Flight

by Vanessa Harbour

  ‘Do you want to talk about last night?’

  Jakob shook his head then ripped another chunk off the bread. He certainly didn’t want to talk about his dream. It had been the old man, mingled in with images of his parents shot in the forehead just like Allegra. His body shuddered at the thought.

  Herr Engel stared hard at him then shrugged. ‘All right, I’m here if you do.’ He changed the subject. ‘We can’t eat properly until it’s dark, when I can light a fire again. We are too far away from any houses for them to see the flames at night, if we keep it small, but they can see smoke during daylight from kilometres away. I think we should leave between ten-thirty and eleven-thirty. That should get us to the town by about midnight. Less dangerous, don’t you think?’

  Jakob nodded. He looked down. ‘I hope it works.’

  ‘It won’t be for the lack of trying.’ His guardian squeezed his shoulder.

  Kizzy stretched and yawned loudly as she came to.

  ‘About time you woke up,’ said Herr Engel.

  ‘Harrumph! It’s too early.’ She pulled on a sweater. Jakob watched as she went over to the river and splashed her face. Clouds of gnats swarmed round her. Someone appeared to have woken up in a very bad mood!

  ‘There’s some bread and water here to eat.’

  ‘Is that all?’ snapped Kizzy.

  ‘Yes, for the moment. We can’t risk a fire until tonight.’ Herr Engel glared at her. ‘When you’ve finished, wash the plates we forgot to do last night.’ He pointed at Jakob. ‘You can set the fire ready for later.’

  Kizzy bristled. ‘Why doesn’t he get the dishes?’

  Herr Engel looked surprised.

  She said, ’I’m good at fires.’

  Jakob sighed and quietly grabbed the plates, walking towards the river. ‘You do the fire, I’ll do these.’

  He knelt and let the flowing water rinse off the plates. It was so cold. He watched a leaf flow down, drifting away from him. He wished he could have got down to the river last night to see how deep it was. Did it run fast or not? Relying on his gut feeling was risky, he knew. A wave of nausea overwhelmed him. He splashed water on his face, hoping to stop it.

  ‘You better do the fire then, hadn’t you?’ Herr Engel spoke sternly to Kizzy. Jakob felt the chill in his words. It wouldn’t make the journey any easier if there was tension between them all.

  Taking up one plate, he scooped up river water and in one easy movement he flicked the water towards Kizzy. It arched in a sparkling rainbow before drowning her as she stood near the pile of kindling.

  She looked up, water dripping down her face and hair. For a moment Jakob thought maybe he’d done the wrong thing, but then her face cracked and she roared with laughter.

  ‘I’ll get you.’ She ran towards the river squealing and kicked water at him. They splashed and laughed.

  Herr Engel’s face was like thunder. ‘Ssh, someone’ll hear you.’

  Kizzy kicked a huge wave of water at him. He stood there, dripping from head to foot. Jakob thought Engel would explode. He held his breath as his guardian moved towards them. Kizzy stood watching, waiting.

  Suddenly his face changed. ‘Get her legs,’ he shouted, running forward and grabbing Kizzy’s arms. Jakob did as he was told. Kizzy squealed and thrashed.

  ‘One, two, three…’

  Crack!

  All three stopped.

  ‘What’s that?’ whispered Jakob, his heart pounding.

  ‘It sounded like people in the wood over there.’ Herr Engel pointed towards the right. ‘You gather the horses together as quietly as you can. I’ll see if I can see anything.’

  Jakob and Kizzy edged over to the horses. He could see his guardian swinging round the outskirts of the camp. The noises were getting louder. Kizzy looked panicked. They were in trouble. Jakob grabbed Raluca’s halter and waited. The air stilled.

  A herd of deer darted into the camp, jumping the fence into the corral. The startled stallion tossed his head in the air, jarring Jakob’s shoulder. The deer stopped, ears and noses twitching, before sprinting off in every direction, clattering past the horses and back into the wood.

  Raluca danced around snorting.

  Herr Engel leant against a tree, wiping his forehead, looking shaken. ‘Come on, we’d better change clothes and prepare. We mightn’t be so lucky next time.’

