He stood looking at Matthew, and laughed. ‘You must listen to me. I was the only one saved, and now there is you and the boy. You to listen to my confession of my sins,...

‘My name’s Miller, Joe Miller.’ ‘Matthew Cotter. And the boy is Billy Tullis.’ He ran his hand roughly through Billy’s hair. ‘Hello, Billy. Had a bit of an accident with your arm, then?’ ‘It got...

Miller planned the operation. His idea was that they should head for Torteval by way of Forest, coming back through King’s Mills. Matthew had reservations about the possibilities of completing a sweep of this extent,...

Codeine was one of the things they had found in the tangled litter that had been the chemist’s shop. Matthew pounded half a dozen tablets up, and mixed them with water in one of the...

‘She’s dead.’ ‘Thank God for that,’ Miller said. ‘I’ll have the bottle, then.’ He put his hand out and, after a momentary hesitation, Ashley gave it to him. Miller took the stopper out and wiped...

Miller had gone off somewhere along the cliffs, and in his absence their most recent recruit, De Portos, had gone to sit with the girl, Shirley. After a time, De Portos apparently persuaded her to...

Listen,’ Miller said, ‘you’re an intelligent girl. You know better than that. If it hadn’t been for Matty and me organizing things, you’d still be down in that cellar. You don’t think the rest of...

‘I tell you, it’s like committing suicide!’ ‘That’s a matter of opinion. At least, it doesn’t concern anyone else.’ ‘Doesn’t it, by God! A little group like this, we need every pair of hands. We...

His preparations, since they had to be made without attracting attention, occupied the better part of two weeks. There was another spell of bad weather towards the end, but they all crowded into the main...