by Earl Nelson
At that, I kicked the chair out from under him and he fell.
The rope around his waist which was attached by the eyehook to the main rope stopped his fall before the noose could pull tight. My time on the sets in Hollywood had not been wasted.
I then said the words I had been waiting to say for months.
"Good joke, heh?"
I left him dangling.
Returning to my scooter I headed to the van depot.
Parking my scooter in the same back alley as I had before, I climbed the fire escape for what I hoped was the last time.
The first thing I did when I reached the top was to retrieve the rope I had set up for rappelling down the side of the building.
Then I restrung my bow. I physically checked all my arrows to make certain none were warped or had missing feathers. They were all good and useable.
In my backpack, I had also stashed a can holding a mixture of gasoline and Styrofoam that one of the stuntmen had taught me. He called it napalm.
I had stuffed toilet paper in the cardboard rolls that came wrapped around. I had collected them for over a week in the men’s dorm. Russian toilet paper was good for this if nothing else. It was rough.
I then poured the napalm mixture into the center of each of the tubes which I fitted over my arrows.
Without lighting it I shot one away from my target building. I hadn’t had a chance to see how much the flight characteristics would be affected.
They weren’t, at least not enough to worry about.
I lit a candle and then used the candle to light my arrows quickly. I launched them onto the roof of the van depot.
The place burst into flames. The wood in that building was dry. Within ten minutes the roof had collapsed into the next floor. People came pouring out of the depot.
Within five minutes no more people were coming out, so I shot my last arrows into their fuel farm. At first, I thought nothing was happening, then it exploded.
I wanted to burn the place down, but this was much better. The explosion took out the side of the building and within a few more minutes the building collapsed into a pile of burning rubble.
Taking my bow and arrows I rappelled down the side of the building to my scooter and headed for my next target. The Black Marias would be off the streets of Moscow for a while. I didn’t doubt they would be back, but the people would know that the Soviets weren’t invincible. Maybe it would embolden the dissidents.
Chapter 33
I rode my scooter over to the railroad tracks near the Treasury building. I had sort of gotten fond of the little scooter, but we now had to part company.
I parked it on a side street and left the key in it. It wouldn’t sit there very long.
Taking my bow and arrows I walked to the signal tower. Climbing to the top I waited for a slow freight to come into sight.
It was only a fifteen-minute wait, and one was coming slowly up the grade. I laid down on the walkway on top of the tower. I didn’t want the train the crew to see me.
When the steam engine chugged past, I stood up and lit my candle. From there I shot five arrows at the roof of the treasury building. One drifted off course due to an errant breeze so I nocked and loosed one more.
When I saw it hit the roof of the building, I unstrung the bow and stepped off the tower onto the top of a boxcar. As the train trundled out of sight, I saw the building was engulfed in flames. These old buildings were fire traps. I hoped no one was inside and couldn’t get out.
There were no cars in the parking lot and the buses didn’t run in this area after dark so I thought there would be a cleaning crew at the most.
I rode on top of the car until we came in sight of the marshaling yards. There I stepped off the car in a slow jog. I had done it enough times now that I wasn’t falling anymore.
I retrieved my backpack from under the pile of railroad ties. It hadn’t been disturbed. I then worked my way around the yard to where the switchmen were working.
I watched as a train was made up and the switchman tossed his white card with the train makeup. Litterbugs!
I had to wait for the third train to be made up until I recognized a destination in the direction I wanted to go. It was through freight to Kiev. That was better than I could hope for.
I climbed on top of a boxcar. I had debated trying to ride inside an open car but my luck someone would have shut the door and locked me in.
On top of the car, I wrapped myself in a blanket I had taken from my dorm. A good sleeping bag would have been better, but I hadn’t found one.
Using my backpack as a pillow I dozed off. It had been a stressful few hour’s and I had better get some sleep while I could. I certainly wouldn’t try to sleep on top of a moving train.
I had been asleep for maybe an hour and I was awakened by the engine hooking onto the train of cars. It bumped the car it was coupling with and the jolt rippled down the line of cars.
Peeking over the edge of the car I saw a signalman give the call clear to the engineer and the train started its slow movement.
My escape had entered a new phase. It was called get out of the Soviet Union and its satellite countries.
I thought back to the guy I had left dangling in his apartment. He probably would hang there for several days until someone missed him at work. He might even work himself free.
I worried about his health and safety as much as he worried about mine. Not at all.
The train moved slowly through the yards. Switchmen were throwing the switches to move the train onto the mainline going west. I couldn’t be happier.
After half an hour we moved on to the mainline. The signal tower had all green blocks of light, so we were clear to go. The engine began to pick up speed.
It was a good thing I had brought the last of the hemp rope with me. I tied the rope to the top of the ladders at each end of the boxcar. This gave me a safety rope. I tied my backpack to it, crawled under the rope until it was in my middle.
Then I tried to go back to sleep.
