To Parts Unknown

by John Anthony Miller

  There were several sets of tracks in and out of the rail yard, entering from the west and departing to the southeast. A train sat on the closest set of tracks, the locomotive adjacent to the terminal, and the last car curved past the edge of the yard. From my vantage point twenty yards from the tracks, it would be challenging to reach from our location. But the last few cars were in the darkest part of the yard and not as visible from the terminal, so it was doable.

  We watched and waited. The soldiers began boarding the first seven cars of the train. They swarmed forward, quickly and silently filing into the rail cars. First the yard and terminal emptied, and then the soldiers standing in the streets came forward, following their companions onto the train. As the soldiers boarded, the last car was loaded with crates of various sizes, probably ammunition and supplies. When all of the cargo was in place, the rest of the car was filled with burlap bags. Activity in the area soon diminished and, after twenty minutes, only a few sentries remained.

  The train prepared to depart. Black smoke spiraled from the stack; steam leaked from the pistons. Workers shoveled coal to fuel the engine's furnace as the engineer performed his last visual checks of the locomotive.

  Van der Meer whispered to Thomas and me. "I'll take George and Sir Gregory first. I don’t want everyone at risk if this doesn’t work."

  "Where are you taking us?" I asked.

  "To the train," he replied.

  "It’s a Japanese troop train,” I said. “There must be a thousand soldiers on it."

  He smiled. "I know. It's the last place they'll look for us."

  CHAPTER 33

  Even though Van der Meer’s theory seemed absurd, I realized he did have a point. Who would ever look for fugitives on a train filled with Japanese troops?

  The rail yard was lit by overhead lamps arranged along the periphery, but none were very bright. Since the position of the lights cast eerie shadows across the landscape, we could get to the train without being seen. Small shrubs that defined the lot’s boundaries also provided cover.

  “Stay in the shadows,” Van der Meer said. “And keep close to the ground.”

  We had just reached the halfway point when two sentries strolled towards us.

  They stopped thirty feet away, chatting. They were so so close we could see their faces. We waited patiently, lying in the dirt and cinders, knowing that to advance further was not worth the risk.

  A minute later they walked away. When we were satisfied we wouldn’t be seen, we continued. Van der Meer was waiting in the shadows when we reached the train, and he led us to the opposite side of the boxcar, away from the station.

  “See if anyone is around,” he whispered. “I don’t want them to hear the door open.”

  Sir Gregory ducked under the rail car. He emerged a few seconds later. “It’s clear.”

  Van der Meer slid the metal door in the rail, opening it just enough for us to get in. He motioned to Thomas and Lady Jane. Sir Gregory and I climbed aboard and cleared enough space for everyone to fit comfortably, tossing burlap bags on top of each other and pushing crates towards the back of the car. When we’d finished, we joined Van der Meer.

  Thomas and Lady Jane were halfway to the car. I watched them, jealous that I wasn’t with her. I wanted to be the one to take care of her, not Thomas or Sir Gregory. They should stay in the roles I mentally assigned them, former fiancé and new friend and nothing more.

  They had a more difficult time than we. The approaching sunlight and the wandering guards forced them to move slowly and more cautiously. At times they came so close to sentries that discovery seemed certain; yet, they managed to elude them.

  “They’ll never make it,” I whispered.

  “Yes, they will,” Van der Meer said.

  “The sun is coming up,” I pointed out. “They’re bound to be seen.”

  They hid in the shadows, crawling through the shrubs, until they finally disappeared underneath the train. We climbed into the car, waiting for them. Then a soldier appeared, straying down the tracks, wandering towards us. He stopped directly in front of our car, standing so close I could see the shadow of his hat visor across his nose.

  I held my breath, leaning against the wall. Sir Gregory moved behind a crate; Van der Meer was on the other side of the door. Thomas and Lady Jane were beneath the car, their chance to escape disappearing with each passing second.

  The sentry had no intention of leaving. He slung his rifle over his shoulder and withdrew a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. He lit one and puffed pensively, surveying the area. He didn’t seem to notice that the door was ajar.

