Tatiana and Alexander: A Novel(202)

"Take off my clothes," he said. "Come to me, lie with me uncovered, lie naked with me and tear the raw flesh off my bones with your teeth, just like in your dream. As you have been doing, eat me alive piece by piece, Tatiana."

"Oh my God, Alexander." Helplessly she sank to the ground.

And so they sat, under the linden tree in June, his back to one side, hers to another. Covering her face, she lay down on the earth. He sat with all the guns around him.

Hours passed. She heard his voice. "Tatiana," he said very quietly, and he didn't have to say anymore, because she heard them herself. They were coming. And this time, the sound of their engines and their shouting and their dogs wasn't off on the distant horizon, this time, the insistent barking of the dogs was just a hillside away.

She was about to jump up when his hand held her down. He didn't say a word, just held her down. "What are you doing," she whispered. "Why are you sitting? Let's run! We'll be down the hill in sixty seconds."

"And they will be at the top of the hill in sixty seconds. How many times do I have to tell you?"

"Get up! We'll run--"

"Where? There are rolling hills and fields all around us. You think you can outrun German shepherds?"

He was still holding her to the earth. She stopped hyperventilating. "Will those dogs sniff us out?"

"No matter where we are, yes."

Tatiana looked down the hill. She couldn't see them, but she heard their frantic noise, and the sound of men holding them, ordering them to be quiet, in Russian. But she knew the dogs were only barking because they were so close to their prey.

"Go into the trench, Shura," she said. "I'm going to climb this tree to hide." Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html

"Better tie yourself to it. They'll throw a smoke bomb, you won't be able to hold on."

"Go. And give me the binoculars. I'll tell you how many of them there are." He let go of her and they jumped up. "You might as well give me my P-38." She paused. "We have to kill the dogs. Without the dogs, they won't know where we are."

And here Alexander smiled. "You don't think two dogs lying dead at their feet will give them an inkling?"

She didn't smile back. "Give me the grenades, too. Maybe I can throw them."

"I'll throw them. I don't want you popping the pin too early. When you fire the pistol, watch for the recoil. It's not bad with a P-38, but still it'll give you a jolt back. And even if you have one round left in the clip, if you have a moment, reload. Better to have eight bullets than one."

She nodded.

"Don't let anyone get too close to the tree, the farther they are away, the easier it is for them to miss." He gave her the gun, the rope, all the 9-millimeter clips in a canvas bag, and nudged her forward. "Go," he said, "but don't come down for anything."

"Don't be silly," she said. "I'm coming down if I'm needed down. If you need me down then that's where I'll be."

"No," he said. "You will come down when I tell you to come down. I cannot be worrying about where you are and what you're doing."

"Shura..."

He loomed over her. "You will come down when I tell you to come down, do you understand?"

"Yes," she said in a small voice. She tucked the weapon into her slacks and raised her arms. The first branch of the tree was too high for her to reach. He lifted her up, she grabbed on and climbed. He ran to the trench and lined up all of his pistols and magazines, threaded the ammo belt into the light machine gun he set up on a bipod, wrapping the rest of the belt around himself and finally settling down behind the bipod. The Shpagin was by his side. The belt had 150 rounds in it.

Tatiana climbed as high as she could go. It was hard to see: the linden tree, known for its shade, was leafy in the summer. She broke off some of the softer branches and perched herself astride a thick branch close to the trunk. From her height she could make out the sloping countryside even in the first haze of dawn. The shapes of the men were small and far down below. They were scattered, meters from each other, not a formation but a blot.

"How many?" Alexander called out.

She looked through her binoculars. "Maybe twenty." Her heart was pulverizing her breastbone. At least twenty, she wanted to add, but didn't. The dogs she couldn't see. What she could see, however, was the men holding the dogs, because they were moving faster than the others and more jerkily, as if the dogs were yanking them forward.

"How far now?" Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html

She couldn't tell how far. They were down below, still small. Alexander would be able to tell how far, she thought, but he can't do both, spot them and kill them. The Commando had a sight and was extremely accurate, maybe he could spot the dogs with it?

"Shura, can you see the dogs?"

She waited to hear from him. She saw him picking up the Commando, aiming it; there was a sound of two shots being fired and then the barking stopped.

"Yes," he replied.

Tatiana looked through her binoculars. The commotion below was considerable. The band started dispersing. "They're moving out!"

But Alexander did not have to be told. He jumped up and opened machine-gun fire. For many seconds that's all Tatiana heard, the bursts of popping. When he stopped there was a whistling sound, and a grenade exploded a hundred meters below them. The next one exploded fifty meters below them. The next one twenty-five.