by A.D. Winch
Chapter 28 – Rendez-vous
“What shall we do now?” asked Ursula, looking at the green countryside stretching out far below them.
Eric did not answer but gazed out in the same direction. He was confident that he could see on the horizon the small forgotten airport where they had landed only thirty-five hours earlier. It seemed like a lifetime ago.
“We can’t go back to the car,” he finally said. “We must head for the plane. Alexander and I agreed that we would rendez-vous there if anything happened. Captain Hudson will get us out of here.”
“Eric,” began Ursula hesitantly, “I think Alexander is okay. I can feel that he is fine.”
Eric concentrated hard on Alexander and, like Ursula, felt the same. Worryingly, neither of them could sense anything from Andrea.
With slightly lighter hearts they looked into the distance at the walk that lay ahead of them. It would take them down the volcano and through the countryside but first they had to get down from the summit.
The steep slope was covered in small pumice stones, like a carpet of marbles, and there was no path down it. They lost their footing in the first few steps. Eric dug his heels into the volcanic stones and stopped them rolling all the way down. It did, however, give them an idea.
Instead of trying to walk down they crouched onto their right legs and put the other out in front of them. Ursula draped her injured left leg over Eric’s shoulder to protect it and then they pushed off with their hands. They began to slide slowly down the volcano as if on an invisible sledge. They picked up speed as they slid, but Eric controlled this with his front foot which he used as a brake. Great clouds of dust followed them as they descended and, from a distance, it looked like a small eruption or an avalanche.
The slope came to an end two hundred metres below the summit. Eric and Ursula ground to a halt upon a large pile of pumice stones which they had pushed down the volcano. They had been so focused on the countryside further afield that they had taken little notice of what lay below them. If they had seen their destination, they would have stopped but the dust cloud shooting up around them had blocked their view.
They were standing at the bottom of Vesuvius’s first crater. It had exploded two thousand years previously and had sent stones and ash fifteen kilometres into the sky towards Pompeii. After the gigantic explosion, it had healed itself, and the gaping hole in the earth was no more. The ancient crater was the size of ten football pitches and was surrounded by sheer cliff faces, as high as a six storey building. Boulders and rocks as big as houses, some almost the same shape, lay next to rocks the size of footballs. Scattered amongst them were tall trees and round spiky bushes.
“We go straight,” said Eric confidently and pointed forwards.
“I know that,” replied Ursula, “but that’s easier said than done.”
There was no direct route the way Eric was pointing. A family of rocks and boulders, all of different shapes and sizes, blocked their path. For a few minutes, they just sat, looking at their options and appreciating the morning sun. No matter what way they went they would have to climb around or climb over huge lumps of stone.
From behind they heard the pitter-patter of pebbles rolling down the slope and then stones began to rain down on them. They jumped up and moved a safe distance away. Ursula’s ankle felt stronger, and she felt pleased until she looked back up the volcano. A short distance from the summit and running towards them were the three OSS agents. Two of them had open wounds on their foreheads, but they no longer looked drunk.
Ursula stood transfixed, looking at their pursuers and only when Eric pulled at her arm did she turn away.
They sprinted off in the direction Eric had been pointing to, using the smaller boulders as steps up to the bigger ones. Some of the boulders and rocks were uneven, some were smooth, some were very jagged and some contained holes. Skilfully, Eric and Ursula ran around them, over them and leapt between them like mountain leopards. Not once did they stop and look behind them but they could sense that the agents were getting closer.
The rocks and boulders were further apart, and the jumps between them were growing in distance. They landed safely on a flat rock the size of a tennis court and sprinted across it. Ursula was leading, her ankle feeling much stronger, but as she neared the edge she skidded to a halt. Eric did the same.
In front of them was a gap of over five metres. A large, curved boulder lay on the other side about a metre lower than them.
“We won’t make it,” Ursula said and desperately looked for another way down but failed to find one.
Eric scoffed, and he continued to disagree as they ran back the way they had come.
Suddenly an OSS agent appeared on another rock in front of them.
