Driving the Tide by Lee Jackson

Author:Lee Jackson [Jackson, Lee]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Severn River Publishing
Published: 2023-12-06T16:00:00+00:00

27

Saarbrücken, Germany

This evasion journey had been more difficult for Lance than his last escape when he had crossed into Switzerland with two comrades a few hours after leaving Colditz. This time, his cover had held up all the way to Saarbrücken, just east of the French-German border. But he had no story or travel documents to take him into France, nor was a contact available and ready to rendezvous with him and escort him through the backroads of Germany, across the border, and then south to Montrichard, his intended destination.

This phase had been the acknowledged weakness in his plan, but one that was unavoidable within the stone confines of Colditz Castle—the escape committee had insufficient information to forge reliable documents providing passage across the border. However, it had acquired a sizeable sum of Vichy French franc notes and provided some to Lance along with some reichsmarks. He had secreted the currency in the heels of his shoes.

The train ride across Germany’s heartland had been an eye-opener. Leipzig had been bombed, and so had Frankfurt and other towns and villages along the train route. Many of the towns’ commercial buildings, factories, and dwellings lay in rubble, and as the train pulled into Saarbrücken, he saw that it had also been hit with massive damage.

Lance had also noticed a pensiveness among passengers. He had avoided conversation, but he had heard low-voiced murmurs about concerns with a coming invasion of France and the prospects of having to defend the motherland at its borders.

As he left the station, the sun descended, casting long shadows. He glanced at his watch, and his stomach tightened. In another three hours, he would be due back in his cell for curfew at Colditz; the ghost would be back in hiding, and Lance’s absence would be discovered. The alarm would go out across Germany at once with his description, followed soon thereafter by his photograph.

The physical search would start in the immediate vicinity of Colditz, but when he was not found, it would widen. Checkpoint guards would be more attentive and scrutinize his face and ID more closely. The civilian population would be alerted as well.

Word might also follow him into France, but there, at least, civilians who spotted and identified him might be friendly. He must cross over before the Colditz curfew.

He spotted a battered farm truck rumbling by the station and waved it down. “I’m trying to get to my cousin’s house,” he told the driver. “It’s not far. It’s on the main road to Forbach. I’ll pay you.” He held out several reichsmark notes.

“The German town?” the farmer growled. “That’s quite a distance. If you mean the French one, I can’t take you into France.”

“Don’t worry,” Lance replied in a reassuring voice. “I’m visiting a cousin who lives on a farm along that road, the one to France, but it’s within our German border. I’ll point out the turnoff.”

The farmer studied Lance’s face and then stared at the wad of money in Lance’s hand. He nodded and gestured for Lance to get in.

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