  Minutes passed. The sentry watched the sunrise and enjoyed his cigarette. He had little to do but wait for the train to depart.

  The engine belched a plume of steam. I glanced at Van der Meer, hoping he could offer a solution. His frantic look told me we were in serious trouble.

  We heard someone call out in Japanese. I peeked from the car. The sentry turned abruptly and started walking towards the locomotive.

  A series of shrieks came from the rails. The train started to grind down the tracks. Thomas and Lady Jane appeared from underneath the boxcar. Thomas threw his duffel bag on board and helped Lady Jane into the car, but when Thomas started to climb in, a soldier raced towards him, waving a large machete.

  "Thomas!" I said. “Look out!”

  He turned at my warning and caught the enemy's arm before the blade ripped his head from his body. A brief struggle ensued, and the pair fell to the ground.

  The train gained momentum.

  “We have to help him,” I said.

  “But then we’ll all be at risk,” Sir Gregory argued. Thomas rolled his opponent over and pummeled his face. He then jumped up and ran for the train. It was ten feet away.

  "Thomas! Hurry!" I shouted.

  He came closer. The soldier rose and leveled his rifle.

  “Come on, Thomas!” Van der Meer said.

  “Hurry!” cried Lady Jane.

  Two shots were fired. The bullets ricocheted off the ground, making plumes of dirt around him as they missed their mark.

  Thomas drew even with the doorway. I reached out to assist him. Van der Meer and Sir Gregory leaned forward, prepared to help.

  He reached for my outstretched hand, grabbing it tightly. He was about to leap aboard when another shot was fired. He cringed. His eyes mirrored pain, and his grasp loosened. I struggled to pull him aboard. The train increased speed.

  “Thomas!” I said. “Hold on!”

  His grasp weakened. With a sense of helplessness, I felt him lose his grip entirely.

  CHAPTER 34

  "No!" I screamed. “Thomas!”

  Lady Jane leaped past me, almost knocking me from the car, and jumped into the yard. She held a tiny pistol in her right hand.

  “Jane!” Sir Gregory bellowed. “What are you doing?”

  Van der Meer followed, bolting from the railcar.

  I heard a shot, different from the others, and an instant later Van der Meer helped Thomas up into the car. His shirt showed a blood stain from a wound near his left shoulder.

  Lady Jane jumped in. The train was gaining speed; the car was almost visible from the terminal.

  “Help me,” Van der Meer called.

  He lifted up the body of the dead soldier as Sir Gregory and I assisted. The soldier had a small bullet hole in his forehead. Van der Meer got in after him, winded and weary.

  “I had to take him,” he said of the soldier. “The others may have heard the shots, but with no body they have no reason to stop the train. It’ll be a while before they realize anyone is missing.”

  I looked at the soldier. His eyes were open, glazed and vacant. Blood dripped from his head.

  My eyes moved from the bullet hole to Lady Jane. “You?” I asked in disbelief.

  She shrugged and sat passively, her face pale, and stared vacantly forward. Her whole body was trembling.

  I remembered how I’d felt when I helped kill Hakkan. I
t wasn’t a feeling of satisfaction; it was a sense of overwhelming emotion. I was flooded with thoughts of his life: wife, children, parents, siblings, teachers, friends, hobbies, favorite foods. I had removed all those memories from the face of the earth. It was just like Maggie. She had vanished forever, and sometimes I felt like she’d never existed, like she’d been nothing more than a dream.

  Lady Jane looked sickly. She kept staring at the soldier. Her eyes grew moist.

  “Let’s get the body out of the way,” I said, eyeing her carefully.

  “Help me throw it over the boxes,” Van der Meer said.

  We lifted the corpse and shoved it past the crates. Then we stacked bags in front of it. When we finished, Van der Meer turned to Thomas and inspected his wound.

  “It looks like the bullet passed through just above the armpit,” he said. “It’s more of a graze than a puncture. I think you’ll be fine.”

  He removed a bottle of gin from Thomas’s satchel. Then he soaked a clean sock and dabbed the entrance and exit wound. Thomas cringed but said nothing.

