I went to him immediately. I could not see his face in the darkness, for his cap was pulled well down, against the rain. Two gunners stood a short distance behind him, sparing us little attention, for they were staring back the way we had come.
“Are you in command here?” I said.
“Yes, sir. Have you come from Woking?”
“Is that the town on the hill?”
He confirmed this. “Nasty business there I believe, sir. A lot of civilian casualties.”
“Do you know what you are up against?” I said.
“I’ve heard the rumours.”
“It is no ordinary enemy,” I said, raising my voice a little. “You must destroy their pit immediately.”
“I have my orders, sir,” the officer said, and just at that moment there was a brilliant flash of lightning, repeated three times, and I saw his face for the first time. He was a man in his mid-twenties, and the clean, regular lines of his face were so unexpectedly human that for a moment I was dumbfounded. In that same illuminating flash he must have seen Amelia and me too, and noticed our untidy state. He went on: “The men have heard rumours that these are men from Mars.”
“Not men,” Amelia said, stepping forward. “Evil, destructive monsters.”
“Have you seen them, sir?” the officer said to me.
“I have more than seen them!” I cried over the rumbling of thunder. “We came with them from Mars!”
The officer turned away at once, and signed to the two gunners. They came over directly.
“These two civilians,” he said. “See them to the Chertsey Road, and report back.”
“You must listen to me!” I cried to the officer. “These monsters must be killed at the first opportunity!”
“My orders are quite explicit, sir,” the officer said, preparing to turn away. “The Cardigan is the finest regiment of horse artillery in the British Army, a fact which even you, in your present deranged state, must admit.”
I stepped forward angrily, but I was caught by one of the soldiers. I struggled, and shouted: “We are not deranged! You must shell their pit at once!”
The officer looked at me sympathetically for a moment or two—evidently assuming that I had seen my house and property destroyed, and was thus temporarily demented—then turned away and splashed across the muddy ground towards a row of tents.
The gunner holding me said: “C’mon, sir. Ain’t no place for civvies.”
I saw that the other soldier was holding Amelia by the arm, and I shouted at him to leave her go. This he did, so I took her arm myself and allowed the soldiers to lead us past the horse-lines—where the poor animals bucked and whinnied, their coats slick with rain—and into the heart of the wood. We walked for several minutes, during which we learned that the detachment had ridden down from Aldershot Barracks that afternoon, but no more information, then came to a road.
Here the soldiers pointed the way to Chertsey, then headed back to their emplacement.
I said to Amelia: “They can have no idea of what they are facing.”
She was more philosophical than I. “But they are alert to the danger, Edward. We cannot tell them what to do. The Martians will be contained on the common.”
“There are eight more projectiles to land!” I said.
“Then they will have to deal with them one by one.” She took my hand affectionately, and we started to walk up the road towards Chertsey. “I think we must be careful how we tell people of our adventures.”
I took this as a mild rebuke, so I said defensively: “The time was wrong. He thought I was mad.”
“Then we must be more calm.”
I said: “There is already word about that the projectiles are from Mars. How could they have known?”
“1 do not know. But I am sure of one thing, and it is a matter of importance to us both. We know where we are, Edward. We, have landed in Surrey.”
“I wish I had thrown us into the sea.”
“If we are going to Chertsey,” Amelia said, not at all affected by my pessimism, “then we are not a dozen miles from Sir William’s house in Richmond!”
iv
As we entered Chertsey it was clear that the town had been evacuated. The first sign we saw of this was as we passed the station, and noticed that the metal gates had been drawn across the passenger entrance. Beyond them, a chalked sign declared that the train service had been suspended until further notice.
Further on into the town, walking through unlighted roads, we saw not a single lamp in any of the houses, nor anyone about the streets. We walked as far as the River Thames, but all we could see here were several boats and dinghies bobbing at their moorings.
The thunderstorm had passed, although it, continued to rain, and we were both chilled through.
“We must find somewhere to rest,” I said. “We are both done for.”
Amelia nodded wearily, and held a little tighter to my arm. I was glad for her sake that there was no one about to see us: our abrupt return to civilization served to remind me that Amelia, in her torn and wet chemise, was as good as unclothed, and I was little better dressed.
Amelia made an instant decision. “We must break into one of the houses. We cannot sleep in the open.”
“But the Martians…”
“We can leave those to the Army. My dearest, we must rest.”
There were several houses backing on to the river, but as we moved from one to the other we realized that the evacuation must have been orderly and without panic, for each was securely shuttered and locked.
At last we came to a house, in a road only a short distance from the river, where a window came free as I pushed at it. I climbed inside at once, then went through and opened the door for Amelia. She came in, shivering, and I warmed her with my own body.
“Take off your chemise,” I said “I will find you some clothes.”
I left her sitting in the scullery, for the range had been alight during the day, and there it was still warm. I went through the rooms upstairs, but found to my dismay that all the clothes-cupboards had been emptied, even in the servants’ quarters. However, I did find several blankets and towels, and took them downstairs. Here I stripped off my combinations, and placed them with Amelia’s tattered chemise over the bar at the front of the range. While I had been upstairs I had discovered that the water in the tank was still hot, and while we huddled in our blankets beside the range I told Amelia she might have a bath.
Her response to this news was of such innocent and uninhibited delight that I did not add that there was probably only enough hot water for one.
While I had searched for clothes, Amelia had not herself been idle She had discovered some food in the pantry, and although it was all cold it tasted wonderful. I think I shall never forget that first meal we ate after our return: salted beef, cheese, tomatoes and a lettuce taken from the garden. We were even able to drink some wine with it, for the house had a modest cellar.
We dared not light any of the lamps for the houses around us were darkened, and if any of the Martians should happen. by they would immediately see us. Even so, I searched the house for some kind of newspaper or magazine, hoping to learn from it what had been known of the projectiles before the Martians broke free of the pit. However, the house had been effectively cleared of all but what we found around us, and we remained unenlightened on this score.
At last Amelia said she would take her bath, and a little later I beard the sound of the water being run. Then she returned.
She said: “We are accustomed to sharing most things, Edward, and I think you are as dirty as I.”