“Stop!” he yelled and waved a gun in their direction.
“It looks like I will have to prove you wrong,” Eric told Ursula and spun around.
He sprinted away from her and the OSS agent, towards the gap. Faced with no other choice Ursula followed.
Eric leapt a second or so before Ursula and flew through the air towards the next boulder. His feet hit it first, but he landed on a steep curve rather than the flatter top. He lost his balance and began to topple backwards, his arms flailing wildly above him.
Ursula saw him starting to fall when she was halfway into her jump. Instantly she dropped her right hand and as she reached the boulder she caught hold of Eric. Their fingers clasped tight around each other and Ursula pulled Eric on to the boulder where she landed on top of him.
“I told you that you wouldn’t make it,” she said, looking down at Eric.
“You didn’t give me a chance to get my balance,” he replied gruffly.
However, his thoughts said something different and Ursula knew he was grateful.
There were no more large rocks or boulders for them to jump onto and they had almost reached the ancient crater’s cliff face. They were too far away to jump directly onto it and too high up to jump down safely. To make matters worse, the boulder was too smooth to climb down. They were stranded. As Eric looked over one of its sides, he saw a leafless, fallen tree leaning against the boulder.
“Over here,” he shouted.
When Ursula saw it, she was not impressed.
“It’s only resting against the boulder. It won’t take our weight.”
A gun shot echoed around the crater, and they looked up to see the agent pursuing them about to make the jump onto their boulder.
“I don’t think we have much choice,” remarked Eric and gently lowered himself onto the dead tree trunk.
It moved slightly but held his weight.
“Come on,” he urged Ursula.
Hesitantly, Ursula joined him. The moment she stood on the tree it dropped a few centimetres. The two of them held their balance and, like tightrope walkers, pigeon stepped down the trunk.
“It’s just like doing the beam in gymnastics,” said Eric smiling.
The moment the words were out of his mouth the tree dropped half a metre, leaving Eric and Ursula standing in thin air. They dropped back onto the tree, their feet slipping underneath them as the tree rolled, but they managed to hold their balance. They were still too high for a safe fall.
“Since when have beams moved?” asked Ursula pointedly after catching her breath.
Eric did not reply. Gently they stepped forward but with every step the tree dropped a little further. Each time they held their balance. When they were closer to the ground, they jumped. The tree crashed to the floor at the same time, scattering brittle branches around them.
The OSS agent looked down from the top of the boulder. There was no way to jump down and no way back. The two children looked up at him and were tempted to smile, but they didn’t. For a moment, he considered ignoring orders and just shooting both the kids for the trouble they had caused. On reflection, he decided that Agent Angel would then shoot him. He fired a shot at Ursula but missed. T
he children turned and fled towards the side of the crater.
At the base of the sheer cliff face, the children stopped to look up. It was like a multi-tiered cake with three layers consisting of solid rock, dry earth and damp earth with stones. Each layer was about the same height as two floors on a building, and none looked particularly easy to climb.
We have to go up, thought Ursula.
“Race you,” challenged Eric.
He wasn’t joking and immediately began to climb. Ursula just looked at him and then began to climb too.
Why do you have to turn everything into a competition? she thought.
“Because that’s what boys do,” Eric replied, speeding up, but Ursula was already ahead of him.
After climbing past the first layer, they both sensed danger below them. They looked down and were greeted by a smiling OSS agent pointing a gun between the two of them.
“I don’t want to have to shoot the two of you,” the agent yelled in a southern states accent.
“Then don’t,” shouted back Eric and tried to catch up with Ursula above him.
The spot where she was about to put her hand suddenly exploded, showering her in shards of rock and earth.
The voice below yelled up again, “When I was a kid I was brought up to have some respect for grown-ups, and to call them ‘sir’ and ‘ma’am,' mister smart mouth. You’d better be remembering that, or the next bullet hits your girlfriend. Now come back down here the two of you before you fall and hurt yourselves.”
Ursula looked down at the agent but made no attempt to descend.
