24th March 1944

The little Austin 7 was a tight squeeze for four, but fortunately neither Goniff nor Millie were large people, in fact the pickpocket was only too happy to be literally joined at the hip to the land girl. He still didn't know what he had done to offend and, for once, he couldn't think of anything that might have caused upset.

"You'd better tell us where we're going." The American airman sat in the front passenger seat of the small car flung the words back over his shoulder. "These goddamned English lanes all look the same."

Millie smiled for the first time in several hours. The man was right, tree-lined tunnels, flanked with muddy ditches. It would get worse when the trees were in full leaf and the grass and cow parsley grew to its full height, she wanted to tell him, but the smile faded, and she remained quiet. iHe might not be here to see England in its summer glory/i, she thought.

It had been kind of the two aircrew to offer her and Goniff a lift back to the Mansion from the airbase. Zac and Mitch, they'd introduced themselves as. Zac was the one in the passenger seat.

Mitch delivered Millie to the farm first. Zac disentangled his long legs and climbed out, standing gingerly in the muddy, strongly smelling slurry, trying to keep his boots as clean as possible. He tipped forward the passenger seat so that Millie could climb out.

She handed over her holdall first, then wriggled inelegantly out of the rear seat. Once upright again, she accepted the proffered bag. "You get used to it, after a while."

"Think I'll stick to flying," the man replied, smiling. He liked the little redhead and wondered if it might be worth looking her up when he was back from leave. She wasn't wearing a ring, and she didn't seem to be giving the British soldier she was travelling with much in the way of attention.

Millie gave the American the faintest of smiles.

"See yer' Rodney." She tossed her words towards the man still squashed into the back seat then, hefting her bag comfortably onto her shoulder, she splashed her way across the yard towards the Bothy without a backward glance.

Goniff slumped back in his seat, hugging his own kitbag on his knees. Not even a peck on the cheek, he thought dispiritedly.

The airmen dropped him at the Mansion gatehouse, Zac taking the opportunity to wipe the worst of the mud off his boots onto the grass verge, leaving the Cockney to extricate himself and his luggage. The gate guards looked on in amusement, but made no effort to help, just noted the arrival in the log.

Goniff trudged his way up to the Mansion steps. The forecourt was empty of vehicles, the front door was closed and there was no sign of Sergeant Major Fletcher, who would normally have been waiting at the top of the stairs to greet any new arrivals. Well, at least he wouldn't have to explain why he was wearing the man's spare uniform. There were some compensations, Goniff thought.

Putting down his bag, he clasped the door handle, expecting it to be locked, but the door opened easily. iSomeone must be home/i, he thought, knowing it wasn't any of their team. Garrison was on his way to London and there was no way that Actor, Chief or Casino could have made it back to the Mansion before him. Even if they'd finished their inspection of Darley Abbey, they couldn't have driven back from RAF Filton in the time available.

"Anyone here?" Goniff called out, hopefully. He could smell onions frying, so it seemed likely to be Molly.

"That you, Goniff?" a faint voice responded from the kitchen. "We heard you were on your way."

The pickpocket followed the voice - and his nose.

Molly, the new Mrs Fletcher, was at the large pine kitchen worktable, attacking a pile of carrots and parsnips, removing the rotten pieces. It's getting to the end of the season, she thought, as she consigned yet another vegetable to the pig-swill bucket. Still, it wasn't going to waste. Anything the people didn't eat would go to the chickens or the pigs and turn up on the dining table eventually, just in a different form.

She looked up and did a double take. At first, she thought it was Will standing there - then she realised it was Goniff - wearing her husband's uniform. She snorted. "You'd better get out of that quick, before he spots you." Molly made a mental note to arrange for the things to be cleaned before Will spotted anything was missing. "Leave it all on your bed when you're done. I'll see to it."

Something odd had been going on while she'd been away, the cook concluded, returning her attention to the next carrot. Something out of the ordinary.

Goniff took the hint and backtracked towards his room. When he returned to the kitchen, a while later, he was showered, shaved and dressed in a clean set of his own fatigues. A plate of cheese sandwiches was waiting for him.

"You spoil me, Mrs F." The little cockney perched himself on an empty chair and began to make inroads on the stack. He was famished, he realised. He'd had no breakfast, or lunch for that matter.

Molly smiled to herself. Mrs F. That was a new one, she thought, enjoying the sound of the words. She poured tea and milk into a large mug and pushed it Goniff's way. "Where's Millie? Is she coming over?" When Amber had called from the hospital, she'd said both Goniff and Millie were on their way. Presumably the land girl would be over soon, once she'd got herself tidied up.

Goniff shook his head. "She didn't say. Just took herself off to the Bothy without a backward glance."

That wasn't like Millie, the cook thought. The girl was always polite and generally seemed tolerant of the young man in front of her, whatever he did.

"It weren't me, Mrs F," Goniff explained, around a slurp of tea. "She just went all quiet, like, after Siobhan took out that Smith fella."

Siobhan? Molly thought. That would have to be the Irish girl she'd met at Beauchamp Place a few weeks ago. What was she doing involved in this? Whatever 'this' was. Once again, she held her tongue. The story would come out in due course.

Goniff finished the sandwiches and a second mug of tea and took the crockery to the sink. "Think I'll lie down for a while. Thanks for the grub." He headed off to his room.

A draft of air from the back door presaged Sergeant-Major Fletcher's arrival. "That's the car and the Jeep cleaned and refuelled." He went to the sink to wash the grime off his hands. "Heard anything 'bout when Garrison's lot are coming back?"

