Heartwarming and emotional story of one girl's courage in WW2 by Fenella Miller (top 10 ebook reader txt) 📗

She handed over the tea and watched anxiously to see if he could hold the mug without spilling it all over himself. He swallowed it down with no difficulty; she removed it from his hand and offered him the plate. He took the cake and that went down as quickly.

‘You’re obviously recovering fast. But those holes in your arm need stitching…

‘I’ve got a friend who can do that for me. I don’t want anyone to know about this. Give me your word that what happened here will remain a secret.’

Eight

Ellie pushed a chair to the far side of the office and sat staring at him through narrowed eyes whilst nursing her tea. He was going to have to work hard to convince her not to call the police or drag him off to the nearest hospital.

He might as well tell her the truth as he couldn’t think of any convincing lies that would make sense. He told her his reason for coming here – that was the easy part.

‘I was bloody stupid. I should have realised the bastard in the office had something to do with my uncle. If I’d been sober I wouldn’t have made such a daft mistake. I charged in and he shot me.’ A cold sweat dripped down his back. ‘I tripped over the step on my way in. If I hadn’t I’d be dead now.’

‘What was he looking for?’ She glanced around and he followed her gaze.

‘God knows – but he didn’t find it otherwise the place would be turned over. I reckon I arrived a few moments after him and he hadn’t started his search.’

‘Didn’t you see a car or motorbike on the way down the track?’

He shook his head and wished he hadn’t as the pain made his head spin. It was his bloody arm that was shot so why did his shoulder hurt almost as much? He swallowed a few times and then felt okay. ‘No, I don’t know how he got here. All I can think of is that he came across the fields on foot. Don’t look at me like that, love, I’m not going to peg it just yet.’

‘There’s some aspirin in the drawer; would you like some?’

‘Please, and another cuppa would go down a treat too.’

He dozed whilst she did this. He wasn’t feeling too clever but it could be a hangover as much as his injury. He hoped so.

She woke him by touching his arm. ‘Here you are, plenty of sugar again. I’m going to search but it would help if you could give me an inkling of what it is I’m looking for. I suppose I should be shocked that Joe is involved with would-be murderers – but I’m not really. The worst sort of criminals live in the East End and he must have acquired something from one of them.’

‘All the more reason to find whatever it is and give it back to them before somebody actually does get killed. They’ll be back, I’m certain of it.’

Her face drained of colour and she stared wide-eyed out of the window as if expecting a man waving a gun to magically appear.

‘Sorry, that was crass of me. They won’t be back in the daylight. You can be bloody sure someone’s watching this place and waiting to see whether the rozzers turn up.’

‘Is it going to be more dangerous or less if we don’t call them?’

‘Less – much less. Uncle Joe is in it up to his neck and I don’t want the boys in blue poking around anymore than they are already. I don’t approve of his lifestyle, but he’s always been good to me and I’m not going to turn him in.’

She slopped her tea as she picked up the mug and he wished she hadn’t been involved in this. Mind you – if she hadn’t decided to come in early he could be dead by now.

‘I’ve been thinking. Although Joe was in the office more than he was in the air, I’ve been in and out of here every day for the past four years. It’s not especially spacious so I’m sure I’d have seen something like a cashbox full of jewellery or something.’

‘I agree. Therefore, it must be a document of some sort. Joe must have come across something valuable and decided to hang onto it in case it came in useful.’

‘Could he have been blackmailing a gangster?’

He managed a feeble chuckle and she appreciated the effort. ‘I doubt it – they would have come for him before this. It has to be… bloody hell! I don’t know what it is but I think I can guess why they’re looking for it now. They didn’t mind Joe having it, but now the police are investigating his affairs things have changed.’

She finished her tea and stood up. ‘It has to be somewhere I wouldn’t touch. I’m going to start searching in that pile of old newspapers. I’ve always wondered why he kept so many as I’ve never seen him read any of them. I suggested throwing them out last year and he shouted at me and told me to leave them alone.’

She carried the pile over to the table that served as a desk and began methodically looking through the pages. If there was anything of interest amongst them she was the girl to find it.

He shifted uncomfortably. He needed a pee and he didn’t think he was going to be able to get to his feet without her assistance.

‘Ellie, I had God knows how many pints of beer yesterday and…’

She dropped the papers as they were red hot and sprung to her feet. ‘Golly! I should have thought of that myself. Hang on, I’ll get you a bucket.’

She dashed off and he tried to stand up but failed miserably. The thought of the poor girl having to empty his piss into the Elsan wasn’t a happy one.

*

There was no bucket so Jack would