by Dan Smith
I remained crouched in the doorway, wary that she might not be alone, but leaned out just enough to watch her join the others.
When Jana reached the group, she went straight to one of them and the two shapes joined for a few seconds, as if they were just one person, and I knew it was Stefan. When they broke apart, muffled laughter carried towards me on the breeze, followed by the rhythm of tense but excited speech as they spoke in voices that grew louder until one of them hushed the others.
Jana took the satchel from her back and handed something around, then there was more talking and the group divided. Three of them began walking back in my direction, but Stefan was not in this group and I wanted to know where he was going, so I kept my head peeping out until the last minute, and saw him go further into town with Jana. Another pair crossed the road and disappeared in the other direction.
I ducked back into the doorway and stayed low while the three passed me, then waited until they had rounded the corner before I set off in pursuit of my brother.
Once I caught up with Stefan and Jana, I trailed them at a safe distance.
They kept in the shadows close to the houses and shops as they moved through the streets, so I did the same as I followed them onto Klosterstrasse in the wealthy part of town. Here, the houses were set back from the pavement, and had front gardens behind railings and gates. The road was wide and lined with thick-trunked sycamores and horse chestnuts that were in full leaf and blocked much of the moonlight, making it easier for me to follow.
Creeping after them, scuttling from car to car and tree to tree, I watched as Stefan and Jana let themselves through the gate of the first house. They approached the front door, stopped for a moment, then moved away and did the same at the next house.
I edged as near as I dared, trying to see what they were up to.
They seemed to be taking things out of Jana’s shoulder bag and putting them through people’s letterboxes.
As they were coming away from one of the houses, though, just leaving the path and passing through the gate, the faint whisper of footsteps sounded on the pavement behind me.
I turned to see three silhouettes several metres away. For a moment I wondered if they were some of the other Apaches, but as they drew closer, it became clear they were not. These silhouetted figures were wearing caps and I knew, right away, they were Hitler Youth, perhaps coming back from a meeting.
The three figures didn’t see me, but they saw Stefan and Jana, and they stopped dead.
‘Look,’ one of them whispered. ‘Who’s that?’
‘Shh,’ said another.
Suddenly I was very afraid for my brother. Whatever he was doing, it had to be illegal – otherwise he wouldn’t have come out in the dead of night – and he was about to be caught. I wanted to call out to him, to warn him the Hitler Youth was there. I wanted to shout at him and tell him to run, but I was too afraid to make a sound.
I crouched low and watched as the three figures moved off the pavement into the shadows cast by the trees.
They were like lions stalking their prey.
Over by one of the houses, Stefan and Jana had stopped and come together as if embracing. They had no idea they were being watched.
When I looked back to see the other boys, their shadows were closer.
‘What are they doing?’ one of them whispered. His voice was like the breeze in the branches as they moved to the shadow of the next tree.
‘Keep watching,’ said another. ‘Get closer. We’ll surprise them.’
‘And then what?’
‘Arrest them.’
‘Give them a kicking.’
My mouth was dry. My hands were cold. This felt very different from the night exercise with the Deutsches Jungvolk – this wasn’t fun, it was dangerous. My whole body felt heavy with fear as I edged onto the road and lay down along the kerb, almost wedged beneath a car. There was nowhere else to go. Nowhere else to hide.
With wide eyes, I looked from the silhouettes of the Hitler Youth, creeping ever closer, to those of Stefan and Jana standing together at the gate.
Why don’t you move? The thought screamed in my head. Move! Run!
There was only one tree between us now. I could hear the boys breathing, the sound of their boots on the grass, the swish of their clothing, the creak of a leather belt.
Then something snapped inside me; something that made me break through the fear that threatened to paralyse me.
I crawled away from the car, jumped to my feet, and shouted at the top of my voice.
‘RUN!’
CHASE
At first, it was as if I hadn’t shouted it at all.
No one reacted.
