O'Donnell, Peter - Modesty Blaise 12 - Cobra Trap, page 26
She hesitated, then, “If he’s taken charge there, he could have his hands full. First let’s hear what he told you.”
“Very well. A party of three rebels blew up the line and lay in ambush, ready to attack with a machinegun when the people descended from the train. Willie forestalled this. One of the three was left alive and made prisoner. While Willie was away connecting the telephone, the man was questioned by the Montelero escort of soldiers. Questioned intensively, I fear, for he did not survive. It was revealed that a rebel force some two hundred strong is approaching from the west, and that he and his late comrades were sent on a day ahead of that force to halt the train and kill the refugees.”
Modesty said, “All of them?”
“So he admitted, shortly before he died. Every soul on the train was to be destroyed, leaving no witnesses. That task will now fall to the main body when it arrives, which can be no more than a matter of hours now.”
When Modesty looked up from the map Dall saw that her eyes were blank, her face without expression. “Will they do that, Miguel?” she said.
“Without question, my dear. A government in exile is the one threat to their hopes of many years in unchallenged power.” Sagasta leaned forward to run a finger across a small section of the map. “The Cobra force is moving from the west along this road, south of these two parallel ridges. There is a narrow pass through the first ridge, here. They can then continue along a track that runs up over the second ridge and down to the railway line.”
She said, “How strong is the Montelero escort and what firepower do they have?”
Sagasta looked up, grimfaced. The escort has decamped. They disappeared into the bush with their weapons, heading away from the rebel approach. In due course they will either declare themselves for the rebel cause, or attempt illegal immigration over our border.”
Modesty looked at the scale of the map. “That’s about seventy miles to the nearest point, going across country. Even Willie can’t get a whole mob of men, women and children to the border through that jungle terrain.”
Sagasta said, “But there is perhaps something he can do. He wants to take up two sound rails from behind the train and use them to replace the buckled rails in front of the train. Once it is moving again, the rebel force cannot overtake it.”
Dall said softly, “The old bastard hasn’t lost his touch, Modesty.”
But she was watching Sagasta. “You don’t look happy, Miguel. What’s the snag?”
“I’m sorry. He needs a tool to effect the change. He needs a fishplate spanner, a spanner a metre long. Without it he cannot unbolt the rails and replace them.”
Dall said, “Oh, Jesus. Can you get one to him?”
Modesty made an impatient gesture. “Not just one, Johnny.”
Sagasta smiled at her. “Of course not. Two would halve the time. I have managed to secure three at short notice, and they are with the aeroplane 1 have hired for you. It is for you to get them to him, Modesty. I am already beyond the limits of my authority.”
She touched his arm. “I know that, and I’m grateful. I’ll file a flight plan for Santiago, so whatever happens it can’t be laid at your door. Will that do?”
Sagasta spread his hands. “Perfectly. Now, do you wish to speak with Willie or will you leave at once?”
She had already made that decision. “I’ll go now. He’ll be doing everything I might suggest, and I mustn’t waste any time. Just pass the message that I’m on my way, please Miguel.”
Dall got to his feet as she moved towards him. He said, “No good asking to come with you?”
“Oh, Johnny. You know that’s out of the question.” She took his face between her hands, studying him. “You’re tired. Now give me a kiss, then go and rest. And thank you for everything.”
Dall kissed her, holding her close for a moment. “Come back safe,” he said. “You hear?”
She laughed softly. “I’ve never been able to promise that, have I? But don’t fret, Johnny, I’ll be okay.”
He let her go and she moved to the door Sagasta was holding open for her. There she paused, rested a hand briefly on Sagasta’s shoulder, looked at Dall for a moment, smiled, flickered an eyelid at him and was gone.
*
Willie Garvin sat in a corner of the compartment, his eyes closed. He was alone. Collier and Dinah had climbed the ladder to the coach roof above him. With her highly acute hearing, Dinah would be the first to pick up the sound of Modesty’s aircraft as it approached.
A few of the government men had set off along the track on foot with their wives and children. Willie had not tried to dissuade them. They could not hope to make the journey before being overtaken by the rebel soldiers, but once the track was repaired the train would soon catch up with the walkers and take them aboard, for all the difficult gradients were behind, and the driver had said that the rest of the run to the border was over flat ground which would allow reasonable speed.
For Willie it had been a busy morning. He had spent the last halfhour using yoga techniques to restore his mental and physical energy. Now he reflected quietly on what he had done, and decided there was nothing more until Modesty arrived. It would be impossible for her to land here, but that simply meant the aircraft would be a writeoff. No doubt it was fully insured.
She was on her way, Sagasta had told him, with fishplate spanners, weaponry, field glasses, twoway radios, and whatever other items she had decided might be of use.
Willie sat relaxed, slowly distancing himself from the present and from all about him, letting his mind drift back to when he had last seen her. That was at her cottage in Benildon, ten days ago, shortly before the fighting broke out in Montelero. He had been lying in a lounger on the terrace in the warm July sunshine, idly assessing the pros and cons of getting up and fetching himself a cold beer from the kitchen.
