squatting on the damp, needle-strewn ground at its base. Taking off his helmet, he ran his hands through his hair and took several deep breaths. Christ, his words had seemed fatuous. 'Chin up, lads, it's not all bad!' Jesus. Hardly inspiring. He wondered how long they would be content to follow him. What reserves of strength were left in the tank? A man's will to survive was only so strong. At some point it would break - sooner rather than later, if there were any more soul-destroying setbacks.
The crack of a twig made him turn.
'I'm sorry to disturb you, Sergeant,' said Sandvold, 'but I wondered whether I might talk to you a moment.'
Tanner began to get to his feet.
'Please,' said the Professor. 'You rest where you are.'
'What is it?' asked Tanner.
Sandvold kneaded his hands together. He now wore a full beard, grey at the chin. It made him seem older, more venerable. 'I want to apologize,' he said.
'For what?'
'I should have backed you up at the farm. If I had we might have persuaded Lieutenant Chevannes. Then we would have reached the Allies before it was too late. I—' He cleared his throat. 'It was weak of me, but I thought I should not get involved in military decisions.'
'What's done is done, Professor,' said Tanner, 'but we've still got a long way to go. There will be other difficult decisions to make. But if you're prepared to trust me, you could back me up. If we work together, we'll have a better chance of succeeding.'
Sandvold nodded thoughtfully. 'All right, Sergeant,' he said. 'I will do my best.'
Soon after, Chevannes gave the order to move off. Tanner tried again to rouse his men. 'We'll still make it, boys,' he told them, slapping their backs as they got to their feet. 'We will. Don't lose heart.'
'It's easy to say that, Sarge,' said McAllister, 'but I felt knackered before and I'm even more done in now.'
'Listen, Mac,' said Tanner, grasping his shoulder, 'you either give up now, and at best spend the rest of the war in prison, or you keep going. I know what I'm going to do and it would be terrific if you'd keep me company. We're not high on a mountain now, we're on a decent track. We'll be at the bridge by nightfall and once we've got across we can have a rest. It's not far. You can do it.'
They were strung out in a patrol line. Of the enemy there was still no sign. The track passed through dense forest that ran almost all the way to the river's edge, giving them good cover.
'Don't worry, Sarge,' said Sykes, drawing alongside him. 'They're good lads. They'll be all right.'
'You think so?'
'Course. We were a bit low back then, but you adjust. We've got a bit of grub inside us now. That helps.'
'Perhaps.'
'Ere, Sarge,' said Sykes, after they had walked on in silence for a short while, 'I've been wanting to ask all afternoon. How the hell did you get away from those Jerries? I saw that officer pointing his pistol straight at your bloody head and the next minute I heard a shot. I thought you was a goner.'
Tanner smiled. 'He made a mistake. I brought my arm up quickly and simply knocked the gun to the side of my head. By the time he'd pressed the trigger the shot was already wide.'
Sykes whistled. 'Blimey.'
'He couldn't react quicker than the speed of my arm. No one can because the eyes don't pick up the movement fast enough - not at that distance. If he'd been standing a few feet away and pointing that pistol, I really would have been in trouble. So, anyway, before he knew what was happening, I'd given him a right hook to remember me by. The men around him weren't quick enough either, so I grabbed the machine-gun and fired before they could do anything. You've got to remember they weren't expecting it. They'd relaxed, rifles on their shoulders, and were enjoying watching their commander get his own back. But I was lucky after that. Got a bullet through my trouser. Another inch and, well—'
'Did you kill him? The officer, that is?'
'Zellner? I don't think so. Broke his nose. Possibly his jaw.' He grinned. 'Any explosives left after your little diversion? I haven't even looked in my pack yet.'
'Not much. A carton of Nobel's and a few sticks of Polar. It seemed the right thing to do at the time.'
'Damn right, Stan. It's thanks to you those bastards aren't at our backs now. You did well.'
'But we don't know when we might need some more.'
'We'll cross that path if and when.' They were silent for a moment, then Tanner said, 'You don't have any beadies left, do you? I could murder a smoke.'
'I'll roll you one.'
Sykes pulled out the tobacco and papers he had taken from the captured Germans a few days before. 'Sarge?' he said eventually, passing the cigarette to Tanner. He eyed him furtively as he did so.
'What?' said Tanner, pausing to light his cigarette.
'It's probably nothing, and I don't want you to take this the wrong way—'
'What, Stan?'
'It's just that, well - nah, it's nothing.'
'Spit it out.'
'Well, I'd just like to know how those Stukas knew it was us. And how did those trucks know where we'd be?'
'They've had aerial reconnaissance buzzing over nearly non-stop in case you hadn't noticed.'
'Yes, but not first thing this morning. We didn't see anything before them Stukas turned up, did we?'
'What are you saying?'
Sykes made sure no one was listening, then said, in a hushed voice, 'I'm hoping we haven't got a spy among us.'
'A spy?' Tanner gaped at him. 'Are you joking, Stan? Who?'
'I don't know, do I?'
'And, more to the point, how? Don't you think we'd have noticed by now? I mean, how on earth would anyone be contacting the enemy? We've been together pretty much all the time.'
'Yes, but not all the time. There've been times when we've been kipping, when we've wandered off to - you know . . . and so on. We don't know what those Norwegians are carrying in their rucksacks. Perhaps they've got a radio or something.'
'But wireless sets are pretty big. And how could they use it without anyone else seeing?'
'I don't know. All I'm saying is that this whole thing seems fishy to me. I keep thinking about how those Jerries keep dogging our every move and that makes me think someone's tipping them the wink. That's all.'
Tanner was quiet.
'Look, Sarge,' Sykes added, 'I don't claim to know much about this sort of thing but you have to admit it's a bit strange. I mean, you yourself thought those Jerries were waiting for us in Tretten. For that matter, how did that mountain patrol know to come after us back on the other side of the valley?'
'That could have been because of air reconnaissance. At Tretten, they might simply have worked it out. I
