Darkest Before Dawn (45 page)

Percy turned into Lawrence Street. He had no idea what Toby looked like, but knew himself to be a handsome fellow, who had a way with girls. He thought his slightly raffish air attracted the opposite sex, though so far it did not seem to have worked with Evie. But that's because she's in love with a dream, he told himself, crossing the road and heading for Cavendish Court. Once this Toby's home, and Evie can see him with her own eyes, then my chance will come. That is, if he comes home. He had not told Evie what else they had been saying in the officers' mess: that the Japanese POWs were shockingly treated and that the vast majority of them would never come home at all. One reason for hitting Japan with everything they'd got was, the officers were saying freely, that the Japs would avenge their defeat by killing every European they could lay their hands on.

Percy was not a callous young man, but he had very little imagination. He felt vaguely sorry for this Toby chap but intended to do everything in his power to cut him out with Evie – if cutting out was necessary, that was.

Whistling, ‘This is the Army, Mr Brown', he headed for his own front door.

The railway had been finished for a considerable time but Toby, Miles and a good many others were still constantly at work, at first maintaining the track and rebuilding a number of bridges, and then pressing on into Burma for what the Japs described as ‘essential war work'.

The rebuilding of the bridges had seemed particularly hard, since the men were sure the Japs must have realised that untreated wood, driven into deep water, would be attacked by all sorts of pests. Beetles soon made such structures highly unsafe, and concrete piles and cross sections had to be erected in place of the crumbling wood.

It was in the course of repairing the bridges that Toby fell foul of a vicious Korean guard, nicknamed Genghis, partly because the men said he had a face like a camel, but mostly because of his vicious behaviour towards the prisoners. Toby had pointed out that the man was only violent toward those taller than himself, but since Genghis was barely five foot high, this included every other man in the camp. One of Genghis's favourite tricks was at roll call time, when the men had to make their way out of their huts and get their orders for the day. Upon approaching Genghis, the men had to place their palms together and bow profoundly, and it was Genghis's habit to hide in a nearby bamboo thicket so that there was no one to whom the men could bow. If they simply bowed to the empty space where he should have been, Genghis counted this as insolence as punishable as not bowing at all, whereupon he would leap out from his hiding place and strike the offenders with any implement to hand – rifle butt, bayonet, or his malacca cane – before giving them their orders for the day, as though nothing untoward had occurred.

Mostly these blows, though painful, were aimed at backs, legs or shoulders, but on this occasion the night had been rainy and Toby had slipped as Genghis charged at him. The subsequent blow had opened up his face from his left temple to the left-hand corner of his mouth. Fortunately, Miles had dealt with the cut swiftly and efficiently, finally stitching it so that it would not flap open and become infected. It had taken two men to hold Toby down whilst Miles worked implacably, assuring Toby as he did so that his friend would thank him for it one day.

For two or three days, Toby's face was agony, but Miles insisted that it be kept clean, covering it with a piece of torn off shirt tail, and within a week Toby was able to push his injury to the back of his mind; within a fortnight, Miles removed the cotton stitches and assured his patient that, though he would always bear a scar, it had not ruined his beauty completely.

By the time the wound no longer troubled Toby, the men had moved on from maintaining the line and repairing bridges. Now, they were marched into the Burmese jungle where they performed two tasks. They dug out huge caves in the hillside which were to be used as ammunition dumps, and then they were ordered to dig tank traps, though what sort of tanks would be employed in jungle this dense, no one had any idea. Miles, looking down on one of these ‘tank traps', remarked that, from the air, it would resemble nothing so much as a huge communal grave, waiting to be filled with the dead, and Toby, eyeing the depth and size of it, could only agree, as a chill ran down his spine.

That night, as they slumped, exhausted, on to their bamboo beds in the little Atap hut they had constructed, Toby sat up on one elbow and addressed his friend in a low whisper. ‘Miles? What you said about the tank traps – you meant it, didn't you? You think we're digging our own graves. But why? After all, we've been pretty bloody useful, all these years; why kill us now?'