The boys who were sneaking up on us stayed hidden. Stefan and Jana remained where they were. Everything was frozen for a fraction of a second.
‘RUN!’ I shouted again. ‘RUN!’
And the world came to life.
‘Get them!’ said one of the boys behind me and I took off like a rabbit breaking for cover from the farmer’s gun.
I leaped out of the shadows, into a shaft of moonlight that fell between the trees, and sprinted towards Stefan and Jana.
When they saw me coming right at them, closely followed by the group of three boys, they turned and ran.
Now the world was full of the sound of boots pounding the pavement. My own breathing was loud as I pumped my arms and legs as hard as they would go. In front of me, Stefan and Jana ran side by side, the shoulder bag bouncing about on Jana’s back.
I could feel the hot breath of our pursuers on the nape of my neck. I imagined their fingers snatching at my clothes, trying to grab me and yank me back into the darkness. It was as if I were being chased by hellhounds, and I ran, ran, ran as fast as I could go.
We reached the end of Klosterstrasse and turned left, dashing along the pavement.
My chest was tight now, my breathing coming harder and harder. My legs starting to tire. My heart was filled with a thousand needles, as if it would explode inside me.
Behind, the Hitler Youth boys grew closer.
They were bigger and stronger and faster than me. They would catch me. Stefan could outrun them, maybe Jana too, but I had no hope of getting away from them.
I was slowing down. Falling back.
They’re going to catch me.
It was only a matter of time. A few seconds and I would be theirs.
As if he could sense me tiring, Stefan looked back. He slowed to come alongside me. ‘Keep going,’ he said between breaths. ‘Be strong.’
I couldn’t run much longer.
They’re going to catch me.
Jana had other ideas about being caught, though. Running just ahead of us, she slipped the bag from her shoulder and slowed down so we were running in a line. Once we were together, she half turned as she ran, holding the bag by its strap and throwing it at the boys, aiming low.
The bag hit its mark, falling at the feet of the first boy, the strap tangling about his ankles.
He went down like a felled tree, shouting in pain as he hit the pavement. The second boy tripped over him, sailing through the night and landing with a sickening crunch when he smashed into the concrete. He rolled as he cried out in pain, and the third boy came to a halt to check on them.
‘Get after them,’ the first boy shouted. ‘Don’t let them get away.’
But Jana had already bought us some time, and when I saw the entrance to the cemetery looming ahead, I knew we had a chance.
‘Hide,’ Stefan said as soon as we passed through the gates in the tall iron railings that surrounded the whole place.
I could hardly breathe now; my chest was hurting so much. I had never run so far and so fast in my life.
‘Hide, Karl,’ he said again, coming to a stop and grabbing my arm. ‘Find somewhere to hide. We’ll run.’
We were standing on the road that cut through the cemetery, the grass stretching out on either side, broken only by the gravestones.
‘
Don’t … leave me … on my own,’ I begged him, my words coming in gasps between breaths. I was almost bent double, trying to recover.
‘You can’t run any more and they’re coming,’ Jana said to me.
Sure enough, I could hear footsteps behind us.
‘Hide with me,’ I begged them.
‘They’ll just look for us,’ Jana said. ‘We’ll keep running, they’ll chase us.’
‘They’ll never find us here,’ I said. ‘We can—’
‘Do as you’re bloody well told, for once.’ Stefan pushed me away from him, forcing me onto the grass. ‘Now go. Find somewhere to hide. I’ll lead them away.’ Then he pushed Jana away from him, saying, ‘You too. Go! Look after my brother.’
‘What—’ Jana started to argue, but Stefan was already jogging away, his boots pounding the path, and behind us, the boys had reached the entrance to the cemetery.
‘Come on,’ Jana whispered as the sound of Stefan’s running disappeared further along the road.
