Biggles Looks Back Page 10

  “Some gentlemen wish to see you,” he said, and withdrew quickly, closing the door behind him.

  Two men had entered with him, and Biggles did not need to be told who, or what, they were. Officials have a look about them, a certain manner, even when they wear plain clothes. One conformed precisely to Von Stalhein’s description of Reinhardt.

  He bowed stiffly from the waist. “Guten Morgen, mein herren,” he said.

  “Guten Morgen,” returned Biggles politely. “What can I do for you?”

  The answer did not surprise Biggles. “We are police officers. I would like to ask you some questions.”

  “I shall do my best to answer them. I hope we have not inadvertently broken some regulation.”

  “Nein — nein. I believe you were on the river road late last night?”

  Biggles agreed. “We were stopped and our passports checked. Our names were taken so I assume you know them.”

  “So. What were you doing on the road so late?”

  “We went to admire the scenery at sunset. We should have returned earlier but we were caught in the thunderstorm and forced to take shelter under the trees. Even so, we got very wet. The rain lasted for some time.”

  “Did you see anything unusual on the road?”

  “Yes.”

  “So. What was it?”

  “A motor car that had overturned.”

  “Did you see it happen?”

  “No. It was very dark and we must have been some distance away.”

  “Did you hear anything?”

  “Earlier we thought we heard shooting, but that also was a rather long way from where we were taking shelter. There was thunder, too, about that time.”

  “Did you by any chance see a man on the road? He might have been running.”

  “We saw no one on the road except the two men who asked us the same question.”

  “I see. May I ask what are your plans for today?”

  “Certainly, as far as we know them. After breakfast we shall pay another visit to the glass factory. The last time we went the management took us out to lunch. They may do so again. If not we shall probably have something to eat at the Cafe Wagner. We have no arrangements beyond that. I should like to see the church, which I am told is very old. Before we leave Rodnitz we may take another walk beside the river — that is, if there is no objection.”

  “You seem to like that road.”

  “That should not surprise you. The scenery is superb. I wish I had brought my camera. Would it be in order for me to buy one, to take pictures to show my friends at home?”

  The question appeared to cause surprise. Reinhardt hesitated “I will inquire,” he said. “Well, I think that is all. By the way, if you should go down the river road again don’t go into the forest. It is a dangerous place.”

  Biggles raised his eyebrows. “Dangerous? In what way?”

  “There may be a boar hunt. You might be shot. Our rules with firearms are strict but accidents do happen. “

  “I’m glad you mentioned it.”

  “That is all. Danke schön. Guten Morgen.”

  “Guten Morgen.”

  The officials bowed and departed.

  Biggles looked at Bertie. He grimaced, but all he said was: “Let’s go down to breakfast.”

  In the room where coffee was being served, he chose a table where there was no risk of their conversation being overheard. “Pity about that,” he said. “You realize who that was?”

  “Of course. What do you make of it?”

  “I don’t really know. They may be suspicious of us, or merely curious. It may be they only wanted to know how much we saw and heard on the road last night. Perhaps they are not convinced that our walk down that particular road was as casual as I tried to make it appear. As you may have noticed, I paved the way for another walk down the road because we shall have to go back to the castle. But we shall have to be extra careful from now on.”

  “You think they’ll watch us?”

  “I think it’s more than likely. They have reason. After all, commercial travellers, or buyers’ representatives as we pretend to be, don’t normally take long walks into the country for no other reason than to look at the scenery. Still, I doubt if they would have questioned it had it not been for that business over Erich last night. They’re bound to take an interest in anyone who was on the road at that hour; and as far as we know there was no one else there except us.”

  “What was the idea of saying we’d be going to see the church?”

  “That was simply to provide an excuse for going where we can be sure we shan’t be overheard. That means in the open air. The churchyard is handy and we have a lot to talk about. I don’t trust walls. As I said before, in a Communist country they can have ears.”

  “Are you really going to the glassworks?”

  “Having said so we shall have to, or our friends may wonder why we changed our minds. We’ll walk there. It’s no great distance and we can talk as we go. I have another reason for going there.”

  “What is it?”

  “To give us an excuse for parting company. It may be necessary for you to go home. What better reason than to apply for an extension of our permit to buy more glass? But we’ll talk more about that when we see how things go. We’re now faced with the problem of getting two people out of the country, Erich and Marie, and we can’t stay in Rodnitz much longer without a good reason. Erich, being an old hand at this sort of game, might get away under his own steam. But not Marie. She hasn’t been well and I doubt if she has the physical strength to tackle a rough passage on foot. It means transport of some sort.”

  “I’m waiting for you to tell me why she’s being held prisoner in the castle.”

  “Let’s start walking to the glassworks. I’ll tell you as we go. We’ve been here long enough, with our heads together, to look like a couple of conspirators. Behave naturally. We don’t want to give anyone watching us the impression that we know we’re being watched.”

  They went out into the street, and during the next hour, as they walked to their objective, Biggles related in detail the story Marie had told him.

