“No, Aunt Charlotte,” said Lieutenant Waterford. “I mean St. Bees. You’ve probably noticed that some new buildings have been constructed recently out by the bluffs leading up to the sea cliffs.”
“I thought they were just observation posts,” said Aunt Charlotte.
“That’s what they’re supposed to look like, Charlotte, but that’s not really what they are. It’s an experimental radar station, top secret.”
“But there are none of those big radar screens. How could it be a radar station?”
“Because the new type of radar doesn’t need the big screens. Everything the station needs is heavily camouflaged. The problem is that this particular secret may be out. The Nazis may know about it.”
“How could they? Did somebody here give away the secret?”
“Not exactly. We think that a Nazi scout unit may have made their way up the cliffs and stumbled into it.”
“But how could they? The cliffs are always guarded.”
Lieutenant Waterford sighed. “Charlotte, there are miles and miles of those cliffs and only a handful of men to guard them. It wouldn’t be that difficult for a small group of soldiers to sneak into the area unnoticed.”
Aunt Charlotte rose to her feet quickly. “Then something must be done about it!” She said emphatically.
A slight smile came to Lieutenant Waterford’s lips. “Take it easy, Charlotte. It’s not the end of the world. These scouting parties pop up every once in a while. Sometimes we catch them and sometimes we don’t. But usually nothing comes of it. Chances are that nothing will come of this either. It’s just that if they’ve found out about the experimental radar station…well, the Nazis may try to disable it.”
Aunt Bee was horrified. “You mean by bombing it? Are the Nazis going to bomb St. Bees?”
The Lieutenant shook his head. “No, Charlotte. I doubt if anyone is going to bomb St. Bees. It wouldn’t be worth the risk. But what they might do is send another small raiding party back into the area and try to blow up the buildings by hand. I’m not saying that this is going to happen, I’m just saying that it might.”
“And that’s why we’ve come, Charlotte,” said Mrs. Waterford gently. “Just to let you know that there’s a slight chance that there’ll be a problem, so it’s more important than ever that you keep the children close to home, especially at night.”
Aunt Charlotte smiled grimly. “Don’t you worry about that, Jane. Don’t you worry about that.”
Chapter 5: Tragedy
James looked down at his hands, clenching them and unclenching them nervously. He wasn’t sure how he was supposed to react.
“Shot right out of the sky, my Mum says,” Alfred said, a hint of bravado in his voice.
“When did William find out?” asked Jeremy quietly.
“Yesterday,” said Sam. “His Mum told him yesterday. Just happened a couple of days ago.”
James looked down at his feet. He thought he should say something to the other boys but he didn’t know what. He hadn’t known William well. He knew that he lived on Sam and Alfred’s street but that was about it. And now William’s father was dead, an RAF bomber pilot shot out of the sky with the rest of his crew over Germany.
“It’s those stupid Nazis!” bellowed Alfred. “Why can’t they stay in their own stupid country?”
“It’s Hitler,” said Charlie quietly. “My mom says he wants to conquer all of Europe, And England is the only country that’s been willing to stand up to him.”
“It’d help if the bloody Yanks would come into the war! They send us their broken down ships and they think they’re doing us a big favor,” said Alfred angrily. “What we need are more soldiers…and pilots. We’ve got to take the war to the bloody Germans. The Americans are just standing around. What are they waiting for?”
Charlie sneered. “A bloody engraved invitation! That’s what my mother says!”
James spoke softly. “How’s he taking it…I mean, William?”
“How do you bloody well think he’s taking it,” roared Sam. “How would you take it if your father was shot into a hundred pieces?”
“You don’t know…” began Jeremy.
“I know he’s dead,” said Sam. “Doesn’t much matter how, does it?”
“I guess not,” Jeremy replied softly.
“So what are we going to do about it?” asked Alfred, his eyes sweeping quickly over the other four boys at the table.”
“There’s not much we…” began Charlie.
