Soldier Dogs #5 Page 5

  One of the dogs barked, bringing her back to the moment. Delta was tugging Boss off into the woods. Boss glanced at the kids and then began to follow Delta, dragging Tank with them.

  “Wait!” cried Juliette, trudging back and trying to follow the dogs as best she could.

  “Leave them!” cried Antoine, trying to shield his face from the blasting snow with his hand. “We’ve got to find shelter! We’re going to freeze if we don’t get inside soon.”

  Juliette couldn’t argue with that. For a moment, she wondered if Antoine was right, if they should just leave the dogs and try to run in one direction as quickly as possible until they reached a town where they could beg someone for shelter. Then she heard both Boss and Delta barking steadily and loudly, and she realized the dogs knew something they didn’t. Boss had shown her where her injured friend was and had shown her where the rope was in her pack—Juliette had a feeling she wasn’t your typical sled dog.

  Juliette followed the dogs, Antoine protesting but following behind her. Up ahead near a few thick pine trees, she saw one of the dogs prancing in the snow near a huge black opening beneath a heavy rock. The reddish husky, Delta, was gone, her rope leash discarded on the ground.

  Boss barked and turned her head from Juliette to the cave and back again.

  “You want us to go in there?” asked Juliette. “I don’t know, girl, there might be a bear living in there—”

  A whuff echoed out of the cave, and Delta trotted out, looking pleased with herself.

  “Look at you, checking it out ahead of us!” Juliette laughed, feeling a little warmer than she had a moment ago. “Good girl! Come on, let’s get inside.”

  Chapter 16

  OUTSIDE RIVAGE, BELGIUM

  DECEMBER 30, 1944

  12:02 A.M. LOCAL TIME

  There it was again.

  Boss lifted her head, twitched her ears, and listened. Definitely footfalls in the snow. She sniffed the air.

  It was a deer. They were fine.

  She lowered her head back to the floor and stared into the dying embers in the circle of stones. She was so tired, but she couldn’t sleep. Every noise woke her, made her alert to the next fight she might run into, the next moment she might have to hide.

  This mission was nothing like training.

  In training, Boss had been one of the best. When Gregor had whistled, she had come, no matter how many mounds of snow or fallen trees had been in the way. When Gregor had taught her how to leap from the plane, she’d done so fearlessly, had landed perfectly, had immediately gotten into formation. When she’d been taken for a long hike and sent into the woods, she’d always found her way back. She was one of the best dogs in the pack, stationed right behind Tank in the line. A swing dog, one of the navigators. One of the smart ones.

  But today, everything had gone wrong so quickly.

  In her mind, she saw Tank the way she’d first seen him, over and over again: blood on his leg, his chest rising and falling fast, his eyes staring off in pain and helplessness. She’d never seen Tank that way before. Alphas should never look like that. She watched him now, asleep in one corner, his leg bandaged. He seemed peaceful—nothing like the Tank she’d seen earlier that day.

  Boss huffed. They’d only been at war a few hours, and already it was a fight to survive.

  She heard a shifting beside her and saw eyes glitter in the darkness. Delta was awake, too; she’d probably heard the same deer. Boss had to admit, Delta had been a great help today. She wasn’t always graceful, or powerful, and she was a long way behind Tank in the line. But she’d hidden Tank’s blood from the enemy, and she had helped Boss pull Tank along without so much as a whimper. And she’d been good about helping the human pups, scouting out this hole in the ground before Boss even had a chance to sniff for big animals. There had been a bear with cubs in this cave—but they’d left seven or eight winters ago. The dogs could still smell them.

  Delta had been good. For her place in line, she was a smart dog.

  Boss narrowed her eyes. She had to stop thinking of the line. Tank was hurt, Delta was helpful, and Gregor was miles and miles away. They had been so worried about Tank that they’d entirely ignored their mission and were now probably way behind schedule. They had no line now, no mission, no pack.

  The idea made her feel terribly lonely. No pack.

