‘That’s a good idea.’ I paused, wanting to bolster Leotta for what might lie ahead. ‘Miss Tomsson and I will be trying to stay out of trouble over there. You might find trouble looking for you, John. Think you can handle it?’

‘I can try.’

‘That’s all anyone can do. Come on, Leotta.’ Without giving her time to think, I walked to the door. When I got to the edge of the quay she was still with me, so I said, ‘Get into the boat.’

She stepped down into the small boat and I handed her the spear gun and the spears before joining her. My pockets were heavy with two pistols but I didn’t want to burden her with the responsibility of carrying one. She’d made a fine job of patching herself up, but firing a gun with only one useable arm is a tough proposition. I wasn’t even sure about the spear gun but I figured it would be less of a liability than a pistol. I flashed the light discreetly at the engine and found the pull cord. As I was wrapping it around the pulley, she said in a low voice, ‘I must be mad.’

‘Everybody’s mad tonight, Leotta,’ I said. ‘Your only chance of coming out on top is to be madder than anyone else. That’s how wars are won.’

I hauled on the pull cord and the engine started the first time. I said, ‘Listen carefully. When we go across there we go quietly. The sole aim of this operation is to get to a working telephone and to be able to use it for at least five minutes – longer if possible, but five minutes will do. We don’t shoot at anyone and we try not to be shot at. Okay?’

I opened up the throttle but kept the speed down so as to make as little noise as possible. As we crossed the lagoon to the shore, I heard the insistent bell of the telephone in the house behind us and prayed nobody would have a brainstorm and pick it up. After what seemed like an age, it fell silent. We neared the quay and I leaned forward and said to Leotta, ‘The exchange is in the estate office, in that group of buildings there.’

John’s diagram had been a relief. The exchange could have been up near the airstrip and I didn’t want to go anywhere near there. As we approached the quay, I cut the engine and drifted in to bump gently against the stonework. I grabbed the edge and held on, waiting and listening, but there was nothing to be heard. My fingers encountered a mooring ring, so I half-turned and whispered, ‘Give me the painter.’