“There’s plenty we can do,” said Alfred. “We can start doing our own patrols. Over by the cliffs. Down by the old mines. I told you we should do down and check out the old mines. Now we’ve really got to do it. ”
“But we do the cliffs first,” said Sam. “If there’s a landing, it’ll be off the cliffs.”
“The Home Guard won’t let us patrol the cliffs,” said James. “They’ll see us and just send us home with a warning.”
“Well, they’ve got to catch us first, don’t they?” said Alfred, turning to face James. “Are we just going to sit around while the Nazis kill our parents? You going to wait until your dad’s been killed?”
“No, but…”
“Forget the ‘buts.’ We can’t spend our lives playing cricket. We’ve got to do something.”
“Besides,” added Sam, “it’ll be fun. We’ve got to get off our bloomin’ tails once in a while. No more stalling.”
Chapter 6: The War Comes to St. Bees
At least a dozen bombs filled the air over St. Bees later that night, dropped by a single German bomber. Most fell harmlessly into the farm fields outside the village. A single bomb exploded near a farmhouse, causing severe damage and injuring one of its sleeping occupants.
The authorities were caught off-guard. German planes had never appeared in the area before and everyone had always figured that there would be no reason for the Germans to waste their bombs on such unpromising targets. Why bomb a farmer’s field or a farmhouse?
Had the plane been cut off from its bomber group? Had it been sent to Whitehaven to attack the chemical plant and somehow gotten lost? But there had been no attacks on Whitehaven that night. So what was a single bomber doing roaming around St. Bees and causing destruction? What was the point?
The next morning, Lieutenant Waterford received orders to investigate the bombing. He immediately reported to the secret radar base to consult the commanding officer, Major John Morris.
Morris, a hefty man with a high forehead, greeted Lieutenant Waterford brusquely at the door of his office and motioned him into a seat across from Morris’ large desk.
“So exactly what can you Intelligence people tell us about last night’s bombing that we don’t already know?” asked Morris, forcing his expression into a tight smile.
“I wish there was a lot we could tell you,” said Lieutenant Waterford quietly, “but I’m afraid that there’s very little.”
“So who was our lone bomber last night? And what was he doing around St. Bees?”
“Intelligence has turned up nothing yet, but we’re still working on it.”
“Well, I hope you can come up with something. If the Germans have found out about our new radar base, we’ve got a very serious problem.”
“Major Morris, I know this is frustrating for you and I wish we could give you some hard and fast answers. Right now, all we can do is guess. And my guess is that the lone German bomber who struck St. Bees last night had absolutely nothing to do with your installation.”
“How can you know that?”
“I can’t know it for sure,” answered Lieutenant Waterford, pulling out some papers from the folder he held in his lap, “but if they wanted to take out your base from the air, they’d have sent a lot more than one bomber to do it.”
“Hmm,” said the Major thoughtfully. “I suppose you’re right. But where did the darn thing come from? I’m told nobody went near the chemical plant in Whitehaven last night.”
“That’s correc
t, sir. Not a single glimpse of a German plane. The closest target last night was more than a hundred miles away.”
Well, I don’t get it,” said Major Morris, shaking his head slowly. “If the pilot was just lost or disoriented, why bother bombing a farmhouse?
“We may never know, sir,” replied Lieutenant Waterford. “Maybe he was just too embarrassed to go back to France with the live bombs in his belly.”
“But he wasn’t even heading in the right direction!” snapped the Major.
“I can’t explain that, sir.”
“Listen, Waterford. I’ve got a nasty feeling that the people of St. Bees are catching on to the fact that we’re more than just an observation post up here. And if the townspeople know it, then eventually there’s a pretty good chance that someone will say the wrong thing to the wrong person and the information will get back to the Germans.”
“There’s always a danger of that, Major,” admitted Lieutenant Waterford. “We both know that it’s just a matter of time before the good people of St. Bees have their curiosity aroused about you. They know you’re not Home Guard and they’re eventually going to catch on to the fact that nobody would need all these buildings for a simple observation post.”