Eric smiled and, imitating the agent’s southern drawl, replied, “I’m pleased you are thinking of our safety ‘sir’ and ‘ma’am’ but if you want us you’ll have to come and get us.”
As soon as Eric had finished speaking the agent began to climb.
Ursula was still ahead of Eric but around halfway up they reached a layer of crumbling, dry soil. There were no handholds or footholds, and the only way to get past it was to find stones or fossilized roots that were wedged securely in the earth. This slowed them right down. Roots they tried to hold on to simply fell out, stones they put their feet on gave way under their weight and the ones that held did not feel very safe.
At all times, they made sure they had at least three points of their body, either two feet and a hand or vice versa, secure against the cliff face. One mistake was all it would take for them to fall and, at three floors above the ground, they did not want to do this. Their caution and reduced speed, allowed the agent to catch up with them. By the time, Ursula had climbed over this layer the agent had almost reached them, and Eric was still behind her.
“Stop right there,” ordered the agent.
He lunged for Eric’s foot and only narrowly missed it. Eric tried desperately to find another handhold to lift him out of reach, but each stone he grabbed at fell out of the earth the moment he tested it. Below him, the agent had a secure footing on the rock layer and was not having the same problems as Eric.
The agent’s second lunge was successful, and Eric’s foot was held in a vice-like grip. Eric said nothing but Ursula knew he was in trouble. Eric shook his foot as hard as he dared, but the grip just got tighter. The stone supporting Eric’s other foot was beginning to loosen, and his right handhold was creeping out of the soil.
Urgently, Ursula looked around her. There was nothing she could throw at the agent, and she could not go back.
Throw stones Eric, she thought and looked down.
Eric was clawing at the earth trying to find stones he had not already dislodged. At the same time, he was still shaking his left foot, trying to lose the agent. Only having two body points next to the cliff face was very, very dangerous climbing, and Eric knew this as much as Ursula.
No matter how hard he looked, he could not see any more stones. Eric placed his right hand back on the stone that was creeping out of the earth. He moved it quickly up and down until it came free. The agent was still below and with all the strength Eric could find, he launched the stone at him.
The stone hit the agent right between the eyes. The force was so great and the shock so unexpected that he let go of the cliff face and fell backwards. He landed with a loud, unpleasant thud on a spiky bush which cushioned his fall. Ursula heard obscenities being screamed at them, but she knew the agent was not going to risk chasing them again.
Eric did not hear anything; he had other things to worry about. He was swinging wildly and about to fall himself. The only possible hand holds were above him and out of his reach. With no other option, he sprang from his one foothold and leapt upwards. His fingers felt around a stone and gripped it. His other hand did the same and, as he kicked at the earth, he found two footholds as well. They held, and Eric lay flat against the cliff face, his heart beating so hard that he thought it would force him off. When it had slowed down, he joined Ursula and together they climbed the remaining half of the cliff face.
On reaching the top and flat ground, they both lay down and looked up towards the sun. They were both breathing hard and lost in their own thoughts. As their breathing returned to normal Eric faced Ursula, pointed to himself and declared that he was the winner. Ursula simply laughed.
It took a while for their energy to return and when they stood up they felt better. They were on the edge of a forest and headed into it.
The sun was still rising, and the trees cast long shadows over the ground. Where the sun broke through, the rays scattered as if reflected off a mirror ball. Birds hopped through the light singing the dawn chorus, and animals could be heard scavenging through the dry leaves that littered the floor. Roots had broken through the surface and, with Ursula following, Eric led a path through them. It was not long before Eric noticed that Ursula was falling behind, so he stopped and waited for her to catch up.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
Ursula looked embarrassed and replied meekly, “I need the toilet.”
“You need the toilet? You don’t get Indiana Jones or Spiderman or James Bond escaping the bad guys and then needing the toilet.”
Ursula stepped up to Eric, looked him straight in the eye and said forcefully, “That’s because they’re not real.”
“Okay, okay, go up against that tree over there and then we can move on,” Eric told her, waving at a Maple tree close by.
Ursula bit her lip and went off to find a bush.
Why are boys so stupid, she thought.
