Jeffrey Archer: Only Time Will Tell

Once the train shunted into Temple Meads, Harry knew the two buses he needed to catch without having to ask the paperboy who was standing on the corner bellowing ‘ Britain Awaits Hitler’s Response ’ at the top of his voice. Same headline, but this time a Bristolian accent. Thirty minutes later, Harry was at the dockyard gates.

‘Can I help you?’ asked a guard who didn’t recognize him.

‘I have an appointment with Sir Walter,’ said Harry, hoping this would not be questioned.

‘Of course, sir. Do you know the way to his office?’

‘Yes, thank you,’ said Harry. He started walking slowly towards a building he’d never entered before. He began to think about what he would do if he came face to face with Hugo Barrington before he reached Sir Walter’s office.

He was pleased to see the chairman’s Rolls-Royce parked in its usual place, and even more relieved that there was no sign of Hugo Barrington’s Bugatti. He was just about to enter Barrington House when he glanced at the railway carriage in the distance. Was it just possible? He changed direction and walked towards the Pullman wagon lit , as Old Jack was wont to describe it after a second glass of whisky.

When Harry reached the carriage he knocked gently on the glass pane as if it were a grand home. A butler did not appear, so he opened the door and climbed in. He walked along the corridor to first class, and there he was, sitting in his usual seat.

It was the first time Harry had ever seen Old Jack wearing his Victoria Cross.

Harry took the seat opposite his friend and recalled the first time he’d sat there. He must have been about five and his feet hadn’t reached the ground. Then he thought of the time he’d run away from St Bede’s, and the shrewd old gentleman had persuaded him to be back in time for breakfast. He recalled when Old Jack had come to hear him sing a solo in the church, the time his voice had broken. Old Jack had dismissed this as a minor setback. Then there was the day he learnt he’d failed to win a scholarship to Bristol Grammar School, a major setback. Despite his failure, Old Jack had presented him with the Ingersoll watch he was still wearing today. It must have cost him every penny he possessed. In Harry’s last year at school, Old Jack had travelled down from London to see him playing Romeo, and Harry had introduced him to Emma for the first time. And he would never forget his final speech day, when Jack had sat on stage as a governor of his old school and watched Harry being awarded the English prize.

And now, Harry would never be able to thank him for so many acts of friendship over the years that couldn’t be repaid. He stared at a man he’d loved and had assumed would never die. As they sat there together in first class, the sun went down on his young life.

HARRY WATCHED AS the stretcher was placed in the ambulance. A heart attack, the doctor had said, before the ambulance drove away.

Harry didn’t need to go and tell Sir Walter that Old Jack was dead, because when he woke the following morning, the chairman of Barrington’s was sitting by his side.

‘He told me he no longer had any reason to live,’ were Sir Walter’s first words. ‘We have both lost a close and dear friend.’

Harry’s response took Sir Walter by surprise. ‘What will you do with this carriage, now that Old Jack is no longer around?’

‘No one will be allowed anywhere near it, as long as I’m chairman,’ said Sir Walter. ‘It harbours too many personal memories for me.’

‘Me too,’ said Harry. ‘I spent more time here when I was a boy than I did in my own home.’

‘Or in the classroom for that matter,’ said Sir Walter with a wry smile. ‘I used to watch you from my office window. I thought what an impressive child you must be if Old Jack was willing to spend so much time with you.’

Harry smiled when he remembered how Old Jack had come up with a reason why he should go back to school and learn to read and write.

‘What will you do now, Harry? Return to Oxford and continue with your studies?’

‘No, sir. I fear that we’ll be at war by…’

‘By the end of the month would be my guess,’ said Sir Walter.

‘Then I’ll leave Oxford immediately and join the navy. I’ve already told my college supervisor, Mr Bainbridge, that that’s what I plan to do. He assured me I can return and continue with my studies as soon as the war is over.’

‘Typical of Oxford,’ said Sir Walter, ‘they always take the long view. So will you go to Dartmouth and train as a naval officer?’

‘No, sir, I’ve been around ships all my life. In any case, Old Jack started out as a private soldier and managed to work his way up through the ranks, so why shouldn’t I?’

‘Why not indeed?’ said Sir Walter. ‘In fact, that was one of the reasons he was always considered to be a class above the rest of us who served with him.’

‘I had no idea you’d served together.’

‘Oh yes, I served with Captain Tarrant in South Africa,’ said Sir Walter. ‘I was one of the twenty-four men whose lives he saved on the day he was awarded the Victoria Cross.’

‘That explains so much that I’ve never really understood,’ said Harry. He then surprised Sir Walter a second time. ‘Do I know any of the others, sir?’

‘The Frob,’ said Sir Walter. ‘But in those days he was Lieutenant Frobisher. Corporal Holcombe, Mr Holcombe’s father. And young Private Deakins.’

‘Deakins’s father?’ said Harry.

‘Yes. Sprogg, as we used to call him. A fine young soldier. He never said much, but he turned out to be very brave. Lost an arm on that dreadful day.’

The two men fell silent, each lost in his own thoughts of Old Jack, before Sir Walter asked, ‘So if you’re not going to Dartmouth, my boy, may I ask how you plan to win the war single-handed?’

‘I’ll serve on any ship that will take me, sir, as long as they’re willing to go in search of His Britannic Majesty’s enemies.’

‘Then it’s possible I may be able to help.’

‘That’s kind of you, sir, but I want to join a war ship, not a passenger liner or a cargo vessel.’

Sir Walter smiled again. ‘And so you will, dear boy. Don’t forget, I’m kept informed about every ship that comes in and out of these docks and I know most of their captains. Come to think of it, I knew most of their fathers when they were captains. Why don’t we go up to my office and see what ships are due in and out of the port in the next few days, and, more important, find out if any of them might be willing to take you on?’

‘That’s very decent of you, sir, but would it be all right if I visited my mother first? I might not have the chance to see her again for some time.’

‘Only right and proper, my boy,’ said Sir Walter. ‘And once you’ve been to see your mother, why don’t you drop into my office later this afternoon? That should give me enough time to check on the latest shipping lists.’

‘Thank you, sir. I’ll return as soon as I’ve told my mother what I plan to do.’

‘When you come back, just tell the man on the gate you’ve got an appointment with the chairman, then you shouldn’t have any trouble getting past security.’

‘Thank you, sir,’ said Harry, masking a smile.

‘And do pass on my kindest regards to your dear mother. A remarkable woman.’

Harry was reminded why Sir Walter was Old Jack’s closest friend.

Harry walked into the Grand Hotel, a magnificent Victorian building in the centre of the city, and asked the doorman the way to the dining room. He walked across the lobby and was surprised to find a small queue at the maître d’s desk, waiting to be allocated tables. He joined the back of the queue, recalling how his mother had always disapproved of him dropping in to see her at Tilly’s or the Royal Hotel during working hours.