Death Ray (18 page)

‘I suppose we were all taken by surprise.’

‘True. And I think I was sidetracked by the chance to fly again. It clouded my judgement.’

‘We’re in a mess, aren’t we?’

‘You could say that.’

The true horror of our predicament was beginning to sink in. We were in occupied France and it was crawling with Nazis. We didn’t have any French documents such as identity cards, travel permits or ration cards, nor were our clothes convincingly French. Our grasp of the language was untested, but it hadn’t even been good enough to convince our instructors to send us on this mission, and unlike Freya and Max we didn’t possess false identities and well-rehearsed cover stories to fall back on. Worst of all, we were Special Ops, not RAF or soldiers, and that meant we weren’t in uniform. If we had been and we were captured, we’d be treated as prisoners of war. Without uniforms, we didn’t have that protection. The authorities would rightly treat us as spies and question us before having us shot.

Wincing, Loki tore the gauze from his scalp. ‘We’ve wasted enough time. We need a plan of action. I think the first thing we should do is check out further up-river – the spot we used for the drop. We’ll soon see if there are any signs of a struggle.’

This was a better idea, although I thought it was about as flawed as a boat with a hole in its bottom. ‘It may be dangerous staying too close to the river. If I was right – that the patrol boat just stumbled across us – then it changes everything.’

‘How?’

‘They saw us land. They’ll be highly suspicious, despite us being a German plane in Luftwaffe colours. I reckon they’ll figure out that a drop has been made
for
the Resistance and alert their HQ. And if I were them, I’d flood this area with troops to search high and low.’

Loki summoned his strength and rose to his knees. ‘We’d better get a move on then. Come on, Finn.
Chop chop
, as Walker’s always telling us.’

Hugging the trees and bushes, we headed alongside the river, back towards the drop-off point. Where was everyone? It was as if they’d landed and then vanished into thin air. Loki tapped me on my shoulder and pointed. He’d spotted the rowing boats used by Henri Blanc and Pierre Truffaut. They’d been tied to the trunk of a sturdy silver birch leaning out over the water. I shone the pen torch onto them and observed that they were empty and undamaged. So I presumed that at least the others had all made it safely ashore. A mass of fresh, deep boot prints in the mud was the only sign of recent activity.

‘Let’s carry on, Finn. They didn’t head our way so they must’ve gone south.’

Continuing along the path, listening and looking out, Loki faced forwards and I walked backwards so we kept both directions covered. A slight breeze whispered through the trees, shaking the leaves, creating a rustling sound that kept my heart firmly in my mouth. I knew from the maps we’d studied when planning the drop that this stretch of river was nearly a mile from the nearest dwelling, and two from the closest village. Beyond the trees lay open fields. I also remembered that there was a road, a minor one, that split the fields and
followed
the path of the river, albeit some distance away. Had they escaped that way? Had they cut across the fields to a waiting car or van or truck? Suddenly I felt a hand seize me and drag me over to the cover of the bushes. ‘Lie still, Finn! Someone’s coming!’

WHY COULDN’T IT
have been some old Frenchman out walking his dog, keen to help two boys in it up to their necks? No such luck. It was a German patrol, at least half a dozen men, methodically searching the bushes, moving slowly towards us, leaving no stone unturned. There was nothing for it. We rolled over and crawled into the undergrowth, scrambled on all fours through prickly brambles that clung and clawed at our clothes, and only rose to our feet when we could see the pale glow of moonlight beyond the trees. ‘Christ, Finn, I can’t see any cover for miles. It’s all open fields. We’ll be sitting ducks if they hear us. There’s nowhere to hide.’

It wasn’t all bad news, I thought. When studying the maps I hadn’t really taken in just what exactly all those tiny contour lines meant. The full moon’s glow enabled me to see that we were in the middle of a broad, flat-bottomed river valley. I had little doubt that the fields were dangerous to cross, but guessed that beyond them, where the land rose up to form gentle hills, there’d be some sort of cover. ‘We’ll be OK as long as we wait until the moon goes behind that cloud,’ I whispered.

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yes. Remember our training in the Scottish mountains? Major Baxter’s men kept reminding us to stay on lower ground, and certainly never to use the ridges or hilltops: otherwise our silhouettes would give us away. Once the moon’s hidden, nobody will be able to make us out in the darkness against the backdrop of those hills over there.’