She took my arm as we hurried onto the grass, passed a row of three benches, and headed among the gloomy gravestones. We threw ourselves to the ground and crawled for the darkness around the base of a long, low memorial. There, lying side by side, we watched the road and tried to control our breathing.
The three boys slowed as they entered the cemetery, looking about to see which way we’d gone.
‘That way,’ said one of them, hearing Stefan’s footsteps further along the road. ‘Come on.’
‘You go,’ said a second. ‘I’ll look here. Maybe they split up.’
So two of them picked up their pace, continuing their pursuit of Stefan, while the third remained behind.
As the footsteps faded into the night, Jana and I watched the boy standing on the road, turning this way and that in the hope of spotting us somewhere in the park.
I wondered where Stefan was and whether he would be able to outrun the boys chasing him.
The boy who had stayed behind didn’t seem to be in any hurry to search for us. He waited for the others to leave, then fumbled in his pockets, and in a few seconds, a flame flared up in front of his face. He lit a cigarette before flicking the match away from him. It arced up and out, dying in the wind.
The boy glanced about, turned around once, then started walking in our direction. My muscles tensed as I prepared myself for more running, but instead of continuing his search, he sat down on one of the benches and leaned back. He tipped his head to face the sky and breathed a long stream of smoke into the night.
Jana nudged me and pointed behind us with her thumb.
I shook my head. I didn’t dare move. The boy was so close – no more than ten metres away.
Jana nodded her head and nudged me again. ‘Now,’ she whispered and started to get to her feet.
I had no choice but to follow her. I didn’t want to be left alone out here, and if the boy spotted her, she would be ready to run and I would still be lying on the grass. So I eased to my feet, aware of every sound I made.
The rustle of my jacket was like the driving rain of a thunderstorm. My heartbeat was like the drums of a parade band. When my knees clicked the noise was like gunshots.
Then Jana nudged me again and showed me the large stick she was holding. It was as thick as my arm and almost as long. She took it in both hands and raised it up, swinging it over her shoulder as if she meant to approach the boy from behind and hit him with it.
I shook my head at her.
If she hit him, she might kill him.
She looked at me, then at the boy, and took a step towards him.
I shook my head more vigorously this time and grabbed the back of her shirt.
No! I wanted to shout.
Jana hesitated, still brandishing the stick as if it were a club, then she lowered it and stood for a moment before backing away.
I was sure that if I hadn’t been there, Jana would have hit that boy. She would have swung the stick as hard as she could against the back of his head and she would have cracked his skull in two.
WOLFF AT THE DOOR
Jana and I left the boy sitting on the bench and folded into the darkness. We moved silently along the railings and slipped, unnoticed, through the gate.
‘Do you think they caught him?’ I asked Jana as we made our way back towards Escherstrasse.
‘Not Stefan, he’s too quick,’ Jana said with admiration. ‘You have a very brave brother, you know?’
I glanced over my shoulder and thought about the boy who had remained in the cemetery. ‘You were going to hit him,’ I said.
‘That boy?’ Her voice changed. ‘He deserved it. They all do.’
‘Hitler Youth?’
‘Yes, them and all the other Nazis.’ There was real hatred in her words. ‘They’re killing our fathers and brothers. Ruining our country. Someone needs to shoot Hitler before he leads us all to ruin.’
‘Shoot him?’ I was shocked. ‘You want the British to win the war? To come here and—’
‘No, of course not,’ she said. ‘Germany is for Germans. There shouldn’t even be a war; sending all those German people away to be killed … It’s all Hitler’s fault. And now my papa is dead and my brother, too.’
As soon as she said it, I felt as if there was a link between us. ‘Your papa died? What happened? Was he in the war?’
‘I don’t want to talk about it.’
‘Is that why you’re an Edelweiss Pirate?’ I said to her. ‘You are an Edelweiss Pirate, aren’t you? Is it because of what happened to your—’
‘I said I don’t want to talk about it.’
‘I want to be one, too. To stop the Nazis from killing our fathers.’
