“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“We don’t know. They were rushed over there badly trained and with poor equipment. They still fought hard, though.”
“No news?” Hector said.
“Not yet.”
“So he might well be a prisoner of war,” Caitrin said.
“I hope so, but I have my doubts after all this time. We should have been informed by now,” Sir William said, staring at his whisky. He changed the subject. “You know the Home Guard came calling last week and asked for weapons. I gave them some shotguns and a couple of deer rifles. They even took a dozen claymores. The thought of those old men galloping across the heather blasting away and waving claymores at the Nazis would be funny if it were not also so tragic.”
“Perhaps so, but it does mean we will all do everything to defeat the Germans,” Caitrin said. “If they come, they will learn that invading Britain was a terrible mistake.”
“You’re right, lass,” Sir William said, and added with a wicked grin, “I hope you are also hungry. My cook, Angela, brought us a fine, freshly butchered haggis.”
* * *
The next morning, Sir William stood at his front door, feet firmly planted and hands on hips, to watch them drive away. Caitrin waved until he was out of sight. “A lovely man and another poor soul rattling around all alone in his ancestral home. I hope his son is safe.”
“I hope so too. James is a good man,” Hector said as Caitrin slipped off the wedding rings and gave them back to him. “You don’t want to keep them on?”
Caitrin’s expression softened as she shook her head. “No, Hecky, not yet.”
Caitrin stopped at the post office in Mauchline so Hector could call London, then drove north as he surveyed their route on the map.
“They want us to call again when we reach Greenock,” he said.
“Nothing serious?”
“I don’t think so, just being extra-cautious.” He folded the map, put his hands behind his head, and stretched out. ”Almost over. Now for the easy leg of the journey.”
“My mum used to say that nine-tenths of the journey was only halfway there.”
“Very profound, and I have no answer to that.”
“I never did either. I do know being the sole civilian motorcar on the road means we’re no longer inconspicuous. Then again, neither is the man following us. Or men.”
“If they still are. I haven’t seen anyone.” He glanced at her. “After spending a week with the landed gentry, have you changed your mind at all about them?”
She shrugged.
“That’s your answer?”
“I liked your mum a lot.”
“She liked you.”
“Now tell me where we’re going.”
Hector opened the map. “We’ll take the A76 to Kilmarnock and the A71 to the coast. Then it’s a leisurely drive up the east bank of the River Clyde to Greenock. We should be there in plenty of time.”
The car engine hesitated, then raced. Caitrin pulled to the side of the road, switched off the motor, leaped out, and opened the bonnet. She stepped back as steam billowed out. “The belt snapped,” she said.
“I don’t carry a spare.”
They were in the middle of open farming country, and the road in both directions was empty.
“I do, sort of,” she said, went to the rear seat of the car, opened her suitcase, and took out a nylon stocking. She wound the stocking around the pulley wheels to get the right length, tied a knot, and chafed her hands clean. “That should take us to the nearest garage. But you and Victoria owe me a new pair.”
It did get them there. Belt replaced, they drove through Kilmarnock and by midday turned west for the coast. Now there was traffic, lines of army lorries, with military police who waved them off the road until the convoys had passed. The day was slipping away.
“We should get off this road and take a B-road inland,” Caitrin said.
Hector scanned the map and said, “It will be slow going.”
Caitrin pointed to another approaching lorry convoy. “It can’t possibly be any slower than this.”
“Take the next turn right, through Braehead, Carruthmuir, and Auchenfoyle. It’s a gradual climb uphill, and Greenock will be on the bay beneath us.”
Caitrin drove as fast as she dared along a narrow, winding road, and the light had faded by the time they reached the hill above Greenock. The town was in blackout, and only dim shapes and edges showed the buildings and docks. “You can hardly see the town. How do we possibly find the Talisman?” she asked.
“I’ll call London and ask them,” Hector said as he glanced at his watch. “We still have three hours.”
They found a telephone box. Hector made the call and returned to the car with a frown. “It seems no civilian vehicles are allowed on the dock, not even us. They’re sending a Captain Murray with an army lorry to meet us.”
“Where?”