Who was I kidding? Every time the train hit a sleeper that was out of alignment I was bounced around. At least I wasn’t freezing to death as I had my head towards the front of the car, so my backpack was acting as a windbreak.
Wrapped in my blanket I was comfortable.
It was a long night as the train traversed the Russian countryside. It started to snow lightly at dawn, so I was starting to get wet. This wasn’t fun by any stretch of the imagination.
Dawn brought another problem to light. There were other people on top of the boxcars. I wasn’t the only one riding the rails.
I could see three other guys, two were together and one by himself. The two guys were further back. They started working their way forward until they were on top of the car with the third guy.
It happened fast. One of them hit the third guy, knocking him down. The other guy jumped on top of the guy that had been knocked down and was going through his clothes.
As I realized they were robbing him they tossed him off the train! It was some pretty rough country at this point so I doubted he would survive the fall.
They were two cars back of me and started towards me. The previous night I had debated leaving my bow and three remaining arrows behind. I was glad I didn’t.
Standing up I restrung the bow as quick as I could. They were one car away when I was able to nock an arrow.
They stopped coming at me. I shouted, “jump.” This didn’t have the effect I wanted as they started working their way forward again. I waited until they were ready to jump onto my car and let an arrow fly.
It was at point-blank range for me, and my arrow hit the one I was aiming at center mass. He fell between the cars. No way would he survive that.
The other guy stopped trying to move forward. I yelled, “jump,” as I nocked another arrow. He had to be stupid as he kept coming, jumping onto my car. I was at the other end of the car.
I let fly
with the arrow just as the train hit a misaligned sleeper, my shot missed. I quickly loaded my last arrow and shot him in the chest. He fell from the train.
That was more excitement than I had bargained for. Why they kept coming I will never know. They must have been very desperate.
We pulled onto a siding mid-morning next to a water tower. They filled the engine tanks and off we went again. I had dried beef with me to eat but not enough to get me to safety.
I would have to find food somewhere along the line.
That evening we pulled into a small town and the train slowed as it moved to a siding. There was a coal dock. The train stopped with the coal car under the dock and a chute was opened allowing coal to pour into the car.
I could see lights ahead from the town. I took a chance and got off the train. I did rescue my rope which was tied to the boxcar. Once on the ground, I stashed my backpack and bow in some underbrush away from the tracks.
There was an access road next to the tracks, so I followed it into the town. There was a small train station so I used their facilities and cleaned up the best I could. I wasn’t looking like a bum yet but would soon.
There was a small diner-type place across from the station, so I went in and ordered a large meal. I had to pay in advance. I didn’t blame them.
After eating I went back to my stuff. The train had moved on so I would have to wait for the next one that stopped for coal.
Wrapped in my blanket I slept for a few hours until I heard another train coming in for coal. It was now downright cold, and the snow was coming down heavier than it did the night before. I was in a race with the Russian winter. I thought of Napoleon’s retreat and the German army and shivered.
I wished I could have bought a passenger train ticket, but my travel papers didn’t permit me to go to Kiev. Only from Vladivostok to Moscow.
As it got colder, I even put on both of my University of Moscow sweatshirts. That night was one of the most miserable I have ever spent. The next two days weren’t much better.
I ate meals twice in the next three days. I would get off a train while it was taking on coal and water. Each time I went into a restaurant advance payment was demanded.
On the third day at dinner, I went in with a fistful of roubles showing to save everyone the trouble. Even then they made me sit in the kitchen so I wouldn’t bother other customers.
I didn’t mind it at all as it was nice and warm there. I lingered as long as I could until the manager started giving me the evil eye
Chapter 34
I had misjudged the manager. He stood next to me but facing away. It was like he was talking to the wall.
“If I were a student dissident from Moscow on the run, I would break into one of the dachas by the lake. The Commissars who use them are never there during the week. If one broke in now on Monday, they could stay until Thursday without being disturbed. It would give the student time to rest, eat, and clean up.”
He never looked at me, instead, he went back out front. I’m so glad I had my University of Moscow sweatshirt on. I would have to consider donating to their alumni fund, that is if that were a thing in the USSR.
As to that restaurant manager, I don’t know how I will ever repay him, but I will do my best.
Gathering my gear, I left by the kitchen backdoor. From the exit, you could see the lake. I worked my way around to the far side. The lake wasn’t that big, several hundred acres at the most but it had twenty or more dachas surrounding it.
Getting to the far side of the lake I could see no sign of human occupation but one thing I had learned was patient, so I sat for the next two hours waiting for full dark. It didn’t take long as winter was coming on. By six o’clock by my stolen watch, there were no lights inside any of the dachas, so I thought it safe to break into one.
I choose the largest. Breaking in was a simple matter of smashing a windowpane in the kitchen door at the back of the house and opening the door.
They hadn’t even turned off the electricity at the mains as the lights came on at the turn of a switch.
