It was a rout, Volodya realized. They went by in their thousands. It was a stampede. They were on the run.
At last, the Germans were in retreat.
11
1941 (IV)
Woody Dewar and Joanne Rouzrokh flew from Oakland, California, to Honolulu on a Boeing B-314 flying boat. The Pan Am flight took fourteen hours. Just before arriving they had a massive row.
Perhaps it was spending so long in a small space. The flying boat was one of the biggest planes in the world, but passengers sat in one of six small cabins, each of which had two facing rows of four seats. ‘I prefer the train,’ said Woody, awkwardly crossing his long legs, and Joanne had the grace not to point out that you could not go to Hawaii by train.
The trip was Woody’s parents’ idea. They had decided to take a vacation in Hawaii so they could see Woody’s younger brother, Chuck, who was stationed there. Then they invited Woody and Joanne to join them for the second week of the holiday.
Woody and Joanne were engaged. Woody had proposed at the end of the summer, after four weeks of hot weather and passionate love in Washington. Joanne had said it was too soon, but Woody had pointed out that he had been in love with her for six years, and asked how long would be enough? She had given in. They would get married next June, as soon as Woody graduated from Harvard. Meanwhile, their engaged status entitled them to go on family holidays together.
She called him Woods, and he called her Jo.
The plane began to lose height as they approached Oahu, the main island. They could see forested mountains, a sparse scatter of villages in the lowlands, and a fringe of sand and surf. ‘I bought a new swimsuit,’ Joanne said. They were sitting side by side, and the roar of the four Wright Twin Cyclone 14-cylinder engines was too loud for her to be overheard.
Woody was reading
She glanced at him from under half-closed eyelids. ‘I wonder if your parents booked us adjoining rooms at the hotel?’ Her dark-brown eyes seemed to smoulder.
Their engaged status did not allow them to sleep together, at least not officially; though Woody’s mother did not miss much and she might have guessed they were lovers.
Woody said: ‘I’ll find you, wherever you are.’
‘You’d better.’
‘Don’t talk like that. I’m already uncomfortable enough in this seat.’
She smiled contentedly.
The American naval base came into view. A lagoon shaped like a palm leaf formed a large natural harbour. Half the Pacific Fleet was here, about a hundred ships. The rows of fuel storage tanks looked like checkers on a board.
In the middle of the lagoon was an island with an airstrip. At the western end of the island, Woody saw a dozen or more seaplanes moored.
Right next to the lagoon was Hickam air base. Several hundred aircraft were parked with military precision, wingtip to wingtip, on the tarmac.
Banking for its approach, the plane flew over a beach with palm trees and gaily striped umbrellas – which Woody guessed must be Waikiki – then a small town that had to be Honolulu, the capital.
Joanne was owed some leave by the State Department, but Woody had had to skip a week of classes in order to take this vacation. ‘I’m kind of surprised at your father,’ Joanne said. ‘He’s usually against anything that interrupts your education.’
‘I know,’ said Woody. ‘But you know the real reason for this trip, Jo? He thinks it could be the last time we see Chuck alive.’
‘Oh, my God, really?’
‘He thinks there’s going to be a war, and Chuck is in the navy.’
‘I think he’s right. There will be a war.’
‘What makes you so sure?’
‘The whole world is hostile to freedom.’ She pointed to the book in her lap, a bestseller called
‘That’s pretty much what my father thinks. He believes we’ll go to war against Japan next year.’ Woody frowned thoughtfully. ‘What’s happening in Russia?’
‘The Germans don’t seem quite able to take Moscow. Just before I left there was a rumour of a massive Russian counter-attack.’
‘Good news!’
