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It was Elone’s sharp eyes that described it; a flume of smoke above a distant woods, rising from the trees to dissipate against an azure sky.
It had been my intention to skirt the distant forest wherever possible, for I feared wolves or bears might lend us their unwanted attention if we ventured into its forbidding shadow.
By adhering to the highland slopes we could see in advance any threat to our well-being, man or beast, and take appropriate evasive action, I reasoned. Although thus far the only menace we had accosted was a curious mountain goat which ventured so close we could have reached out and touched its shaggy beard. In truth, I cannot say who was the more petrified, the children or I, but despite its forbidding horns the creature offered us no harm and duly went about its business indifferent to our fright.
But now I faced an altogether more serious dilemma: to approach the hamlet whose existence we had identified by its fumes, there to enlist their generosity to our best advantage, perhaps obtaining a meal and new directions; or to avoid it at all costs, for fear we would meet a dire fate.
Images of Nazi brutality were by now etched onto my mind, from the vicious jackboot assault upon young Elone at Bucharest station, to the machine-gun massacre we had so miraculously escaped.
We could not know if the inhabitants were of Nazi sympathies, or worst still that it was a Nazi occupied encampment of some sort...
Reason suggested the latter was unlikely, for if nescient of military strategy still I could fathom no purpose that an occupying force would require such an isolated settlement. I reasoned, too, such insularity favoured these sylvanian dwellers being native Poles with no sympathy for an invading, foreign army.
With such vague and competing thoughts in my mind I decided we should make a surreptitious approach and form a final judgement from a discreet distance. Of course, with my companions so young, lacking even the limited understanding of events my own twelve short years benefited me, I had of necessity to couch the proposal with a deal of fantasy.
Nicolae and Elone were busily chattering, seated on the rocky outcrop where, Elone having first seen the smoke rising from the distant forest, I had ordered we rest. I knew that, as the sun went down or the weather turned against us so would their spirits flag and thoughts of family once again dominate their young minds. It was, therefore, a matter of some urgency to take advantage of their currently cheerful disposition.
“Elone. Nicolae. Might I impose upon your time a moment?”
The children looked up as one and giggled together, as if sharing some private joke to which I was not to be privy. I sat down between them, drawing them to me with outstretched arms. “Huddle up, little ones. I have thought of a new game to play.”
“A game?” Nicolae’s eyes lit up. “What game, Anca?”
“A game of pretend,” I said, suppressing a smile at Elone’s wide-eyed delight.
“Yes! Let’s play pretending!” she chuckled gleefully, her eyes brighter than I had seen them for several days, almost shining behind the muddy mask that hid her face. It was some days now since I had been bothered to encourage ablutions and now reminded of this fact I determined to have us all bathe at the next opportunity.
“Come on, Anca, what will we do?” Nicolae demanded, impatient for further detail. “What are the rules?”
I found myself thinking fast to produce a plan that would satisfy the children and at the same time achieve our end. “You see the flume of smoke yonder?”
All eyes turned to the forest distant.
“What we have to do is to explore the forest and secretly, invisibly, approach the fire and get warm.”
“What is invisibly?” Nicolae asked.
“It means being invisible,” Elone explained, leaving my little brother none the wiser. He looked to me for further clarification.
I lowered my voice conspiratorially and brought the two young heads close to mine. “It means without being seen,” I said. “What we must do is to try and get as close as we can to the fire without being seen by the people there. We must pretend we are invisible, that no-one can see us, by keeping low to the ground, hiding behind bushes and trees and, all importantly, being as quiet as we possibly can.”
The children were clearly enthralled by the proposition and I felt excitement rise in my breast as I explained, for in truth I was still a child myself, whatever the unwanted burdens of adulthood that had been thrust upon me in the form of my two charges.
Nicolae asked, “What if we are seen, Anca?”
I thought quickly. “Then you are out! Game over!”
Elone clapped her hands with delight. “Yes! Anca, I will be so invisible you will not be able to see me at all.”
“And I will be so quiet you will think I am asleep,” added Nicolae, not to be outdone.
“Do not do that, little one,” I chided playfully. “When you are asleep you snore so loud that everyone can hear you.”
At this feeble joke the children fell about laughing, playfully emulating snoring sounds and I took the opportunity to extract myself from their company and take account of our geography more carefully.
The forest was still some kilometres distant and the source of the smoke flume a distance further still into the woods. I studied the sky and estimated the time of day. It was gone noon and this concerned me, for I knew the forest would be dark and eerie even by daylight, and I had no wish to find ourselves lost within its murky depths after nightfall, when I reasoned hungry wild animals would be more disposed to roam.
Would it be better to stay outside the woods for the remainder of the day and venture into their depths at first light after we had rested, allowing us more time? From behind me I heard Nicolae and Elone cajoling, demanding the game commence and knew this was not an option. I had to take advantage of their enthusiasm immediately, for who knew how long it might last.
By tomorrow the weather might turn against us once more, dampening our spirits and weakening our bodies further. I knew also that, as we approached the source of the smoke flume that now held our attention, our very lives might depend upon the children’s conviction that the game we were playing was of paramount importance.
With such considerations heavy on my mind and having determined an appropriate direction to reach the forest border, I gathered the children around me and we set off.