  The mood in the camp was subdued. When Kizzy stripped off, Jakob noticed she was trembling.

  ‘Are you all right?’ he whispered.

  ‘Of course, why wouldn’t I be?’ She stalked off towards Pluto.

  Jakob shrugged his shoulders.

  Chapter 13

  They began the next part of their journey just after eleven. Even though Jakob felt a lot safer in the dark, there was a large knot in his stomach. What if he’d got this all wrong?

  Twenty minutes later and closer to the town, Herr Engel slowed all the horses down and signalled to him. ‘You can lead the way now. You know how to get to the town via the river.’

  Kizzy looked at him expectantly. The enormity of his plan weighed heavy. He gulped.

  He steered Raluca towards the dip in the riverbank he’d spotted the night before. ‘This is a safe, shallow way into the river. Follow me.’

  ‘I hope you’re bloody right.’

  Herr Engel’s comment did not help Jakob’s nerves. He felt sweat trickle down his back, even while he was shivering with cold.

  The stallion slowed and peered at the water. Jakob felt him tense. ‘Don’t worry, it’ll be fine. In you go, Raluca!’ He squeezed his legs while clicking his tongue. ‘Come on, boys, don’t let me down,’ he muttered. He pulled gently on the ropes and the other stallions followed, stepping tentatively into the river too.

  He glanced back at Herr Engel and Kizzy. ‘It’s all right. It really is quite shallow. We’re ahead of the rocks and the fast-running water. It should be okay.’ He tried to sound reassuring.

  Kizzy looked at Herr Engel then pushed Pluto forward into the river. Engel half laughed and followed.

  The sound of splashing hooves seemed to echo around them. Jakob kept his eyes focused on the river, trying to plan every move.

  Looking up, he saw the blind bend ahead. The river seemed to flow slowly and wasn’t deep, just as he’d thought. He kept Raluca as near to the bank as he could but had to remember he had Maestro, Largo and Jupiter behind him. If he glanced up, he saw the mountains looming, their target for the night. But nearer, and more frighteningly, he saw occasional lights twinkling above them. The indistinct shapes of Leizmann’s buildings crawled up the mountain. The spires stood guard ahead and off to the left. With luck, no one would look at the river tonight.

  ‘We can do this, boys,’ he whispered.

  The water flowed straight down from the snow-capped mountains and was freezing. When it splashed his legs, Jakob gasped. It was up to Raluca’s knees now. The stallion lifted his legs high and placed them carefully with every move. The going was slow but not as slow as Jakob had anticipated. They soon reached the other side of the bend. Up ahead he saw the bridge where they’d been the night before. Now they were well-hidden as the banks of the river were several metres high. Nobody could see them unless they peered right over the walls, like they had last night.

  He turned to the others, murmuring, ‘Are you all right?’

  ‘Blooming wet again,’ muttered Herr Engel.

  Jakob saw a flash of white. Kizzy must have smiled. She whispered, ‘Stop moaning!’

  They moved closer and closer to the bridge. Jakob breathed a sigh of relief, then he heard a thundering noise. He looked up to the sky. It wasn’t planes.

  Kizzy knew the answer. ‘Tanks! We need to get under the bridge fast. It must be a convoy. Quick.’

  They all stopped worrying about being careful and quiet. They pushed their horses on through the water to the bridge. The stallions were splashing everywhere just as the first tank trundled high above them. Luckily there was enough space for all the horses unde
rneath. The deafening sound echoed around them as the tanks’ tracks squealed and thudded above. Engines roared. Bits of stone and debris rained down. The horses started to panic.

  ‘We can’t move. We’ll be seen,’ shouted Jakob.

  Raluca reared up as a stone struck him on the head. Jakob held on tight, gripping onto the other horses too. ‘It’s all right, Raluca. It’s only stupid tanks, they can’t hurt you,’ he lied.

  The stallion whinnied loudly before landing back down, pawing at the water, snorting. The others joined in, eyes rolling, ears flicked forward, listening for threats. Terrified, they all danced on their toes.

  Jakob looked round. Everyone was having as much trouble as him. After Monte had bucked once more, Herr Engel shouted, ‘Get off and hold them close. Keep talking to them. We mustn’t let them run. It’s too dangerous.’

