Chavasse swung towards him and Munro had no time to take aim, and then they met, breast to breast, the shotgun between them.
Chavasse didn't hesitate. His knee swung up into the unprotected groin. Rory's mouth opened wide in a gasp of agony and he keeled over. Chavasse hurled the shotgun away over the rocks and as he turned, there was an angry cry and Hector Munro ran towards him. Stavrou twenty or thirty yards behind.
Asta waited on the rim of the plateau. Chavasse took her hand and they went over and down into the mist and rain, riding a great apron of shale and loose earth that moved beneath them.
They landed on a bare, steep slope, rough tussocks of grass growing from crevasses, making the descent difficult, slowing them considerably so that it was a good fifteen minutes before they emerged on a hillside above the glen and moved down through the heather.
But their pursuers were not far behind. At one point Chavasse was aware of a faint cry and, turning, saw Stavrou through a gap in the mist, a couple of hundred feet above them.
They plunged down through a plantation of young firs, arms raised to protect their faces from the branches. When they emerged on the other side, Asta staggered and would have fallen if he hadn't caught her.
She leaned against him, struggling for breath. 'Sorry, Paul, but I can't keep this up for much longer.' And then her eyes widened and she pointed down into the valley. 'Is that them?'
A Land Rover was pulled in at the roadside. Not one of Donner's, but unmistakably Army with the unit and divisional crests painted on its bonnet and sides in bright colours. An officer in jeep coat and peaked cap stood beside it, a map in his hands.
Chavasse called out, waving wildly and, miraculously, the officer turned and looked up. Chavasse grabbed Asta's hand and they plunged down the final slope through the heather, sliding into the ditch at the side of the road. They picked themselves up and ran to the car.
The officer looked towards them, a hand above his eyes to shield them from the rain. He leaned down and said something and his driver got out from behind the wheel and joined him.
It was only in the final moment that Chavasse realised that he was too late. That the driver carried a machine-pistol. That the officer was Jack Murdoch.
As he and Asta halted, waiting helplessly, a Land Rover roared out of the mist behind them and skidded to a halt. Max Donner got out and ran forward, his face cold and angry.
'You know, you've been asking for this, sport,' he said and his fist swung, connecting high on the right cheek, sending Chavasse back into the ditch.
Asta turned and ran and further along the road, Stavrou slid down to the road and moved to meet her, As he dragged her back, Hector Munro and Rory appeared from the plantation above.
'Get down here,' Donner called. 'You're going to ruin everything.'
There was a track on the other side of the road and he nodded to Stavrou. 'Drive the Land Rover in there and make it quick. We haven't got much time.' He pulled Chavasse to his feet and produced a Mauser from his pocket, a bulbous silencer on the end of the barrel. 'Into the trees, sport,' he said grimly. 'I had plans for you, but I can always change them.'
Asta ran past him to Chavasse's side and together they moved across the road into the pine trees as Stavrou drove the Land Rover out of sight. The Munros followed looking slightly bewildered.
They all halted beside the Land Rover, screened from the road by trees and Donner turned to face them. 'And now we wait.'
It was quiet with the rain hissing down through the trees and then in the distance, they heard the sound of a vehicle approaching from the south. As the sound drew nearer, Chavasse realised that there was more than one engine-probably two, which seemed reasonable. A troop carrier for the men, a staff car for the officers.
They started to slow and through the green screen of the pine trees he was aware of movement and then the engines stopped altogether and Murdoch's voice was raised, warm and pleasant, eager to please.
'Captain Bailey, sir, with Colonel von Bayern's party?'
'That's right,' a strange voice said. 'What's all this, then?'
'Lieutenant Grant, sir, attached to Movement Control, Mallaig. There's flooding on the road up ahead, sir, due to last night's heavy rain. My C.O. thought I'd better come to meet you with an alternative route in case of trouble.'
'Surely it can't be as bad as all that if you got here?'
'I only just managed to get across the bridge at Craigie,' Murdoch said, 'and the water was three feet deep then and rising fast. I don't think anything else but a Land Rover could have made it.'
'All right then, what about this alternative route you mentioned?'
'We go through the pass into Glenmore, sir. Poor roads I'm afraid and a longer way round, but we've arranged for you to halt for lunch at Glenmore House.'
'Well, that sounds promising at any rate,' Bailey replied. 'You take the lead. We'll follow.'
There was the slam of a door, followed by another, a strange, hollow silence and then the engines coughed into life. As they died into the distance, Donner turned to Chavasse and grinned.
'Simple when you know how, sport.'
13
Donner stood in front of the fireplace in the library, adjusting the collar of his uniform. He fastened the top button, placed the peaked cap at a slight angle on his head and nodded in satisfaction.
Behind him, the door opened and Asta entered, Stavrou behind her. Donner turned with a grin and held his arms wide. 'Will I do?'
Asta's eyes burned with hate. 'If I had a gun, I'd kill you, Max,' she said flatly.
He took off his cap and crossed in two quick strides, holding her shoulders gently. 'Asta, I love you. I've always loved you. Just a few hours and I'll be back and we'll fly away from this place-far away where no one can touch us.'
She shook her head. 'I won't go, Max.'
'Give yourself a chance. You'll come round,' he said confidently.
'You murdered my mother,' she said. 'When you touch me, I want to be sick.'
He took an involuntary step back and there was real horror in his eyes. 'Now look, Asta, you've got it all wrong….'
She didn't give him a chance. 'Ruth told me. It's no use trying to deny it now. And I saw what you did to Fergus. I can believe anything after that.'
His face hardened. 'You don't leave me much choice, do you?' He nodded to Stavrou. 'Put her in the cellars with the rest of them and send Munro in here.'
She turned without a word and went out, Stavrou at her heels. Donner walked across to the desk, picked up the Mauser with the bulbous silencer on the barrel and checked the magazine.
The door opened and Murdoch entered with Boris Souvorin. The Russian wore the uniform of a sergeant-major in the German Army and Murdoch, who was to take Bailey's place, had Intelligence Corps insignia on the shoulders of his battledress tunic.
'We're ready when you are,' he said.
Donner nodded. 'Get the men into the truck. I'll be with you in five minutes.'
They went out quickly and he slipped the Mauser into his hip pocket and lit a cigarette. The door opened and Hector Munro came in followed by Stavrou.
Donner turned to face him. 'We're leaving now. Stavrou is staying, but he has things to do, so I want you and your son to help guard the prisoners in the cellar.'
'Well now, I'm not so sure about that,' the old man said. 'I don't like the way this thing is shaping up and that's a fact.'
'And what do you intend to do about it?' Donner said. 'Go to the authorities?' He shook his head. 'I thought you had brains, Hector. You're already in this up to your neck. No turning back now.'