‘What’s wrong, Bobby?’ Charlie said when he felt her shiver, holding her back so he could see her face.
‘Oh, nothing. Just remembering something your brother said to me. I’ll tell you about it another time.’
‘We’re fast running out of other times. Only three more days.’
‘I know.’
‘So, are you going to let me take you out on the town after you finish your shift? I don’t have many chances left, and since I’m flush with cash and looking – though I say so myself – devastatingly handsome in the new uniform, it seems only right that I should share my good fortune with the girl of my dreams.’
She smiled. ‘And for just one night we’ll shut out the world, forget the war and dance in each other’s arms until dawn?’
‘You read my mind, Bobby.’
‘Is it safe driving Boxer in this fog?’
‘We’ll be all right. He knows his way to Settle by now, fog or not.’
‘I think I could be persuaded, if you don’t mind waiting while I change into something more suitable at home.’
‘If you insist, although I’m rather partial to a girl in uniform myself.’
One of the planes from the airbase flew low overhead, making Bobby jump.
‘Are you all right, Bobby?’
‘Sorry,’ she said, smiling awkwardly. ‘I never can quite get used to them flying over. Every time I hear one, I worry for a moment it’s one of theirs rather than one of ours.’
‘Well, if it was then you’d finally have a chance to use your whistle,’ Charlie said, giving the string around her neck a flick. He looked up to follow the sound of the bomber. ‘They’re very low. Bad visibility to be flying in. I’m surprised they haven’t all been grounded until this fog clears.’
‘I suppose once they reach the mountain they’ll loop around and—’
But Bobby never got to finish her sentence. As she spoke there was a muffled crash from the direction of Great Bowside, as of distant thunder.
The next moment, the mountain was on fire.
Chapter 19
She stared at Charlie. ‘Oh my God!’
‘Christ, Bobby, they’ve gone down!’
Great Bowside was no more than a hazy silhouette in the fog but they could see the flames and plume of smoke emanating from just below the summit quite clearly. The plane had crashed at high speed into the mountainside.
‘What do we do? Are they dead? Oh God, Charlie, what do we do?’
Charlie stared, horrified, at the blaze on the mountain. ‘The base will know it’s down if the men were in radio contact, but we ought to let them know exactly where the crash happened. Then when visibility improves, I suppose they’ll send a plane to look for survivors and recover the bodies.’ He closed his eyes. ‘Those poor men, Bobby.’
‘But it could be morning before the fog clears enough for it to be safe to fly. If they wait that long there might notbeany survivors. Their radio must have been destroyed when they went down. Even if they’re conscious, they won’t be able to contact their base.’
‘After a crash like that, it’s highly unlikely there would be survivors anyhow. The plane must have hit at some speed to burst into flames that way.’
Bobby watched the pillar of smoke drifting up from the mountainside, stunned momentarily into inertia. Then she dashed into the hut for her wooden rattle. A second later she was running towards the houses that flanked the village green, shaking the rattle wildly and blowing her whistle, making as much noise as she possibly could. Charlie ran after her.
‘What are you doing?’
‘We have to get up there and see if anyone’s still alive, Charlie. We at least have totry.’
People started to appear on their doorsteps, regarding her with puzzled expressions. The crash had sounded so much like distant thunder that on an inclement night no one would have thought anything of it unless they happened to have been looking in just the right place at the right time, as Bobby and Charlie had been. Already the fire on the mountain had died down to a dull, hazy flicker, barely noticeable through the fog unless someone knew where to look.
