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 s.p.a.ce, then seemed to emerge from a reverie. "Oh, sorry. My other two wishes?" She shook her head. "I pa.s.sed. 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 a.n.a.lysis 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 a.s.suage her loneliness. The presence of that illfavoured member of the lower cla.s.ses, 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 pa.s.sing 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 pa.s.s 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 pa.s.s 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 G.o.d, 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 c.o.c.kup 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."
Collier bared his teeth. "Grrrrr! Like that?"
"Promising, but could do better. Now work yourself into the skin of the part while you"re helping Willie. It"s an act, Steve, and it"s right up your street, so b.l.o.o.d.y well do it."
Willie lifted an M-16 rifle from the container and sighed inwardly as he glanced at the blind girl. There were times, before Steve, that he never allowed himself to think about now. She was still lovely, and he had never ceased to admire her quality. He laid the rifle aside and lifted out the great spanners. "Let"s get to work," he said.
Ten minutes later he stood beside the track where the rails were buckled. The container was now slung across his back and secured by the straps, leaving his hands free. In it were two M-16 rifles with ten 20round staggeredrow box magazines, one Colt .45 revolver, two pairs of field gla.s.ses, some plastic explosive with detonators, four grenades and a coil of nylon rope. A small haversack at his hip held a bottle of water, chocolate, packets of dates, and some amphetamine tablets.
Collier, in shirtsleeves and with a revolver holstered at his hip, was barking out orders to the driver, fireman, and ex-Minister of Agriculture who were using the fishplate spanners. Other men were filling holes blown in the flintstone base of the track. Above, the Piper was still making wide circuits out beyond the ridges and back, with Modesty reporting progress of the rebel force. Dinah stood beside Willie, listening to the medley of sounds.
He said into the radio, "It"s all going okay "ere, Princess. I"ll be on my way now."
Her voice came back. "Me too, Willie love. We"ll need time to pick a good spot. See you soon." The Piper banked away, climbing.
As Willie put the radio in Dinah"s hand she said, "What did you mean about Modesty and the plane when you said "Waste not, want not"?"
"Well, she"s got to bale out, but she"ll try to work it so-" Willie broke off as Collier came towards them, face set and gleaming with sweat, jaw jutting, eyes narrowed, a man transformed. He was gazing south, to where the Piper had climbed high above the ridge and was beginning to dive. They could hear the rising scream of the engine at full throttle, and now the Piper was vertical, hurtling towards the ground like a divebomber.
Collier said savagely, "What the b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l is she playing at?" n.o.body answered, and he exhaled with relief as he glimpsed a small black object above the aircraft. A parachute opened and began slanting north as it descended. The Piper flashed on down. A split second after it had vanished behind the ridge there came the heavy bellow of an explosion.
"... try to work it so she blocks the pa.s.s," Willie resumed. A thick black cloud of smoke rose in the distance, and as the parachute sank lower her voice came over the radio, a little breathless. "She hit the north end and she"s burning nicely. I need both hands to steer this "chute, so over and out."
The men working on the buckled rails had stopped to stare. Collier whirled and bawled obscenities at them. As they hastily returned to their work he glared at Willie. "She"s done what?"
"Crashed the plane in the pa.s.s. It"ll b.u.m for a while and be too "ot to "andle for a lot longer. They can get past on foot by climbing up the west slope a bit, but they won"t be able to get the armoured cars through. That"s what matters."
Collier grinned wolfishly, watching the parachute and its pa.s.senger vanish below the line of the ridge. "The Blaise touch," he said. "You can recognise it anywhere." His expression changed to one of frowning indignation. "How did you know what she was going to do?" he demanded.
Dinah said, "Boy, are you dopey, you"ve seen it all before. He just knows how she thinks, doesn"t he? Now go on, get back to your slavedriver act."
"Watch me," said Collier. He punched Willie gently on the arm. "Give her my love and bring her back safe." He turned to stride back to the working party, shouting. "Come on, you idle b.a.s.t.a.r.ds! Get those holes levelled up! You"re not Minister of Culture now, Santana, you"re all ministers of labour, and it"s sweat or die! You hear?"
Willie said, "He"ll do all right, Dinah. He always does."
She nodded. "It would kill him to let you down. Can you manage all that weight?"
"Sure. It"s not too bad."
"Well, you take care. And give a girl a kiss before you go."
