The Assassin

Anna realised that she was lifted from her fear of the stalker with a great sigh of relief. All the training of the Western Front swept into action. She sought a cloth from the rail, removed the iron and wrapped the head up. Together with Henry they dragged the body out of the back door to the coal shed.

Back in the house Lily was cleaning up as if the cottage pig has been killed and in no time at all, had made a pot of tea. They decided to take two wheelbarrows of coal to Mrs Baxter as a gift before she settled down for the night; to let her know who will be scuttling around in her backyard later.

The body had only a forged passport as identification but Henry did find a white enameled swatix medal; which he thought might explain the body sometime in the future. They rolled it to the end of old Mr Baxter’s long abandoned Free mine. Henry said that he would put a dead sheep at the tunnel entrance.

*********

A SUV, loaded with bikes drew up at the forest car park near the now established hospital. Two children, Mother and Father followed the well-known route. Past old Auntie`s house, Great Grandfathers` first, downhill to the Speech House and on to the crossroads, just there in a growth of silver birch Great Grandpa helped win the war!

The smoothing iron made in the Forest of Dean

A soft evening breeze just touched Lily’s cheek. She sensed the front door was ajar and looked up to see a figure in a long black leather coat step into the kitchen. Every instinct of defense rose within her and without thinking she dried her hands on her apron. The man stood for a moment; slipped behind Anna drawing a wire from a fold, stretched out his hands to pull the wire in a garrotte.

Anna’s reaction was immediate. Recognising the attack, all her playground instincts came to the fore. She picked up the heavy cast smoothing iron and slung it into the back of the man’s head. The iron was cast in the Forest, thick, with a tapering point, at the right temperature and just perfect for goffering. It entered the skull with ease.

Anna shrank back with shock, clutching Henry’s arm for support. Lily reckoned that she had done a good job until it dawned upon her that he was dead. She went to wash her hands.

Henry breathed a sigh, “Thank God, he was an inconneau. Nobody knows who he is, was!”

And Henry’s wife looked on

Lily eyed the slight girl, the Red Cross indicating to all that she must be full of interesting information about the Forest and even beyond. London! Henry told her nothing about his adventures other what happened down at the cross roads factory, mostly she heard from neighbours before the exhausted Henry returned home.

Lily aimed to get the best from her new friend. What a chance! She was in for many a chat.

War had reduced the Forest to its knees, God alone knew the overwhelming despair that crept into every heart for so many reasons, the yellow telegrams of death proceeded the post boy on his bicycle as far as he could be seen. Black armbands on so many skinny arms, curtains drawn over closed shops that used to be the hub of life. Church and chapel unequal to the challenge that had no form. This was a battle that intruded every corner of civilised life that, before, was hard enough. Almost unbearable now.

And here was a fresh face…

Understanding

The two were settling down to exchange their confidences but, firstly, Anna burst out voicing her fear of the man following her. Briefly sighted in London, a feeling in Gloucester, rumours of an unknown Belgian amongst the local refugees (who ran an extremely speedy information chatter box) and her own sharp intellect.

Henry nodded, looking up at her. He too understood the workings of the Reichstat Office and the disciplines applied by Gustav Steinhauer.

“Been to slow? Have not kept in touch,” muttered Henry.

Anne nodded.

“It’s my problem too,” Henry grunted.

Cycling home

It was a long push up from Court House, a regular walk for some. The small house on the right showed up in its fresh paint and new latchet gate leading to the door. Henry knocked as he opened it calling out, “Lily, we`ve got company.”

A patter of feet was heard through the thin door, which drew in allowing a draught of domestic air to welcome them as did the large figure of Lily taking off her apron to hug Henry and moist hands to greet the Red Cross girl.Lily knew all about her from the local chatter.

Henry and Anna sat at the kitchen table whilst Lily busied herself with the evening meal.

The Meeting of Minds

Slowly, the words came out.

‘It was the Nachrichtendienst and Abwehr who directed that you were to be eliminated for gross disobedience in failing to report!’

Henry thought back to the night of the Zeppelin and the radio, hanging on it`s cord in its wooden box, biting into the turf. ‘It must have been irking Gustav Steinhauer,’ Henry replied, ‘He sent a Zep to waken me up!’

And, ‘Yes!’ Anna, gave a gasp; ‘It was shot down over North London on its return.’

Henry paled. ‘That was enough to send you. Come along, we both need a cup of tea and a long chat.

A very English summons.’

Amongst the small crowd of workmen swirled the black tails of a man who hurried after the cyclists.

Meeting outside the wood alcohol factory

The night shift moved into the plant as the day shift walked out… more rapidly, eager to get home, taking to the road or footpaths leading to all points of the compass, as the workforce came from every corner  of the Forest. One or two had bicycles but most were use to walking long distances to work.

The smart uniforms of the forestry girls, who counted the newly felled trees, were amongst the proud owners of a cycle.

Anna waited until she was sure to spot, amongst the last to leave, the figure of Heinrich. She wheeled her cycle quickly alongside his machine before he had a chance to mount and introduced herself. It was obvious to anybody that she was a Red Cross nurse and was warmly greeted by Heinrich.

