Spies Timeline of Events
Adult Stephen (Stefan Weitzler) reminisces about his childhood after catching a
sweet scent that brings up a series of disjointed memories. It’s the smell of
Liguster, a Privet Hedge.
Stephen decides to go back to the Close that he was brought up in to explore
those memories further. When he arrives at the Close, he looks around and
observes the changes.
Stephen starts to describe his friendship with Keith Hayward and his
relationship and attitudes towards the Haywood family.
Stephen’s recollections begin to take shape into a story he wants to tell when he
remembers Keith telling him his mother was a German spy.
The boys begin their investigation. They check her diary and see a series of
marks each month.
The boys find a lookout and establish a base for their investigation. They give an
oath not to reveal their secrets.
The investigation is boring to begin with and they simply track the movements of
the neighbourhood. It only gets interesting when they track Keith’s mother and
they suddenly lose track of her. She has not gone to the shops as they suppose.
They follow her again and she goes to the shops. Then the next time she
disappears again.
Barbara Berrill shows some interest in their investigation.
The next time Mrs Haywood comes back from her ‘disappearance’
Stephen notices slime on her top – which lets him know she has been into the
tunnel that leads towards the railway.
The boys decide that the will explore past the tunnel to see what is there. Mrs
Hayward comes and they hide from her. They find a tin box with cigarettes in it
and a note saying ‘x’.
Barbara finds Stephen alone in the privet hedge and passes on some important
info. She mentions that some of the times Mrs Hayward says she is going to the
shops – they are already closed. She wonders if she is taking messages to Auntie
Dee’s boyfriend.
Keith’s mother later comes to visit him in the hedge. She attempts to get Stephen
to stop following her. She infers that Stephen is the ringleader rather than Keith.
This is the beginning of a strange connection between her and Stephen, once that
becomes quite uncomfortable as Stephen does not feel ready to deal with the
adult world she leads him into.
That night, Stephen goes into the Lanes to find the box and see what is
happening. He finds clothes in the box and takes a sock back with him. He hears
a figure behind him but is too afraid to look at who it is. He runs back without
dropping the sock.
He shows Keith the sock. Keith taunts him about not looking around to see who
was picking up the clothes. They follow Mrs Haywood up the Lanes again and
she disappears. In their search for her, the find the shack where the “old tramp”
is living.
Later, Mrs Haywood looks disappointed in Stephen for betraying her trust and
asks him if it was them rattling on the corrugated iron that marks the old tramp’s
hovel.
Stephen and Keith don’t see each other for a few days – and when Stephen does
go to Keith’s house he finds him inundated with chores. Keith is beaten by his
father for taking the thermos – which Stephen immediately realizes that Mrs
Haywood has taken. He runs to find her to spare Keith another beating – and
runs right into her, pushing her into the slimy tunnel wall that leads her into the
Lanes. Her top is marked, but she thanks Stephen for the information.
Keith appears to be locked in his house, as Stephen does not see him for several
days. Keith’s mother also appears to be being kept inside by her husband.
Stephen feels the need to tell an adult about what is going on, but does not know
who to tell.
Barbara and Stephen watch Mr Haywood escort Mrs Haywood to the post box.
Mrs Haywood fakes a problem with her shoe and then tries to approach Stephen
in the Privet hedge to help her get word to uncle Peter. Finding Barbara there,
she backs off.
There is another occurrence of a male prowler in the Close. He was near Auntie
Dee’s house. Everyone in the street is talking about the ‘sexual deviant’. Barbara
thinks its Auntie Dee’s boyfriend.
Getting closer, Barbara and Stephen share a cigarette in the privet hedge,
mentioning that this is like what their brother and sister do. Having seen the
cigarettes in the tin box near the railway line, Stephen wonders if it really was
their siblings hiding in the hedge, smoking.
The older Stephen starts to think about the feeling he gets when he remembers
the word Lamorna.
Then Keith’s mother comes into the hedge. She wants him to deliver a basket to
the shady figure they saw in the Lanes. Mrs Haywood talks about her sympathy
for this figure, but Stephen never names him although we sense his growing
suspicions. Mrs Hayward starts sobbing. Stephen agrees to help.
Barbara has spotted Mrs Hayward and runs to the hedge, wanting to read the
letter she has left. Stephen doesn’t feel comfortable with t but doesn’t know how
to say no. Just as she is opening it, Mr Hayward comes and asks for the basket
back. Stephen is unwilling to give it, but follows Mr Hayward back to the house.
He eventually has to give the basket over, and feels he has betrayed Mrs
Hayward, who tries to take it back herself. He runs home distressed.
His parents try to help him and figure out what is going on, thinking that he is
being bullied again.
Stephen decides all he can do to make up for his actions is to take supplies to the
mysterious man himself. He steals food from the bomb shelter. The man calls
him by name. He asks after ‘Bobs’, as well as Milly.
He talks about going to war and finding it awful, and then asks Stephen to tell
‘Bobs’ “forever”. He gives him a scarf to give to her with German city names on it.
Eventually returning to the hedge, Stephen finds Keith waiting for him. Keith
accuses Stephen of betraying him by showing Barbara their things. He holds a
knife to Stephen’s throat, breaking the skin. Stephen recognizes that he must
have seen his father do this, and thinks of the scarves Mrs Hayward has been
wearing despite the warm weather.
Stephen goes home and cannot explain the cut on his neck to his worried
parents.
In the middle of the night, Stephen goes to hide the scarf. When he is there, he
hears people pursuing the prowler. His body is eventually discovered on the
tracks.