Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6 Paul climbed quickly. He felt like he was being pulled along by some invisible force, like he was a nail moving toward a magnet. He made it up to the soldier, and handed over the knife. The man looked young, maybe twenty-five or so. He wasn't tall, but muscles bulged under his uniform. He seemed very strong. "Thanks, kid," he said, flashing a smile.

He had one of those faces that was bright and open and made you feel like you'd known him a long time. "You're welcome," Paul said, trying not to stare too hard. The soldier's uniform was covered with pockets. Pouches and bags of different sizes and shapes were strapped to his chest, his arms, and his legs. Paul spotted a tear in his pants and a nasty gash on his shin. That must have been where the blood had come from. "My name's Victor," the soldier said, eyeing Paul as he sliced through one of the shoulder straps of his parachute harness. "Sergeant Victor Lopez, American army." So Paul had guessed right. "Who are you?" Victor asked. "Paul," he answered. Paul noticed the small silver pin on the collar of Victor's uniform. It showed a parachute between a set of wings. And Paul understood. This man

hadn't parachuted down because his plane had crashed. He'd jumped out. There were soldiers trained to do that, Paul knew. They were called paratroopers. "How long have you been up here?" Paul asked. "Since about four A.M. Wasn't a good flight. We came under enemy fire coming off the English Channel. Plane barely got me here. I had to jump out way too low, no time to steer. So I wound up stuck in this tree." "Coo-roo." Paul's head snapped up. There was that friendly pigeon again, perched on the branch right above Victor. "That's Ellie," Victor said, cutting the last string of the parachute. He dropped down to take a seat on the branch next to Paul and shook his head at the bird. "I told you to get going." He looked at Paul. "Ellie's a carrier pigeon."

Those were pigeons that carried messages, Paul knew. Paul noticed the little metal tube attached to the bird's leg. That's where you could put a rolled-up piece of paper. "They sent her along with me," Victor continued. "She's supposed to fly back to England with a message so people know I got stuck in this tree. But she doesn't seem to want to leave me." "I think she likes you," Paul said. Ellie gazed at Victor with her shiny gold eyes. In love was more like it. "The army's going to fire you, Ellie," Victor said. "Coo-roo," Ellie answered. Paul laughed without meaning to. The sound — his own low chuckle — was one he hadn't heard much lately. Victor cracked a smile and shook his head. Paul had about a million questions he wanted to ask.

The most important: What was Victor doing here in Le Roc? But then he heard the sound of a motor. Paul looked out to the road and saw a Nazi patrol truck creeping slowly along. The truck stopped right near the gate that led into the meadow. Paul and Victor both scrambled down the tree. They glanced around, but the whole meadow was surrounded by those thick, tall bushes. Those bushes — they were called hedgerows — were everywhere in this part of France. But Paul knew they weren't always as solid as they looked. He and Gerard used to play soccer here. They were always crawling through the hedgerows to find their lost ball. Paul spotted a good hiding place just up ahead. "There!" Paul said, dashing over to the spot. He pulled some vines aside. "Good work," Victor whispered as they both crawled in. Ellie flew in behind them.

They were well hidden now — and just in time. Four German soldiers appeared through the gate. Paul's eyes narrowed as he recognized the tall man leading the way. It was Captain Egon Stroop. He was a monster, the cruelest Nazi in Le Roc, for sure. He had personally led the roundup of the Jewish people this past March. Paul's neighbors said Stroop had used a whip to force them into trucks, smiling the entire time. Of course Stroop had his dog with him now, a wolflike German shepherd. It was a trained killer, Paul had heard, with jaws strong enough to crack a human skull. Paul shivered, even though it was warm outside. The Nazis circled the tree, looking up at Victor's parachute. But the dog was racing around sniffing the ground. Suddenly it stopped. Right in the spot