Love for a Soldier

by Mary Jane Staples

  ‘I know what I’m doing,’ she said. She did know now, and the knowledge was crucifying her.

  ‘There’s still too much daylight left, but I wouldn’t put it past your Major Kirsten to come back after he’s dropped his lady love, and to bring a company of German grenadiers with him. We’ll move out, cross that dirt road and make for the belt of trees on this side of the repair shops. Someone might spot us and take note, but we’ll chance it. When we leave that belt of trees, we’ll head for the main road. It should be dark by the time we reach it.’

  ‘The main road might be very busy,’ said Sophia.

  ‘Again? Surely not. Not unless –’ Captain Marsh lapsed into serious thought for a moment, then began walking, Sophia beside him.

  They emerged cautiously from their shelter and at once felt very exposed. The afternoon was fading, the light pearly grey, but it felt very bright to them. There was a tangible quality to the atmosphere, as if it could be touched. Now and again the ring of metal on metal echoed around the distant sheds. That was the only sound. The guns were silent, the concentrations of German batteries concealed and waiting, and there was not a plane in the cloudy sky. To Sophia, the atmosphere held its portent of gigantic battle. It was the great quiet before the great offensive.

  Something began to disturb the quiet. Light breezes turned into a strong wind. Dead leaves began to lift and skitter over the grass. Sophia’s loose hair whipped, smothering her face with strands of bright gold. She tossed them back. They reached the dirt road. They looked around. They saw no one, they heard no one. They crossed the road and walked rapidly. Sophia’s hair danced and frisked. It was like a waving banner of light to the watching Major Kirsten, buried in a fold in the ground not far from the copse.

  Captain Marsh, the field-grey greatcoat buttoned around him, lengthened his stride. Sophia quickened her pace to keep up with him. He was such a positive man, she thought. He would make mistakes at times, but never out of hesitation or uncertainty. He seemed as sure of himself as ever, even at this moment when he must be aware of their vulnerability. Away to their right, a German guard suddenly showed himself beside the sentry box of the repair establishment. He had his back to them, and Captain Marsh was making ground rapidly to put them out of sight of the man.

  The long belt of trees lay ahead, separated from the enclosed workshops by a strip of ground no more than twenty metres wide. Captain Marsh sank down then, pulling Sophia with him. An open lorry had appeared on the dirt road, trundling to make a turn that took it on to a wide tarmac surface leading to the workshops. It stopped at the entrance beside the sentry box. The guard spoke to the driver. The lorry drove in after a few moments, the guard watching it. Captain Marsh and Sophia rose, and made for cover at a swift run. Their cover was the belt of trees, and they rounded the first trees and walked alongside the wooded stretch, quite hidden from the establishment.

  Captain Marsh cast backward glances as they walked fast. The light was a deeper grey.

  ‘Just right,’ he said. ‘By the time we reach the main road it should be dark.’ He cast another glance behind him. ‘Damn.’

  ‘What’s wrong?’ asked Sophia. ‘I thought we were going to wait here, inside this wood –’

  ‘Walk on. There’s someone behind us, in the lee of a hedge. He’s in uniform. Don’t look round.’ He took her arm, pulling at her.

  ‘Don’t do that,’ she said a little wildly.

  ‘I must. Let me drag you. You mustn’t be seen walking of your own free will. At times you must show resistance.’ He continued pulling at her, and she understood. The situation never improved. It worsened every hour, because she knew why she was staying with him.

  ‘When we reach the end of this wood,’ she said, ‘we’ll have no shelter at all.’

  ‘When we come to that point,’ said Captain Marsh, hand firm on her arm, ‘we’ll angle around it to get ourselves out of sight, then turn and enter the wood. That might just fox whoever’s behind us into thinking we’ve gone straight on. After all, if we were going to use the place as cover, we’d have entered it by now.’

  Sophia wondered desperately how it would all end.

  Major Kirsten was experiencing a self-critical stage. Lieutenant Landsberg should have been back twenty minutes ago at the latest. He had made no real allowances for a hold-up, no provision for what she should do in such an event. He had only said he would take a note of the direction of the fugitives if they made a move. They had. He had followed them for a while, then stopped in order to avoid losing contact with Elissa when she returned. She would leave the car at the point beyond the copse where he had parted from her before she began her drive to Douai. She would expect him to show himself then, to meet her and to take charge of whatever men Colonel Hoffner had sent with her.