He laughed, gathered her in his arms and held her quietly for a moment before kissing the corner of her mouth. "Don"t worry. We always come back, don"t we?"
"You"d better. Give her my love, too."
"I won"t forget." He released her, turned and began to move west along the railway to where the jungle track led up the ridge and on to the pa.s.s in the valley beyond.
The slope up from the railway was wooded except where the narrow track ran through it. Beyond the ridge, the ground fell to a valley, and here the jungle ceased, giving way to seamed rock and scrub. The incline down to the valley was long and gentle, the valley itself narrow, for soon the ground rose again to a higher ridge, bare and rocky, to drop almost sheer on the far side.
This second ridge was split by a sharp V, forming a pa.s.s which became the track leading on over the nearer ridge and down to the railway. An hour had gone by, but the remains of the Piper still smouldered and the wreckage blocked the pa.s.s. The Cobra rebels had outflanked the wreckage on foot by climbing some way up the west slope of the V, and were now deployed in the valley, pinned down by sparing but very accurate fire from the northern ridge before them.
Modesty Blaise and Willie Garvin lay in the shallow depression on the crest, a sandy hollow rimmed on its southern edge by a screen of foliage they had cut and dragged into position. From this vantage point they could look down upon the area where the rebels had taken cover two hundred yards below. An early attempt to rush the summit had been broken up well before the leading attackers were halfway up the slope. Since then there had been outbursts of smallarms fire, achieving no result, and an attack using mortars. Nine bombs had fallen along the ridge, the nearest on rocky ground some thirty feet away, but the hollow had given good protection. Only a direct hit would have any effect.
Willie lay resting. Modesty was on watch, gazing through a gap in the foliage. Willie thought she looked more relaxed and serene than he remembered for several weeks past. She had greeted him warmly, giving him a hug when they met, and had been talking easily and happily between the short periods of attack.
"If they"ve got any sense," said Willie, "they"ll send someone to climb the far side of the ridge across the valley. From that peak at about eleven o"clock from "ere he"ll "ave us in view. Range about two-fifty. He could just spray us."
Modesty nodded. "I had a look at the far side from the Piper. It"s steep but climbable. I think they"ll make it in another halfhour." She turned her head to smile at him, and it was the rare smile he always held in his mind"s eye, warm and humorous and intimate, the smile that made him feel he could pluck the moon from the sky for her, and was for him alone because of all they had shared through the long years.
She returned to her task, watching the valley below, and Willie settled himself more comfortably, closing his eyes, waiting for his turn to take watch in another ten minutes if no emergency occurred before then. She was extraordinarily relaxed, he thought.
Once the rebels put a man on that peak, quite apart from being able to fire down on the hollow he would also be able to signal any attempt by the defenders to disengage, which would give them only a two hundredyard start in reaching the train. That was too little, for the old locomotive would have to move very slowly over the repaired section of track, and in any case would take some time to reach more than walking speed.
Willie was fully aware that Modesty knew all this as well as he did, yet she was clearly unworried about the problem of disengagement. "She"ll have something in mind," he decided comfortably. "She always does."
Half a mile away, Collier moved to where his wife sat near the track on a cushioned seat taken from the train. "What"s new, sweetheart?" he said, dropping down beside her with a grunt of relief.
"Looks pretty good," said Dinah. "We"re not making smalltalk, but Modesty came through ten minutes ago to say there"s been no fresh attack since that last mortarbomb effort. I don"t think she"s conning me, because I"ve heard no firing. How"s your team doing? I haven"t heard you bawling at them lately."
"No need," said Collier. "There"s nothing like being scared spitless to boost your output. From the moment that firing started they"ve been working like demented beavers."
"No snags?"
"Plenty. There are twelve sleepers to each section of track, and two fishplates on each sleeper. Every fishplate is bolted to the sleeper and to the rail. We"ve unbolted the buckled rails and replaced two busted fishplates with two from the track behind the train. We"ve unbolted one good rail from behind and bolted it in front. Now we"re working on the second rail. We"ve also had to replace a smashed sleeper and repair bits of track-I mean the stones the sleepers are bedded in."
"So plenty of snags but you"re coping?"
"Yes. Rather well, to be honest. I just pretend I"m Modesty or Willie and come up with an answer." Collier shook his head, frowning. "It"s b.l.o.o.d.y patronising of them if you ask me. I shall have words with them on their return."
