The Bell of Time

Chapter 5: Der Weg Zur Holle

Several months later...

It has now been 1 year and 1 month since we "arrived" and I must say that it is very hot at the end of August at the beginning of September 1939, in any case it is not the heatwave of 2003. Over the days and weeks we gradually integrated into the population and got used to the habits and customs of the time and of the city which looks more like a village. Given that Mr Dubois (this is the last name of Germain, the patriarch, and all three of us think that he is Serena's ancestor, but nothing is less certain because the coincidence is still incredible) . Given that Germain has the trust of the residents, after a few months he managed to get us false papers with the complicity of a town hall employee. The lapse of time was necessary for the lie of the distant cousins ​​to take hold and everything ended up returning "to normal", we were part of the decor.I was helping Paul, Kerven and Matt feed the cattle, that is to say Mr Germain's sheep after several hours of shearing which took us all afternoon. While Lucien and Pierrette were playing ball, and their mother, Marie, was busy in the kitchen; Mr. Dubois came running back, both happy and afraid. We said to ourselves that that's it, he had managed to get false papers from the prefecture via the town hall as agreed and thinking about it, we were still incredibly lucky not to have been raided. police officer here, as if there is a shield in the scenario that protects us. But once again, I digress. Germain therefore returned to the farm and announced: "Boys, I have good news and bad news! The good thing is that I have your papers, everything is in order and you have names from our country! »"So what's the bad news?" » launched Paul."Good God Paul; let me finish my sentences don't cut me! he said, running out of breath. I said: the good one is the papers in order, the bad one is the Boches, they are making troop movements in Eastern Europe according to Le Figaro. Your predictions... what you told me seems to be right; We are heading towards an escalation of tensions and it is not about to stop! »Paul let out a sigh because he knew what war meant after hearing his father's stories about the war in the trenches. Lucien let out a cry of joy, because for him the detonations of the weapons were like a kind of game, the person targeted was not really dead. Marie knew what this meant and looked sad while thinking about the fact that she had to let the two men leave the house towards certain death, knowing that the flower with the gun was not there this time. Pierrette looked at the people around her and something in her eyes changed, which was noticed by everyone. We then approached our false papers to inspect our new identities and to admire our photos taken by a photographer who was also an accomplice, devices of this type being much less accessible than today. The papers were distributed to everyone and comments came from all sides. I was treated to some rather teasing remarks from Lucien who pointed out that I had a big nose in the photo. Blushing with shame and to change the target, I decided to tell Lucien that Matt's short cut was so bad that we could have consecrated him to God in a minute by making him become a monk. The main person concerned, once everyone had had a good laugh and had ended up turning their backs to go about their business, ended up waving at me with the middle finger in a rather provocative way. I cannot describe it here because it would shock his brother monks once he was admitted to the convent. But enough chatter, because we also have new first names with a last name, give it to you in three times a thousand, Dubois. Our first names are rather exotic from our point of view. But this would be enough for the deception on which our plan works to last for quite a long time. Kerven's name is Justin, Matt's name is Léon and as for me it's Georges. We also asked ourselves the question of finding an equally misleading answer. With Germain we agreed to make people believe that we had been born at Salpêtrière shortly after our father left for the trenches, that he had left his life there, that our mother had become a drunkard. before finally abandoning us. We would have ended up becoming members of the "Apache", young bandits from the beginning of the century, but not being part of the big guns and feeling idle, we would have ended up leaving the capital with the intention of becoming honest boys farm at our "uncle's" house. We then ended up concluding that the mess created by the war and that the labyrinth of Paris and its suburbs would drown the fish. After that and having finished all the work on the farm, we gathered to taste a leg of lamb which was Marie's flagship specialty, and after having had a good meal we all went to bed wishing ourselves see you later. Marie, Germain and Pierrette slept together in the upstairs bedroom while Lucien, Paul, Kerven, Matt and I slept in the one in the attic. And I see you coming. Was it cold? Not even, because the overlays of straw and wool guaranteed us almost total protection (nothing is perfect). The height of luxury resided in our bed because in addition to having a wooden bed base which did not creak (first time this has happened to me) we had a mattress filled with goose feathers which was so soft that we felt would be believed in an Ikea exhibition hall. That being said, we had conversations about each other's stories with the concierge gossip that goes with it, with Lucien in the middle who listened once again without understanding anything then we stopped chatting when Kerven started to snore even more loud as a bell ringer. And the night passed without incident. The next day, up at 8 a.m. with a breakfast consisting of a slice of buttered baguette and a bowl of milk, we resumed our usual work this time in the company not only of Paul but also of Lucien, having entered his tenth year . Germain then deemed it necessary to teach him how to shear sheep, and there were a few left before winter who still had their wool on their backs, something which was not easy because of their incessant movements. Once the work was finished at the end of the morning, we feasted on carrots and potatoes. Then Germain took all the boys aside, except Lucien, who was too small for a rather special task. We gathered in a field annexed to the farm in a field stretched in length, but not in width. Germain then told us to wait here for a few minutes and returned with intriguing objects wrapped in a large canvas. He took out a Lebel Model 1886 rifle and an Ordonance Model 1892 revolver, and looked us straight in the eye: "Gentlemen, I know that the war is not far away and I think it is time to teach you how to shoot rifles and revolvers. I bring this to you because I want to give you a little head start on military service. According to Matt, the invasion will be rapid so the service will necessarily be short. Finally, you understand. Paul, you know how to do it, I'll let you show them the uses." Paul stammered and asked his father to stay, which he did reluctantly because he probably had other things to do. It was then that I asked Germain where these weapons came from. He gave me the following response: "The hunting rifle that you saw first is an inheritance from my father, the Lebel rifle is quite simply the rifle that I used when I was a lieutenant in the trenches; and the revolver... it was my captain who gave it to me, Captain Armand. It was a day in 1916 in Verdun.