‘Because we've not only dug these so-called tank traps, we've also dug the ammunition dumps, carried the ammo to them and helped to camouflage them. In other words, we know too much,' Miles said grimly. ‘But we're well into Burma now, and I don't intend to face a firing squad if I can help it. Let's make a break for it in a couple of days . . . no, why not tomorrow? We'll get some things together and make for the nearest Burmese village, get the head man on our side, promise him . . . oh, anything, if only he'll hide us from the Japs.'

‘I dunno,' Toby said doubtfully. ‘Remember that fellow who lit out a week back? The Japs paid the Burmese to hand him over, and they did. You can't blame them; the only Europeans they've seen are nothing but slaves. The Japs are in the ascendant all right, so far as the Burmese are concerned, and the villagers have got wives and kids to consider. Still, we'll think about it.'

The Japs usually woke them as soon as first light began to steal across the makeshift camp, but next morning Toby opened his eyes to find it was broad daylight. He sat up, puzzled, just as Miles stirred too. Miles rubbed his hands through his hair, knuckled his eyes, and then looked up at Toby. ‘What's up? Why haven't the guards started screaming and shouting and using their rifle butts on anyone still lying down?' He cocked his head, listening intently. ‘I don't like the look of this at all; I reckon when we go out, that bloody firing squad I mentioned will be hidden in the trees, ready to mow us down. Can we get out at the back, sneak off into the jungle?'

Toby was beginning to say that that might be the most dangerous move of all when they heard a subdued hum of chatter and Nick Barnes, their orderly, appeared in the entrance to the hut. He was grinning. ‘You won't believe it, fellers, but they've all gone. Every single guard – Japs, Koreans, the lot. If you ask me, they've been recalled for some reason, but whatever it is, I reckon we'd better start making for Ban Pong. There's no point in staying here. Get your stuff together and we'll leave as soon as everyone's ready.'

Still nervous in case this was a trap, the men did not walk along the railway track but kept to the shelter of the jungle, though they never moved far from the gleaming rails which led back, eventually, to civilisation. On the second day, they came to a Burmese village where they were told that the war was over; Germany had surrendered months earlier and Japan had surrendered a couple of days before. The Burmese talked of a big bomb and much panic and many deaths but the prisoners could not make head or tail of it; the only thing that mattered to them was that the war was over. The villagers gave them rice, but they would need a good deal more than that if they were to walk the hundreds of miles back to Singapore.

Toby and Miles grinned at one another as they trudged along, but then Toby stopped short, staring at the rails. They were vibrating, ever so slightly, and he grabbed Miles's arm and shouted ahead to where Nick Barnes slogged solidly onwards. ‘Nick! There's a train coming. Better get deeper into the jungle. Miles and I will hang about here and watch to see what's happening.'

The men disappeared into the jungle and Miles and Toby watched through a fringe of leaves until the train came into sight. Then, with a shriek which echoed the whistle of the engine, they climbed the bank and began to dance with joy. The train was flying Red Cross flags on the front and was manned by British soldiers . . . rescue had come at last!

The letter came towards the end of August and it was addressed to Evie Todd and family. Even though Evie had not seen the writing for years, she recognised it at once and beamed across at her mother. ‘Oh, Mam – it's to the whole family, but my name's been put first. It's from Toby; I'd know his writing anywhere!'

‘And mine's from Angie,' Martha said, looking up from her own letter, her face rosy with pleasure. ‘She's given in her notice . . . oh well, whatever you call it . . . and she's going to leave the ATS because she's going to have a dear little baby. Oh, Evie, I'm going to be a granny!'

Mr Wilmslow, solemnly eating porridge, looked up sharply. ‘That's it, that's me mind made up,' he said decisively. ‘I will not marry a grandmother so you'd better get a move on, young Martha. I've not reminded you, more than once every day, that you promised we'd wed as soon as the war were over, but now we've got to bustle about a bit. When's this baby due?'

‘Honestly, Arthur, what a thing to say,' Martha protested. ‘But I suppose it's fair enough; I did promise, after all. The baby's due towards the end of January so I suppose we could tie the knot in about six weeks, in mid-October. How would that suit you?'

