‘But you, and the Greeks, have beaten the Italians. You will soon have regained Albania. Or enough of it to reach our border.’
‘I think the Germans may have something to say about that, sir.’
Mihailovic wagged his finger at the young officer. ‘You will never beat the Germans while you are afraid of them.’
Tony sighed. These people were positively medieval in their thinking. They still thought that warfare was a matter of courage and waving a sword, of a single Horatio holding the bridge against a thousand Tarquins.
‘Sadly, sir,’ he said, ‘it is again a matter of logistics. The Germans have more and better-equipped men, more tanks, more guns and more aircraft than us – at least here in the Balkans.’
Mihailovic gazed at Tony for several seconds. Then he said, ‘Then what are you doing here, Captain?’
‘Escaping the Germans, sir. We were attempting to reach Dubrovnik when we encountered your patrol.’
‘Dubrovnik is occupied by the Germans.’
‘So Lieutenant Vidmar told us, sir.’
The lieutenant had remained in the tent, standing to attention.
‘So what is your intention now?’ the general asked.
‘As I cannot leave, sir, it is to serve under your command.’ He attempted to lighten the atmosphere. ‘In the absence of any other British aid.’
‘You have combat experience?’
‘I was with the BEF in Flanders, sir.’
‘You were at Dunkirk?’ asked one of the other officers.
‘No, sir. I was wounded during the retreat from the Dyle, and evacuated from Calais before it fell.’
Mihailovic stroked his chin. ‘I am sure you will be useful. I will put you on our ration strength, and find something for you to do.’
‘If you have a radio, sir, I could perhaps make contact with Athens. Or even Alexandria.’
‘To what purpose, if you say they cannot send us help?’
‘Well, sir—’
‘To let them know you are alive? I do not think that is of sufficient importance to give away our position to the Germans by using our radios. In any event, before they could think of coming to get you, you may well be dead, eh?’ He gave a thin smile. ‘As you are here, Captain, you will have to get used to our company.’
‘Ahem!’ Lieutenant Vidmar remarked.
‘Yes, Lieutenant?’
‘The people Captain Davis brought with him, sir.’
‘Yes?’
‘Three of them are regulars, sir. Fourth Foot.’
Mihailovic nodded. ‘Some of their regiment are with us. Have them join those. The others?’
‘One is the bath-keeper from Belgrade.’
Mihailovic looked at Tony. ‘Can he fight?’
‘He must have been a conscript once, sir.’
‘How old is he?’
‘Early fifties, I imagine.’
‘That is too old. Send him on his way.’
‘I must protest, sir. Ivkov is a good man. He helped us get out of Belgrade. And he may be over fifty, but he is as strong as an ox.’
‘I can have no useless mouths on my strength, Captain.’
‘At least give him a chance to prove himself, sir.’
Mihailovic considered. ‘Very well. He can be your servant. And your responsibility.’
‘There are also the two women, sir,’ Vidmar said.
Mihailovic looked at Tony.
‘One is my fiancée, sir. The other is her friend. She is French.’
‘Vichy French?’
‘Yes.’
‘Then she is a neutral.’
‘I’m afraid she cannot prove that, sir; she has lost her passport. She also assisted us in getting out of Belgrade, and this involved shooting Germans. She is also suffering from severe burns.’
‘She appears to be quite a problem,’ the general remarked. ‘And they are more useless mouths.’
‘They are both very capable of fighting, sir.’
Mihailovic looked as sceptical as Vidmar had done. But he took a different approach. ‘Who are they going to fight?’
‘Well, whoever we fight,’ Tony said. ‘The Germans.’
‘That is something we shall have to consider,’ the general said. ‘I make the women, and the bath-keeper, your responsibility, Captain. You may draw rations for four people.’
‘Thank you, sir. And my duties?’
‘You said you had field experience?’
‘Yes, sir. In Flanders, last year.’
‘Ah. That was as part of the British Expeditionary Force. Yes. I have never been to Flanders, but my understanding is that it is very flat, very wet terrain.’