  He had seen the fugitives leave the copse, walking fast, and at a time when there was still no sign of her. If they got too far ahead and made all kinds of twists and turns, he would lose them unless his endearing colleague –

  Endearing?

  ‘You are a fool, Josef,’ he said to himself.

  The chase had become compulsive. Sophia could not be left indefinitely in the hands of the RFC pilot, and her father was too admirable a soldier to have his daughter’s wilfulness made known to all and sundry. Major Kirsten hoped the general was still unaware that she was a hostage. It was enough that Colonel Hoffner knew it. But was she definitely that? She had left the copse with the man, without any sign of being dragged or threatened. True, as far as the major could make out, he had taken her by the arm in their progress adjacent to that wood, but exactly why? To hurry her on? To pull her on? To encourage her? They would be out of sight soon, for they were cutting across to the end of the long wooded stretch.

  They were heading for Douai. That was absolutely certain now. The afternoon was going, the light very grey, but they were clearly visible. For some reason they had risked coming out into the open. Douai held something for both of them. A name and address for the British flyer, perhaps, and given to him by the pleasant and helpful proprietor of the inn at Lutargne? And for Sophia, there was Captain Fritz Gerder.

  They disappeared beyond the wood. Major Kirsten moved from the sheltering lee of a hedge and considered his next move. He could keep them in sight if he went after them now. He could even catch them up, but then what? A shooting match? Out of the question if the man kept Sophia close to him. Major Kirsten swore softly. He needed the soldiers Elissa should be bringing from Douai. There would be no shooting match then, but an encircling manoeuvre. He hoped to God that Colonel Hoffner would not send greybeards.

  There were men available in that distant Luftwaffe repair unit, but whether the officer in charge would part with any was uncertain. He took another look back, standing on the second bar of a gate in the hedge to give himself extra height. He saw the car then, back beyond the copse, with a small military runabout van behind it. Both vehicles were stationary. Lieutenant Landsberg was out of the car and looking around. From the van came several soldiers. Steadying himself, Major Kirsten lifted his arm and signalled. Elissa saw him, a small figure in the distance. She waved and came at a run, the soldiers following.

  Beyond the wood, out of sight of Major Kirsten, Captain Marsh and Sophia made a quick turn-about and dashed for shelter. On their left was the tree-lined west side of the wire perimeter. They entered the wood, and the effect of becoming enclosed was now a very familiar one. Captain Marsh stopped and patted the trunk of a plane tree.

  ‘I hope we haven’t jumped out of the frying pan into the fire,’ he said.

  ‘Be thankful the French farmers haven’t cut all their trees down,’ said Sophia.

  ‘It’s sound farming policy to look after standing timber. Have you seen what winds can do to young wheat?’

  ‘I’ve seen what it can do to ripe wheat,’ said Sophia, ‘for I’ve faced the winds of East Prussia and almost been blown off my feet.’

  ‘It’s given you a very healthy complexion. Stay the
re a moment while I take a look.’

  Sophia, however, was not disposed to accept orders, and she followed him to a point where they were able to make a survey of the area they had just left behind. In the distance, a man became visible as he moved away from a hedge. His cap and greatcoat distinguished him as a German officer. Sophia did not need to guess at his identity.

  ‘It’s Major Kirsten,’ she said.

  ‘Composing a poem to his love?’ said Captain Marsh sarcastically.

  ‘Perhaps,’ said Sophia defiantly. She saw the distant figure move to a gate and stand on it. Perceptibly, he lifted an arm and signalled. Captain Marsh grimaced.

  ‘What’s he doing now? Waving goodbye or bringing up reinforcements? I’ll wager he’ll be on our tails again in a moment. Can you climb a tree, and if you can, would you want to?’

  His eyes were quick as he turned to scan the interior of the wood, picking out evergreens. His every reaction to danger, thought Sophia, was to immediately work out a countermove.

  ‘I climbed every kind of tree with my brothers when I was young,’ she said, ‘until I was told it was not a recommended activity for growing girls. I protested. My mother spoke to me about ladies’ legs.’