We waited, peering up at the broken clouds drifting slowly across the heavens while listening out for the approaching German patrol. It was going to be touch and go. And the particular cloud I had my eye on was moving annoyingly slowly. Loki began fidgeting, repeatedly turning and peering back towards the path. ‘I can hear them. They’ll be on top of us any time now. We could try and take them on. There’s only a handful. We have two machine guns and surprise on our side. What do you think?’

I didn’t reply. I was too busy willing the damn cloud to get a move on. In my head I was trying to give it a shove, to haul it along just a little faster. The first wisps trailed across the moon and the light faded slightly. But we needed more. It was still too bright. ‘Shit, shit, shit,’ Loki muttered nervously.

Just a little further. Go on, cloud, you can do it! My heart was racing. God, those German voices sounded loud, I thought. Almost as if they were standing right behind me. Then, at last, the glow faded just like the light in a room when a candle finally burns itself out. In a flash we broke cover and were gone.

We raced at full stretch across open farmland, only to
discover
that the field had been newly ploughed, and recent rainfall had turned it into a claggy quagmire. We slipped and slithered, stumbled and fell, but somehow managed to keep getting to our feet and carrying on. We ran and ran, repeatedly overtaking each other, our breathing heavy, our boots squelching. Reaching a shallow ditch, we flung ourselves down just as the moon emerged. I was buzzing inside, my senses heightened. I guess I’d just found out what it was like to be a fox trying to outwit the hounds. Rising to my knees, I looked back towards the river. There was no sign of the soldiers. So far so good. Loki slid up beside me on his belly.

‘All clear the other way, Finn.’

The moonlight dimmed again and we set off for a second time. The next field proved even lumpier, with deep ridges and furrows of heavy clay-laden earth. And something was growing there – cabbages? It was hard to tell, but it felt like I was treading over endless soft footballs glued to the ground. With every stride and skid, I felt we were getting further and further away from danger; or was it a horribly false sense of security?

At the boundary of the second field we hit upon the narrow lane I’d recalled seeing on the map. While I racked my brain trying to remember exactly where the road led to, Loki pointed left and said between rasping gasps, ‘Well, Rochefort must be that way, back towards the coast.’

No sooner had he said it than lights appeared in the
distance
from the direction of Rochefort and moved slowly towards us, like a clowder of cats on the prowl. The unmistakable clattering of diesel engines drifted in the night air. Frozen and uncertain, we stayed down. They were army trucks. Having trundled noisily to within a couple of hundred yards of us, they began peeling off, three to the left and three to the right. Then they stopped and dozens of soldiers piled out, forming neat, practised rows and columns. My heart sank. Our problems had been doubled and redoubled all in one go.

The soldiers began dispersing and I guessed at the orders they’d been given – file out and form a long line across the fields. We didn’t wait to see them begin their search. Cloud or no cloud, this time we couldn’t wait for nature’s helping hand. And despite needing to go left to reach Rochefort, or straight on to the distant hills, we went right. It was our only option.

We ran for miles. We just kept on going. Field after field passed beneath our boots; we leaped over small streams without altering our stride, and waded through larger ones with barely a moment’s thought for how deep they might be. Hedges were leapfrogged or scrambled through despite our clothes being ripped to shreds by thorns so sharp I reckoned they’d make a fantastic alternative to barbed wire. Finally, utterly exhausted, our chests heaving, we were forced to stop. Lying as flat as I could, I desperately tried to figure out what we should do next. Loki glanced at his watch – one-fifteen. I did some quick mental calculations. The
soldiers
would have advanced at nothing quicker than a brisk march, so surely we must’ve put plenty of distance between us and them. And yet, I also knew that despite our efforts it was highly likely that Fritz had off-loaded more soldiers at the other end of the valley, in the direction we were heading, leaving us trapped in a pincer movement. Our situation seemed hopeless.

‘Where’s the nearest village, Finn?’

‘I’m not sure. Why?’

‘I reckon it’s our best chance. Out here they’ll close in on us eventually. I’d rather find some barn or shed or outhouse to hide in.’

