Come Back To Us - 42. Chapter 42

Clément didn’t waste any time. He took Karl to his and his sister’s room. He pushed her bed against the wall and opened the trapdoor that had been existing for longer than he could remember.

“Viens avec moi !” He said as he looked at him.
Come with me.

They should never find that trapdoor. Never.

They both went down.

“Reste ici et fais-toi oublier pendant un moment. Ne fait aucun bruit, ne bouge pas et ne respire plus. Je m’occupe d’eux.”
Stay here and pretend you don’t exist anymore for a while. Don’t make a sound, don’t move and hold your breath. I’m gonna deal with them.

He hurried up to go back up before they could catch him red-handed and tried to look as natural as he could muster, and God knows it wasn’t easy… He was trembling and his hands were sweaty so he tried to wipe the sweat off them.

He found them waiting before the front door. One officer and three soldiers. Such politeness from them was too good, being amiable enough to wait to be allowed to enter instead of acting as if they were at home. That was too much.

“Bonjour, jeune homme. Auriez-vous l’amabilité de nous laisser entrer ?”
Hello, young man. Would you be kind enough to let us in?

How could he say no to such politeness ?

“Je vous en prie.”
Please, if you will.

He stepped aside so they could go in. He could hear his heartbeat pounding in his temples. His throat was dry but he needed to remain composed and calm.

Never show any weakness or fear. This’ll be the end of you if you’ve got something to feel guilty about.

Those were the last words he’d heard coming from his father’s mouth before he had left, after patting his shoulder.

You have to be more cunning than they are if you want to survive.

He heard the officer give orders in German and he felt an unpleasant shudder seizing his body, making him twitch. Just the way they talked instilled fear in their enemies. They weren’t so polite anymore afterwards… They searched every room of the house before even going into the barn, and he knew they were trying to find Karl. It seemed to last forever… It just looked like they wouldn’t leave until they’d found what they were looking for…It was more than he could take…

His fist was clenched so tight that it was trembling…Breathe…he kept repeating to himself. Breathe…

His heart skipped a beat as the officer approached him as they were in the kitchen.

“Où est-il ?”
Where is he?

He feigned astonishment and incomprehension.

“Je ne comprends pas de quoi vous me parlez. Vous cherchez quoi au juste ?”
I don’t understand what you’re talking about. What are you looking for exactly?

The man stared into his eyes for a while as he kept quiet, his look stern and emotionless, but he reminded himself to breathe.

“Un avion de la Royal Air Force s’est écrasé près des côtes, et son pilote est en fuite. Alors nous fouillons toutes les maisons du voisinage. Donc n’y voyez rien de personnel.”
A RAF aircraft crashed near the coast, and its pilot is on the run. So we have been searching all the houses in the area, so do not take it against you.

“Il n’y a pas de pilote de la Royal Air Force dans cette maison.”
There’s no RAF pilot in this house.

“Bien sûr, s’il y en avait vraiment un, vous ne diriez pas le contraire. Un coupable n’avouera jamais son crime.”
Naturally, if there really was one there, you would not say otherwise. A culprit will never confess his crime.

“Est-ce que vous l’avez trouvé?” He was fast to retort, and the degree of annoyance he was displaying was perfect.
Have you found him yet?

“Attendons encore un peu. Et nous verrons bien si vous dites la vérité.”
Let us wait for a little while longer. Then we will see if you’ve spoken the truth.

He remained quiet and he really hoped he didn’t show too much how concerned he was… They couldn’t find him. They couldn’t… He had promised Jo everything would be alright…

After a while, the soldiers joined them in the kitchen and one of them spoke to their officer in German. His whole body relaxed and he held back a sigh of relief. If he wasn't with them, it could only mean they couldn’t manage to find him. But that didn’t mean they could let their guard down. This was only the beginning…

Their eyes met again.

“En effet, mes hommes ne l’ont pas trouvé. Grand bien vous fasse. Mais nous n’en resterons pas là. Comme chaque habitant de ce village, vous restez un potentiel suspect. Alors si vous savez où il se cache, je vous conseille de venir nous le livrer le plus rapidement possible si vous ne voulez pas que vous ou une de vos connaissances ait des ennuis.”
Indeed, my men have not found him. Good thing for you. Yet, we will not call it quits. Like every inhabitant of this village, you will remain a potential suspect. So if you know where he is hiding, I advise you to come to us and deliver him to us as quickly as possible if you or one or your acquaintances do not want to get into trouble.

This was a warning…but he was willing to take the risk. It was too late to go backwards anyway…Much too late…

“Cela va de soi. Mais je ne sais rien du tout. Et honnêtement je n’ai pas que ça à faire à me préoccuper de votre pilote de la RAF. Il y a bien assez de boulot comme ça à la ferme. D’ailleurs, si vous aviez l’obligeance de retourner à sa poursuite, ça m’arrangerait, vous voyez.”