  Captain Marsh glanced at her. For a brief moment, a reminiscent smile seemed about to break forth, but died almost stillborn. Her mouth twitched, that was all.

  ‘We need not consider legs, except for climbing.’

  It was a comment that appealed to Sophia’s natural sense of humour, but it was not a time when she could react with a smile of any kind.

  ‘I’m not expected to climb trees now, I hope,’ she said. ‘You must give up. We both must.’

  ‘You can, if you wish to,’ said Captain Marsh, ‘and I recommend that as being in your best interests.’

  ‘While you hide in a tree? How ridiculous. That is like playing a children’s game in a house that is on fire.’

  ‘I shan’t hide in any tree if you want to give up, since if you do you must inform on me. You must, for your own sake.’

  ‘I’m not going to give up,’ she said, her face set.

  Captain Marsh pointed to a huge cedar tree, its branches laden.

  ‘We could climb that easily enough,’ he said, ‘just in case they comb this place. Out in the open, there’s still too much light.’

  ‘But up in that tree, we could be trapped,’ said Sophia.

  ‘Yes, if they see us. But we’ll climb high and make a sporting game of it.’

  ‘Sporting game?’ Her low laugh was bitter. ‘This has never been a game to me, least of all now.’

  ‘I know. However, they may not even enter this wood. On the other hand, they might. It’s your decision.’

  Captain Marsh took a final look at the distant figure of Major Kirsten. He saw other figures appear. He turned and made for the cedar tree, Sophia with him. The lower branches were easily accessible.

  ‘Shall you go first?’ he said.

  ‘My mother would strongly disapprove of that,’ said Sophia.

  ‘I’ve never met your mother, and am never likely to, but she has an exceptional daughter, so rather than upset her, I’ll go first.’

  He began his climb. His stiff and painful finger was a minor worry. He found easy footholds. Sophia followed, aware that she was in a despairing relationship with the impossible. Above her, Captain Marsh reached down with a long arm to give her a helping hand from time to time, pulling her up after him. Her limbs were supple, but her skirts hampering. The multitude of thick branches gave firm assistance to the climb, although the dense foliage plucked at her hair and coat, and the spiral leaf tufts yielded reluctantly to her upward passage. The tree was a massive giant, with a vast spread.

  They climbed until the profusion of growth shut them off from the ground. They sat together on a solid branch, Sophia with her shoulder against the trunk. From where they were they had a commanding view of the ground they had covered all the way from the copse. The light was dimmer, but they made out the shapes of two vehicles, a car and a canvas-covered van. On the move were soldiers. There was also a woman.

  ‘Your military Romeo and Juliet are leading the charge,’ said Captain Marsh.

  ‘We’ve been playing your game,’ said Sophia, ‘and they have been playing theirs.’

  ‘And who, I wonder, is going to lose?’

  ‘I am,’ said Sophia.

  Chapter Sixteen

  ELISSA REACHED MAJOR Kirsten at a run, eight soldiers behind her.

  ‘I’m sorry I’m so late –’

  ‘Come along,’ said Major Kirsten, and began to step out. Elissa felt that for once he was not too pleased with her. ‘What happened?’ he asked.

  ‘A lack of cooperation, Major.’ Elissa explained that Colonel Hoffner had been absent. His deputy was not at all helpful. He knew nothing of Major Kirsten and even less than nothing of the major’s involvement in the hunt for a British airman and a young lady. Elissa had taken it on herself not to disclose the young lady was General von Feldermann’s daughter. That fact Colonel Hoffner had kept to himself, apparently. His deputy made it plain that he did not like a junior WAC officer making demands on his time and attention. It took Elissa far longer than she expected to convince him that Major Kirsten and Colonel Hoffner shared an understanding of the matter, and that she and the major had located the missing pair. In the end, very grudgingly, a small party of garrison soldiers was detailed to go with her. It included a sergeant and a corporal.

  ‘A triumph of perseverance,’ said Major Kirsten. He turned and beckoned the sergeant to come up with him, and he beckoned the corporal too. The NCOs arrived at his side, saluted and marched briskly with him. The sergeant addressed him.

  ‘Sergeant Lugar, Major.’