  Or maybe not. She looked over to the two humans, sleeping nestled together like puppies trying to stay warm. They’d already been lucky enough to find pups—little humans who loved dogs and seemed to understand them better than most grown humans—but to have found such resourceful human pups, well, that was lucky. Not only were they friendly, they obviously wanted to get away from the enemy. And they’d helped Tank, even though they could’ve easily left him behind. Even though Gregor had taught them, his own dogs, to leave a wounded dog behind if they had to.

  Boss liked them. The girl especially, with her round cheeks and big eyes. Juliette. Boss watched her now, shifting in her sleep, hugging her blanket tighter. Maybe she was a soldier after all—she was brave enough and knew the name of the base Gregor had taught them about. Lierneux. How could the human pup know, unless she’d been trained?

  Maybe the line was gone. But Boss still had a pack.

  She awoke a few hours later, and carefully crept outside. She heard another crunch in the snow, beneath the whipping wind of the storm. She kept her ears alert. She might not sleep much tonight, but that was okay.

  This sound was different. And the smell. The deer had moved on. This was the enemy.

  Boss’s ears perked. Her skin prickled, and the hair on the back of her neck went up.

  A big group of enemy soldiers. Crunching through the snow, coming from the same direction as the human pups. Yelling to each other. Driving one of their big, smoky wagons across the countryside, filling the air with chemical smells and crashing noises.

  Boss spun and ran back in the cave.

  They needed to leave now.

  Chapter 17

  OUTSIDE RIVAGE, BELGIUM

  DECEMBER 30, 1944

  5:55 A.M. LOCAL TIME

  Juliette ran down the cobblestone streets, dribbling the ball with her feet as she went. The boys ran behind her, Antoine in the lead, all shouting and yelling that she wasn’t allowed to do that, that girls weren’t allowed to play soccer, but Juliette didn’t care. She kept kicking the ball ahead, until the bakery was in sight, and she knew she was home free, that Papa and Mama would protect her from the mob of angry boys. But then the door opened, and instead of Papa, out stepped General Esser, his coat flapping around him like black wings and his eyes glowing red. He smiled and opened his mouth full of sharp teeth. As much as Juliette wanted to stop herself, she couldn’t, she was still rushing toward him, even as he began—

  Barking.

  The noise yanked Juliette out of a deep, sound sleep. She lurched up to sit and gasped, trying to blink away her confusion as Antoine sat up behind her with a snort and mumbled, “What’s . . . where . . . Papa?”

  They lay in the cave they’d found last night, the fire long dead and the front entrance spilling white morning light in on them. Boss stood in front of her, anxiously but softly woofing, glancing between her and the entrance.

  “What’s got you so upset, girl?” mumbled Juliette, but even through the haze of sleep, she knew it didn’t matter. Delta, the one with the reddish fur, was also standing and twitching nervously. Even Tank, who’d barely eaten the night before, was sitting halfway up and had his eyes wide open for the first time in a while.

  “We have to go,” said Juliette.

  Antoine and Juliette quickly and quietly dragged Tank out of the cave and got the dogs in their harnesses and rope leashes again. The fresh snow outside helped keep their movements quiet, but already Juliette could hear faint noises in the distance—voices, heavy footsteps, the rumble of a motor. They had no time to spare.

  “Come on,” said Antoine, pointing ahead. “The Ourthe River is maybe a mile or
two in that direction. We can find a bridge across at some point—”

  “It’ll be frozen by now,” said Juliette, bundling up in her coat and heading past him. “We can just walk across it.”

  “Rivers don’t freeze all the way,” snapped Antoine. “They’re running water. Let me do the planning.”

  “Antoine, I don’t have time for this,” she said, feeling her anger at him give way to simple common sense. “If it were up to you, we’d be back in town getting questioned by the Germans. We’d have abandoned the dogs. My parents are in Lierneux, and the woods are full of Nazis, and this dog is hurt. So I’m going to Lierneux as fast as I can. If you feel like joining me, you’re welcome to.”

  Juliette pushed onward, the dogs following behind her. She enjoyed Antoine’s silence, but at the same time felt bad about how snippy she’d just been to him. It wasn’t his fault that the Germans invaded. But nonetheless, she couldn’t be bothered to waste time arguing with him about everything. She knew what she had to do.