  Lady Jane seemed sad and reflective. Was the impact from Hakkan’s attack the need to kill? Was that her revenge? When she’d arrived in Singapore she had been so confident, so independent, and so exuberant. Now she seemed like an eggshell, the façade covered with tiny cracks. Balraj had been the first fracture, and each tragedy we’d faced had added another. Now the eggshell seemed about to shatter.

  “Where did you ever get that pistol, darling?” Sir Gregory asked.

  She cringed. No one else noticed, but I did. She didn’t like the term of endearment. “I bought it in Batavia. The owner showed me how to use it.”

  “Why didn’t you use it on Hakkan,” I asked quietly.

  “It was in my suitcase,” she said, her voice a measured monotone. “I didn’t even think of it.”

  “You saved my life,” Thomas said. “And I’ll never forget that. Thank you.”

  She stared forward, not even acknowledging she was being spoken to.

  “Jane, did you hear what Thomas said?” Sir Gregory asked.

  She nodded and then turned to face Thomas in a robotic fashion, a look of shock consuming her face. “You would do the same for me,” she said. Then for what seemed to be no reason at all, she leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the lips.

  Sir Gregory was taken aback. He looked at her as if he really didn’t know her at all.

  I looked at her the same way.

  A few hours later, after I was lulled to a light sleep by the chugging of the engine’s pistons, I felt the train’s speed decrease slightly. I looked out the door and saw a mountainous terrain, heavily vegetated and dressed in varying shades of green. The ground seemed to rise steadily skyward, with some peaks tickling the clouds that hung on an azure horizon. Terraced rice paddies climbed the hillsides bordered by banana trees and farmers’ thatched huts. On the slope of one mountain I saw a large stone statue of Buddha, a remnant of a distant age that straddled time to sit comfortably in the present just as it had in the past.

  Being vaguely familiar with the geography of Java, I suspected we were somewhere in the central part of the country. But I wasn’t sure where. I attempted to reproduce the maps of the nation in my mind's eye but I wasn’t entirely successful.

  “I know we’re in central Java,” I said. “But I don’t know exactly where.”

  “We are nearing the city of Djokjakarta,” Thomas said. “I think it may be held by the Japanese. If the train stops there, we will likely be captured.”

  “Do we risk it?” Van der Meer asked. “Or do we jump off.”

  “I suppose it depends on where we think these troops are dispatched to.” Sir Gregory said, referring to the soldiers on the train.

  “But we don’t know that,” I said.

  “The train has served its purpose,” Van der Meer said, finalizing the discussion. “We need to find a different way to reach Madura.”

  "Come on," Thomas urged. "We had better get ready. There’s little time."

  We stood by the doorway and waited. I watched the scenery rush past. We were moving much faster than I’d anticipated. I realized that leaping from a speeding train was hardly a simple task; it was dangerous.

  "There’s a bend ahead,” Van der Meer said. “The train will slow when it gets there. Thomas, Sir Gregory, and Lady Jane will jump first. George and I will follow.”

  “I’ll throw out the bags,” I said.

  The train slowed slightly when it reached the bend, but not as much as I had hoped. Thomas, Sir Gregory, and Lady Jane stood poised in the doorway, waiting for the right moment.

  They leaped from the boxcar. I tossed the bags out after them as Van der Meer and I watched them land, hurtling forward with their arms and legs flailing wildly. Then we followed. As I rolled on the ground, I looked back to see the train moving forward; our departure seemed to go unnoticed.

  The hill on which we landed was steeper than I’d expected. Our momentum propelled us forward so rapidly that we rolled uncontrollably down the hillside, our bags tumbling around us. We stumbled forward amid shrieks and screams, bumping and bouncing off each imperfection in the landscape.

  I landed roughly on a crude road some two hundred feet lower than our starting point. I settled into a sitting position, shaken but not injured.

