The Final Cut

'Believe me, Sergeant, I wish to do so. I have no intention of staying silent.' 'Which in your case makes for problems. As I understand it, Mr Makepeace, it's your stated intention as soon as you've been released to go back out on the march – the very thing for which you've been arrested.' 'Correct.' 'Can't have that, can we, Sir?' 'You going to arrest me again?'

'No. Not yet at least. Not necessary. Since you've made it clear you won't honour any conditions of bail, I'm proposing not to release you.' 'You must.'

'I can hold you for up to twenty-four hours, Sir. That's the law. I suspect you voted in support of it, too. Give you a bit of time to consider, to cool down. Then we'll put you before the next sitting of the magistrates' court…' – he glanced up at the wall clock, which showed nearly one on Monday morning – 'which'll be Tuesday.'

'I'm supposed to be in Banbury, almost halfway to London by then.' 'Not this Tuesday, I'm afraid.'

'Sweep out the tumbril before you put me in it, will you?'

'Don't be like that, Sir. You'll find your cell very cosy, I'm sure. Although we're fresh out of feather quilts.' 'And justice.' 'That's for the magistrates to decide.' 'And, thankfully, the people.' The silver disc of the moon had risen to shed a pale, monochrome light across the cutting, supplemented at various points along the ridge by lamps which appeared to be powered from car batteries, and punctuated by the occasional brilliance of portable television lights. Across the road where the children sat, a line of candles had been lit, giving the cordon an almost festive appearance. Every twenty minutes or so some forty of the schoolgirls would rise and their places would be taken by a fresh contingent; they were running the human wall in shifts and by the coach-load. But who 'they' were was not yet apparent.

No shots had been fired, but the intention of those occupying the ridge was clear. Every time one of St Aubyn's men approached within twenty yards of the barricade of buses, rifles were raised, chambers loaded and triggers very audibly cocked. Even had the President and his daughter not been accompanying them, resistance would have been pointless. They had no cover, no way out apart from bulldozing through the children, so they sat and stared, sitting ducks.

Once the sun had melted from the sky and the inky umbrella of night emerged to cover them, they had discovered how insubstantial was the mountain air and how cold it could grow with nothing but starlight for warmth. Rations, too, were meagre; no one had planned on this. And from beyond the cordon they could taste the smoky flavours of roasting lamb painted with garlic and rosemary. Torture on a hungry tongue.

Then three men emerged from behind the row of candles and made their way forward. One carried a battered oil lamp, another a large plastic bottle of water.

'Good evening, English,' the man holding the lamp greeted St Aubyn as he moved to meet them. The Cypriot, a wrinkled man in his sixties, sported a huge moustache which grew like ram's horns and entirely obscured his mouth. He held up his hand to indicate he was unarmed. 'I hope you are uncomfortable.'

'What is the point of this?' the Colonel demanded. 'You know that a thousand British soldiers could be here within hours.'

'And you and everyone in your convoy could be dead within minutes. But let us not deal in hypotheses, English.' 'What do you want?' 'Your surrender.' 'You cannot be serious.'

'Deadly serious. We want to show you British that you are not welcome in this island, not as military occupiers who meddle in our affairs. And by holding you here until you surrender we want to show the world that your game is over.' 'It cannot happen.' 'I don't think you can prevent it.'

'My Commander at Episkopi will already be organizing our relief.'

'On the contrary, we have already spoken to your Air Vice-Marshal Rae and told him that if he lifts a single finger he will be responsible for an enormous loss of life, mostly British.' 'You've already been in touch with him?'

'Indeed. We thought it only fair to let him know since we suspect your own communication facilities on the convoy are somewhat inadequate.'

Damn right. Stuck in a cutting in the middle of the Troodos mountains with all the specialist communications equipment sent back to Episkopi, they might as well have been shouting down a drainpipe from the moon. St Aubyn had been relying on a search party being sent out as soon as it was realized they were missing. 'And…?' St Aubyn enquired uncertainly.

'It seems that he is seeking guidance from London. I am afraid you will have an uncomfortable night.'

'We have no food. Precious little water,' St Aubyn explained, noticing the water bottle.

'Anyone who wishes either food or water will be welcome as our guests. But they will come unarmed and will not be allowed to return.'

The man holding the water placed the bottle on the far side of the line of candles, tantalizing, just beyond reach.

'I fear that on this occasion we shall have to decline your Cypriot hospitality,' St Aubyn responded drily.

'For now, perhaps. But we shall see.' He glanced up to the starscape which hung in the clear sky where soon would hang the fire of a Middle Eastern sun. 'We shall see.'

The Cypriots turned to make their way back beyond the line. 'By the way, who are you?' St Aubyn demanded.

'Just ordinary Cypriots. I come from the village of Spilia.' 'The Bishop's men?'

The old man turned and smiled wryly, a gold tooth glistening in the lamplight. 'You don't understand, do you, English? Since yesterday, almost everyone on the island is one of the Bishop's men.' Then he disappeared into the shadows. 'Did you have any trouble locating the boys, Jim?'

'None at all, Sir,' the Squadron Commanding Officer replied. He'd been up at first light to fly the reconnaissance mission himself. 'They're on the main Nicosia road, just below the village of Spilia.' He pointed out the location on the large wall map in the Air Vice-Marshal's office. 'Bottled up in a cutting by a barricade of buses and…' – he coughed apologetically – 'what appeared to be a gathering of schoolgirls.' 'You're kidding' Rae gasped. 'The schoolgirls appeared to be dancing, Sir.' 'What is this, carnival week?'

'It has some elements of that, Sir. Long lines of cars and buses seem to be approaching the site from every direction. Looks as though it's becoming something of a tourist attraction. Whatever else it means, there's going to be no way to get a relief convoy up there without standing in line in a traffic jam.' 'Helicopters?'

'We'd be hovering only feet above the top of the cutting with about as much protection as butterflies. They wouldn't even need to fire, just throw stones. Easier than a coconut shy at a fair.'

The Air Vice-Marshal's voice dropped a tone. 'So what's the answer, Jim?' 'Buggered if I know, Sir.'

Rae slumped in his chair over the telephone which he knew would soon be ringing. 'Tell you something, old friend. They ain't going to like this back in London. Ain't going to like it one little bit.' 'Serves him bloody right.' The morning election press conference had approached a shambles. Urquhart had appeared on the rostrum at party headquarters beneath a neat velcro slogan entitled 'Growing Together'. He had with him a carefully prepared press release and an equally carefully prepared Minister for Agriculture, intent on extolling the expanding fortunes of the great British farmer. The media would have none of it.

The position had been well rehearsed on matters Makepeace and military. No comment. The first was sub judice and up to the courts, the second a matter of national security. 'You'll have to wait and see' the Party Chairman offered in his introduction, but of course they wouldn't. They attacked the position in waves.

'Is it true that our troops are being stopped by a bunch of schoolgirls?' 'It's really not that simple…'