Authors: James Holland
Tanner lay down on the floor by the fireplace and, using his captured
jacket as a pillow, closed his eyes and slept.
He was being shaken roughly. 'Sarge! Sarge!'
'What?' he said. He had been sleeping deeply and his
eyes, reluctantly opening, strained in the dark to see who was standing over
him.
'Sarge, it's me, Bell. You need to come. The corp sent
me.'
Rubbing his eyes, Tanner got wearily to his feet,
grabbed his rifle and stumbled outside. Sykes was by the gate. 'What is it?'
Tanner asked.
'Someone came out the house, Sarge,' Sykes whispered.
'I couldn't see who it was, but they went into the barn. Whoever it is, they're
still there.'
'All right,' he said. 'Let's go over and have a look.'
They crept towards the barn. The door on the ground
was ajar and they paused beside it. Tanner's heart was hammering again; he
hated creeping round buildings at any time of day but especially in the dark.
'Cover me,' he whispered, then pushed open the door and went in.
A sudden scratching made his heart leap and he
flinched, then realized it was only rats or mice. He listened intently but
could hear nothing. Sykes and Bell were now behind him. He felt in his trouser
pocket for his matches, took out the box and lit one.
The flame gave only a little light, but it was enough
to show a row of animal stalls in front of them. Nearly burning his fingers,
he pinched out the match, lit another and walked slowly along the stalls.
The match died and he lit a third. As the flare
subsided, he reached the last stall and there, asleep on a pile of hay, was the
mystery person.
'Miss!' said Tanner.
She woke with a start. 'Sergeant,' she said, blinking,
'what's the matter?' She sat up, propping herself on her elbows.
'We heard someone leave the house,' said Tanner.
Suddenly he felt rather foolish. 'We weren't sure who it was . . .' Sykes lit
another match. There was
nothing
beside her: no rucksack, and certainly no radio.
'I'm sorry,' she said. 'It was the lieutenant. He was
drunk.'
'What did the bastard do?'
'Nothing, really.' She made to stand up and Tanner
stepped forward to offer her a hand. 'He - well, he was drunk and making a
nuisance of himself.' She smiled uncertainly at Tanner, then took his hand. Her
fingers were cold, but gripped his tightly. 'I didn't want to make a scene.'
The match went out again, but her hand stayed in his.
'I'm sorry,' she said. 'I didn't mean to alarm you. I
just thought it would be quiet out here. Although, actually, I should have
known there would be rats.'
With his heart still hammering, but now for a
different reason, he said, 'It would be safer if you came back inside, you
know. If anything should happen ...'
'Don't worry, Miss,' said Sykes. 'I'm sure the
lieutenant will be sound asleep by now.'
'Yes, of course,' she said. 'I understand.'
Back outside the barn, Tanner turned his watch to the
light of the moon. 'Just gone one,' he said. 'Stan, you and Tinker are on until
half past, then get Mac and Kershaw out for an hour and they can get me again.
I'll get Chevannes' man, Derigaux, to join me. We want to be away by half
three. All right?'
'Got it, Sarge.'
'Night, Sarge,' added Bell. 'And night, Miss.'
Tanner led Anna back into a silent and sleeping house.
'In here,' he whispered, showing her to the office. McAllister and Kershaw were
still asleep on the floor, their slow, rhythmic breathing clearly audible in
the close atmosphere of the room. In the dark, he bumped into her, apologized,
then whispered, 'Over here.' Having found his pack and wind jacket, he crouched
and heard her settle next to him. 'Would you like my jacket?' he asked.
'No, no - I'm fine. Thank you. I've got my own.'
'Try to get back to sleep, then,' he said. He closed his eyes, then
felt her hand stretch out and take his, squeezing it. Was she genuine, or
playing a part?
To hell with it,
he thought. In less than two hours he had to be awake
again. For now, the soft warmth of her touch was a much- needed comfort.
He had been in a deep sleep when McAllister woke him but this time was
alert in an instant. Deciding to let Derigaux be, he went out to watch the road
alone. Not for the first time since arriving in Norway ten days before, he
watched the dawn rise, creeping over the mountains to the east and sweeping
over the narrow valley, bathing it in a rich golden light.
Soon after three, he hurried back into the house, woke
Sykes and ordered him out to watch the road, then stoked the fire and roused
Anna. 'I need your help,' he said. 'Can you heat some more tins of stew for
me?'
She nodded sleepily.
'Are you all right?' he asked, as she stretched and
yawned.
'Yes, I think so. This is harder than I thought it
would be. I am used to tramping over the mountains, but I had not realized we would
get so little sleep.'
He smiled, and touched her cheek lightly. 'It's an occupational hazard,
I'm afraid.'
'I know.' She looked up at him. 'Jack - do you think we'll make it?'
'Of course. We have to.' He smiled again, then went to wake the others.
One by one, the men stumbled into the kitchen, stretching and yawning.
Chevannes was the last to appear, eyes narrow and puffy, cracked lips stained
with wine. Tanner chuckled to himself, then noticed Sandvold standing alone in
a corner, rocking gently, eyes glazed. 'Professor?' he asked.
Sandvold jumped.
'How are you feeling? How are the legs?' Tanner asked.
'My legs - well, they are still here. I feel my age, Sergeant. How far
do you think we must go today?'
'Perhaps a dozen miles - seventeen kilometres.'
