work the land, and so he did what he wanted—he left.”
“I’m sorry, Dominic, I didn’t mean to . . .”
He waved a hand.
“No, it’s all right. We did fine without him. From what Momma said, he wasn’t much help anyway.”
We walked on for quite a while in silence. Up ahead, a peak loomed larger as we approached. It was our compass point. The old man said that we should walk straight toward it. It was difficult to see too far ahead because the land rose and dipped so frequently. We couldn’t get a real glimpse of what lay ahead until we topped the jagged and unpredictable hills.
We climbed a constantly shifting hill of soft clay, small rocks, and thick stands of juniper bushes. Dominic went over the top first and when I followed him, reaching the bottom, I crashed into his back. We both went down in a heap and when we stood up, there was the parachute on the ground, wrapped in its thick fabric.
There were animal tracks around it, but for the most part nothing seemed disturbed. The depression in which the parachute lay was guarded on both sides by the steep banks, and the thick grass, along with shadow, made the bright yellow less visible. It was easy to understand why it had gone unnoticed for this amount of time.
From the way the parachute sat on the ground, it looked like the cylindrical metal tube containing the cargo had cracked on a rock and shattered into many pieces. Boxes were strewn around the small depression. Several had split open, and one had spilled cartons of American cigarettes onto the ground.
Dominic turned to me.
“I’ll start bundling these things together. Go back and get your father. Hurry. The German lookouts keep an eye out for these, and they will have sent a search party. We have to assume we don’t have much time.”
C HAPTER TWENTY-ONE
I topped out on the first rise, the one Dominic and I had fallen down together, and looked back toward where we had left Papa. I felt a small surge of fear; I hadn’t paid close enough attention to where we were going when I walked with Dominic. I was too busy thinking about him, about his hands, and lips. Stop! I told myself. It was time to concentrate, to find Papa, get the goods from the parachute, and then get to the cabin.
Working my way back, I hurried, hoping to find him and get back as soon as possible. I had never seen anything like the cargo inside the parachute! All that food! There was enough flour in that barrel to feed a family for a year. Not to mention the goodies: the coffee, the cigarettes, and the chocolate! Oh! I felt like telling Dominic and Papa to keep everything, but give me the chocolate.
Soon, it was necessary to slow down. I realized that, in addition to not paying enough attention while walking to the parachute, I was now walking the same path but this time going in the opposite direction, which changed everything. All the landmarks were different. The rock piles looked different; the trees stood out at opposite angles. And when I looked back, even that didn’t help.
With each hill, I stood and scanned the land before me. But with many rises and depressions in the field, Papa could easily remain hidden. He had said he would search nearby then rest and wait, but that if he had the strength, he would follow our line and meet us coming back. Now I was starting to have my doubts. The fear that had been seeping into my stomach now started bubbling, like a pot of water heating to a boil.
Finally, I began waving my arms at each of these higher outcroppings and at last, I received an answering wave, slightly off to the right of where I was headed. Was he off course or was I?
Carefully marking my spot with a small pile of sticks, I raced toward the waving arms. I knew Papa would be so happy and so proud. There would be a celebration at the cabin tonight; that was certain. And it was something Dominic and I had found together. There was something I liked about the sound of “together” being used in the same
“I’m sorry, Dominic, I didn’t mean to . . .”
He waved a hand.
“No, it’s all right. We did fine without him. From what Momma said, he wasn’t much help anyway.”
We walked on for quite a while in silence. Up ahead, a peak loomed larger as we approached. It was our compass point. The old man said that we should walk straight toward it. It was difficult to see too far ahead because the land rose and dipped so frequently. We couldn’t get a real glimpse of what lay ahead until we topped the jagged and unpredictable hills.
We climbed a constantly shifting hill of soft clay, small rocks, and thick stands of juniper bushes. Dominic went over the top first and when I followed him, reaching the bottom, I crashed into his back. We both went down in a heap and when we stood up, there was the parachute on the ground, wrapped in its thick fabric.
There were animal tracks around it, but for the most part nothing seemed disturbed. The depression in which the parachute lay was guarded on both sides by the steep banks, and the thick grass, along with shadow, made the bright yellow less visible. It was easy to understand why it had gone unnoticed for this amount of time.
From the way the parachute sat on the ground, it looked like the cylindrical metal tube containing the cargo had cracked on a rock and shattered into many pieces. Boxes were strewn around the small depression. Several had split open, and one had spilled cartons of American cigarettes onto the ground.
Dominic turned to me.
“I’ll start bundling these things together. Go back and get your father. Hurry. The German lookouts keep an eye out for these, and they will have sent a search party. We have to assume we don’t have much time.”
C HAPTER TWENTY-ONE
I topped out on the first rise, the one Dominic and I had fallen down together, and looked back toward where we had left Papa. I felt a small surge of fear; I hadn’t paid close enough attention to where we were going when I walked with Dominic. I was too busy thinking about him, about his hands, and lips. Stop! I told myself. It was time to concentrate, to find Papa, get the goods from the parachute, and then get to the cabin.
Working my way back, I hurried, hoping to find him and get back as soon as possible. I had never seen anything like the cargo inside the parachute! All that food! There was enough flour in that barrel to feed a family for a year. Not to mention the goodies: the coffee, the cigarettes, and the chocolate! Oh! I felt like telling Dominic and Papa to keep everything, but give me the chocolate.
Soon, it was necessary to slow down. I realized that, in addition to not paying enough attention while walking to the parachute, I was now walking the same path but this time going in the opposite direction, which changed everything. All the landmarks were different. The rock piles looked different; the trees stood out at opposite angles. And when I looked back, even that didn’t help.
With each hill, I stood and scanned the land before me. But with many rises and depressions in the field, Papa could easily remain hidden. He had said he would search nearby then rest and wait, but that if he had the strength, he would follow our line and meet us coming back. Now I was starting to have my doubts. The fear that had been seeping into my stomach now started bubbling, like a pot of water heating to a boil.
Finally, I began waving my arms at each of these higher outcroppings and at last, I received an answering wave, slightly off to the right of where I was headed. Was he off course or was I?
Carefully marking my spot with a small pile of sticks, I raced toward the waving arms. I knew Papa would be so happy and so proud. There would be a celebration at the cabin tonight; that was certain. And it was something Dominic and I had found together. There was something I liked about the sound of “together” being used in the same
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