‘That’s pretty accurate, sir.’
‘It is not the same thing as fighting in mountains. Equally, when you were defeated, you were evacuated back to England. We cannot be evacuated if we are defeated; there is nowhere for us to go.’
Tony decided against pointing out that they had already been defeated. ‘Except further into the mountains, sir.’
‘Yes,’ Mihailovic said drily. ‘We will show you how to fight in the mountains, Captain. For the time being, get yourself and your, ah, women, billeted. Captain Matovic will come with you.’
‘Thank you, sir.’ Tony saluted, but Mihailovic had already turned back to his maps.
*
Tony followed the captain outside, accompanied by Lieutenant Vidmar.
‘How soon do you think we will move against the Germans?’ Tony asked.
Matovic frowned. He was a short, thick-set man with bushy eyebrows. Like the general, his uniform was immaculate, and he wore a holster on his belt. ‘Move against them?’ he asked.
‘Fight them, Captain.’
‘Ah. That is for the general to decide. His first business is to reconstitute the army.’
‘Can he do that, here? He gave me the impression that he was short of food.’
‘We are short of everything. We left Belgrade in a great hurry. As soon as it was determined by the traitors in command that we should lay down our arms, we moved out.’
Tony nodded. ‘I know it was grim. I was there. It’s a miracle you brought so many men with you.’
‘They are coming in all the time. Like you, eh? But it is a considerable logistical problem.’
Tony followed him and Vidmar between the huts and the people and the animals. ‘You will have to split up.’
‘We will do whatever the general tells us to do.’
Tony didn’t suppose he could argue with that; he just wished Mihailovic had revealed a more positive attitude.
‘You!’ They had stopped in front of a hut near the stream, and the captain was addressing a woman who stood outside it. She was quite a young woman, with straight black hair, a strong face and a matching body beneath a somewhat shapeless dress; her feet were bare. A small child clung to her skirt. ‘I am requisitioning this hut for this officer,’ Matovic said.
The woman moved her gaze, slowly, from the captain to Tony. ‘My husband built this hut,’ she said.
‘And it is of good construction. He can build you another.’
‘Hold on a moment,’ Tony said. ‘Where is your husband?’
‘He is on patrol. He is a soldier.’
‘Well, I’m sure there is room for us all.’
‘You cannot share your house with a soldier,’ Matovic said.
‘And three women,’ Vidmar added. ‘What about the bath-keeper?’
‘We’ll manage. If that will suit you, madame?’
The woman continued to regard him for several seconds, then she nodded, with the slow deliberateness that seemed to be her chief characteristic.
Matovic snorted, and opened the door to peer inside. A goat came out. ‘I wish you joy of the fleas,’ he commented. ‘Where are your people?’
Tony pointed. ‘At the stream.’
Which was about fifty yards away, down the slope. Elena and Sandrine were seated at the water’s edge, bathing their feet; they had re
moved Sandrine’s bandages. Ivkov was sitting a little higher up the slope, watching them. So were several other men, on both sides of the water.
‘You are fortunate,’ Matovic remarked. ‘Will you introduce me?’
‘Certainly.’ Tony led him down the slope.
‘There, you see.’ Matovic pointed. ‘The latrine trench is over there. I am afraid there is no privacy. And the commissariat is that large hut over there. Rations are issued at twelve noon.’ He looked at his watch. ‘That is just over one hour from now. Officers form a separate line.’ He grinned. ‘It is shorter, eh? You may have your women in that line, and your servant.’
‘Thank you,’ Tony said. ‘What about clothes?’
‘Eh?’
‘Both my women need clothes,’ Tony explained.
‘It may be possible to buy some from the other women,’ Matovic said.
That didn’t sound too promising; as far as Tony knew, none of them had any money. But now they had reached the water. The women heard them coming and looked up, while Ivkov scrambled to his feet.
‘Tony!’ Elena cried. ‘We thought you had got lost.’
‘I’ve been getting us organised,’ Tony explained. ‘We even have somewhere to live. Come along.’
