Chapter 2

 

Ginger goes shopping.

 

When Biggles and Algy left the house with the Bentley to collect von Stalhein from the Airport, Ginger was only a few minutes behind them.  He had some shopping to do in St. Peterport to stock up on the necessaries now Mrs Ferris was not available to look after them. Driving the Austin, he decided to go to the covered market in the centre of St. Peterport where fresh meat, fish and vegetables are all available at reasonable prices.

When he arrived in the town centre, he parked the Austin and placed the parking disc on the top of the dashboard, behind the screen. Whistling cheerfully he took a shopping bag from the boot and walked towards the market.

Once inside, he immediately set about buying what he needed at the various counters.

While he was waiting for the fish he had ordered, he was aware of three men standing next to him and he casually overheard their talk. He had no idea what they were talking about but of one thing he was sure, the language was Russian. 

Without attracting any particular attention he looked at the three men and he felt a slight shiver run down his spine. Two of the men seemed to have something unpleasantly familiar about them.  Something, which went back a long time in his mind. ‘I have met those two a long time ago,’ he thought, ‘but where?’

Ginger received his fish and paid the seller. The three men also received their purchases and left.

Ginger, now on the alert, decided to follow the three men who were now walking straight towards the exit of the market.

Out on the street the three men got into a red rental Austin. Quickly Ginger ran towards his Austin, slid behind the wheel and started up. The fish he had bought was thrown unceremoniously onto the backseat of the car. He pulled away and turned so he was facing the same direction as the Austin with the three Russians in order to chase them.

“Good heavens,’ he cried for there were 6 red rental Austin’s ahead of him. He was just blaming himself for neglecting to take the car’s number when luckily he was saved by the Russians' having to stop at the traffic lights, which allowed cars to enter the Boulevard on the left. Swiftly he took a pencil from his pocket and scribbled the number on a piece of paper.

When the traffic light turned green, the cars moved off and turned into the Boulevard. In Guernsey they do not drive that fast so it was no problem to follow the Austin. Ginger kept two other cars between him and the Russians so his pursuit did not attract attention. When they arrived at a rotunda, the Russians turned towards the harbour. When they arrived there a few minutes later, they left their car on the car park and made their way towards the arrivals hall.

Ginger was careful to park his car in such a way that he could easily follow the three men again later and then followed them into the arrivals hall. The ship from St. Malo had just arrived and there were a lot of people about so his presence went unnoticed. At a kiosk he bought a paper and found himself a bench from which he was able to get a good view of everybody who entered and left the hall.

He must have been waiting for about ten minutes when he noticed that the first passengers were passing through Customs. Suddenly the three Russians walked towards the gate and Ginger had a shock. There were now four of them.  He recognised the newcomer at once. It was Ludwig Karkoff.

(See Biggles Takes a Hand)

He was slightly older, but it was definitely him.  Suddenly Ginger remembered the names of the other two who had been in the market; they were Molsk and Rallensky, Karkoff’s accomplices. When the four, known to Ginger as KGB agents, went past he raised the paper in front of his face in case he was recognised by the KGB agents.

He waited a few seconds and then walked briskly in pursuit. The Russians were just getting into their Austin as he arrived.  When they drove off he quickly jumped into his car and followed. They drove along the harbour road towards the rotunda, where they turned in the direction of St. Sampson’s, a tiny harbour situated to the north of St. Peterport.

‘I'm getting old,’ Ginger chided himself. ‘Why did I forget to give Bertie a ring to tell him what’s going on?’

That morning the weather was bright and sunny, with just a hint of a sea breeze.  The temperate was a warm 20 degrees C, which made the Islands a wonderful place to live or to stay for a holiday. Like Cornwall, the Channel Islands have a sub-tropical climate. ‘It would have been a perfect day for a sea trip in Bertie’s Viscount,’ he thought, as he kept a close eye on the Austin in front of him. After they had passed St Sampson’s the cars arrived at the highest part of the island. They passed through small streets and lanes without stopping.

Then Ginger became aware of a blue Ford Cortina, which had been behind him for the last ten minutes. He remembered that the Ford Cortina had followed him from the harbour. He looked into the mirror and saw that there was only one person in the Cortina, a young man with curly dark hair and a lightly sun tanned complexion. Ginger guessed he was a Mediterranean type, although he could not have a closer look because he needed to keep his attention on the Russians in front of him.

Suddenly the Russians' car braked sharply and turned into private grounds next to an old farmhouse. Without stopping, Ginger drove on a little further hoping to find a parking place. As he passed the private grounds and the old farmhouse he saw a large grey tower in the grounds and wondered if it was a water tower or a former mill. A few hundred yards further on he found a suitable place where he parked the car.  Checking the coast was clear, he got out and walked slowly back towards the old farmhouse. There was no sign of the boy in the blue Ford Cortina so Ginger forgot all about it and was now concentrated his efforts on not being seen as he approached the farmhouse.

Now he was near the farmhouse he recognised the grey tower as a former German fire command tower which the Germans had used during the War to control the firing of the many guns which had been located on the island during the occupation.

When he arrived at the farmhouse it was all very quiet and peaceful. There was no sign of the Austin used by the Russians so he walked up to the wooden door of the barn, deciding that if he bumped into anybody he would act like an ignorant tourist who just wanted to have a closer look at the German tower.

Nothing happened so Ginger opened the door and peered inside. There was nobody in the barn.  Taking a deep breath he swiftly entered the barn and closed the door behind him soundlessly.  When his eyes were used to the darkness he could see the Austin parked inside the barn.

