Bomber Overhead

by Graveyard Greg

  Chapter 20

  For a whole week, Ginger avoided the two boys, but on the second Sunday she joined them as they made their way to the mill. The two boys asked her how she was feeling and she told them she was all right. Mrs. Vaux had promised that she'd find her a nice place after the war if her mother really didn't want her back. She still didn't sound happy, but was apparently content to go along with them.

  For some reason there seemed to be a lot of policemen about. Then they came to a barricade across the road thrown up by a group of Home Guards.

  "Can't go this way, youngsters. German plane got hit last night. Came down about three miles away. We found a couple of parachutes but no Germans. Then one got caught. That means there's another on the loose and not far away. "

  "How do you know he's down this road?"

  "We don't. He could be anywhere. Could be three miles the other side. Now off you go. I've to keep my eyes peeled."

  They trudged back the way they'd come and swung around the Manor and made their way to the mill by a roundabout route that brought them to the opposite side of the mill from normal. As they walked past the door, Ginger said. "The padlock's broken."

  "Padlock?" Jeffrey said. "What padlock?"

  "The one from the door, silly."

  They turned around. Ginger was right. The screws holding staple, hasp and padlock had become detached at the one side.

  "Maybe the owner's inside. I wonder if he'll be angry we've been using the place." Arthur said.

  "Well, we haven't damaged anything. Anyway, it belongs to the Colonel. We should go in and ask if it's all right for us to keep our souvenirs here." Jeffrey said.

  "Might not be him. Could be he's sold it," Arthur said. "Suppose the new owner carries a shotgun like Farmer Selkirk."

  "Well you can go in first, then," Ginger said and giggled.

  "We'd best go find out, Arthur. What if he finds your incendiary bomb and there's an accident?"

  "Arthur thought for a few seconds. You're right. Hadn't thought of that. That would get me trouble."

  Cautiously they made their way to the door and gently pushed it open. Jeffrey entered first. "There's no light," he whispered.

  Ginger followed next and whispered back, "His eyes have probably got used to the dimness like ours do."

  All three went inside and made their way carefully across the floor. They could hear no noise of anybody moving about and stopped to listen.

  "Nobody down here," Jeffrey said. "He could have gone upstairs. Do we go up?"

  "What if we're going up and he's coming down?" Ginger said. "If we scare him the dark, we could cause an accident."

  "We should go outside and up the tree," Arthur said. "That way nobody'll get hurt."

  The other two agreed and that's what they'd decided to do. They turned and started back to the door. They'd taken only a couple of steps when a voice from near the door called, "Halt."

  They stopped. Ginger gave a little squeal and threw her hand to her mouth. A shadowy figure of a man stood between them and the door.

  "Please," Arthur cried out. "We haven't damaged the mill. We've only been keeping our things here."

  Jeffrey felt his stomach muscles tighten as realized the shadowy man held a gun in his right hand and it was pointed straight at them. "It's not the owner, Arthur,” he said. "It's the German,"

  The German airman stepped forward to a position where the dim light from the small windows made his identity unmistakable. The left sleeve of his uniform was torn above the elbow and on it they saw a dark, wet looking stain. The pistol he held looked big and dangerous.

  "He's got a Mauser," Arthur said in a loud whisper to no one in particular.

  "Luger," the German said in a deep voice. He waved the weapon motioning them to go back further from the door.

  They moved backwards slowly and nervously all the time watching the pistol. The airman came closer. He wasn't a big man, and as their eyes adjusted further they noticed that he didn't appear to be angry, but his eyes stared at them, almost unblinking. For a moment nobody spoke, the children because they were frightened, the airman because he was apparently thinking. Suddenly he pointed the pistol at Ginger and motioned forward with it.

  "Come!"

  Ginger remained rooted to the spot. He turned the gun to Arthur who stood closer to him than Ginger and waved him away.

  "Go! Back, back!" Arthur did not move and the German leaned forward and snarled words none of the children understood, but what he wanted was quite clear.

  Arthur moved away catching his foot on a piece of the rubble that littered the floor. He stumbled, but didn't fall. Now nobody stood between Ginger and the German who moved up to Ginger, grabbed her with his injured left arm and pulled her to him. Jeffrey noticed his grimace as he took hold of her and guessed the arm was wounded and that it hurt.

  The airman moved off to the left, deeper into the mill, dragging Ginger along. Then he waved the Luger at Ginger and then the door. "Go! Food. Bring food."

  Neither Jeffrey nor Arthur moved. Again a mouthful of angry words that they couldn't understand poured from the German's mouth and he put the muzzle of the Luger up to Ginger's head. She gave another little squeal and tried to pull away. Jeffrey was the first to react.

  He took hold of Arthur's arm and pulled him towards the door. "Arthur! Come on. He wants us to get him something to eat. He'll hurt Ginger if we don't."

  As they moved to the door the German shook the gun that was still pointed at Ginger. "Nein Politzei!" he shouted

  Outside they stood for a minute wondering what to do. "Can we get food up at the manor?" Jeffrey asked.

  "Don't think so" Arthur replied. "It's all kept in the kitchen. Unless we tell them why we need it?"

  "If we tell them, they'll get the police. I think 'nein politzei' might mean 'no police'. We don't want him to get angry and shoot Ginger."

  "Then what do we do?"