‘By not hitting them on the head? Anyway, you’re too young.’
‘That’s what Stefan said.’ I couldn’t help sounding disappointed.
Jana stopped and sighed before looking down at me. ‘Thank you.’ Her voice softened.
‘For what?’
‘For stopping me from hitting that boy. You did the right thing. And don’t worry about Stefan, he’ll be fine. He’s probably waiting for you at home right now.’
When Jana left me on Escherstrasse, I crept home and let myself in the front door.
After replacing the key in the ashtray, I sneaked upstairs to find the bedroom empty. I went to the window, pulling back the curtain to look out.
The street was quiet in both directions.
Across the road, Lisa would be fast asleep in bed. When I’d left to follow Stefan, I had wished that she was with me, but now I was home, I was glad she hadn’t come.
I took off my clothes, put on my pyjamas and climbed back into bed. I wanted to wait for Stefan, so I sat up.
The house creaked and groaned as I wondered what had happened to my brother. I could only hope that he had outrun the Hitler Youth boys and that he was on his way home right now. I tried not to imagine him lying in the street, battered and bruised because they had caught him.
I intended to be awake when Stefan came home, but my eyelids grew heavy and I fell into a sleep that was broken only by a loud banging on the door.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Three loud knocks that startled me.
He must have forgotten his key, was my first thought. Or lost it.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
I hope he’s not hurt, was the next thing to leap into my head.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
I slipped out of bed, pausing for a moment to hear the sounds of stirring from the other bedroom. Then I hurried across to the door and pulled it open just as Opa was about to go downstairs.
He jumped in shock, putting a hand to his heart.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
‘Stay here,’ he said. ‘You don’t need to come.’
When he started down again, though, I followed him, waiting at the bottom of the stairs while he fumbled with the latch, and opened the door.
‘Herr Brandt.’ Kriminalinspektor Wolff took off his hat and came straight
in. He looked wide awake, despite the hour.
Opa stepped back. ‘Would you like to come through to—’
‘No need,’ said Wolff. ‘Just here will be fine.’ He flashed a false smile at Opa then spotted me, standing at the bottom of the stairs. ‘Ah,’ he said. ‘Karl. Did I wake you?’
Opa glanced at me then turned back to Wolff just as Oma and Mama came downstairs.
‘What’s this all about?’ Oma asked, going to Opa’s side. ‘What’s going on?’
‘Frau Friedmann.’ Wolff did a strange little bow. ‘I’m sorry to hear about your husband.’
Mama put an arm around me.
‘What … what can we do for you?’ Opa said. ‘I’ve been to the meeting like you said. Look, I have the papers right here.’ He went to the table by the door and pulled out the drawer.
‘No need for that,’ Wolff stopped him. ‘It’s your grandson I need to speak to.’
Mama squeezed me tighter and Opa looked over his shoulder at me again. ‘You need to speak to Karl?’
Wolff grinned. ‘No. The other grandson.’
I thought I was going to fall over.
Stefan wasn’t here, and Wolff knew it. The cruel look on his face said as much.
I held onto the bannister and wished there was something I could do. When Wolff discovered that Stefan was missing, he would know he was out in the night and—
‘You want to speak to me?’
Wolff looked as surprised as I was when we heard Stefan’s voice.
I whipped around to see him coming down the stairs, dressed in pyjamas; hair tousled and sleepy-eyed.
It was the first time I’d seen Wolff flustered, but it didn’t last long. He cleared his throat and stared at Stefan. ‘I’ve had reports of a disturbance tonight; your name was mentioned.’
‘My name?’ Stefan rubbed his eyes as he spoke. ‘Why would my name be mentioned?’
‘You’ve been linked to a group of delinquents calling themselves Edelweiss Pirates.’
Stefan shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. ‘Never heard of them.’
‘Even so,’ Wolff said. ‘Your name has been mentioned—’