It was a finely balanced decision. On the one hand Modesty always kept an ample supply of his favourite beer at the cottage, and it would be bliss to feel the ambrosial liquid swilling around his tastebuds before it made the happy descent down his throat. On the other hand, as lawyers so often said, one had to consider adverse factors. The lounger was very comfortable, and the fridge in the kitchen was a good thirty paces from the terrace where he reclined.
“And,” Willie reminded himself solemnly, “you’re not as young as you were, Willieboy.” He grinned to himself at the thought, and was about to get up when two bare arms slid down over his shoulders to rest across his chest, and a soft cheek was laid against his.
Surprise touched him gently, for this and other small gestures of affection she had been showing lately were something new-not that her affection for him had ever been in doubt, but through all the long years it had been tacit and rarely displayed. He found the change very pleasant even as he wondered at it.
Opening one eye he saw that a tankard of beer now stood on the little table beside his chair. Modesty Blaise said in his ear, “I have this amazing telepathic power.” She straightened up, ruffled his hair, and moved to sit on the swingseat to his left. Her feet were bare, and the long slender legs rose to faded denim shorts topped by a sleeveless silk blouse. The legs, Willie decided, were as good as ever, a joy to contemplate.
He said, “Thanks, Princess. I bet you got this telepathic power when you were in the woods at dawn one day and saved a little pixie who was caught in some brambles, and she gave you three wishes.”
She looked at him in surprise. “How did you know?”
He took a long pull at his beer. “I’ve met ‘er myself. It’s Mabel. She’s always getting in trouble and giving three wishes to people who get ‘er out. I once saved ‘er from a killer rabbit, and she gave me the Derby winner.”
“That was useful. What about the other two wishes?”
“I’ve forgotten now. I think one of them was to do with girls. What about your other two?”
She was silent for several seconds, gazing absently into space, then seemed to emerge from a reverie. “Oh, sorry. My other two wishes?” She shook her head. “I passed. From what I’ve read about people who take up these threewish offers they usually wish they hadn’t. There’s always a nasty sting in the tail.” She paused, frowning. “Did I tell you John Dall’s coming here at the end of next week to spend a few days with me?”
Willie said, “You told me last week, Princess. Give ‘im my best. I’d like to ‘ave seen John, but I’ll be in Montelero.”
She nodded. “Yes, of course. I’m glad you’re going. Things seem to be getting a little tense out there, and I always worry about Dinah.”
A few days ago a typical letter from Collier had arrived, pointing out that for ten weeks now he had been hotly engaged in statistical analysis for the Montelero government, and that Dinah was alleging neglect and becoming mutinous. She had therefore demanded that he require the presence of the notorious hooligan, Modesty Blaise, to keep her company for the final weeks of his commission. Dinah’s demand had been emphasised, he claimed, by skilfully timed rights to the jaw and threats of kneecapping if he failed to assuage her loneliness. The presence of that illfavoured member of the lower classes, Willie Garvin, would be tolerated providing he remained silent and wore a stocking over his head at all times.
To Willie’s surprise Modesty had said, “You go, Willie love, I can’t make it just now. I have John Dall coming, and then Weng’s getting stroppy because he says there’s a lot of business paperwork I’ve neglected.”
It was no doubt true about Weng and the paperwork, thought Willie as he took another pull at his beer, but it was unlike her to be concerned about such things.
She said, “I’ve cabled them to say I’m sorry I can’t make it. Anyway, Dinah loves having you around, so does Steve, whose insults are code for endearments. They won’t mind if I’m not there this time.” She rose from the swingseat. “Give a shout if you want another beer.” She patted his cheek and moved away towards the cottage.
Steve and Dinah would mind though, Willie thought as he watched her go. They would both be disappointed, as he was himself. He sighed inwardly. How long was it now? Over thirty years since the day she had come into his wretched life and remade his world. Leaning back, he closed his eyes and gazed down the long slope of the years. In the beginning was The Network and the days of high danger. When Modesty wound up the organisation and they retired, there was an unexpected but not unwelcome continuation of risk and challenge in what Willie always thought of as the Tarrant era.
Sir Gerald Tarrant was head of British Intelligence in that time. Modesty and Willie had worked for him only twice by design, but there were later occasions when he had been involved in a number of the conflicts into which they had been drawn. It was now eight years since Tarrant’s death following five years of retirement. He had suffered a heart attack while staying with Modesty at Benildon, and died quickly, quietly, contentedly, in the ambulance on the way to hospital, holding Modesty’s hand.
Throughout the Tarrant era and the years that followed, time had slipped by barely noticed, for their lives were full. They sought trouble no more than the iron filing seeks the magnet, but were drawn to it no less inevitably. There had been new enemies to face, new dangers to be met, but these occasions were shortlived periods of intense experience, and served only to heighten their enjoyment of all that lay between, sharpening their appreciation of the good fortune that fate had laid upon them.
Their adrenalin addiction, whether gift or burden, had also been laid upon them by the tapestry woven in their early lives, and they were aware of this, accepting it as a facet of their destiny. But with the passing years it grew less demanding, and this seemed to reduce the aura that made them so readily subject to the attraction exerted by the forcefield of danger. It was four years now since they had been in serious action, but regular training in their various skills was a lifetime habit they still maintained.
