Seacliff

Chapter sixty-five: Norwegian woods

1940

Knee-deep in snow under the Northern Lights, Aidan felt the cold in his bones for the first time in his life. He looked around at his mates struggling to keep up. If he was freezing, he couldn't even begin to imagine how they felt.

"Should we stop for a break?" he asked Ryan, the lad nearest to him.

Their small group had been separated from the rest of the battalion under heavy German fire. They were marching back towards the coast now, to hopefully find Narvik and reunite with their company.

"I suppose we could rest our feet for a minute," Ryan answered. "Not long, though, else they'll freeze off. Better to keep the blood moving in this cold."

Aidan nodded. He stopped walking and the others halted behind him. As a newly-minted corporal, he was the highest-ranking member of the crew and thus, commanding officer by default.

"Let's rest for a bit," he said. "I... I don't know if we'll be able to make camp out here, unless we stumble across a dwelling..."

The men's despondent faces made Aidan regret saying that out loud. They all knew theirs was a lost cause already and didn't need to hear him say it.

"Seriously, Mortimer, who died and made you corporal?"

Aidan's senior by a few good years, Lance Corporal Leary never failed to express his resentment towards their impromptu leader.

"I keep asking myself the same damn thing, Leary." Aidan's fingers felt under the collar of his shirt for the tree-of-life pendant and the miniature Cailleach. "It is what it is."

Leary scoffed, using his rifle for a crutch as he sat down. The Irishman had every right to be displeased. Aidan was a newcomer, and a young one at that, whose promotion had been an accident.

The colonel had offered him a deal with the devil. He could either go back to his unit, to Jemmy, and let the deserter get court-martialed. Or accept a transfer to the Irish Guards to replace the deserter, who would subsequently be discharged without a fuss.

Aidan's bleeding heart had settled the matter for him. His corporal anointment followed shortly before his deployment to Norway – Sir Alexander had tried once again to free his grandson from service, but the colonel had refused and made him an officer instead. Far from a fair trade and now Aidan had to live with the unforeseen consequences of his choice.

"Whatcha got there, Mortimer?" Leary asked, intruding on Aidan's reminiscences.

Aidan pried his eyes from the coloured lights dancing across the sky. "Oh, it's..." He glanced at the pendants in his palm. "It's a Crann Bethadh and a Cailleach. A friend carved them out for me, to remind me of home."

"How sweet," Leary mocked.

"At least I've got friends," Aidan retorted. "No one likes you, Leary, and you know it."

Leary chortled. "Oh, I know it." The man heaved himself up. "At least I won't be makin' no one cry once me bollocks freeze off in these mountains."

*

They were close to the sea, Aidan could smell it, but he didn't know how to reassure the men without spooking them. Hopelessness eroded their will to live with every painful step they took through stacks of snow. Even Leary had quietened down of late.

"We're almost there," Aidan mumbled. "Not long now."

As soon as he said it, he heard something else that made his heart lurch. Twigs snapping in the distance.

"What was that?" Ryan whispered.

The men slowed down to a halt, readying their rifles. Snippets of conversation carried on the wind. Aidan's ears, keener than his mates', picked up on the German words.

"Shit," he spat.

Leary eyed him suspiciously. "What now, Corporal?"

Aidan fought to steady his breathing. All eyes were on him, awaiting his command. The scared faces peering back at him reminded him of the crying 'coward' he'd saved at the London barracks. Deep down, all sane men were cowards. They all wanted to go back home.

"Reckon that's our boys closing in?" Leary added.

Aidan shook his head.

"No," Leary grumbled. "Didn't think so..."

That righteousness took hold of him again. If he died here, then at least he'd earn his rank. No matter what, he'd get his men out.

"I'll hold them off," Aidan blurted. A slew of disbelieving stares replaced the fear in the men's faces. "Keep going west, the sea's not far. I'll... I'll buy you some time. Lance Corporal Leary, you've got your wish. You're in charge now."

"Are you sure, Corporal?"

"Yes. I'll..." His heartbeat thudded in his ears. Made him pause for breath. "I'll catch up."

Leary's hardened gaze disagreed. He didn't voice his thoughts, however. "All right, lads," he said instead, "you heard the corporal."

Aidan swallowed the knot of tension clogging his throat. He shook hands with Leary. Ryan squeezed his shoulder. The other lads nodded solemnly at him.

Then he ran east as fast as his legs could carry him.