Naturally. But I know nothing. And honestly I have other things to do rather than caring about your RAF pilot. There is quite enough work as it is here at the farm. Speaking of this, is you were amiable enough to go back to chase after him, I’d be thankful for it, you see.

He was bold to dare speak of high-ranked German officer that way, way too bold… Did he really want to get killed now?

His heartbeat was making too much noise…

Breathe…

It was becoming harder and harder to maintain that eye contact as the seconds passed. There would be no room for mistake.

“Soit.” Agreed

He spoke again in German to his men and then they left.

He could finally sigh. But he had to make sure they wouldn’t spy on the farm. He had to wait before he went to see Karl. He looked through the window and after a while they were nowhere in sight anymore. But he shivered at the thought that they could come back unexpectedly whenever they wanted. He needed to get together with the guys to review the current situation. They probably already knew that a RAF aircraft had crashed nearby.

There was no time to waste.

***

Karl didn’t know for long he waited there, hours maybe. No, probably only minutes, but long minutes that seemed to be endless. What if they managed to find him and took him away? He didn’t want to think about it.

He started as he heard a noise and the steps of someone going down. It was hard to see in the dim light…That place was only lightened thanks to an oil lamp, and it was so bare…

He flinched instinctively.

“N’aie pas peur. C’est juste moi, Clément. Ils sont partis.”
Don’t freak out. It’s only me, Clément. They’ve gone away.

He could finally see his face properly as he was getting near him. But the look he had on his face wasn’t really reassuring.

“Ecoutes…Je suis désolé, mais tu vas devoir rester planqué ici tout le temps jusqu’à ce qu’on trouve une solution pour te sortir de ce pétrin. Pour l’instant c’est assez compliqué… C’est trop dangereux pour toi. Je peux pas prendre le risque que tu te fasses voir… Mais t’inquiètes, je viendrai te voir tous les jours. Il faudra juste que je fasse gaffe, pour toi. J’espère que tu comprends.”

Listen…I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to stay hiding here all the time until we can find a way to get you out of this mess. For now it’s rather complicated… This is too dangerous for you. I can’t take any risk of you being seen. But don’t worry, I’ll come to see you every day. I’ll just have to be careful, for you. I hope you understand.

He didn’t need words to understand. Body language was enough. He knew he would be trapped there for the next days and weeks to come, or even months…

“C’est pas vraiment le confort idéal…On n’a pas de lit ici. C’est déjà bien qu’on en ait au moins deux en haut…J’espère que ça te dérange pas de dormir sur du foin et de la paille…”

It’s not really the kind of comfort you’d dream of…There is no bed here. It’s already a good thing that we have at least two of them above. I hope you don’t mind having hay and straw as a mattress.

Well, Karl couldn’t really complain about his current situation. He was already kind enough to give him a place to stay. He didn’t have to.

“Viens. Je vais te montrer où tu pourras dormir.” Look. I’m going to show you where you will be able to sleep.

He followed him as he started walking away. He led him to what was supposed to be a room he guessed… It was bare…So bare… He knew what bareness was though. He must have got too used to comfort then… The dirty soil was only covered by hay and straw in one corner of it.

“Je reviens. Je vais aller te chercher des vivres. Ca évitera des allers-retours suspects.”

I’ll be right back. I’m going to get you food supplies. It will avoid continual suspicious coming and going.

He left instantly and Karl just contemplated his new room. He sighed through his nose. He would give anything to go back to that room in Mr. and Mrs. Hopkins house he had shared with George before everything went wrong. But he had nothing to give, safe for his life.

He sat down on the hay and straw and it wasn’t long before he lied down. At least, this was reminding him of home; that strong smell of hay and straw, he inhaled it until he felt dizzy with tiredness. The only reason he wanted to fall asleep was to dream of him again. On a boat, on land, anywhere, any era, he didn’t care. That was his only moment of respite and peacefulness and no one could take it away from him as long as he was still breathing.

He drifted off to sleep after a few moments. It was so quick that he didn’t even see Clément coming back. But he found food supplies stocked against the walls when he woke up. But he wasn’t even hungry for now. Maybe it would come later. Instead, he decided to go and explore what was around his room. He couldn’t go back up into the house or barn, but he hadn’t been forbidden to leave his room, right? It was both impressive and terrifying. It was a real network of underground tunnels. The corridors were narrow but seemed to be endless. He assumed it was what the trenches were supposed to be like, except that they weren’t underground… It must have taken years to dig all of that… As he kept walking in one of those endless corridors, some noise made him stop in his tracks. He pressed his left ear against the closed door that was made of wood. It was loud enough so he could hear.

“On le touche pas ! C’est un allié. Il est de notre côté !”
Hands off! He's an ally. He's on our side!

