brother.’
‘Yes,’ Franz said.
Mrs Hoffner half smiled as she asked, ‘Will you be visiting him tomorrow?’
‘Not sure yet.’
‘Well, we’ll all be still here if you do.’
‘Yes. Goodnight,’ Franz said as she opened the front door for him and watched him go down the steps of the house onto the pavement.
‘Goodnight,’ Mrs Hoffner called as he started off down the street.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Everything in the school, the officers, the sergeants, the recruits, the training, became more intense over the next weeks. There was an obvious mood of change, an obvious deepening of commitment by everybody. Franz felt it as though it was a hand tightening round him, squeezing him into a new, more defined shape.
‘Can you imagine the French if we went West first? They would wet themselves,’ Steiner joked the next time they had a pass into town and had gone to a different inn than usual.
‘So why did we come here?’ Franz asked before he lit a cigarette, looking around at the empty tables and the few standing at the bar.
‘To avoid Frumm and Meissner and that crowd.’
‘What’s wrong with them?’
Steiner looked at him, ‘You know as well as I do what’s wrong with them. They’re primitive. They haven’t a brain between them.’
‘And I suppose we have?’
Steiner smiled, ‘Of course.’
‘According to you.’
‘And you.’
‘You sound very sure that you know my opinion about things.’
‘I do. I’m certain I do.’
Franz puffed out smoke, the tension in his voice, ‘And what if I preferred the company of the others?’
Steiner pulled a doubtful expression and then waited before he said, ‘But you don’t and I’m glad. I’m glad you agreed to come here because I started to think you were trying to avoid me. It would have been understandable Franz. I just don’t want you to think there is any reason why we can’t get on.’
‘Why should there be?’
‘Because I know something about you that none of the others do. I know what you experienced. It was a situation you could have done nothing about. In some ways it still is. You have to try and organise yourself differently now, ever since it happened. It was a stray shell. It should not have happened.’
‘No it wasn’t,’ Franz said, ‘They thought everybody was out of the area. I shouldn’t have been there.’
‘Well neither should I then.’
Franz glanced at him, ‘No. You shouldn’t.’
‘And you get almost blown to bits and all I did was watched it happen.’
‘You didn’t just watch.’
‘I just wanted to clear the air between us. Mind you in a place like this I’m not sure if it’s possible.’
‘You’re always very confident,’ Franz mentioned, watching the way Steiner’s mouth tightened as he thought how to respond.
‘My God, in our school you have to be or they’d have you in pieces. Imagine Strauss and his bunch of uglies if they thought they’d found a weakness.’
‘So you don’t have any, is that what you’re saying?’
‘Depends what you think of as a weakness.’
‘So do I have to guess?’
‘I thought you already had.’
At that Franz sat back in his chair watching a convoy of military trucks pass by the window.
‘I just wish the whole thing would start,’ he finally said.
Steiner smiled, ‘You should not be so impatient.’
‘Everything feels ready.’
‘We have another year of training yet.’
‘But I feel we’re ready.’
‘To lead?’
‘Yes, to lead, to take responsibility, to be somebody others will follow. I know I’ve missed some of it but I still know that I would be able to do it, all of it.’
‘But who is there to fight now the Ruskies are out of the picture? The Dutch, the French, the Greeks, the Poles? My granny could beat that lot. It would be too easy, far too easy.’
‘But we are trained for
‘Yes,’ Franz said.
Mrs Hoffner half smiled as she asked, ‘Will you be visiting him tomorrow?’
‘Not sure yet.’
‘Well, we’ll all be still here if you do.’
‘Yes. Goodnight,’ Franz said as she opened the front door for him and watched him go down the steps of the house onto the pavement.
‘Goodnight,’ Mrs Hoffner called as he started off down the street.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Everything in the school, the officers, the sergeants, the recruits, the training, became more intense over the next weeks. There was an obvious mood of change, an obvious deepening of commitment by everybody. Franz felt it as though it was a hand tightening round him, squeezing him into a new, more defined shape.
‘Can you imagine the French if we went West first? They would wet themselves,’ Steiner joked the next time they had a pass into town and had gone to a different inn than usual.
‘So why did we come here?’ Franz asked before he lit a cigarette, looking around at the empty tables and the few standing at the bar.
‘To avoid Frumm and Meissner and that crowd.’
‘What’s wrong with them?’
Steiner looked at him, ‘You know as well as I do what’s wrong with them. They’re primitive. They haven’t a brain between them.’
‘And I suppose we have?’
Steiner smiled, ‘Of course.’
‘According to you.’
‘And you.’
‘You sound very sure that you know my opinion about things.’
‘I do. I’m certain I do.’
Franz puffed out smoke, the tension in his voice, ‘And what if I preferred the company of the others?’
Steiner pulled a doubtful expression and then waited before he said, ‘But you don’t and I’m glad. I’m glad you agreed to come here because I started to think you were trying to avoid me. It would have been understandable Franz. I just don’t want you to think there is any reason why we can’t get on.’
‘Why should there be?’
‘Because I know something about you that none of the others do. I know what you experienced. It was a situation you could have done nothing about. In some ways it still is. You have to try and organise yourself differently now, ever since it happened. It was a stray shell. It should not have happened.’
‘No it wasn’t,’ Franz said, ‘They thought everybody was out of the area. I shouldn’t have been there.’
‘Well neither should I then.’
Franz glanced at him, ‘No. You shouldn’t.’
‘And you get almost blown to bits and all I did was watched it happen.’
‘You didn’t just watch.’
‘I just wanted to clear the air between us. Mind you in a place like this I’m not sure if it’s possible.’
‘You’re always very confident,’ Franz mentioned, watching the way Steiner’s mouth tightened as he thought how to respond.
‘My God, in our school you have to be or they’d have you in pieces. Imagine Strauss and his bunch of uglies if they thought they’d found a weakness.’
‘So you don’t have any, is that what you’re saying?’
‘Depends what you think of as a weakness.’
‘So do I have to guess?’
‘I thought you already had.’
At that Franz sat back in his chair watching a convoy of military trucks pass by the window.
‘I just wish the whole thing would start,’ he finally said.
Steiner smiled, ‘You should not be so impatient.’
‘Everything feels ready.’
‘We have another year of training yet.’
‘But I feel we’re ready.’
‘To lead?’
‘Yes, to lead, to take responsibility, to be somebody others will follow. I know I’ve missed some of it but I still know that I would be able to do it, all of it.’
‘But who is there to fight now the Ruskies are out of the picture? The Dutch, the French, the Greeks, the Poles? My granny could beat that lot. It would be too easy, far too easy.’
‘But we are trained for
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