Fatal Crossroads by Danny S. Parker

Author:Danny S. Parker [Parker, Danny S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Published: 2011-11-09T23:00:00+00:00

He knew he was stretching the situation a lot with the “safe to send ambulance” thing, but he was sure they wouldn’t come if he told them the truth. The American handed the note over to Anna. She was careful not to show her confusion—she couldn’t read a thing. Looking Reding in the eyes, she nodded and stuffed the paper down her bosom. Reding went back upstairs. Merriken was still unconscious, but his pulse was steady. It was midmorning as Reding watched her leave the house from the window. His buddy seemed to be in a coma. Charles Reding worried that even if they got the note, the rescue wouldn’t come. After all, they were behind enemy lines. Reding was exhausted. He collapsed in a chair and fell asleep.

Anna Blaise was in a dither. What should she do? After leaving her home she hurried next door to consult with the neighbors at the Jamar household. The seven Jamar children sat stone-faced at the table as Anna Blaise blurted out in exasperation about the soldiers in her house. “I cannot do anything more for the wounded man,” she explained, “and to them, the best thing would be that they rejoin the other Americans.”4 She was willing to take the note herself the three kilometers into Malmédy, she said, but what would she tell anyone she ran into? Emile Jamar, who sat listening, was just seven days shy of his sixteenth birthday and feeling wiser than his years. “I can go,” he said, explaining that because he delivered newspapers all over the area, no one would likely stop him. Besides, he explained, no one knew the back ways of Baugnez, Arimont, and Malmédy like he did. His parents agreed but warned their son not to take risks. Young Emile carefully folded the note and placed it under the sole of one shoe. Who would look there?

Soon Emile was walking—almost running—quickly down the road into Malmédy, only to come upon a number of metallic plates strewn about the big bend in the road at the foot of the hill. Guessing that these were mines, he cautiously tiptoed his way around the objects. His heart pounded in his ears as he got past them to the bottom of the hill leading into Malmédy. Then, just as he was about to cross the railroad tracks at the end of Monbijou Avenue, he came to a roadblock where two American soldiers clamored for him to halt. They had rifles. Soon the GIs were questioning young Jamar, but neither party could understand the other. Emile was exasperated. He dared not produce the message until he found someone who could understand him. The two young Americans could also sense the boy’s urgency. They escorted him to the Café Loffet, where a jeep picked him up. Soon someone drove him through Francorchamps all the way to the village of Hockay.

All of this was turning out terribly, Emile thought to himself. Yet as they pulled to a halt in Hockay, his young American jeep driver smiled.

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