Molly shook her head. "Goniff got back about an hour ago. He's in his room. No word from the others yet. Amber said he and Millie were dropped off at the airbase by some big RAF plane she hadn't seen before. It took off again immediately, heading for London the controllers said. She took out Goniff's stitches, but he didn't tell her anything and neither did Millie."

The non-com glanced at his watch. "I'll have a bite to eat then go over to the farm. See if she'll tell me what's what."

GGG

Will returned to the Mansion less enlightened than he'd anticipated. Millie had been less forthcoming than he'd expected. Finally, she'd admitted, Garrison, Chief and Casino hadn't gone to Norway - they'd been kidnapped. Actor had come back from London with his Irish friend, Siobhan, and Major Richards. They'd rousted her and Goniff out of bed to help in a rescue bid. "No, we weren't in the same bed," she'd added hastily. "He was in the sitting room at the farmhouse, I was in the Bothy."

Will bit back a smile. "What happened next?"

"We found where they were being held but couldn't get to them. Siobhan had some mad idea that it was part of some plot to kill Winston Churchill, so she called Major Richards and they set up some sort of trap, using a man that looked like the Prime Minister. From where I was, it looked like Lieutenant Garrison shot him, but it couldn't have been him, as when we got to the Jeep he was in, he was unconscious." Millie wrinkled her brow as she considered the inconsistency.

Taking a breath, she continued her story. "Actor, Chief and Casino were in a second Jeep but cuffed so that they couldn't cause trouble. They managed to get free and between them and two of Churchill's bodyguards, all the kidnappers were killed." Millie finally faltered, then broke down with tears streaming down her face, as she remembered the blood and gore and shock of what she'd seen that morning.

Will had just about managed to keep track of the land girl's somewhat garbled tale, though it hadn't been easy. Gently, he put his arms around the young girl's shoulders and held her as she sobbed. Perhaps it had been wrong to push her into telling him what she'd seen, he thought, but he knew he'd get the truth, which mightn't have happened if he'd asked any of the cons.

Eventually, Millie calmed enough for him to continue. "Where are they now?"

She shrugged. "Lieutenant Garrison was on the plane that brought me and Goniff back. Major Richards was taking him to London, but he didn't say what for. The other three, they were told to go back to Darley Abbey - that was the place they'd been held - with a couple of men in black suits. They were to see if any clues had been left behind."

"Will they be coming back here afterwards?" He knew as well as anyone - if Garrison was court-martialled it would be the end of things for his men too.

Millie nodded and blew her nose on her handkerchief. "I think so." She tucked the cotton square into her bra strap then took a deep breath and pulled herself to her feet. "Thanks, Will. I've a few chores to do and I need to think things over, then I'll get an early night. I'll pop over tomorrow when I get a chance. I need to apologise to Goniff. He must be wondering what he did wrong."

GGG

It was after dark when the Sergeant-Major finally heard the sound of a car engine. He was out in the coal shed, scraping together enough fuel to keep the stove and boiler ticking over for a few more hours. They were down to the last few bucketfuls. He could only hope he could persuade someone to bring out more before supplies ran out entirely.

Molly heard the thump as someone, Casino she thought, threw something onto the hall floor. Moments later, two rather dishevelled men, sporting the beginnings of beard growth, made their way into the kitchen. She looked up from where she was putting the finishing touches to a rhubarb crumble.

"Thought it wouldn't be long. Supper in ten minutes?" She slapped Goniff's hand as he tried to filch a piece of carrot from the pile waiting to be boiled.

"Watcher done with Chiefy?" Goniff was unconcerned by the punishment. It was a game he enjoyed playing with the cook, one she seemed to appreciate too.

"At the hospital, grovelling to Amber." Casino headed for the sink, his stomach growling. A proper clean-up would have to wait until he'd eaten. He turned on the cold-water tap and reached for the bar of hard, yellow soap with its distinctive smell of tar.

A blast of cold air preceded Will's return, carrying a coal scuttle filled to the brim. "We're getting short..." He stopped as he saw Actor and Casino. "Hello lads," he continued affably, then looked around as he realised who was missing. "Where's Chief?"

"Hospital," supplied Goniff, around a mouthful of carrot. "Sweet talking Amber."

"And the Lieutenant?" Will looked at Actor, who was hanging back, barely entering the kitchen. The sergeant-major cocked his head on one side. "Spill the beans."

Actor sighed deeply, before moving forward to the kitchen table and sitting down on the Windsor chair. "The Lieutenant has been taken to London for interrogation. To all intents and purposes, he tried to kill the British Prime Minister, aided by three American convicts."

Well, that matches Millie's story, Will thought. He pulled a face. "You're here, so if I were a betting man, which I'm not," he added, flicking an eye at Molly, "I'd say nothing's set in concrete yet." He dumped the scuttle alongside the stove and moved to his wife's side.

GGG

It was after 11 that night before Major Richards finally telephoned. Despite being exhausted, Actor had waited up by the common room fire, reading, smoking and dozing. Casino and Goniff had left him to it. Chief still hadn't reappeared.

"They want you in London first thing in the morning."

The Major doesn't sound happy, Actor thought, toying with the cable connecting the handset to the phone base. Things mustn't have been going well - and someone was listening to the conversation if he was any judge of matters. "Of course." The conman replied carefully. "Do you need me to bring anything with me?"

"Bring some kit for the Lieutenant, enough for a few days."

"Will I be staying long? Actor enquired.

"Assume forty-eight hours. I'll tell you everything you need to know when you get here." Richards paused, thinking. "I'll brief sergeant-major Fletcher in the morning. No need to disturb him tonight." A click ended the call abruptly.

Actor slowly replaced the receiver and headed to the Warden's room to start preparing.