“Un allié ? Non mais vous êtes sérieux là ? Un allié blond avec les yeux bleus ? Je suis sûr que c’est un espion qui cherche à nous infiltrer. Il faut qu’on le descende tout de suite !”
An ally? Are you really serious? An ally who is blond with blue eyes? I'm sure he's a spy who is trying to infiltrate our group. We need to kill him without wasting time!

“Ça m’étonnerait. Les Boches ont fouillé la ferme de fond en comble après que son avion se soit écrasé près des côtes. Il n’auraient jamais fait ça si c’était un des leurs.”
I don't think so. The Boches have searched the farm thoroughly after his plane crashed down near the coast. They would've never done that if he was one of them.

“Si justement ! Pour qu’on se méfie pas et qu’on croit que c’est bien un allié. Les boches sont assez tordus pour faire un coup pareil. C’est juste toi qui es trop naïf !”
Yes, of course they would! So we won't suspect anything and believe that he's truly an ally. The Boches are twisted enough to play that kind of trick on us. You are just too gullible!

Silence.

He recognised Clément’s voice but the other was unknown. He could only say it was a male voice.

“On va lui faire passer un test. Comme ça on verra bien si c’est un espion ou pas.”
We're gonna test him. That way we'll be able to say whether he is a spy or an ally.

It was another male unknown voice who broke the long moment of silence. He had another bad feeling suddenly. That other moment of silence that followed afterwards could mean nothing good…

“Clément, va le chercher.”
Go get him.

“Non…”

“Clément,” the way the second unknown male voice spoke his name send shivers down his spine. Calm but threatening.

Next thing he knew, he started and almost lost his balance as the door opened without preceding warning.

“Karl…?”

He came face to face with Clément who looked concerned and scared at the same time. But before he could say or do anything, another male appeared next to him, probably the owner of one of the two voices he had heard speaking. He had light brown hair, eyes like Mrs. Hopkins and a look in his eyes which he didn’t like.

“Ah voilà ! Vous voyez ! Qu’est-ce que je vous disais ! Il était en train de nous espionner !”
There you go! See! That's what I was trying to tell you! He was spying on us!

“Arrêtes avec ça ! C’est absurde ! Il ne comprend même pas un mot de français !”
Stop with it already! That's absurd! He doesn't even understand a single word of French!

“Qu’est-ce que t’en sais ! Je suis sûr qu’il fait juste semblant !”
How could you know for sure? I'm sure he's only pretending!

“Ça suffit. Assez perdu de temps. J’ai dit qu’on allait lui faire passer le test. Alors ramenez-vous.”
Enough. We've been wasting enough time. I said we were gonna test him. So come back in there.

The other male he had just heard speaking as well went to stand between the two.

Everything went fast afterwards. The male with greenish blue eyes and another one with blue eyes and messy brown hair both held his arms and took him into the room where they had been gathering. They removed his uniform until he was only in briefs and singlet and sat him on a chair before tying him to it. He couldn’t struggle against their grip. He could only watch helplessly as they brought a small khaki machine near him. He saw another male, rather stout in stature, and with red hair and blue eyes. They all looked to be around the same age. They must have been in their early twenties.

They put strange small round things on his arms, neck and legs with wires which were connected to that machine. He looked to Clément who had an apologetic look on his face and who couldn’t even hold his gaze for ten seconds. His stomach was aching with with that deep feeling of dread and his heart was racing.

“Louis, vas-y.”
Go ahead.

The male with greenish blue eyes started to spin the crank handle and fast enough an intense pain went trough his whole body. But he held back the cry of pain that wanted to leave his mouth, no matter how hard it was.

“Avoue que t’es un espion nazi !”
Confess that you're a Nazi spy!

He said nothing. He only understood the word “Nazi”. He tried to make sense of the situation…

Wait.

Did they think he was on the Nazis’ side…?

Oh no…

His body twitched as it was seized by that intense pain again. He stifled the whine that needed to get out.

“Avoue !”
Admit it!

He didn’t even try to say anything. They probably wouldn’t understand anyway if none of them spoke English.

“Comme par hasard tu te réfugies dans la seule ferme où se cache un réseau de la Résistance !”
You take shelter in the only farm where a Resistance network group is hiding, would you believe!

“Arrêtes maintenant ! C’est juste un hasard !” Clément intervened but did nothing to help him…
Stop it now! It's merely a coincidence!

“Toi, ferme-la ! Je vais lui faire avouer !”
You, shut up! I'm gonna make him spill the beans!

They kept torturing and questioning him for hours on end. But he didn’t say anything. He only cried in pain and squeezed his eyes shut because he couldn’t stand seeing their faces anymore. He didn’t even try to state loud and clear that he was on their side. He had a feeling that they wouldn’t believe him anyway.

