Rigadoon (11 page)

He talks French, dry and jerky, but clear . . .

"Let me introduce myself, Madame! I have the honor! . . . Captain Hoffmann of the Seventh Engineers . . . and the Marshal's staff . . . which reminds me, gentlemen, have you seen the Marshal? . . . you know, in the second tender . . . Marshal von Lubb! . . ."

"No, Captain. No!"

"Everything's been upset, you see, everything! . . . he was on top of the coke . . . we've dug, all the officers and the engineers . . . he wasn't there . . . or under the coke . . . and the train has to get out of here! . . . the planes will be back . . . we know . . . this time with full bomb loads . . . phosphorus like up there . . . liquid phosphorus."

"Oh, certainly, Captain! you're right!"

"The tunnel will be submerged . . ."

"Obviously."

"The train has to get out of here!"

Yes, but. . .

"The mothers don't want to get back in, Captain . . . they're afraid!"

"So much the better!"

"Anything but this train! . . . they want to go back to Leipzig! on the tracks . . . on the roadbed . . . !"

"So much the better!"

"They had milk in Leipzig! they don't believe in this train any more! they don't believe in Ulm!. . ."

"Yes, of course . . . they can do as they please! but we're leaving! we only have ten minutes . . . look at your watch!"

He lights me up . . . his
torch
. . . I pretend to see . . .

"Oh yes, Captain!"

My watch has no more glass, no more hands . . .

"The men are working on the roadbed . . . take the planes twenty minutes to reload . . . maybe less!"

This Captain Hoffmann isn't kidding himself, he knows the score . . . fuck the mothers and families, let them go back to their Leipzig, their soup, sausages, and Red Cross! . . . in less than twenty minutes the whole place would be a torrent of phosphorus . . .

I ask him what time it is . . . my watch is broken!

"Five to six!"

"Morning or evening?"

"Evening! . . . you'll see! they'll light us up! . . . first . . . you know?. . ."

Did we know! . . . we'd had flares all over! . . . Montmartre! . . . Renault! . . . Bezons! . . . Berlin! pink . . . green . . . blue! there'll be flares at the end of the world! "We'll celebrate," I tell him . . . he's all for it . . .

"With magic lanterns! and fireworks!"

Not the gloomy type, this Captain Hoffmann . . . not unfriendly . . . no, not at all . . . I'd thought he was . . . easy to make a mistake . . . and the Marshal? his Marshal von Lubb? . . . he's stopped talking about him . . . I'm wondering . . . escaped from his tender? hightailing it back to Leipzig? . . . with the Bal-tavians or all alone? . . . we'll find out later . . . for the moment, if the train's really going to leave, we'd better get in . . . maybe the Marshal's car? why not ask? this Captain must be able to . . . I'm thinking about these women, so hell-bent for Leipzig . . . and I'd seen the reception they'd gotten . . . forbidden to leave the train,
verboten!
. . . that's the kind of welcome they'd had! never mind! they wanted to try again! well, in a way we're in luck! . . . the train isn't shaking any more, jumping the track, acting up . . . all aboard! . . . if we get thrown out of one car, we'll try another . . . our captain of engineers seems to be looking for the Marshal . . . questioning the families, the people that weren't able to crawl under the train . . . and head for Leipzig on the other side . . . they haven't seen a thing, how could they, flat on their faces on the roadbed?! . . . ah, the sign from the car! . . . O.K.W.  . . . it's been found! . . . and the plaque with the eagle . . . did the Captain have them under his coat? . . . no! . . . the families picked them up between the tracks . . . the Captain hooks them back onto the car . . . he asks questions . . . he gets answers . . . but nothing anybody can understand . . . mumbo-jumbo . . . Russian, I think . . . must be . . . they're lying down, they don't get up . . . Captain Hoffmann hasn't found von Lubb . . . has he really tried? . . . I'm not so sure . . . he looks in all directions . . . seems to be . . . but he doesn't see us . . . a step, two steps, and here we are! . . . we're in the corridor . . . the whole car's full of glass . . . sharper and meaner than the stones of the roadbed . . . a fakir job! . . . but very slowly,
crunch crunch
. . . we make it. . . say, I know this pad! . . . the Marshal's drawing room . . . empty . . . not a soul! . . . oh yes! on the middle sofa a baby . . . all bundled up . . . about a month old . . . he's not crying . . . one of the mothers put him there . . . I go in and look . . . this kid . . . he's not sick, he's not in pain . . . a healthy infant . . . now what? where's Captain Hoffmann? I call him . . . he comes . . . he was behind us . . .