  At the end Bertie looked serious. “It’s close on a hundred miles to the nearest frontier, and all rough country.”

  “Too far for Marie. When we’re finished at the glass works we shall have the rest of the day to discuss the possibilities and perhaps work out a plan. Then, unfortunately, we shall have to make another trip to the castle to explain it. There’s no way out of that. But by that time we should know if we’re being shadowed. We’re in no great hurry.”

  They had now reached the glass factory. They went in, to be received with the same hospitality as before. In the showrooms Biggles made some more provisional purchases, having explained that these were subject to permission of the British Board of Trade. They were taken out to lunch, so that as before it was well into the afternoon before the business was finished and they were free to discuss their own affairs. For this purpose, holding to Biggles’s precaution of keeping in the open where there was no risk of being overheard, they turned up the alley in the Ludwigstrasse to the churchyard.

  They may or may not have been followed. They didn’t know, and went to no great pains to find out; for, as Biggles said, it didn’t matter if they were, as they were doing nothing to which exception could be taken. They had said they were going to see the church, and they did — or pretended to — take an interest in it. Actually, their conversation had nothing whatever to do with that or any other church.

  Said Biggles: “Naturally, in this sort of situation we’re bound to think in terms of flying. In fact, I can’t think of any other way to get them out.”

  “Meaning, of course, Marie and Von Stalhein.”

  “It isn’t going to be easy. But still, we have tackled more difficult jobs. As you’ve often heard me say, there’s usually a way to handle a sticky proposition if one can hit on it.”

  “I can’t see anything all that difficult about it,
” put in Bertie.

  “That’s because you haven’t given it enough thought. To start with we need a machine with the right endurance range, or, alternatively, it means making an intermediate landing for fuel. That means Switzerland or Austria. East Germany is out. Next, whatever we do, to get here means flying over a frontier which has unpleasant ways of discouraging visitors by air except along the authorized corridors. Ignore those and you’re asking for trouble, as you know perfectly well.” Biggles broke off to light a cigarette.

  “As I said, Marie and Erich would have to be informed of the plan and that means another visit to the castle,” he resumed. “If we’re under suspicion and being watched that won’t be easy. They will have to be told where to be, the date and the time. Lastly, we have the tricky business of putting the machine on the ground in the dark, without breaking anything.”

  “Why do you always have to think of the snags?” protested Bertie.

  “Because I’ve learnt that it’s no use trying to kid yourself they aren’t there when you know thundering well they are. Do you feel like trying to make a night landing on any ground we’ve seen so far?”

  “Does it have to be a night job?”

  “Have a heart! You wouldn’t have a hope in daylight. We don’t want to start another war. A British machine on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain would start something. What possible excuse could we find for bringing an aircraft here?”

  “Pilots have been known to lose their way, old boy.”

  “You wouldn’t get away with that.”

  “All right. I’d tell the truth and say I aimed to rescue lady in distress.”

  “Don’t make me laugh. Knight-errantry went out of fashion with suits of armour and battle-axes.”

  “I wish you wouldn’t be so depressing. I’m willing to have a bash at landing in one of the fields in the valley.”

  “Good. I was hoping you’d say that because I may have to ask you to do it. We can’t both go home. Someone will have to stay here to keep in touch with the castle, where, as things are, anything might happen.”

  “You’re not thinking of going to the castle tonight?”

  “Not on your life. We’ve no reason to go. We may not be watched, but it would be stupid to take that for granted. Having got so far let’s go back to the cafe and have a cup of tea. Talking always did make me thirsty. We can come back here later and try to fix something definite. There’s no need to rush things and risk going off at half cock.”

  Keeping a watchful eye open for possible enemies they walked slowly back under a darkening sky to the Ludwigstrasse and the Cafe Wagner.

  They saw nothing to cause them concern.

  They lingered over their tea, saying little, Biggles mostly deep in thought. When, having paid the bill, they went out, it was dark. They stood for a moment by the door.

  “Where are we going?” asked Bertie.

  “It’s too early to go back to the hotel. I don’t think we can do better than the churchyard. We can at least talk there.”

  They strolled along the street and turned into the alley.

  “I’ve been thinking,” said Biggles. “This question of the choice of an aircraft worries me. Obviously it would be crazy to use one of our own machines. If things went wrong we should deserve to be shot. I’ve checked up on the moon in my notebook. It should be all right for the next ten days. You’re serious when you say you’re willing to go home and bring out a machine?”

  “Absolutely, old boy. Absolutely.”

  “It’s a bit weak, but the only excuse I can think of, if you should be forced down, would be to blame engine trouble. You were out on a test flight and didn’t realize you’d wandered over the frontier into Czechoslovakia. Something of that sort.”

  They had walked, by mutual consent it seemed, anyhow without any prior arrangement, along a footpath that took them, as they now discovered, to the door in the wall of the courtyard of the Cafe Wagner. Biggles went on to the old yew tree and, as before, sat on the mossy tombstone. But he sprang to his feet, and Bertie took a sharp pace backward, as a tall figure suddenly took shape, moving furtively towards them.

