Chapter 16

The first thing David became aware of as he awoke was voices. But these were voices outside of his window. He then realised that the train had stopped moving. What he could see of the sky looked overcast. Examining his cabin, he noted with regret that Julia must have left sometime during the night after he had gone to sleep.

Since the tunnel incident, the trip had held little surprise. There was little damage in the midlands and he guessed they must be moving up into the highlands by now. He wondered where they were. Getting up he stretched and relived the night before. He checked his reflection to make sure he didn't look like some dopey idiot. Unfortunately the mirror showed a dopey idiot with a grin from ear to ear. He practiced looking serious, but it was hard going. The grin reappeared as he thought of all the places on a train you could spend some time alone with your lover.

Dressed for the day, he checked his watch, 6:47am. He could hear the slow chuff chuff chuff of the engine and the sound of coal being poured from the loader into the coal wagon. Peering out the window he saw that they had arrived in Edinburgh. The weather was not just overcast, it was drizzling rain.

He could see Julia speaking with a well dressed gentleman flanked by some Bobbies. Even though the train was at a platform away from the suburban lines, there was still plenty of noisy activity, and he couldn't hear what was being said.

He made his way down to the dining carriage and found that Pierre had already laid out a full English breakfast. Examining the sideboard where the makings of breakfast were tabled, he picked up a few slices of toast, poured himself a cup of black tea and sat down facing the platform where Julia was still in conversation.

He heard Liz laughing before he saw her. She entered the carriage and was immediately followed by Josh. She had turned to say something to Josh and had not noticed that David was present in the room. Josh interrupted her "Hello David!"

Liz turned quickly back. Her smile could be seen through the gauze and soot, that covered her face and clothes. "Oh, hello David! Josh has been letting me steer the train."

"Drive the train" Josh corrected. "Liz is now a fully fledged Engine Driver!"

"Don't you mean Engineer?" asked David.

"No, Driver. Engineer is a continental thing" said Josh dismissively. "Bloody hell I'm knackered! What's to eat." Josh moved over to the sideboard and started to pile a large plate high with kippers, scrambled eggs and toast.

Liz soon joined him and they maintained a comfortable banter. If David didn't know better he would have thought that they were becoming a little but more than acquaintances.

They sat down with David and soon became quiet as they began to eat. During their breakfast David continued to keep an eye on Julia. Josh had started his second plate of kippers and eggs, when Julia entered the dining carriage. As she moved toward the table, the engine gave a whistle and jerked into movement.

Sitting down she took Liz's hand. "Liz, I have some sad news for you." Liz's smile disappeared. "Margaret is dead."

"My, my sister?" Liz replied.

"God no!" Julia responded. "No, Margaret Kreswell"

"Oh" Liz looked confused. "But I saw her yesterday."

Julia spoke. She looked at them all and said "Margaret is Liz's double. The Bristol/Dublin Ferry sank yesterday. As far as we can make out there were no survivors."

Liz choked back her tears. "What happened?"

Julia looked glum, "We don't know. But it seems likely that a Russian or DDR Submarine attacked the ferry. According to Naval Air Patrol command there were no surface vessels in the area. Either that or a mine" "She shrugged her shoulders. "Who knows."

Josh was fuming. "The bastards, the bloody tossers! The ferry is Irish, they're a neutral country for Christ's sake!"

"Well, yes" Julia interrupted "that's true. We can't be sure if this was an accident or whether the Princess was targeted."

"Oh poor Margaret." sighed Liz. "Julia, I must speak to her mother. She will be devastated."

"Later Liz. There are more pressing concerns." responded Julia. "We are saying publicly that survivors were rescued. Among them, the Princess and her American fiancé." She stood up and went to the sideboard and poured herself a cup of tea. "We are going to have to be extra careful. Check and double check everything."

"What time will we get to Inverness, Julia?" enquired David.

"Sometime late this afternoon, God willing. The sooner we get on the plane for Reykjavik the better."

They had waited an eternity at Inverness. The weather even in the sheltered waters of the harbour made the take off too risky. In fact their flight would be one of the last flights several weeks.

David, who was used to the military way, calculated risk, and thought that the captain of the seaplane was being overly cautious. Julia expressed concern that somehow their whereabouts would be traced and give opportunity for assassins. The rooms above the local pub were Spartan at best, but at east there were moments that David and Julia could be together. David could sense her restlessness but felt helpless to reassure her. Royalty would be prime targets for Communist bullets — true. But no-one knew where they were. And Liz was completely unrecognisable behind her bandages.

Josh had been very solicitous to Liz and her needs over the past few days, and it wouldn't have surprised David if Liz and Josh were becoming something more than just good friends. Though there was no mistaking who was in control of the relationship. But Josh seemed happy, and Liz was positively beaming.

Finally the Flying Clipper had roared into life. As the flight had settled down, David had a chance to take in his fellow passengers. These were mostly Americans returning home from business or wealthy British who had had enough of the war and had sufficient money to make a change in location possible. Josh, in particular, felt scornful of anyone relocating. He sat towards the back with Liz and started to drink steadily.