CHASE

At first, it was as if I hadn’t shouted it at all.

No one reacted.

The boys who were sneaking up on us stayed hidden. Stefan and Jana remained where they were. Everything was frozen for a fraction of a second.

‘RUN!’ I shouted again. ‘RUN!’

And the world came to life.

‘Get them!’ said one of the boys behind me and I took off like a rabbit breaking for cover from the farmer’s gun.

I leaped out of the shadows, into a shaft of moonlight that fell between the trees, and sprinted towards Stefan and Jana.

When they saw me coming right at them, closely followed by the group of three boys, they turned and ran.

Now the world was full of the sound of boots pounding the pavement. My own breathing was loud as I pumped my arms and legs as hard as they would go. In front of me, Stefan and Jana ran side by side, the shoulder bag bouncing about on Jana’s back.

I could feel the hot breath of our pursuers on the nape of my neck. I imagined their fingers snatching at my clothes, trying to grab me and yank me back into the darkness. It was as if I were being chased by hellhounds, and I ran, ran, ran as fast as I could go.

We reached the end of Klosterstrasse and turned left, dashing along the pavement.

My chest was tight now, my breathing coming harder and harder. My legs starting to tire. My heart was filled with a thousand needles, as if it would explode inside me.

Behind, the Hitler Youth boys grew closer.

They were bigger and stronger and faster than me. They would catch me. Stefan could outrun them, maybe Jana too, but I had no hope of getting away from them.

I was slowing down. Falling back.

They’re going to catch me.

It was only a matter of time. A few seconds and I would be theirs.

As if he could sense me tiring, Stefan looked back. He slowed to come alongside me. ‘Keep going,’ he said between breaths. ‘Be strong.’

I couldn’t run much longer.

They’re going to catch me.

Jana had other ideas about being caught, though. Running just ahead of us, she slipped the bag from her shoulder and slowed down so we were running in a line. Once we were together, she half turned as she ran, holding the bag by its strap and throwing it at the boys, aiming low.

The bag hit its mark, falling at the feet of the first boy, the strap tangling about his ankles.

He went down like a felled tree, shouting in pain as he hit the pavement. The second boy tripped over him, sailing through the night and landing with a sickening crunch when he smashed into the concrete. He rolled as he cried out in pain, and the third boy came to a halt to check on them.

‘Get after them,’ the first boy shouted. ‘Don’t let them get away.’

But Jana had already bought us some time, and when I saw the entrance to the cemetery looming ahead, I knew we had a chance.

‘Hide,’ Stefan said as soon as we passed through the gates in the tall iron railings that surrounded the whole place.

I could hardly breathe now; my chest was hurting so much. I had never run so far and so fast in my life.

‘Hide, Karl,’ he said again, coming to a stop and grabbing my arm. ‘Find somewhere to hide. We’ll run.’

We were standing on the road that cut through the cemetery, the grass stretching out on either side, broken only by the gravestones.

‘Don’t … leave me … on my own,’ I begged him, my words coming in gasps between breaths. I was almost bent double, trying to recover.

‘You can’t run any more and they’re coming,’ Jana said to me.

Sure enough, I could hear footsteps behind us.

‘Hide with me,’ I begged them.

‘They’ll just look for us,’ Jana said. ‘We’ll keep running, they’ll chase us.’

‘They’ll never find us here,’ I said. ‘We can—’

‘Do as you’re bloody well told, for once.’ Stefan pushed me away from him, forcing me onto the grass. ‘Now go. Find somewhere to hide. I’ll lead them away.’ Then he pushed Jana away from him, saying, ‘You too. Go! Look after my brother.’

‘What—’ Jana started to argue, but Stefan was already jogging away, his boots pounding the path, and behind us, the boys had reached the entrance to the cemetery.

‘Come on,’ Jana whispered as the sound of Stefan’s running disappeared further along the road.

She took my arm as we hurried onto the grass, passed a row of three benches, and headed among the gloomy gravestones. We threw ourselves to the ground and crawled for the darkness around the base of a long, low memorial. There, lying side by side, we watched the road and tried to control our breathing.

The three boys slowed as they entered the cemetery, looking about to see which way we’d gone.

‘That way,’ said one of them, hearing Stefan’s footsteps further along the road. ‘Come on.’

‘You go,’ said a second. ‘I’ll look here. Maybe they split up.’

So two of them picked up their pace, continuing their pursuit of Stefan, while the third remained behind.

As the footsteps faded into the night, Jana and I watched the boy standing on the road, turning this way and that in the hope of spotting us somewhere in the park.

I wondered where Stefan was and whether he would be able to outrun the boys chasing him.

The boy who had stayed behind didn’t seem to be in any hurry to search for us. He waited for the others to leave, then fumbled in his pockets, and in a few seconds, a flame flared up in front of his face. He lit a cigarette before flicking the match away from him. It arced up and out, dying in the wind.

The boy glanced about, turned around once, then started walking in our direction. My muscles tensed as I prepared myself for more running, but instead of continuing his search, he sat down on one of the benches and leaned back. He tipped his head to face the sky and breathed a long stream of smoke into the night.

Jana nudged me and pointed behind us with her thumb.

I shook my head. I didn’t dare move. The boy was so close – no more than ten metres away.

Jana nodded her head and nudged me again. ‘Now,’ she whispered and started to get to her feet.

I had no choice but to follow her. I didn’t want to be left alone out here, and if the boy spotted her, she would be ready to run and I would still be lying on the grass. So I eased to my feet, aware of every sound I made.

The rustle of my jacket was like the driving rain of a thunderstorm. My heartbeat was like the drums of a parade band. When my knees clicked the noise was like gunshots.

Then Jana nudged me again and showed me the large stick she was holding. It was as thick as my arm and almost as long. She took it in both hands and raised it up, swinging it over her shoulder as if she meant to approach the boy from behind and hit him with it.

I shook my head at her.

If she hit him, she might kill him.

She looked at me, then at the boy, and took a step towards him.

I shook my head more vigorously this time and grabbed the back of her shirt.

No! I wanted to shout.

Jana hesitated, still brandishing the stick as if it were a club, then she lowered it and stood for a moment before backing away.

I was sure that if I hadn’t been there, Jana would have hit that boy. She would have swung the stick as hard as she could against the back of his head and she would have cracked his skull in two.