  Jeffrey thought for a moment. "We could go to the farm and steal a chicken and some eggs."

  "Old Selkirk will shoot us, or get us sent to Borstal like Thorne."

  Jeffrey shuddered as he thought of being near his enemy again, nevertheless he shrugged. "If you're afraid, I'll go alone."

  "Ain't afraid!"

  "Right, then. Come on."

  They went back across The Green and crossed the road. Jeffrey led the way as, keeping low, they moved up along the hedge on the far side of the farm house. They couldn't see the farm house. Jeffrey, at least, felt sure it hid them from being seen. When they were well past the house and its vegetable garden, they squeezed through the hedge and then crept alongside another hedge that separated the farm buildings from a row of chicken houses. These were the coops that Jeffrey cleaned out every Saturday morning.

  "In here," Jeffrey said, as he unlatched the gate to one of the runs. "There's usually a chicken in the coop and almost always eggs. Hurry!" There was a chicken as Jeffrey had said. Arthur made a grab for it, but it slipped through his hands and strutted away, squawking. "Not that way," Jeffrey told him. "Get some of those eggs. Put them in your cap."

  Arthur took his cap off and picked up eggs from the trough where eggs dropped from the chicken perch. Jeffrey cornered the chicken, grabbed it by its legs and held it upside down the way he'd seen the farmer do it. They left the coop and moved across the run to the gate. As they left, Jeffrey struggled to latch the gate while holding the chicken. It was their misfortune, that at that moment, Farmer Selkirk stepped around the far end of the row of chicken runs.

  "Oi!" the farmer shouted. "You two. What you up to? You stealing my chickens?"

  "Oh, no!" Arthur said. "What are we going to do?"

  "Run for it," Jeffrey answered.

  Arthur needed no second telling and took off running as fast as he could with both hands grasping the cap full of eggs. He pushed through the narrow gaps in the hedges; Jeffrey followed close behind, but he had a problem. The chicken was proving difficult to carry. Its hung hea
d hung lower than his feet and dragged on the ground. He stopped for a second, leant over, grabbed the chicken by its neck and lifted. However, when he raised the head, the chicken started to struggle. Nevertheless, he pushed his arms forward and ran, but not very fast. As he squeezed through the gap in the last hedge, he risked a glance backward. Mr. Selkirk was gaining on him.

  It was no use, he couldn't run any faster with the struggling chicken's head held up and it was even worse with the head dragging. He was going to drop it, but then remembered that Ginger was being held hostage by a hungry German airman. He pulled the chicken's neck closer, held the bird at a slant, and this way made better progress, but he still ran slower than the man chasing him. Arthur was now a long way ahead. At last Jeffrey reached the road and crossed onto The Green. Then his foot caught in a small hole in the turf and he fell flat on his face. The chicken flew from his hands, squawked and ran away back towards the farm.

  Jeffrey started to get up, but it was too late. Farmer Selkirk stood over him.

  "You!" the farmer roared, his face red and angry. "Is this the way you repay my kindness? Stealing my chickens and eggs." He leaned forward and grasped Jeffrey's arm at the shoulder and pulled him roughly to his feet.

  "Please Mr. Selkirk. I'm not stealing."

  "Not stealing, eh? What were you doing with my chicken then? Taking it for a walk?"

  "Please! He's got Ginger and a pistol. He told us to get food."

  "Who told you to get food?" The farmer demanded shaking Jeffrey as he spoke.

  "The German airman. He's in the old mill."

  The farmer pushed Jeffrey to arm's length and stared at him hard. "What's all this then?"

  Breathlessly, Jeffrey quickly related all the events that led up to the raid on the chicken coops and Farmer Selkirk released him.

  "I'd heard they caught him. Found him a mile away, wounded."

  "I think this one is wounded as well. There's a tear on his sleeve and he winced when he took hold of Ginger."

  "I'll go phone the police."

  "No! Don't! "He'll hurt her. Maybe he'll let her go when Arthur gives him the eggs." He saw the farmer stiffen when he mentioned Arthur's name.

  "So that's who was with you. Might have known he'd be in something like this."

  Right then, Jeffrey had an idea. "You've got a shotgun. Maybe I can get his attention. Then you can shoot him or at least knock the pistol out of his hand."

  "Don't know about that," the farmer said looking doubtful. "I'm not a fighting man. That's the sort of thing the army should tackle."

  "If we get her away we can tell the army then."

  He went on to rapidly outline his plan He would go ahead, climb the tree and get in through the window. Arthur would be in by then and maybe the German eating raw eggs. "Then I'll do something to get his attention you rush in and get him."

  The farmer shook his head. "How would you get his attention?"

  Jeffrey knew what he was going to do. "I'll throw things down from above."

  "What things?"

  "There's all sorts of things up there to throw. He'll wonder what's going on. Then you can go in and rescue Ginger."

  Farmer Selkirk shook his head. "I don't know. Should get the police."

  Jeffrey stepped backward away from Mr. Selkirk. "He might kill her if we wait. If you won't help I'll go alone."

  And he took off running into the woods and out the other side. He didn't look back, but heard the Mr. Selkirk's boots pounding the ground behind him. Getting near to the mill he saw Arthur waiting and waved him to go in as he made his way around to the tree. He knew Arthur wouldn't be too happy about what he was going to throw.