  Jakob slid off Raluca’s back and pulled all four horses together. He gasped as the icy water lapped round his thighs. ‘S’all right, you’re safe. I won’t let anything happen to you,’ he said over and over again. He took it in turns to stroke and scratch each stallion, breathing onto their muzzles, slowly and evenly. Their eyes were wild at first, but the more he did this the calmer they got, despite the noise still thundering above them.

  Chapter 14

  Kizzy shouted across, ‘How many more can there be?’

  It lasted for half an hour before silence descended. They were soaked to the skin and shivering.

  ‘Let’s leave it a few minutes before we move off,’ said Herr Engel as he mounted Monte.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ said Jakob, feeling very shaken.

  Herr Engel looked at him, a brief flash of anger in his eyes, ‘What for? Like you’d planned for this.’ He shook his head. ‘You were right; this is the best way. Stop feeling sorry for yourself and lead us up that mountain. You’ve done a good job.’

  Jakob nodded and led the horses away from the bridge, along the river. They splashed their way through the clear, cold water as they headed past the rest of the town. Jakob kept an eye on the banks, but no one seemed to spot them. It took about twenty minutes before the buildings started to disappear and the welcoming safety of the trees and the forest became more obvious.

  Jakob sighed with relief: so far so good. They’d done it; they’d got through the town. Now on to the next stage. Up ahead he could see another dip in the riverbank.

  ‘Follow me, there’s a way out over here,’ he whispered to the others. He pushed Raluca on. ‘We’ll soon be out of this cold water, boy.’

  They all clattered out of the river and up the bank, water, stones and mud flying everywhere. Once they were all on dry land, Jakob asked, ‘Should we stop?’ praying that Herr Engel would say yes. He was freezing. His teeth were chattering and he couldn’t stop shivering.

  ‘No, not yet, we need to get away from here, in case anyone spotted us.’

  ‘Can we trot now, though? I’m so cold,’ said Kizzy.

  ‘Definitely! It’ll warm you up.’ Herr Engel led the way again and pushed Monte into trot.

  The terrain rapidly got steeper and the trees were sparser now. There were no branches snatching at their hair and faces anymore. The grass gave way to shingle under hoof.

  His guardian shouted, ‘Be careful! We need to walk. Too easy for them to lose their footing otherwise.’

  Jakob looked back at the town below and could see in the distance the terrifying tanks wending their way further along the road into the distance.

  Herr Engel swung round in his saddle. ‘We will skirt round the mountain. If we go up any further we’ll get caught in the snow line. Much too dangerous and definitely too cold!’

  ‘Thank goodness!’ said Jakob. His wet clothes had dried on him and he felt chilled to the bone. ‘Do you think they can see us?’

  ‘Hopefully they’re too busy with the Allied armies to care about a few horses,’ Herr Engel shouted back. ‘Let’s keep moving. Not too much further to go. We’re well over halfway there now.’

  Kizzy cheered and punched at the sky with her spare hand. The stallions danced behind her.

  Jakob relaxed into his saddle. Above him the Milky Way stretched into the distance, beautiful, even clearer than the night before. He opened his mouth to say something to Kizzy, but the words caught in his throat. She’d only laugh at him. Instead he focused on the route ahead.

  There was rarely a word spoken between them for the next few hours. Everyone was too tired and hungry and Jakob could tell the horses were exhausted too. They slogged their way on and on, slowly round the mountain slopes to the other side, then headed down again towards more thick forest. The Milky Way melted away, and the sun stretched its arms upwards, peeping above the horizon. The dawn chorus woke in the wood below them. Jakob felt a palpable sense of relief flow between them all. Kizzy even started singing. He knew they were through the worst of it now.

  Relaxing, he let Raluca’s reins hang loose and slipped his feet out of the stirrups. His legs dangling down, Jakob leant back in the saddle. The stallion felt sure-footed, until suddenly the scree slipped beneath him. Raluca stumbled and fell to his knees, throwing Jakob forward, jarring his whole body.

  ‘Whoa! Are you all right, boy?’ He grabbed the reins and pushed himself back into the saddle, his feet into the irons.