And that was just as well, thought Willie as he came back to the present, because this could turn out to be a very dodgy caper. He opened his eyes, got to his feet and was about to open the compartment door when Collier shouted from the roof above him.
“Willie! She’s here-Dinah can hear her!”
Two minutes later they were on the strip of open ground between track and jungle, standing among the chattering refugees as a Piper Tomahawk circled above them, quickly losing height. “She’s checking the winddirection by the locomotive stack,” said Willie. “I got them to chuck some green stuff on the coal to thicken it up.”
Collier said, “Why is she-?” and broke off. The plane had moved upwind and was turning in a slow roll. Something fell, and immediately blossomed into a small parachute which slanted back towards the train as it descended. “Very considerate,” said Collier. “She doesn’t want us to have to climb trees.” He took his wife’s hand. “There’s a small parachute with a little package coming down, and it’s going to land pretty close. How did she get it out of the plane, Willie? You can’t just open a window, can you?”
“There’s a roof door on the Piper Tomahawk,” said Willie. “It’s open now. That’ll be a hand radio she’s dropped, with a bit of weight for stability.” He began to move forward, calling in Spanish to the little group of men watching, telling them to remain where they were. Since he had achieved the miracle of summoning help his authority had been unquestioned, for these were very frightened people. It was on his instructions that the children were now confined to the coaches and in the care of the women.
The parachute came down just ahead of the locomotive and close to the jungle fringe. Willie cut the padded bag from the shrouds and took out the little radio. Above, Modesty had banked round and he could see her looking down. He waved and received an answering wave before the circuit took her from his view. Walking back to join Steve and Dinah he checked that the batteries were firmly connected and drew out the short aerial. At once her voice came clearly to him. “I’ll be dropping the container next, Willie. Three fishplate spanners, some weaponry and sundries. How long will you need to get that train moving?”
With the sound of her voice his heart lifted and the whole world became brighter, for he felt suddenly complete. Three spanners! He was grinning with relief as he spoke into the integral microphone. “A couple of hours if we hit no snags, Princess.”
He had rejoined the Colliers now, and they were listening as she spoke again: “Then we’ll need a holding operation. At the moment you have only about halfanhour. Have you been up on that eastwest ridge to look at the approach, Willie?”
“Sure, Princess, first thing after I’d got through to Sagasta. It’s not good. There’s a track leading up from the pass to the railway, meeting it about a quartermile west of where we’re stuck. But with you and me up on the ridge with a bit of firepower we could hold ‘em quite a while. Long enough, I reckon.”
“Not that simple, Willie. I made a sweep south before I came here, and I’ve seen the Cobra column. They’re going to reach the pass in less than halfanhour. What their late comrade didn’t tell his inquisitors is that they have two armoured cars. The stuff I’ve brought will stop footsoldiers but not armour. Are Steve and Dinah listening?”
“Yes. Sorry, Princess.”
“No, that’s fine. I just want them to know it’s all going to be okay. Now here’s the plot. I’ll drop the container next circuit. You get the driver and fireman and any other likely man busy with the spanners. Show Steve exactly what has to be done, and put him in charge. Have him wear one of the revolvers from the container to establish his authority, then you meet me on the ridge, just east of that stand of tall trees. You’ll have to hump the rifles and as much ammo as you can carry, but you can take it slowly. I’ll bring the first aid kit and the radio. Leave your radio with Dinah so we can keep in touch. We’ll want to know when the train’s ready to go so we can disengage. All clear?”
“You’ll be coming up the ridge from the far side?”
“Yes. With you being so loaded, I’ll probably be there before you. Okay, stand by for the drop.”
Again the Piper moved upwind along the railway. Again it rolled, and this time as the parachute opened a large cylindrical canvas container hung from it. Willie said, “Lend a hand, Steve, and bring Dinah with you.”
Collier took his wife’s arm. As they moved with Willie towards the area where the container would land Dinah said, “Why is she going to bale out so far away?”
Collier said in a startled voice, “Bale out?”
“Well, what else, honey? She can’t land here.”
“Oh God, no, of course she can’t. But what about the plane?”
“She’ll think of something,” said Willie. “Waste not, want not.”
“Eh?”
They had reached the container, and Willie ignored the question as he dropped to one knee and began to unfasten the straps. “Help me sort this stuff out, Steve. You ‘eard what Modesty said. I’ll show you what’s to be done, then I’m off. The rest’s up to you.”
Collier said miserably, “Jesus, I’m useless at this sort of thing. I’ll make a colossal cockup of it.”
Dinah put her arms round him and kissed him on the chin. “You said the same thing twenty years ago when you were looking after me in Panama, and you’ve been saying it ever since, but you always turn up trumps, Steve.”
“This is different-“
“Shut up and listen. You’re not required to do anything manual, you simply use your voice and your terrifying personality. You’re going to strut about giving orders in a loud, hectoring manner. I know that’s not you, but I also know you can ham it up. You’re great at that. Now come on, give me a snarl, tiger.”