  She reached into her pocket and squeezed the wooden shape inside her cloth bundle. Her frustration melted away at the thought of Masha. What was she so upset about? She knew what she was running from, and she had somewhere to go. She had food and companionship (even if it was Graubrot, tinned fish, three dogs, and Antoine). But Masha was running with her family in a country where she was no longer welcome, where soldiers wanted to take her away for no other reason than her religion. She was probably out there now, walking through deeper snow than this, her big eyes filled with tears. Juliette should count her blessings.

  She unwrapped the doll from its bundle and looked at its rough curves and half-carved face. She had a ways to go, but it wasn’t that bad. It would be a nice present for Masha, a Hanukkah present.

  Her mind flew back to Christmas, only a few days ago—cozy in their flat, wearing the new sweater Mama made her, Papa giving her a chocolate bar he’d been hiding away all day, listening to old Christmas records and singing along.

  A smile crossed Juliette’s face. The memories warmed her a little. She squeezed the doll tighter, and without thinking she began to hum beneath her breath.

  “What are you singing?” asked Antoine.

  A pang of rage struck Juliette, but she squeezed the doll a little tighter and thought of Masha. She had no right to be angry at Antoine for asking. “‘The First Noel.’ It’s a Christmas carol.”

  “I know,” mumbled Antoine.

  Juliette went back to her humming. After a few minutes, she heard Antoine join in behind her. Something about it was nice; it made her feel a little less like she was a lost and lonely girl out in the woods. After the song was over, she switched to “Silent Night,” and Antoine joined in on that one too. The dogs looked a little perplexed, and it made Juliette laugh.

  The music made the time seem to go even faster, and before she knew it, Juliette could hear rushing water in the distance. She picked up the pace, and soon they were standing at the edge of the Ourthe River, with lines of snowy trees on either side of the rocky bank. The surface of the Ourthe was frozen over for the most part, but the ice looked thin and waxy, and big patches had melted away to reveal fast-running water.

  Juliette imagined how cold that water was and shivered involuntarily. She wished there were a bridge they could use . . . but there was no time. They were still some thirty kilometers away from Lierneux, and Tank was looking worse.

  “Well, it is frozen over,” said Antoine, eyeing it. “But I’m not sure it’ll hold. What do you think?”

  Juliette stared at him, speechless. Had Antoine actually just asked for her opinion?

  “I’m not sure,” she said finally. “One of us can try, to see how thick it is.”

  Antoine nodded, and then something caught his eye, and a smile spread over his face. “Well, I’ll be,” he said. “Look at that.”

  Delta stood at the edge of the river, testing the ice with her paw. Slowly but surely, she stepped out onto the frozen surface and stood there a moment . . . and it held! She trotted back over to Boss, and the two dogs each took a section of Tank’s pine-bough sled in their teeth. They gently tugged it across the ice, and after only a few minutes and one slip by Delta, they were on the other side.

  “Huh,” said Antoine. “That’s a good sign. I bet three dogs definitely weigh more than we do.”

  Juliette couldn’t argue with him there. “Okay,” she said, “but very carefully.”

  With small, sliding steps, Juliette edged out onto the surface of the river, Antoine following close behind. Juliette breathed slowly and steadily, trying to keep her fear at bay as every muscle in her body tensed. A third of the way across, they heard a deep, muffled cracking noise and stopped.

  “Do you see any cracks?” asked Juliette.

  “Not around me,” said Antoine. “You?”

  “No . . .”

  Juliette took another step forward—and a white line appeared in the ice next to her right foot.

  “It’s cracking,” she said. She took a deep breath and blinked hard, trying to push back her fear. “On three, we’re going to run, okay? We’re going to just go for it.”

  “Wait,” said Antoine in a shaky voice.

  Juliette shook her head. No time to wait. “One,” she said. “Two . . .”

  On the other side of the river, the dogs began to growl.

