White Rose Black Forest(74)

“There’s a cave among those rocks,” he said, pointing a finger. “Do you see it?”

She didn’t but said she did nevertheless.

“We need to rest a few hours. Follow me.”

John moved forward five or six steps before looking back. She was lagging behind, the energy within her disappearing since they’d stopped. He reached out a gloved hand, and she took it in hers. They went together in silence until the cave emerged as a darker patch against the gray of the rock face in front of them. John took a flashlight from his pack that Franka hadn’t known he’d carried. A hedgehog scuttled out as he shone it inside.

“Just wanted to make sure we weren’t disturbing momma bear or a couple of wolves.”

Franka wanted to acknowledge his thoughts but was too tired to speak. John reached over to take the pack off her back. She felt light-headed as he took the rucksack off, and he shepherded her inside the cave, sitting her down on the dry leaves that covered the ground. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a half-full bottle of water he offered to her. The cold liquid revitalized her.

John gathered firewood. Within a few minutes a healthy fire burned at the back of the cave.

“Won’t they see us?” Franka whispered.

“If they’re right behind us, perhaps, but we need this. We can rest here for three hours or so. Then we make for the border.”

He took out a map as he sat beside her, their hips touching. Franka took one end of the map, and he took the other.

“I think we’re here,” he said, “about ten miles from the border. If we walk through the night, we can make it there by morning.”

“We’re crossing in daylight?”

“No. We need to take a look first. I think we can cross around here.” He pointed to an area near the village of Inzlingen. “There’s a trail there at the foothills of the forest, which leads to a Swiss customs office across the border. We can follow a stream that should lead us all the way to it. According to this map there are no guards there, no listening posts. It’s a blind spot—a narrow sliver that they missed. Have you ever been down there?”

“No, I went to Switzerland when I was a child, but we didn’t see the need to steal across in the dead of night on our school field trip.”

“That would have livened up your school trip.”

“Our teachers didn’t share your sense of adventure.”

“We’ll find that stream and then cross the border after nightfall. We should be safe in Switzerland this time tomorrow.”

“You make it sound so simple.”

“There’s nothing complicated about it.”

“And you’ll have fulfilled your mission.”

He threw a stick into the fire. “Yes, I suppose I will, to some extent.” He got up, unable to stand fully in the cave. “Time to eat.”

They took the bread and cheese they’d brought and within seconds devoured the amount they’d set aside for dinner. He opened one of the cans of meat. She suffered through hers first and then watched as he finished it. The empty can landed with a soft thud at the back of the cave. He sat beside her as they stared into the heart of the fire.

“So what next, once we cross the border?”

“I expect I’ll spend the rest of the war in a Swiss detention center, heaped in with the other refugees and prisoners of war who escaped across the border. What about you?”

“I’ll make my way to Bern. We have an office there. I’ll report my findings and likely be dispatched home to await my next mission.”

“The hero returns, eh?”

“Not quite. But the war won’t last forever. What will you do then?”

“I don’t know. With everything going on, I was just trying to focus on staying alive. I hadn’t thought much past that. I suppose I’ll go back to Munich and begin the job of rebuilding. Rebuilding my life, and the country too. My skills will be in demand.”

“Germany existed before the Nazis, and it will go on without them.”

“Perhaps, but their stain will take a lot to erase.”

John coughed, the noise reverberating through the enclosed space of the cave. “I hope we can keep in touch when this all ends, if we’re able. I owe you so much.”

“I owe you just as much for what you did for me in the cabin, and when I found you.”

“When you found me? You saved my life.”

“You gave me purpose when I had none. You were exactly what I needed when I needed it.”

“As you were for me.”

The fire spat and popped, and John reached down to toss some more dry wood onto it.

“Would you consider coming to America with me? It’s different than here, I realize, and it’s quite a distance, but you might like it.”

“To Philadelphia?”

“Why not?” he said. “Philadelphia’s a great town, but you’d be free to go wherever you pleased.”

She picked up a stick and took a few seconds to poke the fire before she answered. “Let’s just concentrate on surviving the next day or so, shall we? Then we can start thinking about the future.”

“Yes,” he said. “Perhaps I got a little carried away.” He put an arm around her shoulders. “Get some sleep. We hit the trail again in three hours.”