Evie, staring from one face to the other, actually saw shy pleasure flit across Mr Wilmslow's somewhat lugubrious countenance and thought, suddenly, that her mam could do a lot worse. It was plain that Mr Wilmslow adored Martha, and Evie realised now that her mother was truly fond of the old fellow. She watched Martha smile across the table at Mr Wilmslow. ‘There you are then, that's settled,' she said briskly. ‘And now, young Evie, you can open that letter and tell us where Toby is right now.'

Evie opened the letter slowly and with great care, and took out two thin, closely written sheets. She scanned them quickly then said: ‘He's in hospital in Singapore, but says everyone is having a sort of check-up, so it doesn't mean he's ill. He says the Japs kept them very short of food, which was mostly rice anyway, so they are all horribly thin; the hospital authorities don't want to let them go until they're fatter – they're calling them “bonebags” – and of course they've got no clothes to speak of. Tatty shorts and a bit of blanket, but nothing much else. Oh, I'd better read you the next bit.' She cleared her throat, then began to read carefully: ‘
The RAF are flying us out in great big transport planes – the Brits, I mean – so a good few of us will be home quite quickly. I've a pal called Miles, who was a medical student before the war – he had passed all his exams and just had to do his finals when war broke out. He's put in to go back home as soon as possible so he can start being a doctor properly, and they've said he'll be repatriated just as soon as he's fit enough; I don't think they'll make any special plans for railway porters, though! Not that I intend to go on being a railway porter when I get back to Civvy Street. After what I've been doing these past few years, I reckon I'll go for something a bit more interesting.

How are you all? We've received no mail for years – not since Changi, in fact – but I think about you all the time. I wonder about working the canal – we had some good times then, you and I, Seraphina. Remember when we went blackberrying along the cut and you tried to squeeze past me and fell in the canal? Evie was so keen to get you out that she kicked over my basket of blackberries and I boxed her ears. Dear little Evie, forgive me for reminding you of my horrid actions that day, but that's a dream I dream quite often, I don't know why. I'll come and see you just as soon as I get back to Blighty. All the best, Toby.
'

‘Well, isn't that lovely – that he's going to come and see us, I mean, and is fit and well, even if he is thin,' Martha said as Evie finished reading. ‘He was like a son to me and like a brother to you three girls.' She saw Evie open her mouth and went on hastily: ‘I know Seraphina was fond of him, dear, but that was long ago. Now come along, let's get breakfast cleared away and then we must all be off to work.'

‘There's a PS,' Evie said, rather hesitantly, as her mother gathered up the crocks and carried them over to the sink. ‘He says he's afraid we may not recognise him because of some wound or other . . . as if we wouldn't. Why, I'd know Toby amongst ten thousand – I'm sure we all would.'

‘I'm going down to open up,' Mr Wilmslow said. ‘Get a move on, Evie, or you'll be late. Martha, my love, I'll leave you to finish up here, if you don't mind, and then you might as well go shopping because I've no doubt you'll want a new dress, or a suit or something, for our wedding.'

Martha gave a snort. ‘Where will I get the coupons?' she asked. ‘And don't say I can buy some off Percy, because he's a changed feller since his time in the air force. Besides, I don't believe in it – the black market, I mean.'

‘I happen to have some clothing coupons by me and you're welcome to them, my dear,' Mr Wilmslow said, with dignity. ‘What do I want with new clothes? I haven't got no fatter nor thinner, and me black pinstripe will do as well for a wedding as for a funeral. Besides, I reckon young Evie could do with a new skirt and jumper . . . I trust you aren't thinking of bridesmaids, are you?' he finished, with obvious dismay.

‘Of course I shall have bridesmaids, half a dozen of them, and I plan to be married in white, with a big bouquet of cream-coloured roses and a lace veil with a train twenty feet long,' Martha said gaily. ‘What a fool I'd look; the vicar would probably refuse to marry us and have me committed to the nearest asylum.'

Mr Wilmslow permitted himself a wintry smile. ‘You'll look grand in whatever you wear,' he observed. ‘I'll be that proud . . . now just you choose something pretty for yourself and Evie and remember, I'm not only providing the coupons, I'll also part with me money.'