BAD CONNECTION .sx Linda Waterman .sx Prologue .sx 10th May , 1941 .sx THE MESSERSCHMIDT 110 wheeled and the man who was pretending to be Rudolf Hess found himself looking down on Renfrewshire .sx He repeated the difficult word conscientiously several times .sx Although his English was good , there had always been few opportunities to practise of late ; besides , he must remember that he had finished his education at Landsberg of all places , not at Oxford as had originally been intended .sx There was very little fuel left now and the gauge flickered around empty .sx He had lost his pursuers some time ago .sx They had never been so concerned to follow him as to endanger themselves in any way .sx It was obvious his was a suicide mission .sx He was relieved to have given them the slip .sx He knew that soon he would have to bale out and now he would not have to worry about being machine-gunned from above .sx He did not remember the actual jump .sx He must have gone through the preparations in a daze .sx He lost consciousness at least once on the way down .sx When he came to again he could see flames somewhere off to his left .sx A few seconds later he hit the ground .sx It was a bad fall .sx A stab of pain went through his ankle .sx It must be broken .sx Alles in ordnung .sx .sx He was not sorry to see the farmer , even though he was carrying a pitchfork .sx It was not part of the plan to remain undetected for long .sx He got to his feet and began to draw from his inside breast pocket the photographs he had brought .sx He called something friendly and , limping forward reached out a steady hand .sx " I have come today from Augsburg , via Munich .sx I have no weapons .sx " He spoke slowly and clearly as he had been taught .sx His bearing was haughty .sx " Or bombs .sx " He spread his arms wide and tried to look self-deprecating .sx The farmer stared at him , or rather at a place slightly to the right of his eyes , as if expecting dozens of airborne troops to emerge from behind him .sx " My name is Alfred Horn .sx " the pilot said , nodding vigorously several times , as if to allay the farmer's doubts .sx They began to walk slowly , in Indian file , back towards the low , whitewashed farmhouse .sx The parachutist did not have to exaggerate his limp .sx " Would you like a cup of tea ?sx " the farmer asked .sx " I would enjoy water .sx " Horn replied .sx Forty years later .sx Rudolf was dreaming that he was in England .sx Well , not in England , so much as over it .sx The plane had banked steeply and he had his first glimpse of the English coast .sx Were those the White Cliffs ?sx Even from a window seat he couldn't have been sure .sx He tried to stretch his stiff legs out into the aisle without moving his torso .sx They ached but there was no room to flex the muscles .sx He was half awake now and he allowed his mind to wander .sx Planes , he thought crossly , were built for one legged travellers .sx They could sit on either side of the gangway in comfort in matching pairs .sx And the legless ones would be assigned the window seats as a consolation .sx That was only fair .sx The plane's engines were making a strange , repetitive noise .sx Maybe they were going to land soon .sx Rudolf wakes but does not open his eyes immediately .sx It was the rhythm of the train that had sent him off to sleep in the first place .sx Teresa is lying across his legs , calm and relaxed but watchful .sx He notices that her skirt is drawn up immodestly high .sx He reaches over and smoothes it down across her thin thighs .sx She laughs and immediately pulls it higher , coquettishly .sx He does not push it back .sx Otherwise it would become a game .sx He closes his eyes to signify that he will not play .sx .sx It was strange how even in dreams he never got into England .sx He'd been many times to France and after all it wasn't far across the Channel .sx But he'd gone in completely the opposite direction , flying half way round the world , and staying longer than anyone could have predicted .sx Even after all this time he could clearly remember his arrival in Peru .sx He had left Europe for a new world and found a clean , new Rudolf .sx It had seemed like the best day of his whole life .sx Outside the airport the air had been like hot flannels .sx There was a small boy on the sidewalk selling melons .sx He'd cut one into sections , and held a piece up to the European traveller .sx Rudolf was moved .sx The child could have no idea who he was and still , spontaneously , he was giving him something for nothing .sx The sweet smell made Rudolf feel lightheaded , almost faint .sx He had never tasted anything like it .sx The boy had looked up at him showing his teeth , confident , assured , happy .sx People in Europe didn't look like that any more .sx Rudolf could still see his face in his mind's eye .sx Or was that some other boy ?sx He discovered now that what he really remembered from then was not the boy or the place but his own extraordinary sense of well-being ; pure joy welling up , running down his chin like sweet juice .sx He calculated the years that separated him from that day , moving his lips silently .sx A. had always teased him about that counting .sx Peasant's reckoning he had called it .sx Out of caution , even when he talked to himself , Rudolf still referred to him as A. What he had felt for A. had been love .sx But that word was never mentioned .sx Instead they had talked of Cameraderie .sx Brotherhood .sx Loyalty .sx That was more the sort of thing really .sx And he hadn't been the only one .sx Far from it .sx A. had drawn young men about him , like lemmings .sx Of course many had come later , for the glory .sx But Rudolf had been his from the First War .sx They were David and Jonathan , Hagen and Gunther .sx He'd thought at the time that this would be the love of his life .sx Not that you could