The large oven in the kitchen even had warm coals. I search through the kitchen drawers and found a flashlight. I turned the kitchen lights out and used the flashlight to find my way around. It would be less noticeable.
There was a large bedroom with a fireplace. There was a wood supply in a box, so I built a fire, using coals from the kitchen oven.
The room had heavy drapes, so I closed them tightly. I turned on the electric lights and went outside to check, nothing was leaking through the curtains, they were like the blackout curtains Mum described from the war.
Full of dinner at the restaurant my next action was to take a bath. There was hot water. It was wonderful. I was able to get clean for the first time in what seemed like forever.
I poured water over my head and using their shampoo I washed my hair. Wonderful! I even shaved and brushed my teeth. Thankfully one of the few things I had brought with me was my toothbrush.
Next, I had to do something about my clothes. There wasn’t an electric washer and dryer like at home. They did have a washtub with one of the old, corrugated metal washboards. I scrubbed every item of clothing I owned. There was a wooden clothes rack, so I was able to hang everything on it.
I was wearing a man's house robe which fit me in the shoulders but was too short in the arms. It reached my knees.
I searched every room in the house but couldn’t find anything that fit me.
Being clean and warm for the first time in days I went to bed after making certain there were no lights on. I banked the fire in the fireplace. I didn’t want any sparks in the middle of the night.
After a night's sleep in a good bed, I felt great. I still was weary from my train riding but several days here would do me a world of good.
There was plenty of food in the refrigerator, so I didn’t have to go back to the restaurant.
After dressing and repacking my now dry clothes I went to a room I had only glanced in. An office.
From the papers laying on the desk, I was able to confirm the owner was a high party official, an undersecretary of some sort.
What was most interesting was the old iron safe in the corner. It was locked but a search of the desk found the combination written on the bottom of a large calendar on the desk.
Opening the safe I found a stack of roubles, and better yet gold coins. There were ten of them with a picture of Tsar Nicholas II on one side and a double-headed eagle on the other. They were small and weighed about a quarter ounce each. Still, they were a great find.
I relaxed all day long doing nothing but eating and taking naps. I took another bath late in the day. It felt great to be clean again.
After dark, I started breaking into dachas around the lake. I had two objectives, finding warm clothes in my size, and opening as many safes as I could.
Over the next three nights, I broke into fifteen different houses. I was able to find my size clothes in one house. I carefully packed a suitcase with a suit and several shirts and ties. I refused to take any of the underwear even if I washed them.
The reason I packed a suitcase was that I was going to be traveling in style. I hit the jackpot at one dacha. There was a motorcar in the garage. It was in good shape and started immediately. The fuel gauge showed full and there were several ten-liter full gas cans. I knew they were ten liters because they were labeled as such. They didn’t look the same as what I was used to but who cares.
I put the cans in the boot of the car, not the best safety practice, but as Mum would say, “Needs must when the devil drives.”
I think the devil drove her a lot.
The real treasure was the blank pad of travel permissions which were all pre-stamped and signed, all you had to do was put in your destination.
This dacha was occupied by a high NKVD official.
The dachas were used by a mixed bag of people. There were several families with children. I left th
eir things alone, not even breaking into their safes.
Of the fifteen dachas I robbed, I left three family safes alone and another because I couldn’t find the combination anywhere.
The rest had them written down near their safes.
I weighed the gold coins I found. It came to almost ten pounds. It was a mixed lot of Russian roubles, American eagles, South African Krugerrands, and British sovereigns. There were even a couple from India.
The contents of one safe were sickening. Whoever lived there was a pedophile. There was a stack of pictures that turned my stomach.
They showed a man who I assumed the owner of this dacha with children as young as three. I found several pictures on the mantle place that confirmed it was him.
I made up three packets of obscene pictures which clearly showed the man. I left them in a sealed envelope in the offices of the family-occupied dachas.
I didn’t think even the communists would put up with this.
Thursday morning dressed casually; I went over to the restaurant. This time I didn’t have to show roubles in advance. I wasn’t even made to sit in the kitchen, though I wouldn’t have minded it.
The owner came over and stood near my table with his back turned to me.
Speaking to the wall I said, “After I leave check outside your back door.”
After breakfast I left by the front door and followed the path to the lake, it took me right by the kitchen’s backdoor where I left a bag full of roubles and five pounds of gold. The man had probably saved my life.
From there I walked back to my motorcar. Ivan Popov had the papers allowing him to travel to Kiev and a blank pad for the next legs.
There was a map in the glove box, so I had no problems following the route. It was really strange after the desperation of riding the rails.
There weren’t a lot of towns along the way and no petrol stations. I wondered how they gassed up. I soon after found out.
I came to a checkpoint. I was treated with respect. I think it was because of an emblem on the front of the car. I knew the name of the Commissar, so I was able to tell them that Uncle Yevgeny was having me deliver his car to Kiev where he wanted it in place for a tour of the area.