  CHAPTER XI

  THE PLAN

  THE figure came close.

  “It’s all right. It’s only me,” said a voice they recognized instantly.

  It was Von Stalhein. He wore a shabby old mackintosh and a felt hat of the local type with a tassel dangling on the side.

  “Erich! What in the name of heaven are you doing here? Are you out of your mind?” Biggles’s voice was brittle with consternation.

  “I had to come. It was vital that I saw you at once.”

  “How did you know we’d be here?”

  “I didn’t know, but I thought you might go to the cafe so I watched. I saw you come out and followed you. I daren’t speak to you in the street.”

  “Well?”

  “Something’s happened; something you had to know.”

  “Tell us. Make it short.”

  “You now have a time limit to get Marie away. You can forget me. This morning two senior officials from Prague arrived at the castle and told Marie in no uncertain terms that their patience was exhausted. They issued what in effect is an ultimatum. Marie has one week to hand over the Janis valuables. If she persists in refusing she will be taken away and the castle demolished.”

  “Demolished! That place!”

  “Stone by stone.”

  “They’re bluffing.”

  “Marie doesn’t think so. There’s more to it than money, she says. The ancient Crown of the Kingdom might spark off a revolution, and if they can’t get it they’ll see that no one else does. They’d destroy it first.”

  “But this is fantastic.”

  “This is a fantastic country. Marie is sure it’s that infernal crown they’re really after. While it exists the people could revolt and muster round it.”

  “Where are they going to take Marie?”

  “They haven’t told her.”

  “How has she taken it?”

  “Naturally she’s upset.”

  “I lost her once and I’m damned if I’ll lose her again,” grated Biggles. “We still have a week.”

  “It’s that — or good-bye for ever.”

  “Well, I’m glad you’ve told me this. As you say, it was vital we should know. But you took one hell of a risk in coming here.”

  “Not as much as you would think. I didn’t come down the road.”

  “How else could you get here?”

  “By what you might call a back way. When Marie told me about the ultimatum I said I would have to let you know at once; and she agreed. She called in Greta, her maid, who by this time knew about me being there — as she had to on account of the extra food — and Greta had a word with her husband, Max. He was told the position. It was he, by the way, who lent me this coat and hat. To make the story short it seems that Schonschloss, like most medieval castles, is not without its underground passages and an emergency exit. He took me out through what I imagine was an old sally-port. It ran from the castle to the ruins of a disused hunting lodge in the forest, behind the ridge and therefore well away from the road. From there he took a deer path that brought us nearly to the bridge. It was dark, and I felt sure they wouldn’t expect me to double back into the town. I had no trouble. My worry was to find you. I gambled on you going to the cafe, which you did. That’s all.”

  “Are you going to be able to find your way back?”

  “Max is waiting for me. The road would be impossible. There has been a lot of activity on it all day, the hunt I imagine for me; but as you thought, no one came to the castle. I’ve learned one interesting thing from Max. A public coach service operates between Rodnitz and a place called Brozno on the Upper Austrian frontier. It doesn’t cross, but it links up with an Austrian coach service on the other side.”

  “That’s a useful thing to know,” agreed Biggles.

  “I don’t think it would be any use to me, because if I know a
nything the buses will be stopped and the passengers checked.”

  “For a few days, anyhow,” agreed Biggles.

  “Have you made a plan yet?”

  “We were discussing one when you arrived. We weren’t hurrying, but now we shall have to speed things up.”

  “I shall have to go now. Max will begin to think something has happened to me.”

  “Just a minute. I’m thinking of coming with you.”

  “To the castle?”

  “No. Only as far as the deer track you mentioned. If we know where it began, at the bridge end, we should be independent of the road, which just now is one of our problems.”

  “Yes. I see that. We’d better not all go together, but there’s no reason why you shouldn’t follow me.”

  “There’s one thing about what you’ve told us that puzzles me. If Marie wanted to escape from the castle why didn’t she use the underground exit? Presumably the guards don’t know about it.”

  “I put the question to her. She said it was one thing to get out of the castle, but a different matter to get out of the country. Remember, she’s only now recovering from an illness. She’s not very strong.”

  “Yes. I’d forgotten that,” admitted Biggles. “All right, let’s get along. I think the best way would be for us to go first, the way we came in. You go through the cafe courtyard. Wait inside. If you see us standing under the light you’ll know it’s okay. You go through and we’ll follow you at a fair distance.”

  “I agree. When you get to the bridge, in case you lose sight of me don’t turn left by the river. Keep straight on. On your left will be a steep bank covered with forest. Stop after fifty yards. I’ll see you there and show you the path. I had better tell you now, in case I forget later, the path isn’t easy to follow. There are several forks. The right way is to take the left fork every time. That will bring you to the old hunting lodge. It’s some distance from the castle. The track passes below the ruins. If I knew when you were next coming to the castle I’d arrange for Max to meet you there. He could show you the best way to Marie’s balcony.”