“Bon, tu veux la jouer comme ça. Alors on va essayer autrement,” the bloke with greenish blue eyes spoke, sounding and looking quite annoyed.
Alright, you wanna play it that way. Then we're gonna try another way.

He removed two of the strange small round things and put one of them on his left ear instead and another…. He froze as his heart skipped a beat. He couldn’t seriously be doing what he thought he was doing… he put two of them on his genital parts…

“Tu vas voir. T’as intérêt à cracher le morceau maintenant."
Wait and see. You'd better spill the beans now.

“Non ! Pas ça ! Arrêtes Louis !” He heard Clément shout.
No, don't do this! Stop it Louis!

He looked to the side only to see the red-haired bloke and the other who had helped tying him to that chair holding him back. He screamed in utter pain as the following shock went through his body. It was ten times worse as earlier. He was unable to keep his head high anymore. But someone raised it for him and held it in place.

His bloodshot eyes met emotionless green ones.

“Alors ? Tu n’as rien dit depuis le début. Si tu n’es pas un espion à la solde des Nazis, dis-le au moins. Défend-toi.”
So? You haven't said a word since we started. If you're not a spy working for the Nazis, say it at least. Stand for yourself.

He instantly recognised that voice. Calm but threatening. The male had dark hair, was lean and tall and was obviously waiting for an answer. But even if he wanted to, he couldn’t find the strength to form words with his lips and throat.

“Non ? Toujours rien ? Tant pis pour toi. Louis.”
No? Still not a word? Too bad for you?

He let go of his chin.

“Non !!!”

He screamed in pain once again.

“Manu ! Ça suffit maintenant ! Fais arrêter tout ça !!”
Manu! Enough of that now! Stop this madness!

They all ignored him and Karl didn’t know whether he should pity him or spit in his face if he survived that.

He thought about Paul, Emma, Mr. and Mrs. Hopkins. He wished they could be there to save him and bring him back home, and make sure he would always stay safe. He couldn’t even remember how he had got here… He thought about George, remembering what a fool he had been and how he wished he had chosen to remain there with him… He screamed some more times as they kept torturing him over and over again. The bloke with greenish blue eyes even punched him square in the face several times and continuously.

“Avoue ! Bordel de merde ! Avoue !”
Admit it! For God's sake! Admit it!

He only stopped to make it start once again. His scream pierced through the room and soon he was sure he would have no voice left to scream. Tears rolled down his cheeks and he kept thinking of George, of home, of his family, of anything that was a good memory; anything that could make him try to forget where he was.

“Arrête ! Arrête, je te dis ! C’est barbare ! Vous croyez pas qu’il a eu son compte maintenant ?! Avec ce genre de tortures, on vaut pas mieux qu’eux !”
Stop! Stop it now! That's barbaric! Don't you think he has had enough of it now? With this kind of torure, we are as monstrous as they are!

“Arrête avec cet état d’esprit ! C’est pas comme ça qu’on va la gagner cette guerre ! Et toi parle bon sang !”
Stop it with this state of mind! This isn't the way to win the war! And you, admit it, Goddamit!

It hurt. It hurt so much… He couldn’t take it anymore…He’d rather die than to keep going through such pain. Why couldn’t they just stop?

“Allez !!!”
Come on!

This was too much.

“Manu ! S’il te plait !!”
Manu! Please!

Nothing happened for a while and he felt it wouldn’t be long before he passed out.

“Ça va. On arrête maintenant. Il ne lâchera rien. De toute manière, on va le garder sous surveillance continuelle. Détachez-le et ramenez-le où il est censé rester.”
Alright. Stop it now. He won't spill the beans. We're gonna keep him under constant surveillance anyway. Untie him and bring him back where he is supposed to be staying.

“Mais non !! Il est coriace mais il va finir par avouer. Il nous faut juste encore un peu-”
No! He is tough but he's gonna end up confessing it. We just need a little more-

“Un peu rien du tout. Tout ce qu’on gagnerait, c’est de lui faire avouer juste ce que l’on veut entendre simplement pour qu’on arrête de le torturer. On reverra cette question plus tard. Et puis dans l’état où il est, de toute manière, il ne risque pas d’espionner qui que ce soit.”
A little more nothing. We would only make him confess what we want to hear just so we can stop torturing him, so that's not a good deal. We will talk about that matter again later. And he won't be able to spy on anyone now in his condition anyway.

It was silent again afterwards. It seemed that the bloke with the calm but threatening voice was the leader of the group. Soon he felt two pairs of arms lifting him and taking him away.

“Doucement ! Il a déjà bien assez été amoché comme ça !”
Easy! He's been bashed up enough like that already!

He couldn’t walk properly anymore, so they struggled to make them follow him. He passed out before they reached their destination anyway.

And before he did, he hoped it was just a bad dream and that he would wake up home.

Hello everyone
Yeah I know, this chapter is horrible....
Take care ❤️