“Yes, I am Henry, engineer on the plant. I heard that you were about. Good to know you”.

“May we talk further?” Anna suggested.

“It’s about Frau S!”

“Let’s get away from here,” Henry muttered. ” Cycle with me and we will be natural gossipers!”

In the Forest of Dean.

Her fear was breaking down to the girl she was, that Belgian girl; when she took that roundabout way to school to miss the torment of the Flemish neighbours. Cold behind her shoulder blades when she sensed being followed by an unseen. Resolution had deserted her, she was derived of guidance. There was a pull to seek out  Hienrich, which had nothing to do with her orders. Her weapon was lost, her cause in tatters and she felt her only support was the Red Cross.

The smell of birch wood smoke filled the valley and the rumble of rail wagons added to the workman`s calls as Anna wheeled towards the gate of the Works. She was challenged by the elderly soldier who fully accepted that she would like to meet the  nurse in charge of the first aid room. Soon they fell into deep conversation. Burns, splinters and smoke inhaled, were covered. Anna had enough sense left not to engage in her Front Line experience. They sat comfortably over a cup of tea, local affairs, gleaned by Anna`s numerous visits through the Forest, being the main topic.

Questions asked in the Forest of Dean

How the word of her arrival sped through the Forest Anna did not know but wherever she went one or two of the Belgian refugees would press her for information about friends, relations, villages and their well-being. She could hardly tell them that it was almost a year since she had been there and that she’d spent  most of the time in Germany.

For a person who had her identity hidden it was a painful moment when yet another questioned her. Anna, in her turn soon, learnt that a German engineer worked at the charcoal factory. Maybe with a pursed mouth and knowing nod but it was also imparted that he was accepted.

Here was her target!

But gone from her mind was the wrath and hatred imparted in those days of implanted revenge around the briefing stare of her German Mistress. A feeling of something that had happened a long time ago came over her.

Glimpses of the immediate past flipped through her mind, the children of the forest playing in the ashes outside the wretched cottages. The old women feeding the family pig, some trudging daily to collect water, all a long way from the people that she had met in Germany.

Anna could not distance herself from the girls in the  post tent and those grimly bent over some body on a stretcher. It was these people that she had been ordered to help bring to their knees. Her  thoughts frightened her and she had no remedy to chase them from her mind.

Shortly, it would be a point of no return and the pistol, the Luger, had been kicked under the desk.The only weapon left to her was the garrot wire lying in a coil in her bag.

Anna in the Forrest of Dean

Anna was told to wait for her medical talk by Dr Morris which was a requirement of the Medical Directorate. All school nurses were to have some knowledge of the major illnesses so that they could recognise the symptom’s when visiting schools. The major ones to be watched for where diphtheria, measles, mumps, and scarlet fever, all of which would be liable to spread far and wide. Each symptom was outlined. The minor ones,scabies,ringworm and lice where up to her to treat. They were already well-known to her. She nodded in agreement.

The hospital had received a note from the Queens Nurses in London advising against children being excluded from school to protect uninfected children on the grounds that their friends only waited outside the school gates to play with them.The advise was to ignore nits as these were only the empty egg shells of lice. With active lice the advice was,

“Comb when wet as the lice would be stationary. They would run away when raked in dry hair.”

She was issued with her own lice comb which she added to her small box of first aid. With the issue of a Rover cycle Anna was detailed to assist school nurses and midwives on pre and post natal visits when called for in the Forest on demand. The hardships of the war were evident even both outside the door and inside where the large ward was filled with four rows of beds, all close together beneath the Union Jack flags hanging from the beams.

Beyond the hospital the shops still had paper and colourful cloth banners rejoicing in the return of the Coleford Doctor`s son, albeit blinded, but with the V.C. One of the new Red Cross motorised ambulances was at the very door as Anna stepped out to her new assignment. Her first job was to understudy the midwife in the Milkwall area who she was to meet at the new village hall. She understood all this from the Sister who set her on the way, who gave her details as she popped Anna and her old cycle on the train. “As a treat, my dear, to save your legs”.

“That Mrs Mills has had many a jobs other than midwife: firstly a nurse at under the instructions of Dr Bangara, soon married she has a family, cleans the school,is a midwife, as I’ve said, and lays out the dead! beautifully, I might add.” She had to stop, even if only to take a breath.”You could not be in better hands!”

Anna was at a complete loss but she did realise that the Sister had sent her by train to ensure she arrived at the halt.

“Goodness sake,girl. Here is the address!”

Anna found the new hall easily enough and it was but a moment before a woman bustled in greeting her with a cry.

“Thank Goodness nurse, come and sit down and I will tell you of the situation. Things are getting tough around here. As with other places in Glos most of the men are gone, food is getting short and that`s not helping, the kids are under nourished and what babies we have are skinny little things. Get you out visiting them. By the way,” she went on, “Most of the villages around here have a refugee from Belgium. Some are taken in for free, others try to find work but most are pretty hopeless things! But it may feel you less homesick.”

Anna was soon to get to know the beauty of the Forest on the old push bike, up and down the hills, asking the way from friendly people, speaking with her pedantic English accent and smelling the forest air, which was such a relief from the stink of London