“More work to do I’m afraid” he called as he left the cabin. “Katya, can you check the traps?” He then added something in Russian.
“Yes Grandpa,” she called after him, then rushed around to the front window to watch him plod slowly into the forest.
“You like your Grandpa very much,” said Kelly.
Katya turned and nodded to him, for a moment serious. “Yes, he is very special. He fought in the first war, until the Bolsheviks took over then he returned here. He supported the revolution, but he thinks things have gone too far. Mama says it is as well that he lives away from party members or he could get into trouble.”
Her face brightened. “Come on Dan! I need help to check the traps.” So saying, she set about reversing the cocoon impression she had given previously as she hauled on jumpers, tunic and boots.
Kelly doubted if this precocious child ever really needed help with anything, but he would be glad to get some air, so quickly dressed in his mountaineering outer garments.
Thrusting her arm through Kelly’s, Katya ushered him to the door and out into the fresh arctic air. Kelly felt the bite of the cold as he breathed it in.
He glanced briefly in the direction of the Norwegian border and felt a pang as he thought of the cabin and Sybilla, but his thoughts were soon diverted by the child as she chatted almost nonstop about all manner of subjects, pausing just long enough to allow Kelly to interpose with a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’.
When they reached the first trap, she fell silent as she retrieved a stoat, resplendent in its ermine. The pause gave Kelly a chance to speak.
“Do you know something that surprises me?” he asked.
“Tell me,” the child responded, looking her most elfish.
“You have not once asked who I am, where I’ve come from, or what I’m doing here. Nothing.”
“I know who you are,” she said. “You’re Dan.”
“What about the rest?” Kelly asked.
“Grandpa told me that you had to leave Norway. That’s why I thought you were Norwegian this morning. I had a feeling from what he said that it was probably best not to ask anything else.”
She paused for a moment before continuing, “I was up first this morning, before Grandpa, so you can guess the shock I had when I saw you on the sofa! At first, I thought you might be Hans come to get Mama, but Hans must be older than you, so I woke Grandpa and asked him.”
“You know about Hans?” asked Kelly, slightly surprised.
“Oh yes, Grandpa often talks about him. He liked Hans. Mama sometimes tells me about him,” she smiled knowingly, “not when Papa’s around of course. I think she loved him, but he was much too young.”
She paused for a while as they set out for the next trap, then asked, “Have you ever loved an older woman, Dan?”
The question caught Kelly off guard for a moment and he didn’t answer immediately. Then without looking at the child he answered, “Yes I have.” He volunteered no more and the girl did not pursue the matter, though she observed him without speaking for some minutes. Eventually she started some discourse on the value of mathematics to the sciences, leaving Kelly alone with his own thoughts.
When they arrived back at the cabin, the old man was already home and preparing coffee. The walk had given Kelly time to reflect and think about what must be done. As if reading his thoughts, Josef said, “My daughter and her husband arrive tomorrow to pick up Katya. Why not travel to Leningrad with them to arrange passage to England? He is a senior party member. I am sure he would be delighted to help.”
“No!” said Kelly decisively. “There are things that must be done. I need to find out more about that plant near the border. I can’t get this close and not make the effort to gain information that might be useful to the allies.”
“Go back into Norway?” Josef exclaimed. “Are you serious?”
“Perfectly,” answered Kelly. “If I leave now and keep to the treeline, I will be at the plant just after last light. That will give me time to look around to see if there is any way to get in.”
The old man, still looking shocked, slowly shook his head.
“I have to do this Josef, I can’t pass up this opportunity,” Kelly told him. “I’ll try to get back to the cabin if things go well, but if not, I wish you well and thank you for your help.” There was a pause as he collected his few things together, then the three of them stood at the door of the cabin. Katya was looking from one to the other her face a picture of concern.
“Will it be dangerous Dan?” she asked, her voice faltering.
“I don’t know Katya,” he answered honestly. “It may be. I won’t know until I get there. I have no intention of taking unnecessary risks.”
“I’ll be gone when you return,” she said sadly, “so must say goodbye now.” She grasped him and pulled him down to her level then planted a kiss on each cheek. He smiled at the child and held her hands in his for a moment. Releasing her, he clasped the outstretched hand of Josef and shook it.
“Good luck, my friend. You are either very foolish or very brave!” On impulse, the two men embraced, then Dan Kelly turned and strode purposely towards the tree break. He hadn’t gone far when he stopped, hearing the crunch of snow behind him. He turned to see the child running to catch up.
“You didn’t tell me your full name,” she said, panting when she reached him.
“It’s Kelly,” he said “Dragan Kelly. And your family name?”
The girl was already making her way back to the cabin, but she paused, half turned and called out to him, “Danilova!”
The sound was lost as the wind took it and carried it away.
Heavy Water
With the sun almost down, Kelly observed the small gap in the wire fence from his vantage point in the shadows of the trees. Only a few inches of the damaged lower wire showed above the snow. However, allowing for about a foot of snow, this would give a gap of about eighteen inches.
There was an open space of about five yards between him and the fence, the distance entirely covered in snow. His progress to the gap in the fence would leave a track clearly visible.
