Read Online Kingdom of Shadows by Alan Furst - Free Book Online Page B

you be sure it was her?” Morath asked.
    Pavlo didn’t answer.
    “Maybe they are just there,” Mierczak said.
    “No,” Pavlo said. For a time, they watched the trucks and the soldiers. “It’s my fault. I knew what to do, I just didn’t do it.”
    Morath thought the best thing would be to drive south to Berezhovo, find a rooming house for a day or two, and take a train into Hungary. Or, maybe better, drive west into the Slovakian part of the country—away from Ruthenia, land of too many borders—and then take the train.
    “You think they saw our lights?” Mierczak said. He swallowed once, then again.
    “Just turn around and get out of here,” Pavlo said.
    Mierczak hesitated. He hadn’t done anything wrong, but if he ran away, that changed.
    “Now,” Pavlo said.
    Reluctantly, Mierczak yanked the gearshift into reverse and got the car turned around. He drove a little way in the darkness, then turned the lights back on. Pavlo watched through the rear window until the border post disappeared around the curve. “They’re staying put,” he said.
    “How far is it to Berezhovo?” Morath said. “Maybe the best thing now is to take the train.”
    “An hour. A little more at night.”
    “I’m not getting on a train,” Pavlo said. “If your papers don’t work, you’re trapped.”
    Stay here, then.
    “Is there another way across?” Pavlo said.
    Mierczak thought it over. “There’s a footbridge, outside the village of Vezlovo. It’s used at night, sometimes.”
    “By who?”
    “Certain families—for avoiding the import duties. A trade in cigarettes, mostly, or vodka.”
    Pavlo stared, couldn’t believe what he’d heard. “So why didn’t you take us there in the first place?”
    “We didn’t ask him to do that,” Morath said. Even in the cool night air, Pavlo was sweating. Morath could smell it.
    “You have to go through a forest,” Mierczak said.
    Morath sighed, he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do. “At least we can take a look,” he said.
Maybe the trucks just happened to be there.
He was wearing a sweater, a tweed jacket, and flannels—dressed for a country hotel and a train. Now he was going to have to crawl around in the woods.
    They drove for an hour, the moon rose. There were no other cars on the road. The land, field and meadow, was dark, empty. At last they came upon a village—a dozen log houses at the edge of the road, windows lit by oil lamps. A few sheds and barns. The dogs barked at them as they went past. “It’s not far from here,” Mierczak said, squinting as he tried to peer into the night. The car’s headlights gave off a dull amber glow. Just as the countryside turned to forest, Mierczak stopped the car, got out, and walked up the road. A minute later, he returned. He was grinning again. “Believe in miracles,” he said. “I found it.”
    They left the car, Morath carrying a satchel, Pavlo with his briefcase, and the three of them started walking. The silence was immense, there was only the wind and the sound of their footsteps on the dirt road.
    “It’s right there,” Mierczak said.
    Morath stared, then saw a path in the underbrush between two towering beech trees.
    “About a kilometer or so,” Mierczak said. “You’ll hear the river.”
    Morath opened his wallet and began to count out hundred-koruna notes.
    “That’s very generous of you,” Mierczak said.
    “Would you agree to wait here?” Morath asked him. “Maybe forty minutes. Just in case.”
    Mierczak nodded. “Good luck, gentlemen,” he said, clearly relieved. He hadn’t realized what he was getting himself into—the cash in his pocket proved that he’d been right to be scared. He waved as they walked into the forest, glad to see them go.
    *
    Mierczak was right, Morath thought. Almost from the moment they entered the forest they could hear the river, hidden, but not far away. Water dripped from the bare branches of the trees, the earth was soft and spongy underfoot. They walked for what