1916 Angels over the Somme (British Ace Book 3) (28 page)

We hurried another twenty yards and then we reached the other side of the small village. The road headed north into the dark. I risked the road.  We would both see and hear any vehicles. If the Germans had patrols out then we would hear their boots.  It was a risk but we had to take it.  As we disappeared into the night I was glad that Hutton had brought the food.  There was little prospect of any more soon. We reached a crossroads.  There was just enough light to read it.  The road to the right went to Douai. It was in the east and would take us further from safety and deeper into enemy territory. To the left we would be heading towards Vimy and I knew that was very close to the front. We were left with one option, north and Lille.  Lille was a large town.  I remembered passing through it with the Yeomanry in 1914.  I knew it was close to the front but it was worth a try.

I spoke quietly, “Right, Sergeant we will walk until we can find somewhere to shelter and sleep during the day.  Are you up to it?”

His normally happy face suddenly looked very serious. “I won’t let you down sir.  I know I am not as fit as I should be but I will keep going.”

“Don’t worry, Lumpy.  I have no intention of leaving you. We either escape together or…” I left unsaid the two dire possibilities which remained.

We trudged up the road.  We stopped to relieve ourselves and when we heard vehicles coming along the road.  There were very few.  The couple of houses we passed appeared to be shut up for the night.  When I looked at my watch in the moonlight I saw that it was gone ten o’clock. People in the country went to bed earlier than in the cities.

I could hear the struggle Hutton had to keep up with me.  He was puffing and panting.  I too needed sleep.  I had had none while he, at least, had slept for an hour or two. As I put my watch away I saw, ahead, another crossroads and a large forest spreading east. The signs pointed west to Libercourt and Lens and east to Thumeries. I put those towns in my head. They would give us our location.

“Right Lumpy, into the woods.  We need sleep and shelter.”

We found a woodcutter’s track and followed it. It did not look well used. I remembered on the estate, they had cut down wood for the fires when the leaves had fallen.  The leaves had yet to fall.  I gambled that the wood cutters would not be operating just yet. We followed the trail and I spied a hut. It was a rustic, homemade affair but there was a roof and a door. We approached it cautiously. I drew my Luger. I nodded to Hutton who pulled the door open and I peered inside.  It looked empty.  There were no windows but there was a crude chimney.

“I am going in.  Tell me if you can see any light when I am inside.” I closed the door and struck a match. There was a hay filled mattress, a crudely made chair and table.  There also appeared to be an oil lamp.  The match went out and I opened the door.  “Well?”

“A slight glow from the bottom sir but you would have to be standing next to it to see it.”

That decided me.  “Right get inside. See if you can light the oil lamp. I’ll have a look around outside.” I closed the door and listened as the match was struck. He was right you could not see the light. I searched the back of the building.  I found an old can.  I shook it and something sloshed around inside. When I opened the top I could smell the fumes.  It was fuel for the lamp. At the moment light was more important that food.  We needed to know where we were. I also found a water butt.  I did not doubt that it would be a little scummy but it would have to do. There appeared to be little else that we could use.

I carried the can back inside and saw that Lumpy had lit the lamp. “We have more fuel and there is some water outside.”

Lumpy held up the Dewar Flask. “We still have cold tea and I have half a packet of fig rolls.”

“You are a wonder, Lumpy.  Right now that sounds like a feast.” I took off my greatcoat and spread the map out while Lumpy divided the biscuits into two piles. He poured my tea into the mug while he ate the biscuits and then drank the last of the tea directly from the Dewar Flask.  I looked at him, “I think I will save my biscuits for the morning.  Food might be in short supply.”

He looked crestfallen, “I forgot sir, I was so hungry…”

I laughed, “Never mind. Now come here and look at this map; just in case we get separated.”

“No sir.  I am not leaving you.”

“We don’t know what may happen so pay attention.” I took out my pencil and drew a circle around the crossroads I had identified.  “We are here.” I scribbled a rough line from the Somme to Nieuport.  This is the front line. We are going here.” I drew a line from the crossroads to Ostend.

“That looks a long way, sir.”

I shrugged.  “We will walk at night and hide up by day.  I am not sure we will find anything as good as this again but we can hope. I hope to get three nights of eighteen miles done and that will leave us with about thirteen for the most dangerous part: into Ostend.”

“So we have four nights worth of walking?”

“I am afraid so.”

“What about food?”

“We may not find any. Water should be easy to come by most of these French towns have fountains and the like. We will be using your flask to carry what we can.  There is some rain water outside. We can drink some in the morning and then wash with the rest. Now we will have to keep watch during the day;  four hours on and four hours off.”

He gave me a determined look.  “You let me sleep earlier sir so you get your head down and I will study that map.”

“Right sergeant.” I looked him in the eyes.  “We can get through this just so long as we don’t panic.”

“I know sir and, sir?”

“Yes?”

“Put them biscuits in your pocket they are a sore temptation to me.”

Laughing I pocketed them and then lay down with my great coat over me. I was asleep in an instant. 

I woke when Lumpy shook me.  “Time for your shift sir.”

I looked at my watch.  It was nearly noon. “I said four hours!”

“I know sir but you looked tired and I managed to stay awake.” He pointed to the table.  I found some blackberries, damsons and elderberries outside sir.  I have had my share.  They are all for you.” He grinned.  “We’ll save the fig rolls for dinner eh sir? The water in the flask is clean sir.  I filtered it through a handkerchief.  It was a clean one sir, but it isn’t now.  Night!”

He lay on the now warm hay filled mattress and was snoring happily within moments. I drank some of the water and ate the fruit. I didn’t like to say to Hutton that eating so much fruit might not be good for us but it was food and we needed fuel for our bodies. I risked a wander around outside.  I knew that we had walked a mile from the road and I could dimly hear traffic trundling along it. I presumed that it would die down after dark.