Dinah smiled and felt for his hand. "No. You"ll just rave at them for leaving it late and taking needless risks and so on, the way you always do."
Collier pressed her hand, then got to his feet, grinning. "They"d start worrying about me if I didn"t," he said.
Another thirty minutes had gone by. Willie lay p.r.o.ne on watch. Beside him, Modesty lay on her back. There had been one sneak attempt by two men to crawl within grenade range of the hollow, but Willie"s grenade range on the downslope combined with his unique power and accuracy was almost three times theirs and they were now dead.
There was hardly any wind, and it was very quiet on the ridge when Modesty said softly, "Willie... give me a kiss."
He was startled, as he had not been when Dinah used almost the same words. "Eh? Oh... my pleasure, Princess." He edged towards her to kiss her cheek, but she put a hand to his chin and moved her head a little so that her lips were laid gently on his for a moment, and for the first time.
Then she was smiling up at him, patting his cheek and saying, "Back on watch, Willie, and don"t look away from that peak while I talk. There"s something I have to tell you."
He stared across the valley, stomach suddenly taut with anxiety, trying to concentrate on his task. "What"s up, Princess? I mean... did something "appen I don"t know about?"
She said, "I want you to go back now, Willie. Back to the train. Dinah just said they"ll be ready to move in twenty minutes, and I want you there from the start. I"ll be staying on to cover you. I won"t be coming back."
He said hoa.r.s.ely, "Christ, no! It"s not on, Princess! I know disengaging could be tricky, but we"ll manage. Even if the train goes without us we can make it through the jungle, you and me. We"ll do it easy-"
She broke in. "Don"t argue, Willie, we haven"t much time. Believe me, this is the best thing that could have happened for me, it really is. If I went in for praying, it would be what I"d pray for. No, don"t take your eyes off that peak. Just listen. I"ve been worried sick about you for weeks now, trying to figure how to tell you, but now it"s simple."
Without moving his head he said in a whisper, "Tell me what?"
"About three months ago I started getting headaches. That"s new for me, but it wasn"t just headaches. I began to feel there was something wrong in my head. That"s when I went off to New York for a week or two, because I didn"t want to worry you." He felt her hand on his arm, and swallowed incoherent words that were jumbled in his throat.
She said, "I"ll keep it short, Willie. I went into the Royston Clinic. They took X-rays, made scans, and decided something needed checking. They drilled a little hole in my head, took a sample from inside, and discovered that I"ve got something nasty there that they can"t do anything about. It"s too late. It was always too late."
She was silent for a few moments, letting him absorb the shock. Willie said nothing, for no words could cope with the huge horror that filled him. She said gently, "I know it"s a shock, but be glad for me, Willie. I"ve had a marvellous life, you know I have. Now time"s up, and for the last few weeks I"ve known that I"ll soon be starting to die, but that first I"ll stop being me and become pretty much a vegetable. In a way I suppose that wouldn"t matter much for me, because I wouldn"t know, but I couldn"t bear it for you, and I"ve been at my wit"s end trying to think whether to tell you, or just disappear, or... whatever."
She pressed his arm, then took her hand away. "But when this Montelero thing happened I had a feeling that somehow I"d have a chance to go out the way I"d want, the way we both thought it likely we"d go during all those years when we somehow managed to miss it by a whisker. I didn"t dream it could work out quite so well as this. I mean, we can"t disengage until that train"s on the move. Apart from Steve and Dinah there are... how many children aboard? Thirty, didn"t you say? Well, one of us has to stay till they"re on their way, and I"m first choice by a mile. You can"t argue, Willie. I have to go on the big walkabout soon, and I"d so much rather go with a bang than a whimper, doing something a bit useful. This is the very best thing that could have happened to me."
He lay for a long minute, holding back futile protest, a part of him seeking desperately for a way out, an alternative, yet knowing there was none. Now he understood the open affection she had shown for him these past weeks, the small physical contacts, the almost maternal regard, and the moments when she had seemed far away in a world of her own. Now too he understood the eagerness for action he had sensed so strongly during the phonecall from Government House yesterday, and he knew that she had come here gladly to die.
He heard her laugh softly, and she said, "It"s been a great bonus, living this long, Willie. Don"t make it hard for me now. I want you to start back right away. I"ll tell Dinah about it on the radio, so you won"t have that job to do when you see her. All right?"