Posted As Missing

40. To the Swiss Border

David walked with Maria and Rachel on his arms, following the road which led out of town toward the bridge over the Wutach. As they neared the river, a train slowly rumbled past, heading down the valley. Four locomotives pulled this one, though only two had steam up on the gentle downhill run. The ground quaked as they neared and turned to follow the road beside the tracks.

"That's a heavy one." David sighed. "I'd love to destroy one of the bridges up the valley and stop these trains for a long while."

"I'm sure the vulnerable spots are all heavily guarded," Rachel said. "This is too important a line for them to ignore."

After the last cars had passed, Rachel turned her head. "Back there, where we turned, is the bridge across the Wutach. The border angles away from the river here. That road leads to small farms and ends at the top of the ridge near the border. It's better for us in our current garb and roles to continue down the valley another two kilometres or so to the next bridge near Wutöschingen. From there, a small road leads up over the pass and down into Erzingen."

"How high is the rise to the pass?" David asked.

"It goes up rather steeply about a hundred metres, maybe one twenty, and it's level for a while before it descends toward town and the border post. That's the way we used it early on, before we started taking the shortcut and sneaking across the border. We saved over ten kilometres from home to the rocky rib by taking the straight line."

Half an hour later, they were across the next bridge and well along the narrow road winding up the shallow valley.

"How's the ankle, Mama?" David asked.

"The boot is supporting it well. The cane helps with balance and takes a little of the weight, but much less than before. I'm delighted how quickly it has mended."

"Let me know when you need a break."

"A pee break would be nice – actually, now, because I'm thinking about it. Strange how often that happens." She giggled.

"There's a little grove at the end of this switchback." He pointed up the slope a hundred yards. "Can you last to there?"

"Easily."

They moved in among a few trees and stopped at a large fallen trunk. "This is a delightful little spot," Maria said as she put her handbag on the log and sat.

Rachel turned her back to them, lifted the front of her skirt, and let go a big arching stream.

"I've never done it standing, Mama," Maria said. "I've always sat or squatted."

"It's a useful alternative," Rachel said as she turned back. "The secret is to clear your flaps – hold them apart. Otherwise, it gets messy."

Maria stepped out of her skirt, walked a few paces, and tried it. Looking down at the graceful arc of pale yellow, she laughed and said, "Look, Mama, I can steer this. It's like the tiller on Grandada's sailboats — push it one way, and it goes the other."

"I'm fascinated with these demonstrations," David said, tilting his head. "Until last week, I'd never even thought of women standing to pee."

"Edom suggested I try it," Rachel said. "In the wilds — and in those awful French WCs — it's my favourite."

Maria stepped back into her skirt, buttoned it, and they all sat on the log, passing a canteen to rinse their fingers and then quench their thirsts.

After a quiet minute, David asked, "How was our act back there? Were we convincing?"

Rachel shrugged. "I sensed no suspicion at all. She seemed warm and genuine, and I don't think we gave her any reason to doubt us."

"My feeling too," Maria said. "We came across as a friendly Swiss family. Mama's mix of Unterhallau and Zürich dialect is so convincing because it's so genuine, and yours" — she looked at David — "was wonderfully played."

He chuckled. "I was choking back a laugh, Mama, when you said I was big when I came out and that it took a long time."

"But it's true," Rachel said, smiling with her eyes closed. "Though you were considerably bigger when you went in. And you did take a delightfully long time to come out."

Maria pointed toward the road. "We've seen many out walking in town, and several along the road to Wutöschingen, but only the farmer with the barrow and that young couple since we turned up here. Them, and a few automobiles."

David glanced at his watch. "It's almost half past three, and it looks as though we're a little over halfway to the pass. Shall we press on again, my dear ladies?"

"Let's do it," the girls said in harmony, then giggled.

The steepness of the road eased, and they followed a more gradual bending climb. It continued to ease, and shortly after four, they began slowly descending. Ten minutes later, they rounded a bend and saw Erzingen emerging from behind the slope's shoulder.

As they continued down the hill, Rachel pointed to the soldiers patrolling the field beside them. "Guards make sense – the border is about two hundred metres away. It's that fence. We used to save three kilometres climbing over it. Our first shortcut." She pointed ahead. "The border post is about a kilometre and a half from here, through Erzingen. Those white buildings on the road to the left of town. One German and one Swiss."

The trio continued toward the town, seeing soldiers ranged out all along the border, but none on the road. As they passed the first houses, they met people walking, and in a field, a small group of children played an unidentifiable game with a ball. Life was happening around them.

They continued into town, meeting more people as they went. Rachel returned greetings, and David, now carrying the crutches, tipped his hat to the ladies as he had seen other men do. They felt part of the scene as they arrived in the Hauptstraße and turned left to walk along it.

David looked at his watch. "Twenty past four. That was a lovely day of shopping. Shall we head home?"

"We need a few small parcels to carry with us," Maria said. "Otherwise, we'll look strange returning from shopping with nothing."

"Now who's the careful thinker?" David asked. "That is the kind of detail we need to continue with. What should we get?"

"I'd love a Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte." Maria sighed. "I haven't had any since my last day at the gasthaus. The staff always shared the remains of older ones before they became stale."

"What else is typically bought here?" David asked.

"Cuckoo clocks, bland cheese, wood carvings, kirsch, kitsch, things we don't want ... Wait!" Rachel blurted, "Tante Bethia's Schinken. We used to come over to buy it. I wonder if she still has the little Metzgerei. We can easily find out – it was just along and then a few doors in, to the left."