Read Online Rag and Bone by James R. Benn - Free Book Online Page A

see him later, OK?”
    “Certainly.” Horak made no effort to persuade me to do or say anything. He knew that Tadeusz’s story would either workor it wouldn’t, and if that poor boy couldn’t convince me to take action, nothing would.
    I left the room. It wasn’t that I didn’t want another drink. It was that I wanted to drink alone, and wash away the image of that pit, and what men could so willingly do to each other. That, and the thought of what somebody had done to one Russian right here in London.
    I felt a little tipsy as I walked down the stairs and out into the street. I wasn’t exactly drunk from all the wine and vodka, but I took care of that as fast as I could when I got to the bar at the Dorchester.

CHAPTER • FIVE
    I COULDN’T TELL if we were walking through heavy fog or light rain, and I didn’t much care. Kaz had shaken me conscious a half hour ago, presenting me with aspirin and hot coffee, the only things I wanted more than to be left alone. I knew we had to talk, and I also knew fresh air would be good for my hangover. I pulled on a wool cap, grabbed my Parsons jacket, and followed Kaz into Hyde Park. It was just after dawn, not that there was a trace of sun.
    “Can you walk a little faster, Billy?”
    “Sure, no problem,” I said, picking up the pace as we double-timed along Rotten Row, the now seldom-used horse track that ran along the south edge of the park. I felt like my head might burst, but I didn’t want Kaz to think I wasn’t up to it.
    “I wanted to tell you I was sorry about yesterday. I had only mentioned to Major Horak that morning that we would be meeting for lunch. He insisted, and you know senior officers like to get their way.” Kaz pumped his arms energetically, like a chicken trying to take flight. He might’ve looked funny, but he wasn’t out of breath.
    “But you’d told them about me,” I said, huffing and blowing air. “About … Uncle Ike … and all that.”
    “Yes, it was only natural to tell them. We’ve been working together for some time, Billy. Of course I would tell them about my friend. Are you all right?”
    “Maybe … Slow down … a bit, OK?” I stopped, leaned over, and rested my hands on my knees, praying I wouldn’t throw up.The moment passed, and we moved on, a quick pace, but nothing torrid. Jesse Owens had nothing to worry about.
    “How long has Tadeusz been with you?” I asked, as soon as I could get a full sentence out.
    “About six weeks. He had been in and out of hospitals and clinics. At first they believed he was mute, but one of his doctors thought otherwise. We knew he was Polish, and that he had come from Buzul’uk, but that was all. I was asked to speak with him because I can speak Russian, Ukrainian, and a little Romanian.”
    “Of course,” I said. Kaz had been a student of languages at Oxford before the war and a translator at Uncle Ike’s first headquarters when I met him. “He responded to you?”
    “Not at first. When I spoke Russian he became agitated, and would not look at me. From that point on, I spoke only Polish, telling him about myself, and where I was from, just making conversation, to put him at ease. Once I mentioned Radymno, a small town in the Carpathian Mountains I had visited. He spoke, in a clear voice, telling me he had lived there.”
    “And then he told you about Katyn?”
    “Not right away. It was clear there was something he was afraid of, and Major Horak thought he might know something. We took him to the hotel to help him feel safe, but he did not react well to Captain Radecki.”
    “I imagine few people do.”
    “He does his job in the best way he can. And he and Tadeusz seem to get along better now. When Tadeusz first came to us, he was quite agitated, and it was some time before he calmed down and let everything out. He talked as he did with you, in a stream, a torrent of memory. He is quite helpless to stop once he starts. Then he goes into a depression. He will sleep most of