Doctor Who_ Just War - Lance Parkin [15]
‘It is cold, isn’t it?’
This was not the first time that he had pointed this out on their walk.
‘Don’t worry, it’ll be nice and warm where we’re going.’
‘And where is that exactly?’
They stopped and she looked him straight in the eye.
Gerhard was five foot eight, which was above average height for his age, but Celia was a little taller. For the first time, he found this disconcerting.
‘Trust me.’
He moved a little closer. Celia took a step back. ‘You can’t kiss me yet.’
Gerhard’s eyes lit up. ‘Then later?’
Celia gave a sly smile. ‘Let’s keep walking, find somewhere quiet.’
‘Who goes there? Declare yourself !’ was shouted from twenty yards away, then torchbeams. Gerhard held his hand above his face.
‘It is me, Gerhard. Is that you, Franz?’
It was indeed Franz, another one of the young soldiers boarding at the Doras’. Gerhard offered him a cigarette and explained about his date in German. Obviously, Franz recognized Celia. Technically, the curfew wasn’t due to start for another couple of minutes, but Franz reminded them both that they shouldn’t be out here this late. Couldn’t they have picked better weather for a walk? Solemnly, Celia and Gerhard agreed. Then Franz and his (unseen) companion disappeared into the night. Gerhard reached out for Celia.
‘May I hold your hand?’
‘I’m sure I can allow that. Follow me.’
Gerhard watched as Celia clambered over a stile. He followed, but found the thin footboard a little more slippery.
He negotiated his way across it and jumped down into the small field. It had been raining for a while, but the ground underneath his boots was still firm. Before he had been posted here, Gerhard had taken part in the devastating assault against France
— the Blitzkrieg. He’d marched hundreds of miles with his regiment. Gerhard knew that the thousand-year Reich would be based on such victories. The history books might not mention him by name, but Gerhard knew that he had played a part. He had been one of the first soldiers into Paris.
He remembered the victory marches, past the Eiffel Tower, past the Louvre, past Notre-Dame. His children would know: fifty years from now his children and his grandchildren would be proud of what he had done for Germany. The Brandenburg Gate would be a symbol, it would be the centre of the largest empire the world had ever seen. Celia was still young enough to bear those children.
She was running ahead of him now. As Gerhard watched, she unfastened her coat and let it fall to the ground.
She was so sure of herself. The girls in his home town of Waiblingen were not like her at all. The populations of small islands such as this tended towards the simple-minded, but this woman was as sharp as they came. She was beautiful too, with a wide, kind mouth and flowing blonde hair.
To his surprise they had reached a gorse-covered clifftop: the dark sea glistened twenty feet below them. This was one of the small coves that lined the coast of these islands, but not one that he recognized. He was surprised that no barbed wire had been laid here. For a moment, Celia stood poised on the edge of the cliff, and Gerhard could have sworn that she was about to throw herself off. She was staring into the distance, oblivious to everything around her: the rain, the sea, Gerhard himself. Then she turned to him, grabbing his hand again.
‘Are you scared?’
Gerhard realized that he hadn’t been breathing for the last few seconds. ‘Yes. No. Where are we going?’
‘Follow me.’
They scrambled down a steep rocky path onto the beach. The sand was damp.
Celia noticed his hesitation. ‘What’s the matter?’
‘Celia, this beach will have been mined, so will the sea.’
‘Don’t worry. It’s too small and out of the way to bother with. I’ve been here a couple of times before. What time is it?’
‘Aren’t you wearing a watch?