The ferry from Dunkirk to Dover took less than two hours with a tranquil and quiet sea. The weather was unusually clear. The boat was almost void of travellers, so the passengers of the twenty-six cars that boarded the vessel were soon lost in the vast restaurants and seating areas. The only busy place on the whole boat was the truck driver’s cafe. Throughout the rest of the boat the staff outnumbered the guests by three to one.
The small group took a seat to the left of the tax-free shop. Away from the restaurants and snack bars. Hunger was not one of their main objectives now, they just wanted somewhere to sit and talk through the next steps of the plan.
The four of them were the only guests in the seating area. With the staff nowhere near, they could speak relatively openly.
‘Ok, glad we got through the passport checks. That guy in the English booth was suspicious. I thought he was going to deny us entry.’ Panat said with a sigh of relief.
‘We’re not there yet.’ Sarah added. ‘There’s another checkpoint once we get to Dover. The security measures in the UK are out of proportion. Last time it took me more than an hour to get through customs, and all I had was a carry-on-bag, it’s not like I had a lot with me.’
That was a hurdle they would have to cross when the boat docked. The papers they carried were made by a master forger and hopefully they would prove to be authentic-looking enough.
‘Our first objective is to get to the safe house.’ Gideon was on his home turf here. They had agreed that he would determine where they would stay. He would also take care of the logistics. He was a native Brit and very familiar with the region they were going to.
‘We’re staying in a small hotel in Canterbury for the moment.’ He said. ‘Canterbury is not far from Dover and riddled with tourists, so a few more won’t stand out. I know the owner. We’ve used this address as our base many times. Canterbury is a great place to hole-up because its location is directly on the way to London but it’s still far enough away to stay out of the spotlights. It’s also close to the train station or we can be on the M2 within minutes. That makes it easy to get to London quickly or, whatever we need to, get out of the country.’
‘How long are we going to be there?’ Sarah asked.
‘That depends on what Rafael does. We’ll just have to go with the flow.’
They settled down to a relaxing boat trip.
The ferry docked in Dover and they soon disembarked. The four of them were in one car, the plates of which were British. The steering wheel was on the right-hand side of the car. This was slightly disconcerting to Panat and Anadi, the driver seemingly on the wrong side of the car.
They passed through customs without any problems and were soon on the steep incline up the famous white cliffs and on to the motorway. It was a short twenty-minute drive to Canterbury. The scenery on the way was exactly what you would expect from England. Large rolling fields, cottages and small villages. It was picture-perfect. Very different from how it had been a mere fifty years ago when the pestilence was rampant in the British Isles. Then, there had been devastation.
Arriving in Canterbury they took the winding roads down to the city centre. It was an old town. In the middle ages, it had been a fortified city, complete with moats and walls, most of which had been lovingly restored. Passing through the old arch that had in former times been the entrance to the fortification, they entered the old part of the town.
The hotel was within the walls and they parked the car in the communal parking lot across the road. They walked the remaining one hundred yards to the entrance of The Millers Arms. The Hotel-pub was centuries old and had a great atmosphere. It was a quintessential British pub. Wooded panelling, and all the accessories that you see in the brochures. It had a warm feeling.
Gideon was greeted by the owner of the hotel—Paul. He was a small and friendly man. Anadi thought she could detect a slight Irish accent, but not being familiar with the region and their own accents here, she could be wrong. They received the keys to two rooms and Paul escorted them up the carpeted stairs and through the labyrinth of narrow landings to the rooms. Sarah and Anadi were in the room on the first floor at the side of the hotel, Panat and Gideon were in the room next door, overlooking the street outside the pub.
Anadi was not pleased with the sleeping arrangements. Though there were twin beds in both rooms, she was not looking forward to sharing with the other woman. Sarah rubbed her the wrong way. Panat and Anadi were not a couple, at least not as far as the others were aware, so the division of the rooms by gender was not really a surprise. But it would tax her already frayed patience.
Sarah herself preferred to share with Panat, but that was definitely not an option. Panat made sure of that.
Throwing their bags on to the beds Sarah and Anadi made themselves familiar with the layout of the small but friendly suite. Both rooms had an en-suite bathroom with a bath. The views from the small windows were of the old town. There was little traffic and all-in-all it was peaceful and comfortable.
There was a knock at the door and Panat entered the room. ‘So, what do you think?’ he asked Anadi.
‘Nice.’ She answered.
‘Let’s go down to the pub for lunch.’ Sarah butted in.
They left the room, closing the door behind them, and navigated through the narrow landings back to the pub. The girl behind the bar pointed them in the direction of the dining room and they took the table at the far end of the room. No one sat at the tables next to them, so they could talk reasonably freely.
‘Now what?’ Anadi started the conversation.
‘Now we wait and observe.’ Gideon said. ‘Sarah and I will meet with Nate this afternoon, he’s from the local group, and they have been keeping an eye on all Rafael’s family members here in the Canterbury. I’ll catch up on their efforts and see you all back here later.’
Paul approached the table with menus. ‘What would you all like?’
They ordered and he left.
’So we stay here?’ Panat asked.
‘For the time being.’
They ate a great lunch, Sarah and Gideon left for their rendezvous and Panat and Anadi went to Panat’s room to wait.