Capital Falling | Book 4 | Sever Winkless, Lance (most popular ebook readers TXT) 📖

doors on the far side of the room. I then proceed to peer out of the glass at the dark back garden and then farther to the river beyond, as if I were just being curious.

Alice wasn’t exaggerating when she told us that the house backed straight onto the Thames. Flowing water is clearly visible at the end of the garden, shimmering in the moonlight. The problem, however, is that there is no boat to be seen, no matter how much I squint my eyes to concentrate my vision. I can see a small pontoon jutting out into the water, but there isn’t a boat moored up against it.

“Captain Richards,” Bill’s voice calls me over when my drink is ready. I debate whether to tell him that I am in fact, no longer a Captain but decide against it. It will serve our purpose better for him to believe that I am a Captain in the British Army.

“Now Alice, why don’t you tell us what this all about and how we can possibly help you?” Lillian says.

“If I may?” I interject.

“Of course, Captain,” Lillian replies.

“I’ll get straight to the point if you don’t mind. We are in need of a boat and Alice tells me that you have one that we could borrow?” I tell the couple, who look at each other confused after I have spoken.

“Is there a problem?” Alice asks.

“Well,” Bill says. “If you’re talking about our old boat, I’m afraid we sold it some years back. We were too old for taking it out on the river, it was never used and so we decided to sell it. It’s been many years since you came to visit, and we took the boat out Alice.”

Shit, I think to myself, it looks like we are going to be trawling the riverbank after all.

Alice looks terribly embarrassed by this turn of events, but how could she have known. She did suggest phoning ahead, just in case of such a situation, so she can’t be blamed.

“Oh dear, I can see you’re disappointed. Have you come far to borrow it?” Lillian asks.

“Well, we were kind of counting on it,” Alice replies.

“Oh, what a shame. You could have borrowed it if we still had it. Couldn’t they Bill? Lillian says.

“Yes of course,” Bill agrees.

“What we gonna do now Dad?” Josh asks, but I don’t answer him while I am thinking.

“Do any of your neighbours have a boat nearby?” I ask.

“Only the Kennedys have one that I know of, our neighbours,” Bill answers.

“Good, can you take me round to see them?” I ask.

“They aren’t there. They left when the trouble started, I’m afraid,” Bill tells me.

“Is their boat still there?” I ask.

“Yes, it’s still there. It’s undercover, on their pontoon.”

“Well, we will have to borrow that one,” I announce.

“How can you borrow it if they’re not there?” Lillian asks innocently.

“I’m sure they won’t mind,” I say. “If it’s for military business. We will return it tomorrow in any case.”

“But you haven’t got the keys?” Lillian insists.

“That won’t be a problem, Lillian. I’ve had training for exactly this kind of situation.” I smile at her.

“What do you think Bill?”

“I think I’d better show the Captain where the Kennedys boat is, Lillian. Don’t you?” Bill tells his wife.

As soon as Bill opens the porch doors that lead onto his garden the sound of the river washes across me. He leads us down his garden until he is close to the riverbank and then he turns right. The fences that separate the gardens stop well short of the riverbank so there is a clear path into the neighbour’s garden. As soon as we turn, I see the boat on the river, hidden under its soft covering and moored up against its pontoon.

“Normally the boat would have been taken off the river about this time of the year,” Bill tells me. “You’re lucky it’s still there. If it wasn’t for the trouble, it could well have been taken for storage, until next season.”

“That is lucky then,” I reply. “And thanks for showing us.”

“Can we get anything for you while you work?” Bill asks me.

“We could do with a good meal if that’s not too much trouble?” I reply.

“No, not at all Captain. Lillian and I will rustle something up.”

“That’s kind of you, Bill. We shouldn’t be more than half an hour or so. We just need to load our gear into the boat and make sure it starts.”

“We’ll get it ready for you in an hour then, how does that sound?” Bill suggests.

“Perfect Bill, thanks. Also, would you mind if we rested up in the house before we go? We will be gone by half three in the morning.”

“Anything we can do to help. I’ll leave you to it, Captain,” Bill says, turns and does just that.

“Come on, let’s get the cover off and see what we’ve got,” I tell Josh and Alice.

The Kennedys boat will be ideal for our purpose, it is a small launch of around twenty feet. The fifteen-horsepower outboard motor will propel us along at a steady speed and there is plenty of room to store our gear. I can see why the Kennedys have this boat; it would be perfect for frolicking around on the river when the sun is out.

I tell Josh and Alice to go and get the gear from the Defender so that we can get most of it stowed away, ready for the off in the early hours. While they do that, I go about bypassing the ignition on the motor, which is a fairly easy job and within ten minutes the engine is fired up. As an added bonus, there is already a full can of fuel stored on the boat, so we won’t have to worry about running out.

As I expected, our preparation of the boat takes thirty minutes, more or less. We soon have the boat recovered and are heading back to the house to see what Bill and Lillian have prepared for our meal.

Bill offers