I discovered Hutton’s fruit bushes but, as I went deeper I discovered some cob nuts, wild garlic and mushrooms. I suspected that Lumpy would not know the difference between a mushroom and a toadstool. I was a country boy and I had been taught well. I filled my pockets with the bounty.  The nuts were particularly plentiful and they would keep us going without causing problems of digestion. The mushrooms we would have to eat fresh.

Once back in the hut I had a rummage around and discovered an old blackened pan which the woodcutters obviously used. Using some stones I made a sort of tripod around the oil lamp.  I put the pan on the top. The oil lamp was giving off heat.  It would not cook quickly but it would cook over a period of hours.  I cut up the wild garlic and mushrooms and placed them in the pan. Nothing much seemed to happen but I knew I just needed patience.

While I waited I examined the map again. We would have to bypass Lille.  It was a large town and there would be police as well as Germans there.  The problem was that it was not far from the front.  Once we passed there we had the area around Ypres to contend with. I knew that had been heavily fought over and there were large numbers of troops on both sides. After that there was just Ostend and the problem of how to get back to our lines. It seemed even more unlikely now that we would manage to negotiate all of those obstacles.

I heard a hiss and realised that the mushrooms and garlic were actually cooking. I smiled.  It was a small victory but we might actually have some hot food and that always made a difference.

We both felt better after the mushrooms and garlic. I put some water in the pan with the juices and made a very thin soup which we drank. It was better than plain water and probably healthier.  When it became dark we set off. We both had a spring in our step and, as I closed the door behind us, I silently thanked the woodcutters for their hospitality.

We had not heard any traffic for some time. I was confident as we stepped out along the road. I now knew our route and we both had an idea of how long it would take us. The road we travelled was lined with trees and we would have shelter should either a vehicle or people come along. Our greatest danger lay in German soldiers being sent to the front at night to avoid our air patrols. A column of German soldiers might well inspect the sides of the road more closely than a vehicle. We walked along the road without speaking.  I had explained to Lumpy about noise travelling long distances at night. I knew he found it hard to curb his garrulous nature.

I was happy to walk in silence.  It enabled me to marshal my thoughts. This was like the moment my regiment had all died.  I had expected to die and yet I lived. We should both have died the other day and we had been spared. I resolved to make something of my life.  I had Beatrice but I had nothing beyond the end of this madness. I spent the night working out what I might do after the war and where we might live.

We met no one on our walk save the creatures of the night which sometimes stopped as we approached and then scurried off into the dark.  The houses we passed were all in darkness.  All the way north I was acutely aware of the proximity of the war.  We found the occasional burned out house; a victim of the early fluid days of the war. We were both tiring when I smelled the smoke from the wood fires and knew a town or village was close by.

Verlinghem was a tiny hamlet at a crossroads. We had reached the point where we needed rest. The hamlet itself was not suitable. We crossed the village quietly.  Hutton pointed to the small dribbling horse trough.  I nodded and watched while he filled our flask with fresh, hopefully, drinkable water. As he was filling it I saw another wood away to the west.  I tapped Hutton on the shoulder and we made our way there. This was on a slight rise; it overlooked the village. We entered the woods and soon found a trail. I hoped that we would find another hut. We travelled a mile and a half and saw nothing.

The sun was coming up and we needed to be out of sight.  The ground to our left fell away and I saw, in the first light of dawn, a small dell covered in spindly trees and undergrowth.  It would have to do. We made our way down and I used my knife to cut some thin branches from a willow. I used them to make a crude shelter.  I climbed back up and looked down.  The sun was peering over the eastern horizon and I could see more clearly. It looked natural.  The branches and leaves would die but by that time we would be well north.

Hutton was already making some fallen leaves into a bed. I spoke quietly, “Not exactly the Ritz but it will have to do. You sleep first, Sergeant Hutton, and I will keep watch for four hours.” He looked as though he was going to speak.  “This way I will ensure that we share the watch equally. I will wake you at ten.  Now sleep.”

He nodded and lay down.  He was soon asleep and I laid my greatcoat over him. I took my Luger and left him. We still had nuts but we needed more food. Hunger and tiredness robbed a mind of the ability to function. I began to forage.  I saw many rabbits but I was not willing to eat raw meat just yet and we could not afford a fire. Had this been spring then there would have been an abundance of bird’s eggs but this was autumn. I found more mushrooms and a few hazel nuts.  There were blackberries and even a stand of late fruiting raspberries.  They would have to do.

I suddenly heard a noise. I left the trail and went to hide behind a large elm tree. The noise became conversation and I heard the voices of two teenage girls.  They were coming to pick the fruit from the bushes where I had been standing a few minutes earlier. They began to pick, chatter and giggle.  I could not make out their words but I recognised the language. They were French. It seemed an age before they were satisfied with their haul.  They turned and headed down the slope.  I gave them a start and then followed.

The two girls headed for a trail and skipped along.  My senses were attuned to the country once more.  It had been a skill I had used when on a cavalry patrol. There was a ribbon of smoke rising from behind the trees. I moved cautiously and saw the girls enter a farmhouse at the very edge of the woods. It was less than a mile from our hide out. We had been lucky to avoid it. When the door closed behind them I made my way back to the dell.

Hutton was still asleep. I ate my half of the bounty of the woods and drank a cup of the water.  Our diet would soon have an effect on our health.  We had eaten neither bread nor meat for a couple of days and we had had more fruit and nuts than I had had in the last two months.

At ten I woke Hutton. I whispered, “There is a farm less than a mile away.  Don’t leave the shelter unless you have to.  There is some food here.”

He looked at the fruit and nuts, “I’ll be looking like a bloody squirrel soon!”