He looked around. Spying a low pine branch, he wrenched it from the tree then allowed himself a few more minutes to scan the area, making sure he was not being observed. At last, he felt confident enough to break cover, walking backwards towards the fence and using the branch to sweep his tracks away. It wasn’t perfect, but better than leaving a clear set of footprints.
On reaching the gap he threw the branch back into the trees and, lying on his back, he forced himself under the gap utilizing his arms to force the wire up as high as he could. He used his head and shoulders as a snowplough, pushing the snow under the fence in front of him.
Finally, he emerged from under the fence, breathing heavily. Quickly he reached under the gap and smoothed the snow as best he could, building it up again to cover the gap. With nerves as taut as bowstrings, he forced himself to remain calm as he tried to remove all traces of his entry.
After a pause he shuffled backwards to the nearest wooden cabin, again smoothing the snow with his hands as he went. Once in the shadow of the cabin he slowly straightened up and breathed deeply, his heart beating fast with a mixture of fear and excitement.
He had no definite plan of action; just a vague feeling that something important was happening here and he wanted to find out as much as he could. These cabins were almost certainly only used for storage. What he needed were administrative buildings. Scanning the area, the nearest suitable target appeared to be a five-storey building located about a hundred yards from him.
Thrusting his hands inside his pockets he broke cover and walked purposefully and without hurry towards the building. If anyone saw him, he hoped they would assume he was supposed to be in that area. As he approached the structure, he could see an armed guard in the foyer. The man was leaning against the glass door, his back almost turned towards Kelly. He was smoking and appeared to be reading some kind of magazine.
Kelly tried a few standing jumps to convince himself that he couldn’t reach it, before looking around for something to use as a platform. Nothing! These Germans were fastidious in their tidiness.
Kelly made a snowball out of a few handfuls of snow, then placing it on the ground, he started to roll the ball in the fresh snow. As he did so the ball grew in diameter. In a few minutes he had a ball with a two-foot diameter, which he rolled under the fire escape. Gingerly he climbed on the ball and reached up for the bottom rung. He was about six inches short. Bracing himself he leapt upwards catching the bottom rung. The ice on the rung took him by surprise and letting go he fell back onto the giant snowball, which crumbled under his weight and sent him sprawling.
Ruefully he picked himself up and surveyed the damage. He quickly repaired his makeshift platform and decided he was only going to get one more chance at this. He walked away a few paces from the ball, turned, took a deep breath and ran towards it.
Using the ball as a vaulting platform he hurled himself up, reaching, catching and gripping the bottom rung of the ladder. He held on tightly despite the searing cold that cut into his hands. Using all of his strength he hauled himself upwards, scrabbling with his feet against the wall until he was able to let go with one hand in order to swing and grasp the next higher rung. He continued in this manner, until finally he was able to get a foothold onto the ladder and haul himself into an upright position.
Kelly’s arms and legs shook with the exertion. He remained still, trying to calm himself for a few moments, however he was very aware that despite the gloom at the rear of the building he was in an exposed position. As soon as he was able, he continued up the ladder until he reached a first-floor window.
It was locked and barred.
He climbed to the next level. No bars!
Kelly tried the window. It was latched but there was a great deal of “give” in it. He managed to ease his fingers under the frame, then bracing himself, he jerked the window upwards.
There was a crack and the sound of something falling inside the room, probably the latch, Kelly decided. In any event the window was now free and, after some difficult manoeuvring, he was inside the room.
Kelly took stock of his surroundings. He found himself inside a small office. In one corner of the room an oak desk took pride of place with a leather upright chair behind it. Above the desk, a pinboard covered in tables, graphs and charts had been fixed to the wall. The furnishings were good and the information looked important. Kelly seemed to have found the office of a major official.
He walked around to the desk and tried the drawers. They were locked, but a paper knife lay on top of the desk and, using this as a lever, he managed to force open the wooden drawers. One by one he rifled through them, with no idea what he was looking for. Whenever he came across a chart or a diagram, he thrust it into his pocket. In all he accumulated about eight sheets of paper.
He wondered wryly about the information he was collecting. For all he knew all he’d found were statistics produced by the officer in charge of sanitation.
With that thought he decided to try to explore further within the building. Moving towards the door, he opened it a crack and peered out as best he could. The corridor that the door opened into was in darkness, but the wall opposite gave the impression that it was fluorescing. He carefully opened the door wider and quietly crept across the corridor. The wall was in fact a glass panel that looked down onto what could only be a factory floor. It was the lighting from the factory on the glass wall that had given the fluorescent effect Kelly had witnessed.
People were moving about on the factory floor. Kelly darted back against the wall to avoid being seen and was about to step back into the office when it occurred to him that, provided he stayed on the dark side of the corridor, away from the glass, he would be invisible from below.
Cautiously he moved along the corridor until he was in a good position to observe what was happening.
The space below was filled with instrument benches, but the main structures were a series of metal hoppers, suspended from cross beams, with various pipes and gadgets attached. Underneath each of the hoppers was a single demi-john jar, which collected a clear, transparent liquid, possibly water. People were moving about and coming and going, some with millboards, checking instruments and occasionally examining the demi-johns.