  The others had already come to rest. Van der Meer was beside me, flanked by Sir Gregory and Lady Jane. They were unhurt but disheveled, their hair mussed and their faces flushed. Thomas was a few feet away. His left arm hung limply at his side, the blood stain a bit larger. Our bags were scattered around us.

  A Japanese truck appeared on the horizon. Although still some distance away, it was moving down the dirt road in our direction.

  Thomas pointed at the approaching vehicle. "We've got to keep moving."

  "Let’s circle the city and catch another train,” Van der Meer said. “By now every soldier in Java is looking for us. And it’ll only get worse."

  I shivered, knowing the enemy would not give up until they found us. I peered at the truck, still a speck in the distance. We had to get away before they saw us.

  "Can you travel?" I asked Thomas.

  "Yes," he said simply. "There's not much pain."

  We quickly left the roadway and darted into a field of chest-high reeds. I couldn’t tell if the high grass was natural or planted, but it did screen us from the road.

  Thomas and Van der Meer led us in the general direction of Djokjakarta, the city we hoped to bypass.

  After traveling about forty yards, I glanced at the road and saw that the truck had stopped. The driver leaped from the vehicle and pointed across the field.

  “They’ve seen us,” I warned the others.

  “Hurry,” Thomas said. “We have to elude them. They’ll kill us if they catch us.”

  We quickened our pace. A minute later I looked back again. I saw fifteen or twenty soldiers hurrying across the field, rapidly closing the distance.

  CHAPTER 35

  A flicker of fear and anxiety crossed everyone’s face. The Japanese would never give up. They would chase us to the most remote corner of the earth in relentless pursuit until their thirst for revenge was quenched.

  I looked at Lady Jane. It seemed the shock from killing a man had worn off. Now her face was taut, her upper lip firm. She was determined and defiant but still afraid. The others had grim expressions, prepared to confront the enemy, but tiring of the constant battle.

  “We’ll never escape,” Sir Gregory said. “There are too many of them.”

  “No, we’ll make it,” Van der Meer assured us.

  “I have an idea,” Thomas said. “Crouch down so they can’t see you.”

  We knelt in the field and watched the reeds wave in the breeze. Thomas stood a moment longer, observing the approaching soldiers and then scanning the horizon. He didn’t seem concerned.

  "Make sure you stay low in the grass," he again directed. He knelt down and guided us forward.


  Our crouched position was uncomfortable, but we managed. We pressed onward, resisting the temptation to stand and relieve the strain on our aching backs.

  “I feel like a duck,” Sir Gregory mumbled.

  “Just keep moving,” Van der Meer hissed. “And keep quiet.”

  We had trekked onward for almost thirty minutes, wading through reeds, occasionally interrupted by a lonely tree, when we heard angry voices.

  Thomas held a finger to his lips and pointed to the ground.

  We waited, lying flat and motionless, barely breathing.

  “They’re chasing us!” I said.

  The voices grew louder. There were two soldiers. They were coming closer. From the noises they made, I suspected they were poking their rifles through the grass, bayonets fixed to the barrels. I heard their boots crunching. They continued talking. Then one voice grew fainter; a soldier was moving away from us. But the other voice got louder.

  I squinted, peering through the grass, and saw the black boots of a Japanese soldier. He was swinging his rifle in an arc, the bayonet slicing eerily through the grass. His back was to us.

  He took a step. He was barely five feet away. I lay on my side, smelling the moist earth, not daring to move. The boots came towards me. They were only a few feet from my face. He moved again but sideways, distancing himself from me. He neared Lady Jane.

  I glanced at Thomas. He removed the knife from the sheath on his shin and held it menacingly. He looked at Van der Meer, almost as if asking for permission.

  The soldier took another step, swinging away from Lady Jane. A few steps more and the distance grew. We waited a minute. The soldier stepped continually away from us. When we could no longer hear him, Thomas motioned for us to start moving again.

  We continued for ten more minutes uninterrupted by the soldiers. When it seemed we were going nowhere, we abruptly came to the edge of the grass. Thomas held a finger to his lips, signaling us to remain quiet. We stayed hidden while Van der Meer and he crept forward.