Tanner scrambled up the slope and, straining his eyes, peered into the darkness. Above, near the edge of the thickening forest, he could just make out the dark shape of several people crouched together. 'Stan,' he whispered, 'they're up here.' All six from the leading boat - Sandvold included - were still together. Thank God.
'We made it, sir,' said Sykes, breathlessly, to Chevannes.
'Yes,' replied the Frenchman. 'A miracle.'
By listening for panting, they were able, one by one, to gather the men together. Most collapsed on the ground, some laughing and whispering animatedly with the release of tension until Chevannes sharply told them to be quiet. 'We're not in the clear yet,' he told them. 'Not by any means.'
A head count showed that two men were missing: Chasseur Bardet and Private Mitch Moran. Both had been in the last boat. 'I'm sorry, sir,' said Tanner to Chevannes, 'but Bardet drowned. He jumped from the boat too early and his pack weighed him down. Chasseur Junot tried to rescue him but it was too late.'
Chevannes nodded. Junot himself was not in a good way. Soaked above the waist, he was shivering. He was also inconsolable at the loss of his friend.
'He needs to change his clothes,' said Tanner, 'or he'll be following his friend pretty soon.' But no one had any spare trousers, only jackets. Neither had they seen Moran. 'Tinker?' he said to Bell. 'You were in the boat with him.'
'We jumped out, Sarge. There were lots of bullets. He might have been hit.'
The valley below was now eerily quiet. Tanner hated to leave Moran behind, but they needed to get going - and quickly. He peered into the trees. Nothing. Damn you, Mitch, where are you? he thought. Then, turning to Chevannes, he said, 'Sir? We have to move off.'
'I know, Sergeant,' snapped Chevannes. 'Mademoiselle Rostad,' he said to Anna, 'where should we be heading?'
'Straight up the hill through the trees,' she said. 'At the top there is a track that leads to Svingvoll, a small farming hamlet at the head of a shallow valley. We should head for there, where—' She was cut off by a sharp hiss as a flare shot into the sky, followed swiftly by several more, which burst like crackling fireworks, showering the mountainside with light. A moment later they heard troops below them.
'Vite!' whispered Chevannes, the glow from the flares briefly lighting his face. He waved his arm and the men clambered onwards as rifle and machine-gun fire cracked and sputtered behind them. Tanner urged his men, then ducked as a bullet hurtled over him, missing his head by inches. Melting into the trees once more, he paused to fire, then took out a grenade and having pulled the pin, hurled it as hard as he could down the mountain, more in the hope of blinding their pursuers than from any realistic expectation of hitting anyone. A few seconds later, as it exploded, Tanner heard a German cry out. He smiled grimly to himself and clambered on up the slope, through patchy snow, until it seemed that at last the pursuers had given up the chase.
Cresting the hill, Tanner paused. He could only just make out the others, although he could hear them. They had all stopped, and most now stood with hands on hips or knees as they fought for breath. Across the valley, he could see the looming mountains, the formidable mass of rock and snow over which they had struggled the past few days. Now they had made it successfully to the other side. A miracle, Chevannes had called it, and for once Tanner was content to agree with the French lieutenant.
Beneath them, an engine started up. The Germans were back in their truck. Tanner heard the driver revving the engine until it screamed.
'You know what that is, don't you, Sarge?' said Sykes beside him.
'Yes, Stan,' Tanner grinned. 'Jerry's got his wheels stuck.'
Chapter 13
As Anna had promised there was a track, which wove its way past a number of farmsteads, hidden from the valley floor, but which overlooked the bend in the river as it curved eastwards at the end of the Tretten gorge back towards Oyer. There was snow on the ground, but the track had been well trodden by foot and cart and was compacted in a way that made walking easy. Occasionally a dog barked, but otherwise the same eerie stillness that had accompanied them on the other side of the valley seemed to have descended on the mountains once more. It made Tanner feel that he was not atop some vast expanse of rock, but rather that they were walking through a narrow chasm. Each footstep sounded so clear, his breathing heavy and close.
They reached Svingvoll and skirted the lip of the shallow valley, then joined another track that led across an empty forested plateau of thin snow. Shortly after two in the morning, the first hint of dawn spread pinkly across the horizon behind them. Tanner was glad for the thin light. He had enjoyed the thrill of night as a boy - being out with his father, shooting rabbits and setting traps. Yet that had been on familiar ground; he had known every inch of those woods. Now, though, he was relieved to be able to see in front of him, his surroundings gradually more defined, the men - and Anna - walking in front and behind him.
Anna. She had already more than proved her worth, he thought. And he had been impressed by her cool- headedness: her first time under fire and she had not panicked. He thought of striding ahead and talking to her, but decided against it. Better to wait for the right moment.
Instead he drew alongside Professor Sandvold, the man he had vowed to deliver safely to the Allies. 'How are you, Professor?' he asked.
'Too old for making daring dashes across rivers,' he replied. 'I don't mind telling you, Sergeant, I found the whole experience terrifying. It is one thing being strafed by enemy aircraft because it is all over before you have realized it is happening. But crossing the lake was truly frightening. Tell me there will not be any more episodes like that.'
Tanner smiled. 'I hope not, Professor. I can't say I enjoyed it much either.'
'And all those bullets. Really, how do you keep calm in such situations?'
'I always find that in the heat of the moment there's no time to be frightened.'
Sandvold eyed him sceptically. 'That is why you are a soldier and I am not, Sergeant.'
********
Soon after, Junot collapsed. The small column of men stopped and gathered round him as he lay propped against a tree, his teeth chattering, gibbering incoherently. Crouching beside him, Anna felt his brow. 'His temperature's dropped,' she said.
'He's got hypothermia,' said Tanner. 'We need to wrap him in something warm, quickly, or else he'll croak. Here,' he said, taking off his German wind jacket, 'fold this round his legs.' Anna did so, while Tanner retrieved his leather jerkin from his pack. Another makeshift stretcher was assembled using Mausers and greatcoats and the prostrate Junot hoisted on to it. Chevannes' two remaining men took one end, while Sykes ordered Hepworth and Kershaw to take the other.
'He's going to need help,' Anna said, turning to Chevannes.
'And we can't walk all the way to the front with a stretcher,' added the French lieutenant. 'Merde.' He glanced ahead at the seemingly endless trees, stretching across the plateau. 'How far is it to the valley?'
Anna shrugged. 'Five kilometres, maybe. There's the village of Alstad. We can get help there.'
'Good,' he said, 'Let's keep going.'
It was nearly half past eight on the morning of Thursday, 25 April, when they reached the crest of the mountain plateau and were able to look down over the narrow j0ra valley. On the east-facing slopes, the valley was once again thickly wooded with a blanket of snow still on the ground, but below them, on the west- facing valley sides, the snow had all but gone. On the valley floor, a narrow river wound away to the north-west, silvery in the morning light. Beside it there was a road, little more than a rough track but smooth and free of snow.
Chevannes called a brief halt to change stretcher- bearers. Beneath them lay a settlement of scattered farms and, standing on its own, at the edge of the river, a small church. This was Alstad, Anna told them. Junot was now ghostly white, his lips and ears blue. 'We need to hurry,' she told Chevannes.
