course?'
'Yeah, but they found out we was lying. Well, one idiot, he was carrying round papers that proved it wasn't true, so they started yelling at us then and got really mad. They accused us of torturing people and God knows what... They took us to some village called Daskjove. Something like that. I'm not sure even where it was. They didn't treat us rough or anything.
They just stripped us of all we had - watches, rings, money, the lot.'
The boy hesitated, looking round fearfully at us as if we might still be hostile towards him.
'Go on,'said Alte, gently. 'What then?'
'Well, they shot us, didn't they? One after another. We had to get in a line and step forward one at a time. I was the last one, 'cos I was the youngest and they said as how I had the right to live longer'n the others. When my turn come they pulled me out front and made me kneel down, and the one that was doing all the shooting, he said I was holding my head on one side, and he made me keep it straight. I could feel the muzzle of his gun in the back of my neck. All cold it was ... And then there was this explosion, see, and it felt like the whole of my head was bursting open.' He looked round at us and directed a hopeful smile at Alte. 'I didn't know nothing more till I woke up and found all the Russians had gone and I was the only one left alive. The others were lying on the ground nearby. Tauber and Willy and all the others. They was dead. And I wanted to be dead, too,' he told us, earnestly. 'I was that scared, just lying there all alone.'
'What did you do?'
'I got out as fast as I could, mate! I couldn't stand upright, I was too dizzy. I had to crawl, and I couldn't hardly do that I felt so weak. And then Fjodor found me, only I don't think he knew what I was at first. I was covered in blood, I don't suppose I looked much like a human being. He brought me back here and they've looked after me ever since.'
'What about your head?' demanded Porta. 'What have they done about that?'
'They sent their doctor to me. I suppose he was a doctor, I dunno. He tied me down to a table and fished about inside my head with a pair of scissors until he found the bullet.'
'Scissors?' said the Professor, horrified. 'Do you mean forceps?'
'No, scissors. Ordinary scissors like you use for cutting things.'
'And no anaesthetic?'
'No.' The boy shook his head, as if apologizing for the doctor's primitive methods of surgery. 'I don't think they have things like that here. Anyway, I passed out long before he'd finished the job.'
We granted him a few moments' respectful silence, broken eventually by Heide.
'What's this crazy language they all talk here?' he demanded.
'It's Turkish,' said Paul. 'I've picked up quite a bit of it.'
'Turkish?' We all stared at him. 'Where are we, then?'
'Not far from the Turkish border.'
'Would you believe that?' said Little John, in amazement. 'How we do get about! One minute, we're in the Caucasus, the nest we're on the shores of the Mediterranean, then we come across herds of wild camels in China and now we're only a stone's throw from Turkey!' He turned eagerly on the boy. 'Tell me, sonny, what time's the next train due to leave? Once I'm shot of all this lot, old Uncle Adolf can go and get knotted for all I care!'
'There aren't no trains from here,' said Paul, seriously. 'We're stuck for the duration. There's no means of getting away.'
His words had no effect whatsoever upon our suddenly jubilant spirits. In mind, if not yet in body, we were already safe in Turkey. Porta at once gave himself up to his favourite dream: the brothel de luxe and a mad riot of sexual perversities. He enlarged upon the theme from every titillating angle and carried us along with him. Barcelona drew a map on the dusty floor to show Little John exactly where Turkey lay in relation to our present probable whereabouts, and Little John, in his eagerness to set off straight away, promptly jumped all over the map and trampled it back into obscurity. The
'Yeah, but they found out we was lying. Well, one idiot, he was carrying round papers that proved it wasn't true, so they started yelling at us then and got really mad. They accused us of torturing people and God knows what... They took us to some village called Daskjove. Something like that. I'm not sure even where it was. They didn't treat us rough or anything.
They just stripped us of all we had - watches, rings, money, the lot.'
The boy hesitated, looking round fearfully at us as if we might still be hostile towards him.
'Go on,'said Alte, gently. 'What then?'
'Well, they shot us, didn't they? One after another. We had to get in a line and step forward one at a time. I was the last one, 'cos I was the youngest and they said as how I had the right to live longer'n the others. When my turn come they pulled me out front and made me kneel down, and the one that was doing all the shooting, he said I was holding my head on one side, and he made me keep it straight. I could feel the muzzle of his gun in the back of my neck. All cold it was ... And then there was this explosion, see, and it felt like the whole of my head was bursting open.' He looked round at us and directed a hopeful smile at Alte. 'I didn't know nothing more till I woke up and found all the Russians had gone and I was the only one left alive. The others were lying on the ground nearby. Tauber and Willy and all the others. They was dead. And I wanted to be dead, too,' he told us, earnestly. 'I was that scared, just lying there all alone.'
'What did you do?'
'I got out as fast as I could, mate! I couldn't stand upright, I was too dizzy. I had to crawl, and I couldn't hardly do that I felt so weak. And then Fjodor found me, only I don't think he knew what I was at first. I was covered in blood, I don't suppose I looked much like a human being. He brought me back here and they've looked after me ever since.'
'What about your head?' demanded Porta. 'What have they done about that?'
'They sent their doctor to me. I suppose he was a doctor, I dunno. He tied me down to a table and fished about inside my head with a pair of scissors until he found the bullet.'
'Scissors?' said the Professor, horrified. 'Do you mean forceps?'
'No, scissors. Ordinary scissors like you use for cutting things.'
'And no anaesthetic?'
'No.' The boy shook his head, as if apologizing for the doctor's primitive methods of surgery. 'I don't think they have things like that here. Anyway, I passed out long before he'd finished the job.'
We granted him a few moments' respectful silence, broken eventually by Heide.
'What's this crazy language they all talk here?' he demanded.
'It's Turkish,' said Paul. 'I've picked up quite a bit of it.'
'Turkish?' We all stared at him. 'Where are we, then?'
'Not far from the Turkish border.'
'Would you believe that?' said Little John, in amazement. 'How we do get about! One minute, we're in the Caucasus, the nest we're on the shores of the Mediterranean, then we come across herds of wild camels in China and now we're only a stone's throw from Turkey!' He turned eagerly on the boy. 'Tell me, sonny, what time's the next train due to leave? Once I'm shot of all this lot, old Uncle Adolf can go and get knotted for all I care!'
'There aren't no trains from here,' said Paul, seriously. 'We're stuck for the duration. There's no means of getting away.'
His words had no effect whatsoever upon our suddenly jubilant spirits. In mind, if not yet in body, we were already safe in Turkey. Porta at once gave himself up to his favourite dream: the brothel de luxe and a mad riot of sexual perversities. He enlarged upon the theme from every titillating angle and carried us along with him. Barcelona drew a map on the dusty floor to show Little John exactly where Turkey lay in relation to our present probable whereabouts, and Little John, in his eagerness to set off straight away, promptly jumped all over the map and trampled it back into obscurity. The
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