Elena got up, and helped Sandrine to her feet.
‘This is Captain Matovic, from General Mihailovic’s staff,’ Tony explained.
Elena smiled at the captain, who was staring at her.
‘I know this woman,’ he announced. ‘She is Elena Kostic.’
‘Why, that’s quite right,’ Tony said.
‘She is Croatian.’
‘Ah . . . well, yes, she is.’
Matovic turned to Vidmar. ‘Arrest this woman,’ he said.
Chapter Five – Enemies
Elena’s hand instinctively dropped to the catch for her satchel. But Tony caught her wrist; for her to shoot somebody at this juncture would be disastrous. ‘Are you out of your mind?’ he demanded of the Yugoslav captain.
‘Croatians are enemies of the state,’ Matovic declared.
‘You are out of your mind,’ Tony said. ‘This woman has stood beside me, shooting at Germans, while you were running for your life.’
Matovic, whose hand had also dropped to his holster, glared at him. More practically, Vidmar had blown a whistle, and soldiers were hurrying up.
‘Do not let them take me,’ Elena muttered.
Tony bit his lip. If there was a way out of this, it had to be by negotiation: they were simply too outnumbered.
Sandrine was clinging to Ivkov’s arm; the bath-keeper was looking totally bewildered.
‘I will vouch for this woman,’ Tony said.
‘You cannot vouch for an enemy of the state,’ Matovic insisted.
Tony concluded that he must have been a lawyer before joining the army.
‘So what do you intend to do with her?’ he inquired.
Elena shot him a glance, and he squeezed her arm as reassuringly as he could.
‘She will be placed under guard, until she can be tried.’
‘On what charge? Of being a citizen of Yugoslavia? You are starting to sound like a German.’
‘Take this woman,’ Matovic commanded. ‘Secure her.’
Two of the soldiers moved forward.
Now Tony followed fashion, abandoning his previous reasoned approach. He dropped his hand to his holster and unbuttoned the flap. ‘I will shoot the first man who lays a hand on her,’ he said.
Matovic looked close to having a fit; his face reddened and his eyes bulged – even his moustache seemed to bristle. ‘You think you can defy the Yugoslav army?’
‘I will defy any man who seeks to take the law into his own hands. I am a British army officer. I will yield this woman to no one save a superior with a warrant.’
Matovic was clearly coming to the same conclusion about him. But this was a situation the Serbian officer had not previously encountered. ‘Fetch Colonel Zardov,’ he told Vidmar.
The lieutenant hurried off.
‘I thought these people were our friends,’ Sandrine remarked in French. Ivkov had put a presumably protective arm round her shoulders, but she didn’t seem to notice.
‘I have no friends,’ Elena muttered. ‘Not here. What is going to happen, Tony?’
‘Just keep calm,’ he told her as he watched the colonel approaching.
Colonel Zardov had also been in Mihailovic’s tent, but was an altogether better-looking specimen than Matovic. His moustache was white and the wings beneath his cap were grey, but his aquiline features were gravely distinguished, and he moved with the energy of a much younger man.
‘What is the problem?’ he inquired. ‘You were told to billet Captain Davis, Matovic. And his people.’
‘This woman is a Croatian, sir.’
Zardov frowned at Elena. ‘How do you know?’
Matovic’s cheeks, starting to fade, brightened again. ‘I have seen her, in Belgrade. Her name is Kostic. Her father runs a brothel.’
‘That is a lie,’ Elena snapped.
‘What is a lie?’ Zardov asked.
‘That my parents run a brothel. It is a respectable boarding house.’
Zardov looked at Tony.
‘I can vouch for that, sir,’ Tony said. He only hoped he was telling the truth. A brothel? And yet . . .
‘But you do not deny that she is a Croatian.’
‘I do not deny that she is a Yugoslav, who has fought against the Germans and wishes to go on doing so.’
‘Our information is that most people of Croatian origin are Fascist sympathisers, and that large numbers have actively cooperated with the enemy,’ Zardov said, continuing to speak very reasonably.
