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suddenly materialized a few meters ahead of the couple. A chill surged over
Krieger, accompanied by exultation, then the plane was past, and not wanting
to alarm them, he let the pilot continue west.
"Did you see the couple we passed on the road?" he asked.
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"Yes."
"How many were with them?"
"With them?" It seemed a strange question. "None."
If verification were needed,Krieger thought, that was it. I saw the third and
fourth, he did not. Therefore, the man the child is Montag, hidden in some
sort of concealment spell. .He'd heard of concealment spells: Because of his
own talents, he'd read rather widely on the occult-the traditional as well as
popular and quasi-technical literature-but had never seen evidence that
concealment spells were real. "Continue down the valley," he said, "then
circle back, wide, so they do not see you. They must not suspect our interest.
"
He took the microphone from its mount and called a young Officer waiting at
the airfield outsideKempten, giving him instructions. The officer listened
intently, jotting notes on a map, then got his squads quickly aboard their
plane. While the twin engines warmed, he briefed the pilot. Ten minutes after
the call, the planeload ofSS Fallschirmjagerrolled down the runway, lifting
sluggishly with little tarmac to spare, then climbed and turned south. It
would, the pilot told himself, fly better after his human cargo had jumped.
Macurdy had been only mildly concerned about planes. A couple walking along a
road didn't seem terribly suspicious. A couple on a mountain trail had been
another matter, but they were over with now. And with a road that led directly
to a border crossing, it made sense to use it, even though it ran mostly
through open ground, with occasional villages.
He traveled with Lotta sharing his cloak, holding her hand or carrying her.
Presumably, hopefully, Edouard and Berta wouldn't attract attention, but even
so, approaching and passing through villages they'd played it safe, all four
clustered under Macurdy's cloak. It was awkward, requiring coordination, but
near the border, where candidate routes narrowed to a few crossings, they'd
play it safe. The truck had probably been found by now, a compelling clue to
their route.
Three times in the past hour or two he'd heard a plane, and twice had seen
one, perhaps the same one. It worried him, perhaps needlessly. He could have
been written off as unlikely to cause further harm, and not worth committing
German manpower to hunt down. Or perhaps the truck hadn't been found after
all. Something might even have happened to Manfred.
But it seemed more likely that Manfredhad talked to the SS, that the truckhad
been found, and that the SS wanted very much to nail him, along with any
presumed accomplices.
Then surely they'd have warned the authorities to watch for them, not only as
a foursome, but as separate individuals. They'd have descriptions, and if he
were one of those authorities, he'd have notified village storekeepers and
constables to watch for them. Perhaps even warned the local population by
radio, those who had electricity.
Meanwhile all four were limping again, Berta worst of all. He'd healed
blisters and muscles each night, and treated them at breaks during the day.
Without the healing they'd have been much worse, but even so, they limped.
There'd been more forest the last couple of miles, providing cover for
breaks, but Macurdy was waiting for a brook or creek. There they'd have a real
rest. He'd work on their feet, then they'd nap until dusk, and continue to
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Feldkirch after dark.
And reach the border crossing that night. There'd be guards, of course, but
with a little luck, they'd get across in a tight group, cloaked.
The road was passing through wide hay meadows, their grass knee high, when a
movement caught his attention from a tongue of forest some eighty yards ahead.
"Stop," he said quietly, and gestured the others back. They stopped, and for a
moment nothing happened, then uniformed men stepped from behind trees, weapons
aimed toward them, or at least toward Edouard and Berta.
"All four of you!" one shouted. "Do not move. You are under arrest!"
All four! They sawhimthen! Slowly he set Lotta on the ground as the men
started toward him. "When I saydown," Macurdy murmured, "I want you all to
fall flat on the ground." He gave them a second to digest the order, then [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]