“I heard that,” Eric shouted after her.
He was stood in a small clearing surrounded by Neapolitan Maple trees weighed down by leaves. It was shady under the trees, and Eric moved to the centre of the clearing where the sun shone through. Underneath his feet was fine pumice dust, and he started to write his name on the ground. His father used to complain that he was always waiting for his mother, and now Eric knew what he meant.
The E was finished, and Eric began to scrape the R. As he was approaching the curve of the R he felt that something was really wrong. He abandoned his writing and ran off to find Ursula. On the ground, he could see her shoe prints clearly, and they were easy to follow.
Behind a scrubby bush, the prints stopped and next to them were much larger and heavier ones. As quietly and as quickly as he could, Eric followed them. After a few hundred metres, he reached an old lava flow, bisecting the forest like a grey river. Walking across it, with Ursula held tightly under one arm and hand over her mouth, was another OSS agent. Eric waited until they had crossed back into the forest beyond, and then sprinted over the solidified lava.
The other side of the forest had Cork Oak trees as well as Maples. They had grown so close together that only pinpoint beams of sunlight managed to break through from above them. A little way in front of Eric the OSS agent had stopped and pinned Ursula at arm’s length against a thick tree trunk.
“You can hit me all you like young lady,” said the agent menacingly, pushing his fist harder into h
er chest, “but if you bite me again, I swear I will snap you like a twig. Do I make myself clear?”
Ursula tried to reply, but she felt her ribs were about to break, and her lungs would burst.
“Do I make myself clear?” he asked louder.
“Crystal,” shouted Eric, leaping through the air and smacking the agent with a well-aimed kick to the head.
The fist holding Ursula in place fell away, and she climbed up the tree as fast as a monkey.
“Why you little...,” began the agent.
Before the sentence was finished, Eric hit the agent hard in the stomach and jumped out of his reach. The agent let out a sadistic laugh and, removing a revolver, pointed it at Eric.
“I knew you would come after your little girlfriend. By rights you should be dead, killed with your dear ma and pa when their little boat blew up. So I am sure my boss won’t mind much if I bring you back in pieces too.”
Eric watched helplessly as a finger wrapped around the trigger. A fraction before it was pulled, Ursula jumped from the tree and onto the revolver. The bullet scattered leaves as it hit them, and the revolver spilled onto the ground. In one movement, Eric dived forward, grabbed the gun and threw it as far away as he could. He was on his feet again before the agent had fully taken in what had happened.
Above Eric was a low hanging branch which he jumped onto. He quickly climbed up further and out of the agent’s reach. Below him, he could see Ursula scuttling backwards across the dirt like a crab away from the agent. Eric looked in the direction she was going. A short way from her was a branch about three metres above the ground. Eric willed Ursula to head for it and did the same. Ursula followed Eric’s instructions and led the agent towards it. When she was directly below she stopped, and the agent looked down at her with a smile on his face.
“You win,” said Ursula, resigned to defeat, and slowly stood up.
As soon as she was on her feet the agent took hold of her and gripped her so hard it hurt. Ursula responded by screaming and fighting to escape.
At the same time, Eric launched himself silently at the branch above them. It was a perfect leap; he gripped it tightly and spun around as if on the parallel bars. When he reached the top of his spin and was upside down, he froze, changed his hands and flipped through one hundred and eighty degrees. He was now directly above the agent and began his swing back downwards. He brought his knees in close to his chest and as he neared the agent he kicked them out as hard as he could. Both his feet hit the agent’s jaw with a crunch and sent him flying backwards. Eric landed on the earth perfectly, as if at a gymnastic competition. The agent hit the ground with a dull thud and did not move a muscle.
“Time to go,” said Eric.
He took Ursula’s hand; pulled her up, and they quickly walked away.
For the next four hours, they walked under the shady trees. Dry leaves littered the ground and small plants with sharp branches broke through the surface. They had to trust their instincts that they were heading in the right direction because they could only see trees, and there were no viewing points. The branches above them were thick with leaves, and neither of them had the energy to climb a tree in order to see where they were. Ursula’s ankle had begun to smart again, and they were both very tired.
