood on tiptoe to put her face against his cheek.
‘Have the cottage? Just for us? To make it come true?’ She leaned back as he put his arms round her. it would be ours for just a while. Not some hotel room with all the remarks and leers. Just us.’
He pulled her closer. Was it her heart he could feel or his own?
‘People will know. It’s like that here.’ When she remained silent he said, ‘I must tell you, Eve, I don’t know when it might be, but I would like it better than anything in this world.’