  Juliette looked up, startled. Boss and Delta crouched to protect Tank from a German soldier in a long black coat. His eyes were covered in goggles, his scarf was pulled up over his mouth and nose, and a rifle was strung across his back.

  “Oh no,” garbled Antoine. “What do we do?”

  “I don’t know,” she said, feeling the silence of the woods around her, the terror of the standoff she now faced.

  “We have to run,” garbled Antoine. “We’ve got to—”

  Juliette turned and watched as Antoine tried to retreat. She could almost see what was about to happen before it happened, like a fortune teller. She didn’t know how she knew, she just knew.

  Antoine’s foot slipped and kicked out in front of him. For a moment, he was airborne—and then he crashed down onto the ice. There was a terrible splitting noise . . . then nothing.

  Antoine laid perfectly still for a moment, then looked up at her and said, “I think we’re okay.”

  “Whew,” said Juliette, just before the ice beneath her gave way.

  Chapter 18

  THE OURTHE RIVER

  DECEMBER 30, 1944

  8:36 A.M. LOCAL TIME

  Juliette never known cold quite like this.

  The water bit her, wrapped tightly around her, stole every bit of feeling and warmth and breath in her body. She tensed and shook all over, shocked by the sudden drop in temperature.

  She pumped her arms furiously, reached the surface—and her face collided with a solid sheet of ice. She slammed her fists against it, but it didn’t budge.

  No air. No heat. Trapped.

  In her oxygen-deprived brain, one thought remained: It figures that Antoine slips and I’M the one who falls in.

  The current was powerful. The river rushed around her, soundless yet noisy, dragging her downstream. She felt dizzy, starved for air. Her vision grew dim, and she let herself be carried by the current. She hoped Antoine escaped the German. She hoped he saw Mama and Papa and the Kraismans again, and told Masha that Juliette had tried—

  Something gripped the collar of her jacket and pulled.

  Juliette croaked and gulped deeply as she emerged into the open air, which felt surprisingly warm compared to the freezing water. Boss and Delta pulled her from a hole in the surface, breathing hard as they dragged her backward onto the ice. The minute she was out of the water, both dogs began licking her face, their tongues blazing hot against her frozen skin.

  “Are you hurt?” cried a voice in broken French. She turned to see the German trooper approaching her and pulling off his coat. A few feet away, the dogs spun and crouched, growling deep in their throats
at him. The German froze and held out his coat at arm’s length. Juliette edged away from him, not wanting to wear the long black coat that had become such a symbol of the Nazis . . . but she was freezing. Carefully, she rose, shuffled forward past the dogs, and let the soldier drape it around her. She had to admit, the big coat was warm, and helped cut her shivering and clicking teeth down immediately.

  “Take this also,” said the soldier in a familiar voice that made her shudder. “You’ll freeze otherwise.”

  He unwound his scarf.

  “I know you,” she said.

  It was Till, the soldier who’d helped burn down the cabin. The one who’d complained about the war. She gasped, wondering if he was out here with his troop, and if Gerhardt or General Esser would find them and recognize her.

  Till wrapped his scarf over her head, then held her out at arm’s length and smiled.

  “Let’s get you in front of a fire,” he said. “Come on.”

  Juliette tried to walk, but she couldn’t move her legs. Her muscles ached from the cold, and her limbs were still numb. She made a whimpering noise, and Till seemed to understand. He put one arm around her shoulders, swept his other under her knees, and carried her toward Antoine and the dogs.

  “Is she dead?” cried Antoine. “Is she hurt?”

  “To my fire, quickly,” said Till. “Bring your dogs if you must.” And then he set out into the woods, with Antoine and the dogs following close behind.

  Chapter 19

  OUTSIDE ONEUX, BELGIUM

  DECEMBER 30, 1944

  9:10 A.M. LOCAL TIME

  Boss kept her head low and her ears up as she pulled Tank after the human pups. She side-eyed Delta and knew instantly that her packmate had the same idea. The minute the enemy tried to pull anything, they’d be ready. If he even looked at the pups wrong, Boss would attack.

  She snorted. In the air, she could smell smoke and wood, old rations and enemy boot polish.