Gradually, the grey volcanic soil turned browner, and the vegetation thinned out slightly. Apart from the occasional bird they saw no one. The thought of an OSS agent lurking behind a tree kept them on edge and made for a tense journey. Only when they saw a wire fence topped with barbed wire did they relax slightly. Beyond it, almost hidden behind more trees, they could see the runway.
By the time, Eric and Ursula had climbed over the fence into the forgotten airport they were covered in small scratches and exhausted. They broke through the remaining trees and there, sat at the end of the weedy runway, was Captain Hudson’s plane. The old twin-propped craft gave them a boost and they began to feel more positive as they walked towards it.
The door was open, and three small steps led inside, but to the two battle-weary children it felt like many more. Inside the body of the plane, draped across the worn leather seats, were Andrea, Alexander and Captain Hudson. They were deep in serious conversation, but this stopped the moment they saw the children.
“What happened?” asked Alexander, with obvious concern.
“Nothing much,” replied Eric, collapsing into a chair.
“We just ran into the OSS; that was all,” added Ursula, joining him.
“And we won,” stated Eric proudly.
Captain Hudson stood up and went to the plane’s door. He brought in the steps, closed the door and walked quickly to the cock-pit. Before he sat down in his pilot’s chair, he said, “Put your seatbelts on. We will be leaving immediately.”
All four of them did as they were told.
Eric asked Alexander and Andrea, the same question, “What happened to you?”
“We saw the crash,” said Ursula, turning in her seat so she could see the others. “We thought you were in it.”
“Nothing much happened,” sighed Alexander. “We just set the car rolling, jumped out, hid in the trees and watched it happen. I have no desire to be in a car crash. I can assure you. It was Andrea’s idea.”
They turned to face Andrea. She was neither smiling nor grimacing and did not look as if her actions had been anything extraordinary.
“Do you have the discs?” she asked Ursula, putting her hand out.
“Yes,” replied Ursula with a smile.
She touched her chest where they were hidden in the wallet, and suddenly the smile vanished from her face. Frantically she undid her seat belt, and she placed her hand desperately under her black top.
“They are not there, are they?” guessed Andrea.
“No,” replied Ursula and starting to cry, “they must have fallen out somewhere.”
“They can’t have done,” said Eric in disbelief, spinning in his seat to face her. “We spent so long planning this. You must have them. Check again.”
Ursula did as she was told but no matter how carefully she checked, the CDs still weren’t there.
Unable to contain his emotions, Alexander punched the seat next to him.
“Then we put ourselves in danger for nothing!” Once he had calmed down he added, “We must just hope that the OSS do not find them.”
For a moment, no one spoke. The plane’s engines became louder, and they began to accelerate along the runway.
When they were in the air, and her sobs had stopped, Ursula answered, “It wasn’t for nothing. There were only four CDs in the pod - numbers one, two, three and four.”
“I’m sorry Ursula, but it was for nothing. The OSS don’t have you, but they now have the pod, they may have also found the discs, and we are still missing disc five. It was all for nothing,” replied Alexander, looking depressed.
“No, it wasn’t! Down by the pod, I remembered something. Until now, I haven’t had time to tell you. I know where CD five is.”
“Where?” asked Andrea in a business-like tone.
“It’s at my grandparents. In the cabinet in the living room, next to my Kinder egg toys and Mémé’s glass animals.”
Without warning, Alexander started to laugh. At first it was a snort of disbelief but as it grew it became more real. The hiding, the planning and the danger all seemed suddenly ridiculous. Eric and Ursula joined him, and the three of them soon had tears running down their faces.
Andrea seemed to have missed the joke and waited patiently until they had all calmed down. “We are going to Paris to retrieve this disc. We shall stay with Mr. and Mrs Benjamin. It will be cramped but safe.”
When she had finished speaking, she undid her seat belt and walked towards the cockpit to instruct Captain Hudson of their new destination. She was with him for less than a minute but when she returned, both Eric and Ursula were fast asleep.
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