‘First place they’ll look.’ I didn’t want to sound negative but I reckoned we were surrounded and it was only a question of time before we got caught. The Germans were no fools. They knew how to close an area down, how to search it systematically, how to find any needles in a haystack.

‘OK, maybe a church crypt or bell tower or something.’

‘Second place they’ll look.’

‘Damn it, Finn, have you got any better ideas?’

‘No … Actually, yes!’ I’d been struck by a flash of inspiration. It came from nowhere. I’d remembered something X had said to us the very first evening we arrived at Mulberry House; something the prime minister of Great Britain, Mr Churchill, had told him. ‘You’re a genius, Loki! You’re right, we should head for the nearest village.’ I rolled over and scanned the valley.
Spotting
a shape, I pointed. ‘Over there. See it? I reckon that’s a church tower. It can’t be more than a mile or so.’

‘And what shall we do when we get there, Finn?’

‘We’ll set about waking the whole place up!’

MAKING FOR THE
village, I realized that what had struck me as an absolutely splendid idea was in truth a pretty potty, harebrained scheme, but I didn’t let on. I kept telling myself that we could make it work. We had to make it work. While running, I began filling Loki in.

‘Let me get this straight, Finn. You want to wake everyone up by setting fire to something.’

‘Uh-huh. A house maybe. Perhaps even two houses. But they’d have to be next door to each other, of course. Otherwise it would look suspicious. But the bigger the fire the better.’

‘You’re talking utter nonsense.’

‘No I’m not. Remember what X told us Mr Churchill had said to him? “Go forth and set Europe ablaze.”’

‘Yes, but I don’t get it.’

‘You will.’

He stopped in his tracks and grabbed hold of my arm. ‘If I’m about to commit suicide, I’d like to understand why. This is crazy, Finn! Surely the last thing we should be doing is drawing attention to where we are.’

‘Exactly! It’s the last thing Fritz would expect.’

He frowned at me incredulously. ‘I was the one who
got
a bang on the head, Finn. Not you. Have you gone mad?’

‘Listen,’ I said. ‘Think about it. It’s the middle of the night. Most people are going to be tucked up in bed fast asleep. We know the Germans have initiated one of their
razzias
as we saw them begin the search. At some point they’ll pile into the village, start banging on doors and order everyone to produce their papers while they set about searching everywhere. Agreed?’

‘Yes, but?’

‘Right. Fritz has surprise on his side and total control over the situation. Everyone will be bleary-eyed and confused. They won’t know what the hell is happening or why. But – and here’s the beauty of my plan – what if when Fritz arrives, everyone is already up and rushing about trying to put out the fire? It’ll be chaos, and a hundred times harder for Fritz to conduct the search properly. Chances are he’ll be distracted. If we make it look accidental, then I bet you the soldiers will simply check a few papers, maybe search half a dozen houses or so and then move on. They’ll know that otherwise the search could take hours. And, if the fire’s big enough they’re hardly going to encounter a compliant local population, are they? Villagers won’t appreciate their untimely arrival.’

Loki stared at me blankly while my plan sank in. ‘So … we’ll be able to find somewhere safe to hide because Fritz won’t bother searching every nook and cranny.’

‘Precisely! Look, we’ll find somewhere to hide and
make
the necessary preparations. If Fritz doesn’t turn up, then terrific. We just regain our strength and figure out our next move. But if we hear them coming, we’ll set off our diversion. OK?’

‘It’s the barmiest scheme you’ve come up with since you had that idea to steal the Heinkel seaplane from under the Luftwaffe’s nose, Finn. But, you know what, it might just work!’

We entered the village cautiously, keeping to the darkest paths and frequently dipping into doorways and passages where only the local rats had eyes sharp enough to see us. It turned out to be larger that I’d anticipated, at least a hundred houses, I reckoned, with two separate huddles of shabby buildings on either side of a tributary of the main river linked by an ancient stone bridge. Recent rain meant the water ran swiftly, burbling and gushing over a stony bed. It created quite a noise, useful for obscuring the sound of our footsteps. Beneath the bridge, I took the opportunity to wash the mud from my face. Our clothes, however, looked like they’d been dragged to hell and back. It was a problem that I knew we’d have to solve eventually, but it was a case of one thing at a time.