  Raluca lurched back up slowly, before continuing to walk on, shaking his head. His skin was twitching.

  ‘You didn’t like that much, did you?’ Jakob leant forward and rubbed the horse’s neck. He called to the others, ‘Watch the rocks, they’re slippery.’

  ‘Will do,’ they shouted. Jakob paid a lot more attention now as he descended the mountain, watching every step.

  Herr Engel wasn’t so lucky. Jakob jolted when Raluca shied to one side, snatching at the bit, pulling the reins out of his hands, as the peace of the early morning was shattered by a crash. The shingle tumbled down the mountain and, with it, Herr Engel and Monte.

  ‘No! Herr Engel!’ Jakob shouted, grabbing hold of the reins again and gripping tightly to Raluca’s mane. The horror of what he was watching swept over him. Horse and rider toppled down the mountain, rolling

  over

  and over

  and over.

  The screams of both the horse and Herr Engel seared Jakob’s heart. He could see that as Engel fell, he’d had the sense to let go of the other horses’ ropes. They were sliding on their haunches behind the plummeting man and horse. They stayed upright … just.

  Kizzy let out an ear-splitting wail as she watched the carnage.

  ‘Hold tight onto Pluto and the others, you don’t want to follow,’ Jakob shouted at her as he gripped onto his own horses. He tried not to think of the noise they were making. Would someone hear them?

  He reined Raluca back the whole time, despite being desperate to get down the mountain to Herr Engel. Jakob knew he had to stay in control or they’d all fall. His horses sensed the panic in the air. He turned Raluca round, taking a longer slower route, avoiding all the slipping shingle.

  Jakob held his breath as he looked down. Monte and Herr Engel had plummeted all the way down the side, stopping only where the shingle merged into grass. They both lay in a crumpled heap on the scree. Neither was moving.

  Up above, eagles circled.

  Chapter 15

  ‘Please be all right.’ Jakob prayed. He and Kizzy tentatively guided their horses down to the forest line, taking careful steps on the loose stones and getting there at the same time. Jumping down, he said, ‘We better tie the horses up.’ His voice broke. Kizzy nodded, her face white and teary.

  Jakob wrapped the rope round one of the few pine trees and tried to tie a knot. His hands wouldn’t stop shaking. He rested his head against the rough bark, closing his eyes. He whispered, ‘Come on, pull yourself together.’ Taking a deep breath, he stood up straight and took command.

  ‘You catch Santuzza, Duo and Theo. Check them over for me. I’ll see to Herr Engel and Monte.’

  His heart felt like
a stone in the pit of his stomach as he walked towards the crumpled mass of man and horse. Even from a distance he could see lots of blood and misshapen limbs. It didn’t look good. No wonder the eagles were gathering.

  Monte moved first. He raised his head. Jakob gasped. A deep gash had opened wide just below his eye. A slab of meat with sinews and oozing blood. Grabbing at his mouth, he tried not to retch.

  ‘It’s all right, boy.’ Putting his hand out, he stroked his neck. The stallion’s skin twitched under his touch. His sides were heaving, every breath an effort. Monte tried to stand, but his foreleg folded underneath him.

  ‘Oh, Monte,’ said Jakob.

  The horse fell back down with a grunt. The leg was badly twisted.

  Herr Engel groaned.

  ‘I’ll be back,’ Jakob told the horse.

  He kneeled by his guardian, who also had a cut on his forehead. Blood trickled down the side of his face. ‘Are you all right?’

  ‘Bloody stupid question. I’ve just slid down the side of a mountain. What do you think? Stupid boy,’ said Herr Engel, irascible as ever.

  ‘Sorry,’ said Jakob. He wasn’t sure what else to say.

  Herr Engel tried to sit up, turning to look at the stallion. ‘What about Monte?’

  Jakob shook his head. ‘I think his leg’s broken, it’s all skew-whiff. He tried to get up but couldn’t. There’s a wide gash under his eye too.’

  His guardian groaned. ‘Are you sure? Let me see.’

  He tried to stand, but like the stallion his leg gave way. ‘Argh!’ Collapsing to the floor, he grabbed at his calf. All the colour drained from his face. ‘Damn! Monte’s not the only one with a broken leg.’