say such things then .sx Today's men wore bracelets and grew their hair as long as they liked .sx It was ironic that now , when it didn't matter to him any more , it seemed that it no longer mattered to anyone else either .sx In those days everything had been different .sx They'd been so stiff - arms , legs , and thoughts moving rigidly in sections like an old jerky film , all in sepia tones , with brown the predominant colour .sx Even his car had been brown he remembered .sx Had that been deliberate ?sx He couldn't be sure now .sx All he knew was that the Mercedes had been his only indulgence .sx Later , he was all for indulgence .sx The southern warmth relaxed him , reminding him of his Egyptian childhood .sx But it wasn't just that he felt young again .sx It had to do with personalities too .sx A. had made it impossible really to love anyone else .sx He was all too pervasive .sx There was nothing of Rudolf left over .sx Like Montaigne after La Bo e tie , he'd discovered that life went on , with or without the loved one .sx As time went by he had been surprised to realise that to an outsider other things in his life seem as important as the all-consuming passion with A. Rudolf knows he should feel safe in the train .sx He is making food his escape after all .sx Every mile they travel takes him that much further away from retribution , recrimination , repatriation .sx But instead the train seems to echo those very words over and over again and he has the impression that wherever it stops it will deliver him straight into the waiting arms of his pursuers .sx Which is ridiculous because aren't they behind him ?sx .sx Maria had been a continuation of his story as well as a new beginning .sx He'd met her in a mountain town in Ecuador where the buildings looked like blocks of pink and vanilla ice cream melting in the sun and the air was so thin it made you gasp .sx He'd been fascinated by her boyish plainness .sx She reminded him of the Indians he'd seen from the train , wrapped in brightly coloured blankets , placid and self-absorbed .sx There was an air of stillness , almost of tiredness about her large , brown face and heavy eyelids .sx In her room she had love stories translated from the American , where the central characters said things like " Hello you .sx " when they were alone together and the men were always tilting the women's chins up to kiss them .sx By now Rudolf's Spanish was quite good enough to allow him to understand all this .sx Over the bed there hung a set of wind chimes , unvarnished clay bells arranged in a simple spiral with plain white pot beads for clappers .sx Like a child he lay and looked at them and when the breeze stirred he waited breathlessly for their music to begin .sx She got herself pregnant almost immediately .sx Neither spoke of it , as if the child had nothing to do with them but to his surprise her thickening waist and stately , straight-backed walk began to give him a real pleasure .sx He supposes the guard will come round soon to check on his guests .sx His prisoners more like .sx You couldn't trust these people .sx Not an inch .sx How humiliating to ride like this in a cattle truck .sx They didn't have access to even the most basic facilities .sx Maria had noticed the bucket in the corner when they first climbed up into the wagon and with a reproachful look to Rudolf , had wordlessly steered the children into the corner furthest away from it .sx .sx Meanwhile , his compatriots had found him a job as a Security Consultant .sx He knew very little about security work but then he didn't actually have to do much .sx His status seemed to be enough for the Company .sx Of course , he was using a different name but they dropped hints now and again to important clients about his ranking .sx Word was put around , discreetly , to trusted friends here and there .sx It was quite safe .sx He was assured that the Company's standing had risen considerably since his recruitment .sx It was a big international with branches in many countries .sx Someone had once told him that they had six million customers , worldwide .sx Six million !sx It seemed incredible .sx For himself , he didn't believe it .sx In the office everyone spoke German .sx Everywhere was painted in gleaming white .sx It almost hurt his eyes .sx And they had the most up to date office equipment .sx It could just as well have been M u nchen .sx Natives guarded the street doors , and stopped other natives coming in , except on business or first thing in the mornings to sweep up and empty the wastepaper baskets .sx All the employees were German .sx Maria is asleep now , her heads sic !sx nodding on her bosom in the time to the rocking motion of the train .sx Behind her the foothills are a patchwork of fields littered with corrugated iron shacks .sx .sx She had had two children in quick succession .sx Neither of them seemed to resemble him in the slightest with their brown eyes and broad , flattish noses .sx Yet they were good natured and bright and from the start he'd been closer to them than to his eldest son back home .sx Their lithe , olive bodies delighted him .sx They were not like the children of an old man at all .sx Sometimes he even bathed them .sx He wondered about A.'s reaction to that .sx He had so often laughed at the Kinder , Kirche , K u che mentality of the good burghers .sx How far he and Rudolf had been above that !sx If Rudolf didn't yet go to church , still his new life revolved around the family .sx In those days they would all eat together in the kitchen .sx While the serving woman made enchiladas at the stove , Maria would feed the baby with a spoon .sx After a few mouthfuls from Rudolf the older boy would climb down and play on the floor , jumping up sometimes to snatch another titbit from the table .sx How surprised his wife would have been to see him eating like that .sx