The 9 by Madalyn Morgan (tools of titans ebook .txt) 📕

‘My orders are to take you to the Goose Down Inn at Stoney Arden.’

‘Where? It doesn’t matter. Why are you taking me there?’

‘I don’t know, miss. Commander Dalton just said I was to take you there, and wait for you. When you’re ready to leave, I’m to drive you back to Bletchley, to join Mr Silcott at the hotel.’

Ena relaxed a little. At least if she was being taken to an inn on orders from the commander she wasn’t being kidnapped. She felt a slight jerk as the car accelerated.

For a while they travelled at a reasonable speed, then the car slowed and turned off the road.

‘We’re here, miss. The Goose Down Inn.’

Ena stepped out of the car, cautiously. ‘Where am I to go?’

‘The bar. By the back door.’ The driver pointed across an expanse of ground, which Ena thought was a car park, to the corner of the building. ‘Give the landlord your name. He’s expecting you. More than that, miss, I wasn’t told.’

‘You will wait for me, won’t you?’

The driver nodded.

Ena made for the corner of the building. Almost immediately, she saw a sliver of light radiating from a door that stood slightly ajar. She put her ear to it. She could hear the mumbling and chattering of people enjoying themselves. With caution, she pushed open the door, stepped inside, and closed it behind her.

From the dimly lit passageway, she saw elderly men sitting four to a table playing cards in a smog of pipe and cigarette smoke. She entered the room unnoticed. Ena had wondered how she’d know the landlord but there was only one man behind the bar. He wore an off-white cellarman’s apron and stood at the end of the long counter, drying glasses. As she approached him, the man put down the glass and pushed the drying-up cloth into his belt. ‘What can I get you, miss?’

‘My name is Ena,’ she whispered. And taking her purse from her handbag, said in a normal voice, ‘Half of bitter please.’

The landlord pulled the beer but instead of passing it to her, said, ‘I think you’d be more comfortable in the snug, miss. If you’d like to follow me?’

Ena dropped her purse back into her bag and with every nerve in her body tensed, her eyes alert, she allowed him to lead her out of the bar to a small entrance hall. The landlord crossed to a door, opened it, and entered. Ena followed. The room was dimly lit with tables and chairs along the walls. Behind her was a serving hatch with the word Closed on what looked like a blackout blind.

The landlord passed Ena her drink and nodded to the end of the room. A fire roared up a large chimney and there were armchairs on either side of it. Nervously Ena walked towards the vacant chairs. She was almost there when the snug door banged shut. Startled, she turned. The landlord had left.

Ena lowered herself onto the chair on the left. What had begun as nervousness had turned into fear. She kept telling herself that neither Commander Dalton nor Mr Silcott would put her in danger.

‘Hello,’ a familiar voice said from the darkness by the door.

Ena turned and peered in the direction of the voice, not daring to believe her ears. ‘Henry?’ As he walked towards her, the light from the fire lit up his face. Ena leapt to her feet and ran into his arms. ‘I thought I’d never see you again!’

With his arms around her, Henry walked her back to her chair by the fire. Then he dragged the armchair from the other side of the hearth until it was next to Ena’s, and sat down. Ena reached up, touched Henry’s face, and smiled.

Henry took her hand, kissed it, and smiled back at her. It wasn’t a happy smile. He looked tired, but it was more than that, much more. She was frightened of what the answer would be, but she had to ask. ‘What is it, Henry? Now Walter and Freda have been caught it’s over, isn’t it?’

‘No, Ena. It isn’t over. It won’t be over until the war is over.’

‘But you’re free. They must know you weren’t involved, or you wouldn’t be here.’

‘Darling, you don’t understand.’

‘Then make me understand.’

Henry took a pack of Players and his lighter from his jacket pocket. He offered Ena a cigarette, which she drew from the pack with trembling hands. Henry lit hers before lighting his own.

She took a pull on the cigarette. She felt a little dizzy. She had inhaled too deeply. She leaned back in her chair, watched the man she loved smoke his cigarette, waiting for him to explain.

Henry looked into Ena’s eyes. ‘If I tell you, I could be putting your life in danger.’

‘I don’t care. I need to know. Just tell me, Henry.’

‘Walter and I escaped. MI5 staged a breakout. Of course, Walter doesn’t know they were involved, he thinks it was his idea, his resourcefulness. He has always been arrogant. But that’s beside the point. I have to live and work with him until I know who the other members of the spy ring are.’

‘Can’t you tell him you’ve had enough? Say you’ve lost your nerve. Then he’d think you were a liability and be glad to see the back of you.’

‘He would, but he’d never let me walk away, I know too much. He’d kill me rather than let me go.’ Ena gasped in horror. ‘Don’t worry, darling, he won’t hurt me. Without Frieda, he needs me.’ Henry left his seat and pulled Ena into his arms. ‘It’s time you left,’ he whispered.

‘When shall I see you again?’

‘You won’t.’ Ena tried to pull away from him, but he held her tightly. ‘It’s too dangerous