Snow now covered Schruns and the surrounding mountains. The ski resorts remained open, although there were few tourists. When he could, Ralph continued putting his speakers on the balcony. He smoked his black cigarettes, drank vodka and played Beethoven and Sibelius's Finlandia loud enough to carry across the valley.
Meanwhile, he continued longing and looking for a way out.
Ralph had met other Eastern Europeans in Schruns who, like him, wanted to get farther west before the Red Army arrived. Eventually they found a guide who said he could take them through the mountains into Switzerland. The price would take nearly all of Ralph's remaining money but he agreed.
“We have to travel at night,” the guide told them. “Cloud cover is better. When the moon is out, you can see too much on the snow.”
Eleven people were supposed to meet at a lodge on the western edge of town. Nine showed up -- a Latvian family of five, a young Lithuanian couple, Ralph and an older man traveling alone.
“My sisters were afraid,” the older man said. “They're not coming.”
Ralph shook his head and muttered something under his breath.
Their guide was a thin man wearing a white parka. He looked over the group. None of them was dressed in white. “Good thing there's no moon tonight,” he said.
Then he held out his hand toward Ralph.
“What?”
“The others have already paid.”
Ralph took an envelope from his pocket and handed it to him. “It's all there.”
The guide tucked it away. “Time to go.”
Then he looked again at Ralph and his bad leg. “You can do this?”
“I've been dragging this leg around since I was three,” Ralph said. “I can probably climb better than you. And I'm a hell of a skier.”
The guide turned and started up the trail.
They climbed through the darkness, stopping occasionally so those in the rear could catch up. The Lithuanian couple had difficulty maintaining the pace.
The children in the Latvian family were young teenagers. When they began talking among themselves, the guide stopped them.
“No talking.”
Eventually they reached a ridge and the guide raised his hand.
“Stay here.”
There was a road ahead. He told them he would go first to make certain it was clear. The others waited among the trees. After a few minutes, the guide appeared between two banks of snow and waved them forward.
“Hurry.”
They crossed the road and entered the trees on the other side.
The climb became steeper. Everyone was breathing harder now, and the stops became more frequent.
“Can we rest?” the Lithuanian man asked.
“Do you want to turn back?” the guide said.
The man said nothing.
“Wait here. There's another road ahead. I'll see if it's clear.”
The guide disappeared up the trail.
The Latvian family huddled together beneath the trees. Ralph stood by himself and began to shiver. He had no parka and wasn't dressed for this kind of cold.
Someone appeared above them. It wasn't the guide. It was a man carrying a rifle. The older man who had come without his sisters turned and broke into a run downhill through the trees. The gun barked twice and the man fell into the snow.
A German soldier shouted at the others. Ralph understood enough German to know what he was saying. There was nowhere to go.
Two more soldiers appeared, ordering the group up toward the ridge where two military vehicles were waiting.
CONTINUED HERE
RELATED
UPROOTED: Intro and Part One
UPROOTED: Part Two
UPROOTED: Part Three
UPROOTED: Part Four
UPROOTED: Part Five
UPROOTED: Part Six
UPROOTED: Part Seven
UPROOTED: Part Eight
UPROOTED: Part Nine
UPROOTED: Part Ten
UPROOTED: Part Eleven
Illustration by Grok
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