Kelly was trying to make sense of this when he heard voices and footsteps coming down an adjoining corridor. Quickly he moved back to the office he had used previously, closing the door behind him, and stood listening, scarcely breathing.
He listened to an exchange of ‘auf wiedersehen’ between two men, followed by one set of receding footsteps. One down, thought Kelly.
Time to go.
He was about to move from his position behind the door to the window with the view of attempting an escape, when the door swung open and a German officer strolled in. He halted abruptly, standing apparently transfixed by the open window, then wheeled about.
His face registered a mixture of shock, fear and horror at what he saw. The open window, the desk with drawers hanging out, papers littering the desk, this creature in his office. He fumbled for his Luger. Kelly leapt forward, kicked the pistol from his hand and smashed a fist into the man’s jaw. The officer spun backwards and thudded against the wall before collapsing in a heap. Kelly, his body on fire with adrenaline, picked up the Luger. Glancing down at the pistol, he identified the safety catch and set it to ‘fire’.
The fallen officer was partly regaining his composure as Kelly pointed the Luger at him. “Sprechen Sie nicht! Bleiben Sie ruhig!” Kelly spat, ordering the officer to remain silent. Frightened though he was, it was obvious that the officer had no intention of obeying his captor. He opened his mouth, clearly about to raise the alarm. Before any sound could be generated, Kelly thrust the Luger into the German’s open mouth, as far it would go to cut off the sound. Whether by design or instinct, the German’s hands flew up to the weapon and clamped around it. Left with no other alternative, Dan Kelly pulled the trigger.
There was a muffled crash and the officer’s head jerked back and away from Kelly. Slowly he slumped down, leaving a trail of blood and gore on the wall as he slid sideways. The look of shock on his face gave way to one of pleading. Then the lights in his eyes went out.
Instinctively, Kelly dropped the Luger and sprang to the window. He was halfway through when he had second thoughts. He scrambled back into the room, picked up the Luger and jammed it into his belt. He hesitated a second more as he surveyed the documents he had collected, now scattered all over the office. No time, he thought. The shot had been partly muffled, but he was certain others would have heard it.
Clambering out onto the ladder he slid down using his hands and feet as guides until he ran out of ladder and fell the last ten or so feet onto the now semi-collapsed snowball.
Picking himself up, he quickly surveyed the area around the building. His best option appeared to be a vehicle compound about fifty yards away. Resisting the urge to run, he stuck his hands in his pockets and sauntered in the general direction of the compound. Stopping at the open gate he surreptitiously looked around and, believing himself to be unobserved, ghosted into the compound and slid under the nearest truck.
By now, the whole plant was alive with clamour. Lights blinked on, people began shouting, footsteps crunched through the snow towards the compound. Kelly eased himself up so that he was clear of the ground, his back resting on the prop shaft of the truck. He searched around with his hands and feet until he found gaps, protuberances, bolts, anything he cou
ld use to hold onto.
His heart sank as he heard a general commotion around the vehicle he was wedged under. There was a clatter as the tailgate was dropped and soldiers could be heard clambering aboard. A conversation was taking place between two others at the side of the vehicle. Kelly had no difficulty translating.
“They have found a gap in the fence on the east side, footprints moving away from it, he’s already made his escape.”
Footprints moving away? thought Kelly. Of course! He had walked backwards trying to brush out the prints as he did so. His apparent failure to completely obscure his tracks had diverted attention from the plant to outside. There was hope yet.
The vehicle engine turned over, spluttered, coughed and reluctantly caught, its Mercedes engine roaring a complaint. Kelly put pressure on his precarious hand and foot holds and raised his back from the prop shaft, just as it began turning as the vehicle moved forward.
The strain on his arms and legs was prodigious and he wasn’t sure how long he could maintain this position. The vehicle crunched over snow and ice for a short distance before emerging onto a metal road. There was brief stop during which he could hear someone in the front of the vehicle shouting to someone at the side of the vehicle; judging by the conversation they were at the gate of the plant and about to leave.
While the vehicle was stationary, Kelly took the opportunity to rest his back on the prop shaft and ease his grip on the handholds. Then, as he heard first gear being engaged, he raised himself again and the vehicle moved forward. They sped along a road then started to climb, Kelly’s directional sense suggesting they were moving towards the Soviet border, which would make sense. It was the obvious escape route.
Every yard travelled was taking him nearer the relative safety of Soviet Russia, but he had no idea how he was going to escape from the vehicle and as the minutes passed, he wondered how long he could cling on.
He pondered. What if he simply let go and dropped to the road? This idea, which he knew he might well have to adopt simply out of sheer fatigue, was fraught with danger. He had no idea just what effect falling onto a rotating prop shaft might have; it would probably be very unpleasant. Even if he survived that, the fall onto a metalled road at forty kilometres per hour was likely to cause severe injury. In the extremely unlikely event he managed to survive that, there was every chance that soldiers looking out over the tailgate would be able to use him for target practice.
Cast No Shadow: A Thrilling WW2 Adventure (Dragan Kelly Book 1) Page 6
