'That's not just from shells and bombs, Hep. Look.' He took a few steps forward and away to the east. Through the smoke he could see a hazy orange glow. 'That's a sodding great fire. They've set the forest alight.' His heartbeat had quickened again and the blood drained from his face. Christ, he thought. That's all we bloody well need. He turned to Nielssen. 'How much further, sir? We need to hurry.'
'Not far, Sergeant.'
Tanner turned to his men. 'Come on, boys. Keep going. I know it's been bloody hard, but we're nearly there.'
The seter stood beneath the crest of the valley, hidden by trees but with a view of the village of Sjoa and the curve of the river. Stretching away to the west from the Gudbrandsdal valley was a smaller, lesser valley.
'You're alive!' said Anna, smiling as Tanner entered the hut.
'Just about,' he said. 'And you? Are you all right?'
'Yes - I'm fine, thank you.' Tanner saw her shoot a glance at Chevannes.
'What happened?' said the Frenchman.
'We destroyed two of their trucks and killed a number of them, I'm not sure how many. They don't seem to have followed us. One of our men is slightly wounded.'
'Your Bren?'
'Lost,' admitted Tanner. 'But I found this Spandau.' He tapped the German machine-gun. 'And a couple of magazines. Look, sir, we need to hurry.'
'The battle is still raging, Sergeant.'
'Yes, sir, but not for much longer, I fancy. We need to keep going.'
Chevannes gave orders for them to move.
'There's a bridge across the river Sjoa about a kilometre west of the village,' said Anna. 'We can cross there and then get over Lagen at the village itself.'
'Very well,' said Chevannes.
They stumbled down the steep valley sides. Tanner disliked walking down mountains more than he did climbing them, and now his knees felt particularly weak, as though his legs might buckle at any moment. They headed diagonally across the valley, in a north-westerly direction, until they reached a rough track. As they tramped across the undulating slopes, the valley ahead was lost from view then reappeared, but although Tanner paused repeatedly to peer through his binoculars, the sounds of battle had now all but died away. The shellfire was nothing more than desultory, the small-arms had almost petered out, while enemy bombers continued to drone overhead, appearing through the thick pall that had now risen high into the sky. Bitter disappointment swept over him, yet part of his brain refused to accept what his eyes and ears were telling him. 'Come on!' he urged his men. 'Keep going!'
By seven o'clock they were standing above the bridge over the Sjoa and now all could see that the bombers were dropping their loads further north. For a moment, no one spoke. Tanner scanned the valley. Clearly the main Allied effort had fallen back, although from the edge of the mass of smoke, on the far side of the valley, it appeared that some British troops were still fighting. His spirits rose momentarily, but then he spotted enemy forces blocking the road south of Sjoa. They had evidently outflanked them over the mountain and come in behind, cutting off any further Allied retreat. He lowered his binoculars and breathed deeply. No, he thought. This is too much. He wanted to crumple to the ground, fling away his weapons, to scream with anger. Instead he stood silent, numbed by the knowledge that again they had missed their chance of freedom by a sliver.
'We've missed them.' It was Sandvold, and Tanner turned to him. Defeat and despair clouded his face. 'They're bombing them as they retreat.'
Tanner glared at Chevannes, who continued to stare through his binoculars. You stupid bastard, he thought. He blamed Chevannes for this - Chevannes and Larsen. Thwarted for want of a few hours. Time that should have been theirs.
'What can you see?' said Anna, anxiety in her voice.
'Have a look,' said Tanner, passing her his glasses.
'Germans,' she said quietly.
'Bastard bloody hell!' McAllister kicked the ground.
Kershaw began to sob.
Tanner looked at the disappointment on their faces, the bloodless cheeks and dark rings round their eyes; the sheer exhaustion. He wondered whether he himself had the strength to keep going. He could feel the dirt and dried blood on his face, and his uniform filthy and torn. 'A couple of hours earlier and we'd have been safe,' he growled. 'A couple of sodding hours! Jesus Christ!' He was uncertain that he could control his anger any longer. His desire to thrust his fist into Chevannes' face was almost overwhelming.
'I did what I thought was best for all of us,' said Chevannes. 'Lieutenant Larsen agreed with me. So did Professor Sandvold.'
'For pity's sake, man,' snarled Tanner, 'you're in charge. It's your decision, not theirs, and it's your fault we've missed the chance yet again to rejoin the Allies.' For a moment no one said anything. Tanner walked away a few yards. He took another deep breath. Calm down, he told himself. This is not helping. They were too late. That was all there was to it. He had to think clearly and rationally. 'We must work out a new plan,' he said. 'What do you suggest, sir?'
'The map,' said Chevannes, icily. 'We must look at it.'
A rough track followed the southern side of the Sjoa valley as it ran north-west. There were no villages of note, but scattered farmsteads all the way to Heidel, some ten miles on. A couple of miles south of the village there was a bridge where they could cross. If they kept going now, Tanner suggested, they could cross when it was dark, then try to find a farm to rest for a few hours before heading into the next ridge of mountains. 'Jerry won't be coming down here tonight. He's just been fighting a two-day battle, and if the jokers that were after us earlier haven't followed us across the mountain, they're not going to get us now. We should be able to make good progress.' Beyond the next range lay the Otta valley and the town of Vagamo. 'Look,' he said, pointing to the map, 'there's a road leading north. It bypasses
o
Dombas and joins the Andalsnes road further north - here. What's that? Forty or fifty miles? And it means we keep well away from the main German axis of advance but we still run parallel to it.'
'What if the enemy is already past Dombas by then?' asked Larsen.
Tanner shrugged. 'Do you have a better idea, sir? Perhaps we'll find some more transport. Maybe in Vagamo.'
'Good,' said Chevannes. 'This is what we'll do. First, we rest for a short while, eat what food we have left and drink something. Then we head for the bridge.'
Tanner's men gazed at Chevannes with contempt, then delved into their packs and squatted on the ground. A cool spring breeze blew across the valley, bringing with it the smell of woodsmoke, which blended with the strong scent of pine. Even though it was hardly cold, Tanner saw that Bell and Kershaw were shivering. 'Listen, boys,' he said, to all his men, 'this is a blow, I know, but we've got to put it out of our minds. It's in the past. We need to look forward now. Come on, I know we can do it.' Tanner watched the resigned nods, the faces blank with exhaustion and renewed despair.
He wandered away from them, and leant against a tree, then let his back slide down the trunk until he was