  ‘Yes. Good. Listen.’ Major Kirsten indicated the direction taken by their quarry. ‘Your men are to go after them at the double. The moment they’re spotted, one man is to double back to report to me. Corporal, you take charge. Do nothing except keep them in sight. Sergeant Lugar, please stay with me.’

  ‘Very good, Major,’ said Sergeant Lugar. He cracked a thumb and forefinger, and the corporal went off at the double with the men. Sergeant Lugar took up a position ahead of Elissa and the major, and marched at a steady pace, the tireless pace of a veteran.

  ‘They’ll stop at some point, our man and Sophia,’ said Major Kirsten to Elissa, ‘for I’m certain they won’t try to creep into the town except at night. On the other hand, our man is capable of the unexpected. I thought him comfortably tucked up in that wood with Sophia, and that he wouldn’t move until dark. But out he popped, and they both moved fast. She seemed quite willing. He did take her by the arm at one point, but what that meant I can’t say. If she had words with him, I was too far away to hear. I wonder why he took the risk of coming out into the open?’

  ‘Perhaps we failed in our performance, Major?’ said Elissa. ‘Perhaps I was too much the nervous amateur to be convincing?’

  ‘Don’t be modest,’ said Major Kirsten. ‘Your performance was splendid, and you’ll receive all the credit due to you, whether we were convincing or not.’

  ‘Major,’ said Elissa in alarm, ‘you aren’t going to submit a written report that I – that we – Major, I shall never live down such a report.’

  ‘You think not?’ he said, eyes on the disappearing soldiers and the unhelpful portent of failing light.

  ‘With all due respect,’ said Elissa, more alarmed, ‘written details of such a performance will arouse incredulity and – and hilarity.’

  ‘Damned if I’ll stand for that,’ said Major Kirsten, ‘but I didn’t intend putting in a written report, in any case. I merely thought of letting the general know how splendid you’ve been. Let’s hurry. If we lose our pigeons, I’ll blow my own head off.’

  They quickened their pace in the wake of Sergeant Lugar, and after a while passed the end of the extensive stretch of trees.

  The twilight was turning to dusk. Captain Marsh and Sophia h
ad heard the running German soldiers going on a line pointing directly to the southern environs of Douai. They kept going, the corporal in the lead, the men strung out behind him. Some way ahead was one of the main roads leading to Douai.

  A little while after the soldiers had passed by, Captain Marsh and Sophia heard other people. Too many trees and too much foliage prevented them from seeing who they were. They had a view of the pastureland to the rear, a view which took in the distant copse, but they could see nothing ahead or to the side. But they heard Major Kirsten’s voice, and then Elissa’s. Captain Marsh gave Sophia a pointed look. She shrugged. They stayed silent, and they listened. The sounds of the voices faded. Periodically, muffled clangs travelled to their ears from the plane sheds.

  Sophia, aware of the gloom of oncoming dusk, said, ‘I think this quite farcical. It’s absurd, perched up here like chickens or owls.’

  ‘I don’t think owls would consider it absurd,’ said Captain Marsh. ‘They sit purposefully all night, while more foolish creatures scurry about in the grass and get eaten. However, as the hounds have passed us by, I think we can climb down now.’

  ‘Thank you.’ Sophia was only too ready to free herself from her close physical contact with him, a contact that did nothing to ease her suffering soul. ‘It will be a relief not to have to descend in the dark. My courage would fail me.’

  ‘I don’t think your courage would ever fail you.’

  ‘Would you please spare me these unwanted compliments? Go down, if you will.’

  ‘Yes, I think I’d better go first,’ he said.

  She knew this meant he intended to ensure she did not come to grief, that he was considerate of her welfare.

  He began the descent. She followed. He did not hurry, timing his downward climb to coincide with hers. It was not easy, and he concerned himself with her safety, maintaining contact so that she was always just above him. Her booted feet reached for branches, and she sacrificed a good part of her modesty as her legs stretched downwards, one after the other. He extended an assisting hand from time to time. She took it, and there were moments when she held tightly to it. Their boots scraped bark or bruised the foliage, creating sounds noisy to their ears. Reaching the ground, Captain Marsh turned to receive her as she jumped from the final branch. She landed in his arms. For a brief second he held her. For a brief second each was a warmth to the other. Then she broke free.