Blackstone and the Heart of Darkness (3 page)

Two

The route from Northwich railway station to the village of Marston lay along a raised road between two stretches of water which could have been regarded either as very large ponds or very small lakes.

The road itself seemed to be mainly constructed of ash and clinker, and crunched under Blackstone’s boot with every step he took, yet the porter at the railway station had assured him this was the
main
road.

It was a strange landscape he found himself walking through, the Inspector thought.

He was used to seeing manufactories—London had thousands and thousands of them—but in the capital they tended to be well dispersed, so that, for example, there was a leather-curing factory and a bottling plant on Lant Street, Southwark, but there were also rows of terraced houses where the less prosperous workers lived.

Here there was a concentration of industry that was quite new to him, for on the fringes of the small lakes or large ponds (which he would soon learn to call ‘flashes’) were a number of small salt-extraction works and salt mines, their winding sheds standing starkly and skeletally against the grey sky, their squat brick chimneys belching out clouds of thick black smoke.

It must have been a shock for Tom Yardley to return to this industrial hell-hole after breathing the pure fresh air of Afghanistan, Blackstone thought. But there were compensations to returning home, too. At least here, he could be assured that half the male population were not wild-eyed tribesmen who would attempt to kill him on an almost daily basis.

He walked on, and discovered that merely thinking the word ‘Afghanistan’ had been enough to turn his mind back to the past—that he was becoming wrapped up once more in the time when he had been
Sergeant
Blackstone and Torn had been
Private
Yardley.

*

The
cave
is
a
dark
gaping
mouth
in
the
face
of
the
mountain
.
It
is
just
the
sort
of
place
the
Pathan
warriors
would
chose
to
retreat
to
once
they
had
finished
harassing
General
Robert’s
column
,
but
there
is
absolutely
no
way
of
telling
if
there
are
any
of
them
inside
it
now
.

‘
Are
we
going
inside
,
Sarge?’
Corporal
Jones
asks
.

Perhaps
there
are
no
Pathans
hiding
in
the
cave
at
all
,
Blackstone
thinks
.
Or
perhaps
there
are
only
one
or
two
.
But
there
is
also
the
possibility
that
there
are
a
dozen
or
more
—
and
he
has
only
three
men
under
his
command
.

He
weighs
his
options
.
He
has
a
responsibility
to
his
own
men
,
but
he
also
has
a
responsibility
to
the
rest
of
the
column
,
which
has
been
taking
heavy
losses
as
a
result
of
.
the
Afghans’
hit-and-run
tactics
.

‘
Why
don’t
you
take
out
that
gold
watch
of
yours
,
Sarge?’
Jones
suggests
,
with
a
grin
on
his
face
.

‘
Why
should
I
do
that
?
’
Blackstone
wonders
.
‘I’ve
only
to
look
at
the
sun
to
see
what
time
it
is
.
’

Jones’
grin
widens
.
‘That’s
true
enough
,
I
suppose
.
But
you
always
look
at
your
watch
when
you’ve
got
a
difficult
decision
to
make
.
’

Blackstone
returns
the
grin
,
acknowledging
that
though
he
himself
has
never
noticed
it
before
,
what
Jones
has
just
said
is
perfectly
true
.

He
takes
the
watch
out
of
his
pocket
,
and
suddenly
understands
why
he
always
does
this
at
times
of
danger
It
is
not
.
for
his
own
benefit
,
but
for
that
of
his
men
.
They
admire
this
watch
,
which
likely
cost
as
much
as
they
would
be
paid
for
half
a
lifetimes
work
.
And
more
than
that
,
they
have
come
to
regard
it
as
a
good
luck
charm
.
It
is
almost
as
if
they
have
persuaded
themselves
to
believe
that
anyone
who
owns
such
a
watch
could
never
come
to
real
harm
himself
—
or
bring
harm
down
on
the
heads
of
those
who
follow
him
.

‘You
never
did
tell
us
where
you
got
that
watch
from, Sarge,’
Private
Wicker
says
.

‘
No
,
I
didn’t
,
did
I?’
Blackstone
agrees
.

Nor
will
he
ever
tell
them
.
The
truth
is
that
the
watch
was
presented
to
him
by
General
Roberts
himself
as
a
reward
for
saving
the
general’s
life
.
But
the
men
must
never
know
that
Roberts’ life
ever
hung
in
the
balance
,
because
if
the
watch
is
a
magic
charm
for
these
particular
men
,
then
General
Roberts
is
the
magic
charm
for
the
whole
army
.

Blackstone
puts
the
watch
back
in
his
pocket
.

‘We’re
going
in
,
’
he
says
.
‘I’ll
lead
.
Jones
,
you’ll
follow
me
.
Wicker
and
Yardley
will
bring
up
the
rear.’

*

He had taken a few steps inside, then paused to let his eyes adjust to the darkness. He could see right through to the very back of the cave, but noted that there was a narrow passageway leading off it at an angle.

Retreating at that point would have been easy, enacting the same manoeuvre once he was in the passage, much more difficult. If he had had some of his old comrades with him, he would have gone in without hesitation, but his old comrades were now all dead, and he was leading a group of men who had very little experience of battle.

A picture came into his mind of a small Hindu woman who had been one of the camp-followers—and who he himself had discovered just after dawn, strangled and with her dead baby lying by her side.

He signalled to his men to move forward.

*

The
passage
is
even
narrower
than
he
had
thought
it
would
be
,
but
he
can
see
a
further
cavern
—
an
illuminated
cavern
—
at
the
end
of
it
.

Speed
will
be
of
the
essence
,
he
tells
himself.
Catch
the
bastards
unawares
,
and
they’ll
be
dead
before
they
even
know
what’s
happening
.