‘I can only answer for this woman,’ Tony said. ‘Who also happens to be my fiancée.’
‘She is your fiancée?’ Zardov looked astonished, and glanced at Sandrine.
‘And are you going to tell me, sir, that there are no other Croatians in this camp?’ Tony asked.
‘Not to my knowledge.’
‘But . . . that is absurd. Are you saying there are no Croatians in your entire army? This woman’s brother is a serving soldier.’
‘There are Croatians in the Yugoslav army, Captain. Or there were. But as I have said, they have proved to be unreliable, even when they have not actually collaborated with the enemy. The decision to exclude them from this concentration was made by General Mihailovic himself.’
‘Then I had better see the general again,’ Tony said.
‘He is coming,’ Vidmar said.
By now a considerable crowd had gathered, and the hubbub had attracted the general’s attention. Mihailovic strode down the slope towards them, his people parting before him.
‘What is the problem?’ he demanded.
Several people spoke at once, but Mihailovic had been addressing Colonel Zardov.
‘This woman is a Croatian, sir.’
‘A spy,’ Vidmar suggested.
‘This woman happens to be my fiancée, General,’ Tony said. His mind was still reeling with what Matovic had suggested.
Mihailovic looked from Tony to Elena and then back again. ‘I have given orders that no Croatians are to be admitted to this camp. This was for security reasons, you understand, Captain.’
‘I appreciate your reasons, sir. However, Miss Kostic and I were unaware of those orders when we came here. I should also point out that we were brought here, by your people.’
Mihailovic looked at Vidmar.
‘They told us they were refugees from Belgrade, sir,’ the lieutenant said. ‘Who wished to join us in fighting against the Germans.’
‘And you did not inquire into their antecedents?’
‘Well . . . as they were led by a British officer—’
‘Yes,’ Mihailovic said.
‘If you do not wish Miss Kostic in your camp, General,’ Tony said, ‘then she will leave. But you will understand that I must go with her.’
‘Leave?’ M
ihailovic snapped. ‘How can she leave? She knows where we are, she knows our numbers, she knows that I am in command.’
‘And do you suppose that she is going to rush off and locate the nearest German unit to tell them these things? Like Mademoiselle Fouquet, she was standing beside me when we were killing Germans, only a few days ago. She was seen to be doing this.’
‘I cannot take that risk, Captain. There are more than a thousand lives involved here. More – there is the life of the nation.’
‘Very well, General,’ Tony said. ‘These are your people and your command. You are quite entitled to make the rules. As I have said, if we are not welcome here, we shall leave. I will take responsibility for Miss Kostic’s loyalty. You have my word that she will not divulge your whereabouts to anyone.’
‘You cannot leave,’ Mihailovic said again.
‘I beg your pardon? I am not under your command, sir. Unless I choose to be.’
Mihailovic pointed. ‘You, Captain, can go to the devil, if you choose. You have already explained to me that we can expect no help from the British. Well, we can manage without you. But I am now military commander of all Yugoslav resistance forces, and as such of any civilians who find themselves in the resistance category. It is my decision that the Croatian part of the Yugoslav population is untrustworthy at best and openly Fascist at worst. This woman knows the whereabouts of my position and can estimate the strength of my command, information which would be of great value to the Nazis.’
‘I have given you my word, as a British officer—’
‘Your word, Captain Davis, is meaningless.’
‘Sir?’
Mihailovic waved his hand. ‘Oh, I do not mean you are not to be trusted. In normal circumstances I would be happy to accept the word of a British officer. But these are not normal circumstances. If you leave this camp with your women and are captured by the enemy, what then? You may well be able to withstand torture. They might even respect your uniform and rank. But what of the women? They are not trained for such things. When a Gestapo agent shoves an electrode up their ass and switches on the current, they will tell him anything he wishes to know.’
Tony gulped. The concept of such a thing happening to Elena, much less Sandrine, was impossible. So was the concept of Bernhard doing, or permitting, such a thing. But Bernhard, he remembered, had not been a member of the Gestapo.
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