Secret Army - Robert Muchamore Page 0,10
a towel away! What’s the matter with you, boy?’
What’s the matter with you? Marc thought to himself, but he didn’t say anything.
Marc remembered what Henderson had said a few moments earlier about pen-pushers and petty-minded bureaucrats and this fellow seemed to be a perfect example.
‘I’ll wash in the bathroom then,’ Marc said, shaking his head with contempt as he walked back down the hallway and stood in front of a sink undoing the top buttons of his shirt.
CHAPTER FIVE
In the first six months after Britain declared war on Germany more people died as a result of blackout regulations banning outdoor lights after darkness than were killed in combat. Things improved as people adapted, but driving remained precarious, especially in snow and ice.
Superintendent McAfferty had hoped to be on familiar ground before dark, but getting lost earlier in the day meant that she had to make the entire drive through the blackout.
Troy and Mason huddled together under blankets in the back seats, their breath turning to steam in the unheated air. McAfferty drove in a stooped position, squinting at the road with her nose almost touching the windscreen.
It was easy to lose concentration. Fortunately the boys kept her alert, by babbling away in French. Mason told McAfferty everything, from their mother dying shortly after his birth to their cruel treatment by Mr Williams.
It was gone seven when McAfferty stopped at a guard post, with a wooden gate blocking the road ahead. Troy raised an eyebrow when he spotted a yellow-and-black sign with thunderbolts painted on it.
THIS AREA IS NOW A RESTRICTED
MILITARY ZONE
DANGER FROM UNEXPLODED SHELLS
TRESPASSERS WILL BE SHOT
‘Home, sweet home,’ McAfferty said cheerfully as the guard raised the gate and the little Austin puttered onwards.
The next few hundred metres took them up a gravel road. The trees beside it were interrupted occasionally by the ruins of cottages that had been on the wrong end of artillery shells. A sharp left took them into an evacuated village, with boards covering most doors and windows. The only occupied buildings were a sizeable farmhouse and an adjacent school building.
McAfferty parked between these two buildings and told the boys to be careful not to slip as they walked up the icy front path and through the unlocked front door of the house. After shutting the door behind herself, McAfferty sat at the bottom of the stairs and began unlacing her shoes as the boys stamped feet and rubbed their hands to get warm.
‘Oh, me feet are killing me,’ McAfferty sighed, before shouting out. ‘Anybody home?’
The shout caused a skinny-legged boy to bolt out from a conservatory at the back of the house. He wore baggy white shorts and a blue-and-white striped rugby shirt that was much too big for him.
‘Keep the noise down,’ the boy said anxiously. ‘Mrs Henderson’s asleep. She’s got one of her headaches and she’s in a mood.’
‘Oh we don’t want to upset Mrs Henderson, do we, Paul?’ McAfferty smiled.
Paul looked at the two new arrivals. ‘Mrs Henderson’s a bit moody,’ he explained, as he pointed up at the ceiling toward the bedroom directly above.
‘You seem to be running nicely,’ McAfferty noted. ‘Is your ankle better?’
Paul shifted uncomfortably. ‘It’s mostly better,’ he stuttered. ‘But I still get twinges and that.’
McAfferty aimed her hand at the two new arrivals and made a formal introduction. ‘Paul, I’d like you to meet our new potential recruit, Troy LeConte, and his younger brother, Mason. Troy, Mason, this is Paul Clarke, one of our more reluctant trainees.’
Paul smirked guiltily at McAfferty’s description, as he shook Troy and Mason’s hands. ‘Good to meet you,’ he said politely.
‘Paul, I’m going to make Troy and Mason something hot to eat. Perhaps while I’m cooking you could take them across to the school building and introduce them to the others?’
Paul pointed back towards the conservatory he’d emerged from a few moments earlier. ‘I’ve got to finish feeding for Mrs Henderson first. I’m halfway through and I don’t want to get it mixed up.’
‘Ahh,’ McAfferty smiled. ‘OK then, why don’t you introduce Troy and Mason to our eight-legged residents, then you can take them across to meet the gang after they’ve eaten?’
‘What are you making?’ Paul asked. ‘I’m pretty famished myself.’
‘I’ll look in the cupboard,’ McAfferty said. ‘I’ll do something quick. Mushrooms on toast, or bacon. Do you boys like bacon?’
Troy nodded eagerly. ‘We haven’t eaten since our dinner last night.’
‘Need feeding up then.’ McAfferty grinned. ‘And how Paul can eat so much and stay so skinny I’ll never know.’
As McAfferty headed