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The guard was the first to move. He pushed Elena even harder against the wall with his right hand, then threw all his weight behind a charge at Walter, carrying him back through the doorway into the connecting platform between the two carriages. Walter stepped backward, reaching for the exit doorway and touching the handle.
The guard followed after him, missing a step and staggering. He was far bigger and heavier than Walter. If he caught him, it would be over in seconds. He had the uniform, the authority. What he said would be believed.
He reached Walter and drew back his arm to lash out at him. He could break his neck with a blow that was just right.
Walter staggered against the door, caught hold of it, and threw it open, then dived onto the floor. The guard stumbled. Walter rolled over and used both feet to kick at him as hard as he could. The guard swayed, arms flailing, reaching for the door handle and missing. His mouth opened wide as he slipped out of the doorway into the darkness, his scream lost in the night.
Walter climbed to his feet slowly, his face slack with shock. He reached for Elena’s hand to steady himself.
“Hang on!” She gripped his hand and leaned backward as he grasped the door, still swinging, and slammed it shut. Then he fell back against the wall.
A hundred things flooded Elena’s mind, but none of them contained words that were enough.
Walter straightened up. “Are you all right?” he said loudly enough to be heard, even above the roar of the train.
“Yes.”
“He didn’t hurt you?”
“No, not…” Elena took a deep breath. “No! He made me bloody angry!”
Walter started to laugh, almost as if he wouldn’t be able to stop. He pulled her toward him and put his arms around her, still laughing, and buried his head in her shoulder.
She wanted to say thank you, but it seemed wildly inadequate. Instead, she hung on to him with infinite relief.
CHAPTER
31
The train slowed down and came to a stop, but they were far short of the platform.
“What’s wrong?” Elena asked.
“Probably nothing,” Walter replied, but there was uncertainty in his voice. He looked around, obviously wondering why they were stopped where they could not reasonably get off.
There were a few moments of silence and then the compartment door opened and a guard with an anxious expression regarded them. “One of our guards is missing,” he said grimly. “Totally missing! It is a very serious matter.”
“Are you sure he got back on the train at the border?” Walter asked helpfully.
“Why would he get off at the border?” the guard said irritably. “This is no joke. He has a good job! One a man would want to keep!” He turned to Elena. “He said he was coming to…question you? Is that so?”
Her mind raced over all the possibilities. What could she say that would demand no further response from them? They were so nearly there! They were actually in Paris!
Silence.
Walter leaned forward. “I saw him, toward the back of the train. He had a bottle of schnapps. Are you sure he is not asleep somewhere in a baggage car? He was…staggering a bit…” He left the suggestion in the air.
Elena forced a smile. “Maybe when you have off-loaded everything…?”
The guard shrugged. “Drunk again! Serves the fool right. If…if we found him…”
He went out, and after what seemed like ten minutes, but was perhaps only two or three, the train lurched forward again, and then stopped. This time they were beside the platform.
Elena was weak with relief when at last she stepped out of the carriage onto the platform and heard the sound of French voices around her. The few police she could see were gendarmes in French uniforms. Even the air smelled different. It was like a familiar embrace. Paris!
She turned and smiled as Walter stepped down onto the platform behind her.
He took her arm. “We’re almost there. Last leg. You’ll be home tonight. Now we’d better get out of here, so they don’t connect us with the Berlin train. A cup of coffee, perhaps. It’ll be French coffee!”