Sandvold nodded gloomily. 'We still have such a long way to go.' He
paused, then said, 'Ignore me. I have these moments of depression.'
While the others ate the remaining tins of Maconochie's, Tanner spread
Anna's map on the stone floor. 'Anna,' he said, 'do you know this stretch of
mountains?'
'I know Bringsfjellet. It's the peak above Vagamo, and I've been to the
town before.'
'Good, but what about here?' He pointed to a narrow, steep-sided valley
that ran north from Heidel.
'No,' she admitted. 'I've not been up there.'
'Do you think it will be wooded?'
'Almost certainly.'
'And it looks as though there's a track through it.
What's more, it's mostly south-west facing so with luck there won't be much
snow.' He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. 'I think we should head down there.'
'Excuse me interrupting,' said Chevannes, his voice
laden with sarcasm, 'but it is not up to you, Sergeant, to decide.' He leant
over, stale wine fumes heavy on his breath, and snatched the map. He examined
it briefly, then said, 'We should find some transport. The men are still
exhausted. I have noticed that the welfare of yours is not of paramount concern
to you, Sergeant.'
Tanner took a deep breath. 'I agree that if we see
something we should take it, but I don't think we should waste time looking for
it. It's no more than a day's march to Vagamo where we'd have to ditch any M/T
we had anyway.'
'And the fact that the men are exhausted?' said
Chevannes. 'We should find a vehicle.'
'We need to get going while it's still safe, sir.
We're by a main valley road, and it's not long before Jerry will be down here.
I've had a look at the sky. It was clear three- quarters of an hour ago, but
the cloud's building and it looks like rain. We need to get away and under the
cover of the forest as soon as possible. We can rest up later. Better to do so
where we can post proper sentries and prepare a decent escape route. We should
aim to get to the mountains above Vagamo. Anna knows those peaks.'
'There are good views of the river Otta, the VSgavnet
lake and the town from the Bringsfjellet,' added Anna.
'So from there,' Tanner continued, 'we can look down
on the town. It may even be that we'll get there before the Germans do, in
which case we'll be fine. If not, we can work out how to join the road north of
the town. I agree, we will need some M/T then, but we don't have time to look
for transport now.'
'The track we take this morning should be fairly easy
going,' said Anna.
Chevannes turned sharply to face her. 'Oh, I see,' he said.
'You two, you have - how shall I put this? - a little understanding. It seems
as though you have it all planned.'
Tanner reddened.
'That is charming,' continued Chevannes, 'but,
Sergeant, you must not let your feelings for Miss Rostad cloud your judgement.'
Something inside Tanner snapped. He prided himself on
being able to keep a cool, calm head, no matter how testing the circumstances,
but at several moments in his life uncontrollable rage had got the better of
him. He had reached one such moment now.
Without further thought he clenched his fist and swung
his right arm at Chevannes. The movement was so quick, and executed with such
lightning precision, that the Frenchman had no time to react. The force of the
punch knocked him backwards in an unconscious heap against McAllister and Bell,
who caught him clumsily, thus saving him from further injury.
For a moment, no one said a word.
Damn, damn, damn
, thought Tanner.
'Sergeant,' said Larsen, eventually. His face showed
incredulity. 'What did you think you were doing?'
'He pushed me too far.' He glared at the Norwegian.
Hoisted upright by the two Rangers, Chevannes groaned, then came round.
Blinking wildly, he suddenly focused on his assailant. 'Tanner,' he hissed,
'you struck an officer!'
'You insulted me and Miss Rostad, sir.'
'You struck an officer,' Chevannes repeated. 'I have never seen
anything so disgraceful in my life.'
'Jesus Christ,' muttered Tanner.
'You had better apologize, Sergeant,' said Larsen.
'For God's sake,' said Tanner. He wasn't sure how to react.
You bloody fool
, he thought.
'Sergeant, it would be better if you just apologized,' said Larsen
again, his voice firm and measured.
'You most certainly will apologize, Sergeant!' shouted Chevannes.
'Now!'
Tanner sighed, then said to Chevannes, 'Sir, I apologize for hitting
you. And now can we get the hell out of here?'
'Just a minute,' said Chevannes, cheek muscles twitching with anger,
'don't think that's the end of it, because when we get back to our lines,
Sergeant, I'm going to report you, and you will be court-martialled. I'm going
to make sure your career is finished for what you have just done.'
'Enough!'
The Professor had stepped forward. 'Enough of this,' he said again. 'Lieutenant
- please. Ask everyone to wait outside. You, Sergeant, and you, Henrik Larsen
and Nielssen, stay here.'
Chevannes was plainly surprised by the professor's intervention. 'Yes,
all right,' he said. 'Everyone-out. Now!'
'Listen to me,' said Sandvold, once the men had gone and the door had
closed. 'I'm not interested in your petty squabbles and, with the greatest
respect, no one else is either. What I
am
interested in is successfully
reaching the Allies, and it is your task to help me. If you want to bring
charges against the sergeant once this is over, that is up to you, but for now
you must put aside your differences, because if I may say so, Lieutenant, your
desire to undermine Sergeant Tanner is, to my mind, undermining our chances.'
Tanner smiled to himself.
Good lad
, he thought.
'Now, Sergeant Tanner has clearly studied the land
carefully and it strikes me his plan is the right one.'
Chevannes sniffed. 'And with the greatest respect to
you, Professor,' he said slowly, 'you are not a military man. You should be
leaving any such decisions to me.'