At the far end was a door allowing access to the farmhouse from the barn.  'In for a penny, in for a pound,' he thought as he made his way across to the door and tried the handle; it was not locked. Cautiously he opened it and again he peered inside. Knowing that his stupid tourist story would be worthless if somebody caught him inside the house, he still continued his investigations because his curiosity was stronger than his fear.

He found himself in a small corridor; at the far end a door stood ajar allowing a small beam of light to enter the dark corridor.  Behind the door he could hear voices, but it was in Russian and he could make nothing of it. Step by step, taking care not to make a sound, he inched his way towards the door and peered into the room.

There were four men sitting in the middle of the room, gathered around a table on which was spread a map.  The quartet were all looking at the chart. Karkoff was talking and he seemed to be in a very good mood. They all had drinks; a sort of colourless liquid, presumably Vodka.  As soon as the glasses were empty they were filled up again by Karkoff.

Ginger thought it was a pity that he could not understand the language but was sure that there was something very strange going on in Guernsey.   He did his utmost to see what was on the table and in this he was eventually successful for he identified it as a map of Alderney. He was just wondering about his chances of taking the map and running off, but the thought that the Russians might be armed caused him to think better of it. He was unarmed unless he could count his penknife.

‘It might be possible to steal the map tonight,’ he thought ‘Meanwhile I could hide up somewhere in the barn perhaps.’

But he rejected this thought as well. Biggles and the others would get very worried by his unexplained absence and might start a search for him.

Suddenly the door at the other side of the room where the Russians were grouped was flung open. Ginger recognised the young man from the Ford Cortina at once. In his right hand was a black pistol, which he pointed at the four Russians. He seemed to be able to speak Russian because he shouted an order in what Ginger took to be that language. All the Russians put their hands above their heads. With his left hand the newcomer grabbed the map from the table and folded it, as best he could with one hand. Suddenly Karkoff threw the bottle of vodka at the young man and another Russian pulled a gun from his pocket. The young man easily evaded the bottle and it struck the wall harmlessly. There was a loud bang and the Russian who had drawn the gun fell to the floor with a scream of pain.  His gun fell on the floor and slid under a chair.

The young man again shouted an order in Russian and the other Russians put their hands in the air again and turned to face the wall.  The young man collected the guns from the other Russians and then, as suddenly as he had come, he left.

Ginger, whose attention had been completely gripped by these events, was startled to receive a hard push in his back.  He lost his balance and fell into the room, hitting the table and ending up on the floor. Before he could recover, two Russians had grabbed him and he found he was unable to offer any resistance, his arms pinioned. Karkoff stood in front of him and it was obvious he was no longer in a good mood. He started to shout at Ginger in Russian.

To Ginger's great relief, it was clear that the Russian had not recognised him so he started to play the innocent.

The man, who had hit him from behind, was suffering from a wound to the head.

‘He must have been knocked out by the young man when he was on watch,’ thought Ginger.

Ginger said nothing in answer to the questions Karkoff asked him in Russian.  Even if he had understood, it was unlikely that he would have said anything. Suddenly Karkoff lost his temper and punched Ginger in the face. He could taste the warm saltiness of the blood as it poured over his lips.

Stunned and in pain from the punch, Ginger stammered some words in English.

“Who are you? For who are you working,” Karkoff shouted, this time in English.

Ginger answered haltingly that his car had broken down and he had just wanted to ask for some tools to get it going again. He told Karkoff that he was just in the corridor about to enter the room and ask for help when he witnessed the arrival of the young man who was unknown to him. He had been shocked, he added, and did not know what to do.  Then he was pushed into the room by the wounded man. And that, he concluded, was all.

Karkoff searched Ginger's pockets and took out his personal papers.  Ginger bit his lip as he watched the Russian rifling through them because among them were his driving and pilot's licenses. He broke out in a cold sweat when he realised Karkoff would be able to read his name on the documents.

“Mr Hebblethwaite?” asked Karkoff, having difficulty with the aspiration. “An unusual name."  He stared at Ginger.  "Have we not met before a long time ago?”

Ginger's only course of action was to deny it, which he did fervently.

Suddenly the Russian, who had been shot by the young man recovered consciousness and started to scream in pain. Everybody in the room now switched their attention to the wounded Russian, forgetting Ginger for a moment. Two of them bent over their wounded comrade and started to talk to him. The two holding Ginger loosened their firm grip on him momentarily as they concentrated on their fallen comrade. His brain was thinking fast. He realised there was no way that Karkoff would let him go now. Suddenly he remembered the gun, which had fallen under the chair. It was his only chance. He looked around and the others were still occupied with their wounded comrade whose screams were becoming louder.

When Karkoff and Rallensky bent over to grab their wounded comrade, Ginger made his move. With all the power he could muster he freed himself from his guards. He dived straight for the chair and grabbed the gun underneath it.  Fortunately his hand closed over it straight away and he pointed it directly at the Russians, shouting “Put your hands up!”

The Russians, now unarmed, had no choice but to obey, which they did instantly.    

Now he had the Russians covered, Ginger grabbed his personal papers and put them back in his pocket.

Warning them not to try to follow him, Ginger ran out of the house along the corridor and through into the barn.  Once outside he ran as fast as he could towards his parked car, but the pursuit he feared did not materialise.  Shaking with reaction, he drove off.  As fast as he could, he drove towards Fort George mopping the blood from his face with his handkerchief.

About twenty minutes later he arrived at Fort George, parked the car and stumbled into the house, where his astonished friends immediately took good care of him.