"Look! . . . but there's no milk . . . no bottle . . ."

I explain . . . is he in command? . . . seems to be . . . I don't see anybody else . . . no time for hesitation . . . if we take the kid, we've got to have milk . . .

"Can he make it to Fürth?"

"How long?"

"Forty miles . . . two hours . . . an hour and a half . . . they've got everything in Fürth! . . . okay?"

"I think so . . . an hour and a half . . ."

All of a sudden he lights us up . . . with his
torch
. . . a very powerful
torch
. . . he takes a good look at us . . . he inspects us, kind of . . . first time he's really looked at us . . . and the first time we'd inspected him . . . are we filthy! . . . all four of us! . . . grimy black! really comical . . . but no time to laugh . . . the planes'd be back, what he'd said, with full loads . . . in ten twelve minutes . . . I ask him again . . .

"Definitely!"

Maybe if this infant didn't have to be entertained till we got to Fürth, he'd make us get out . . . now we're here, we'll stay . . . I've told you this captain spoke French . . . he fills us in, he knows where we are, he's got a map . . . the stretch outside the tunnel, at the exit, hasn't been hit too bad . . . so he says . . . which meant we, the train I mean, could put on steam right away . . . twenty twenty-five m.p.h., as soon as we got out . . . they were filling in the roadbed right now . . . perfect! . . . the three of us settle down with the baby on the Marshal's couch . . .
"kitchie coo!"
that was our job . . . the kid doesn't laugh . . . but he isn't yelling either . . . we haven't anything to change him with . . . he needs it . . . ah, the rest of the officers . . . one by one . . .
crunch crunch
on the glass . . . back to their compartments . . . they believe in Ulm, all they want is for the train to start . . . seeing us in the Marshal's compartment . . . doesn't surprise them, not very much . . . they ask us about the baby . . . is it ours? . . . no! . . . they make up to him . . .
"kitchie coo!"
baby talk knows no country . . . anything goes . . . most of these officers are family men . . . they show us photographs . . . their wives . . . their children . . . nice respectable staff officers . . . I won't ask them any questions . . . where they're from? . . . they'll tell me after a while . . . anyway, I recognize all branches of service, artillery, air force, quartermaster . . . I bet they speak French . . . but right now they don't feel like it . . .or don't dare . . . our captain of engineers dares . . . guess he has permission . . . nobody seems to be missing, they've all come back . . . the whole staff . . . the Marshal? . . . nobody says a word . . . did he fall off the tender? . . . he was sitting on top of the coke . . . not a word out of us! we've been to school! . . . silence is the thing! and getting this train started! . . .
choo! choo!
by golly, we're off! . . . well, pretty near . . . they're trying . . . front . . . and rear. . . there she goes for real! . . .

"Say, aren't we moving?"

"We're out of the tunnel . . ."

"Bravo, Captain!"

I'm not going to start looking doubtful.

"Bravo! . . . bravo! . . ."

It seems they've repaired the roadbed and the planes haven't come back . . .

"They'll be here in five minutes . . ."

He must know.

"We'll be far away!"

I say it good and loud . . . I want them to hear me! as long as it's the O.K.W. car . . . and we're in it! the least we can do is show morale! . . . the baby in between us is laughing . . . anyway trying to . . . good-natured kid, healthy, not a bawler . . . he laughs at our
"kitchie coos"
. . . but what really sends him is when the train starts to move . . . no diapers or towels, no use undressing him . . . what do you know! Lili's rummaging . . . she finds three shirts under a cushion . . . wonder who they belong to? . . . anyway, we're going to change him . . .
"kitchie coo!"
. . . this Captain Hoffmann knows his stuff, if the train isn't blown up we'll be in Fürth about noon . . . forty miles . . . oh, he guarantees nothing! . . . the R.A.F. patrols must have seen us coming out of the tunnel, with our two puffing locomotives front and back, volcanoes of soot . . . if they don't blast us, it means they're not interested! the worst part for us isn't the darkness but the smarting in the eyes and not being able to tell through the window holes whether it's mountains or what . . . at least we're out of the tunnel . . . there must be country outside . . . ah, a bridge! . . . I think . . . the others are just as blind as I am, I mean Lili and Le Vig . . . rubbing their eyes, that makes them worse . . . the Captain has put on his special glasses, gas equipment, he'd known what to expect . . . I ask him . . .

