Read Online We Die Alone: A WWII Epic of Escape and Endurance by Stephen E. Ambrose, David Howarth - Free Book Online
Authors: Stephen E. Ambrose, David Howarth
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left in the snow, one English and one Norwegian. There was
something symbolic there, if you cared about symbols.
There were a dozen houses in that part of Ringvassoy, but he easily picked out Jensen's. The lights were on, and there were voices
inside. He hoped that might mean that Jensen was making an early
start on his trip to Tromso. He went to the back door, and hesitated a moment, and knocked. A woman opened the door at once, and he
asked if Jensen was at home. No, she said, he had left for Tromso the
morning before, and would not be back for two or three days.
At this disappointing news Jan paused for a moment uncertainly,
because he did not want to show himself to people who could not
help him. He would have liked to make an excuse and go away; but
he saw surprise and alarm in her face as she noticed his uniform in
the light of the lamp from the doorway.
"I'm in a bit of trouble with the Germans," he said. "Have you got
people in the house?"
"Why, of course," she said. "I have my patients. But they're
upstairs. You'd better come inside."
That explained the lights and the voices so early in the morning.
He had not made allowances for what a midwife's life involves. He
went in, and began to tell her a little of what had happened, and what
he wanted, and of the danger of helping him.
Fru Jensen was not in the least deterred by danger. She had heard
the explosion in Toftefjord, and already rumours had sprung up in
Ringvassoy. The only question she asked was who had sent Jan to her
house, and when he refused to tell her and explained the reason why,
she saw the point at once. She said he was welcome to stay. She was
very sorry her husband was away, and she herself could not leave the
house at present, even for a moment. But there was plenty of room,
and they were used to people coming and going. He could stay till the
evening, or wait till Jensen came home if he liked. He would be glad
to take him to the mainland. But she could not be sure how long he
would be away, and perhaps it would be risky to try to ring him up
in Tromoso and tell him to hurry back.
"But you must be hungry," she said. "Just excuse me a moment,
and then I'll make your breakfast." And she hurried upstairs to attend
to a woman in labour.
Jan felt sure he would be as safe in her hands as anyone's. He
could even imagine her dealing firmly and capably with Germans who wanted to search her house. If you were trying to think of a hiding-place, there could hardly be anywhere better than a labour ward,
because even the Germans might hesitate to search there. And yet it
would be so impossibly shameful to use it. It might fail; it might not
deter the Germans. Jan had all a young bachelor's awe and ignorance
of childbirth; but he had a clear enough vision of German soldiers
storming through that house, and himself forced to fight them there,
and failing perhaps, and having to blow out his brains. If it came to
that, he was ready to face it himself; one always knew it might happen, one could think of it calmly. But to involve a woman in something like that at the very moment of the birth of her baby, or
perhaps to see a new-born infant shot or trampled underfoot-that
was too appallingly incongruous; it could not bear to be thought
about at all.
Besides this, there was another practical, strategic consideration.
He was still much too close to Toftefjord. If the Germans really
wanted to get him, it would not take them long to turn Ribbenesoy
inside out: they had probably finished that already. And the obvious
place for them to look, when they were sure he had left the island,
was where he was now, on the shore of Ringvassoy which faced it.
Their search would gradually widen, like a ripple on a pond, until
they admitted they had lost him; and until then, at all costs, he must
travel faster than the ripple.
When Fru Jensen came back and began to lay the table, he told
her he had decided to move on. She did not
something symbolic there, if you cared about symbols.
There were a dozen houses in that part of Ringvassoy, but he easily picked out Jensen's. The lights were on, and there were voices
inside. He hoped that might mean that Jensen was making an early
start on his trip to Tromso. He went to the back door, and hesitated a moment, and knocked. A woman opened the door at once, and he
asked if Jensen was at home. No, she said, he had left for Tromso the
morning before, and would not be back for two or three days.
At this disappointing news Jan paused for a moment uncertainly,
because he did not want to show himself to people who could not
help him. He would have liked to make an excuse and go away; but
he saw surprise and alarm in her face as she noticed his uniform in
the light of the lamp from the doorway.
"I'm in a bit of trouble with the Germans," he said. "Have you got
people in the house?"
"Why, of course," she said. "I have my patients. But they're
upstairs. You'd better come inside."
That explained the lights and the voices so early in the morning.
He had not made allowances for what a midwife's life involves. He
went in, and began to tell her a little of what had happened, and what
he wanted, and of the danger of helping him.
Fru Jensen was not in the least deterred by danger. She had heard
the explosion in Toftefjord, and already rumours had sprung up in
Ringvassoy. The only question she asked was who had sent Jan to her
house, and when he refused to tell her and explained the reason why,
she saw the point at once. She said he was welcome to stay. She was
very sorry her husband was away, and she herself could not leave the
house at present, even for a moment. But there was plenty of room,
and they were used to people coming and going. He could stay till the
evening, or wait till Jensen came home if he liked. He would be glad
to take him to the mainland. But she could not be sure how long he
would be away, and perhaps it would be risky to try to ring him up
in Tromoso and tell him to hurry back.
"But you must be hungry," she said. "Just excuse me a moment,
and then I'll make your breakfast." And she hurried upstairs to attend
to a woman in labour.
Jan felt sure he would be as safe in her hands as anyone's. He
could even imagine her dealing firmly and capably with Germans who wanted to search her house. If you were trying to think of a hiding-place, there could hardly be anywhere better than a labour ward,
because even the Germans might hesitate to search there. And yet it
would be so impossibly shameful to use it. It might fail; it might not
deter the Germans. Jan had all a young bachelor's awe and ignorance
of childbirth; but he had a clear enough vision of German soldiers
storming through that house, and himself forced to fight them there,
and failing perhaps, and having to blow out his brains. If it came to
that, he was ready to face it himself; one always knew it might happen, one could think of it calmly. But to involve a woman in something like that at the very moment of the birth of her baby, or
perhaps to see a new-born infant shot or trampled underfoot-that
was too appallingly incongruous; it could not bear to be thought
about at all.
Besides this, there was another practical, strategic consideration.
He was still much too close to Toftefjord. If the Germans really
wanted to get him, it would not take them long to turn Ribbenesoy
inside out: they had probably finished that already. And the obvious
place for them to look, when they were sure he had left the island,
was where he was now, on the shore of Ringvassoy which faced it.
Their search would gradually widen, like a ripple on a pond, until
they admitted they had lost him; and until then, at all costs, he must
travel faster than the ripple.
When Fru Jensen came back and began to lay the table, he told
her he had decided to move on. She did not
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