“So do you think the Nazis have any information on us?”
“It’s really difficult to know at this point but, yes, there is a possibility. That’s one of the reasons that I’ve come to see you today. We have received reports of a possible German patrol having landed here a few days ago. A small group—maybe two or three people.”
“Well, if the cat’s out of the bag, it’s not just this installation that may come into some trouble. It’s all of St. Bees. This sleepy little town could become a target for the Germans after all. I’m sure nobody wants that.”
“Nobody,” agreed Lieutenant Waterford. “My children are living here with their aunt. We sent them here because we thought it’d be a lot safer than staying in Manchester.”
“You may have to re-think that idea, Lieutenant. You may just have to re-think it.”
Chapter 7: Patrolling the Cliffs
James was surprised how easy it was to sneak out of the house. His aunt was in bed by 9:00 every night and fast asleep by 9:30. It was trickier escaping without his little sister noticing, but on this night, she was fast asleep even before their aunt.
He felt guilty, of course. His aunt’s warnings about leaving the neighborhood, especially at night, had become almost hysterical. Yet here he was, leaving the house and heading off to the cliffs to join his friends at 10:00 in the evening. Still, he had a perfectly good reason. If there was more reason to be cautious in the last few days, then there was also more reason to be on the alert. If there was something out there, you really couldn’t trust the Home Guard soldiers to find it.
James had nothing against the Home Guard. Some of the men were quite nice. But some of them were a little too puffed up with their own importance. Besides, they were old. They weren’t real soldiers, and they couldn’t be depended on to be alert to any real dangers that might threaten St. Bees. But James and his friends could be trusted. They were young; they had sharp eyes. And they could move quietly through the dark—all things that the Home Guard couldn’t do.
The boys met at the western edge of the village. Everybody was there, although Jeremy seemed very nervous. “How long is this gonna take?” he had asked, again and again.
“Who knows?” said Alfred, bluster in his voice as usual. “We’re going to patrol around the cliffs until we’ve covered a good-sized area and made sure that there’s nobody out there that shouldn’t be.”
“And we’re going to make sure that we don’t get picked up by any of the Home Guard patrols,” said Sam, smiling broadly.
“Everybody bring your hand torches?” asked Alfred, waving his in the air.
“We didn’t have one at home,” said Jeremy timidly.
“You mean you didn’t look for one at home,” Alfred grumbled. “Doesn’t matter. Stick close to James. He has one.”
“I’m not sure how long the battery will last,” said James.
“Don’t worry about it. Now, follow me. And keep up,” said Alfred.
***
It was almost an hour before the boys saw anything. It was a Home Guard patrol, three of them, walking abreast. They were talking back and forth noisily and the boys heard them before they saw them. It was easy enough to avoid them. The boys simply crouched down behind some trees in a small wooded area about a hundred yards from the cliff.
“With all the noise that bunch is making,” Sam whispered as the patrol disappeared from view, “any Nazi raiding party would hear them coming a mile away.”
“Nobody really expects to run into Nazis,” said Charlie. “I mean, do you really think we’re going to see anybody but the Home Guard walking around out here?”
“Well, Charlie, you just don’t know, do you? That’s the thing of it,” said Sam. “Now let’s keep moving. We’ve got a lot more ground to cover.”
They moved more quickly now, going the opposite direction that the Home Guard patrol had headed. Walking closely to the cliffs at times, they gazed out at the black water, the undulating waves looking very uninviting.
Fifteen minutes later, Alfred, who had taken the lead, put his hand out to stop the other four boys. “Down! Down!” he said urgently.
“What is it?” whispered Jeremy. “Did you see something?”
“Up on the small bluff, back about forty yards,” said Alfred, breathing a little harder.
The other four boys craned their necks around. At first, they saw nothing. Then, about ten seconds later, a brief light. On for about three seconds, then off. Then on again.