"Was that tunnel long?"

"Two thousand and twelve feet . . ."

"You've got doctors in Fürth?"

"Anything you want in Fürth . . . but first we've got to get there . . ."

"Of course! . . . Of course!"

The tracks seem to be in good shape . . . I suppose the
Marauders
or whatever they are have other fish . . . you can hear them up there, way up . . . we're going downhill . . . pretty fast, I think . . . very fast for us, this train I mean . . . I'm wondering about those Baltavian women and kids hiking back to Leipzig . . .

"You think they're there by now?"

"No!"

Categoric! . . . we're still rolling . . . but slowing down . . . a platform . . . it's Fürth . . . buried in soot! the brakes! . . . a sign . . . sure enough! . . . this station hasn't been hit . . . I don't think . . .
Wartesaal
. . . waiting room . . . I'm blinking pretty bad, but I see it! I'm sure . . . I ask the others, they see it too . . . ah, nurses! . . . right there . . . the minute we stop . . . Captain Hoffmann wants service! . . .

"Schnell! Schnell!"

Our pollywog . . . on the sofa! . . . Lili picks him up and hands him to me . . . and I pass him on to a deaconess . . . must be . . . you know, one of their Protestant nuns . . . Leipzig must have notified them . . . and here they are! . . . they wrap him up and take him away! . . . another good sign! . . . a whole pile of sandwiches! for us . . . bottles of beer! . . . like a pilgrimage to Chartres . . . or Lourdes . . . well, not exactly, but something like . . . Salvation! . . . everything we need! you couldn't call it anything else! . . . salvation for the coke engines and the O.K.W. staff!

"Doctor!"

The Captain wants a word with me . . . in private! . . . I follow him . . . we wade through the broken glass . . . the corridor . . . next car . . . and then another . . . here we are, the compartment he was looking for . . . empty . . .

"Something to tell you, Doctor! . . . my comrades . . . the other officers wanted to throw you out, you and your friend the actor. . ."

"I understand, Captain . . . I'm very grateful to you . . ."

He wasn't telling me anything new . . . being a leper has its good side, you don't have to be polite to anybody, wherever you show yourself they throw you out, which suits you fine! . . . I'd seen the lepers in Rostock, how happy they were to be yanked out of their snow piles and sent . . . step lively now! . . . to other snow piles!

"Captain Hoffmann, I'm very grateful to you . . ."

"Yes, but . . . now I have a favor to ask you . . . in return . . ."

"Why, of course! . . . only too glad!"

"Splendid! . . . we, the whole staff, you see . . . we'll be getting out at Augsburg . . . two armies for the Ukraine . . . being reorganized in Augsburg . . . didn't you know?"

"No, Captain! certainly not!"

"The three of you and your cat will take the Ulm train . . . immediately! . . . sonderzug . . . understand? the one the Baltavians were supposed to take . . . you'll have plenty of room! . . . four cars! . . . empty! Augsburg hasn't been destroyed yet . . . listen carefully now! . . . about an hour to Ulm . . . you'll arrive in time for the funeral . . ."

"Ah?"

"A military funeral! . . . General Rommel . . . of no interest to you . . ."

Rommel? . . . never heard of him!

". . . but somebody'll be there . . . pay close attention . . . a name I must ask you to remember . . . Marshal Rundstedt! . . . don't write it down, just remember it . . . Marshal Rundstedt! . . . and one more name: Lemmelrich . . . he's only a captain . . . a captain like me . . . he's on Rundstedt's staff . . . you'll remember? . . . Lemmelrich? . . . I can count on you? . . ."

"Oh, certainly, Captain!"

"Well, then . . . you'll find Lemmelrich . . . you'll recognize him . . . it's easy in church . . . a captain . . . my type . . . tall, lean, gray . . . just one sentence . . . 'your daughter in Berlin is better' . . . that's all . . . he won't answer . . . you'll say it in French: 'your daughter in Berlin is better' . . . he'll understand . . ."