“Who’s doing it?” asked Charlie quietly.
“How do I know who’s doing it?” snarled Alfred. “You can bloody well see as well as I can.”
“It’s gotta be a signal,” said Sam in a rough whisper. “Somebody’s trying to signal somebody out there in the water.”
“Yeah,” agreed Alfred. “That couldn’t be seen under the cliffs. Whoever is doing it is trying to send a message to someone further out.”
“Are you sure it’s a message?” whispered James.
“What the bloody else could it be?” replied Alfred angrily. “You think someone is standing there blinking a bloody torch just for their health?”
“What’s the message? What does it say?” asked Jeremy.
Alfred gave an exasperated sigh. “I’ll be buggered if I know. Maybe it’s Morse code.”
“But it’s going so slowly…the blinks are coming so slowly,” said James.
“Are some blinks long and others short?” asked Jeremy.
“They all seem long to me,” said Sam. “If it’s a message, I don’t think the person sending it knows what they’re doing.”
“Say there!” came a loud voice behind them. “What do you kids think you’re doing?”
“Oh, blimey!” said Alfred, shaking his head. “It’s the Home Guard. We’re in for it now.”
Three men with LVD armbands hurried over to the boys.
“You’ve got no cause to be out here so late at night,” said the first, an older gentleman with a battered hat and a gray mustache.
“That’s right!” said the second, a tall, thin man with a hawk-like face. “Strictly forbidden by the regulations. Why, you boys could get hurt out here.”
“Just takin’ a little stroll, Guvnors,” said Sam, tipping his cap to the three men.
“Taking a little stroll? This time of night?” said the first. “That isn’t good enough boys. Now you’re going to have to come up with something better than that or we’re reporting you to local headquarters, and after that we’re taking you home and putting you in your beds where you belong.”
“We were just patrolling…er, walking around,” said Jeremy nervously.
“But we did see something,” said Charlie. “Didn’t we, boys?”
“Yeah, we did,” said Alfre
d, “a confident look on his face. “As a matter of fact, we saw a German agent.”
“A German agent, now did you?” said the second man, showing a hint of a smile. “Would you mind pointin’ him out to us? Just for the record, you know.”
“It was back there,” said Sam, pointing to the ridge in back of them. “We saw somebody with a light. We think they were signaling the Germans.”
“Signaling the Germans?” said the first man. “Just how were they doing that?”
“With an electric torch—just flashing it on and off,” said Alfred.
“Flashin’ it on and off now, were they? Sounds like a dangerous business.”
“Look,” said Sam. “You can believe us or not. But we saw it—we all saw it—somebody back there with a torch, signaling to someone out there in the water.”
The first Home Defense guard turned to the second. “These boys are probably daft but we better check up on it just in case.” He looked to the third member of their group. “OK, Willie. You just head up to the ridge over there and take a look around. See if you can find any German agents…”
“Or spies,” interjected Alfred.
“Or spies,” continued the second man, no longer trying to hide his smile.
Willie was gone for no more than three minutes.
“There’s not a soul up there,” he reported. “No sign of anything.”
“Any people live back there?” asked the second guard.
“Not for at least a mile back,” said Willie. “I think there are a couple of farms back there somewhere.”
“OK, boys, you’ve had your fun, but we’re taking you home,” said the first guard. “And, we’re going to report each and every one of you to the local guard authorities. We can’t have kids runnin’ around late at night just on a lark.”
“You going to report that spy?” asked Alfred.
“Sonny boy,” said the first guard. “There’s no spy out there to report. Now come along without a fuss. We’ve got to get you kids home.”
Chapter 8: The Legend of King Arthur
An hour later, James was home. His aunt had been awoken by the Home Guard officer who informed her that James and four other boys had been caught sneaking around the cliffs with no permission to do so. First, he and the other boys had been lectured sternly by the Home Guard Captain, who had warned them that if any of them were ever caught out like that again, they would all spend the night in jail or worse.