At ten o'clock they went out again and found to their dismay that the Russians were still passing. It looked as though, having failed to break the Finnish front on the Karelian Isthmus or cut through Finland 's waist line, it had now been decided to send heavy reinforcements north with a view to attempting a break through there.
As it was the shortest day in the year the sun was not due to rise until nearly eleven o'clock and would set again shortly after one; but if troops were still marching by during those two hours it seemed that there was real danger that when the column made one of its periodical halts to give the men and horses a breather some of the troops would see the house and come over to it in the hope of a free meal. They might be content with a meal but, on the other hand, they might not; and Freddie had very vivid memories of the fate that had overtaken the unfortunate Finnish family, probably in very similar circumstances, on the first day of the war; so he decided to evacuate.
Putting out the fire, they harnessed the horses and dogs to the sleighs, filled them with their most treasured possessions, including all their furs and a supply of food, and drove half a mile further from the road, deep in the obscurity of the surrounding woods. Freddie then returned to within a hundred yards of the house to see if any of the troops paid it a visit.
By the time he had, taken up his position daylight was filtering through the snow covered larches. After waiting there for half an hour he moved nearer to the road so that he could get another look at the passing column. The soldiers were all clad in the ordinary Soviet uniform greatcoats and the pointed caps; only a few of the officers were wearing furs; so it looked as if the men were in for a pretty tough time of it with nothing but indifferent quality cloth to protect them from the Arctic cold. Freddie noted too that they were not even wearing white overalls so, unless they had them in their kit, they would present a very easy target against the snow for the Finnish sharp shooters.
As he studied the passing faces more intently, however, he saw that the men were not European Russians but, apparently, all Asiatics; so it seemed that the Soviet Generals were bringing divisions from their far eastern provinces to fight upon this northern front where they would be no more handicapped by the rigors of the climate than the local inhabitants, as the villages from which these Asiatic Russians came must lie under snow for half the year.
It was about twelve o'clock when his fears of a visitation materialized; and it did not prove to be just a few soldiers casually taking advantage of a halt to go to the house in the hope of a warm by the fire and a hot drink. Leaving the road where the track joined it an officer led the, way towards the clearing, followed by about half a company of troops and six heavily loaded wagons, as though by arrangement. While the officer and some of his men went into the house the wagons drew up outside it and the rest of the party began to unload them. Some of them contained machines which Freddie made out to be petrol engines and large circular saws. In considerable dismay he returned to the others to report what he had seen.
"I'm afraid I've got bad news," he said. "They're in the house and it's no casual visit. About eighty of them have deliberately taken the place over. It may have been marked on their maps or noted down by somebody who's been along the road on a reconnaissance. Anyhow, it looks as if they mean to use the clearing as a lumber camp for cutting pit props to use in their dug outs and gun emplacements on this new front they're forming."
"That sounds pretty bad," said Angela. "It means that we won't be able to get back into the house to night, as we'd planned."
"If Freddie's right we won't be able to go back at all," said Erika gloomily. "It means we're orphans of the storm once more."
"Let's all go and have a look what they're up to," Angela suggested. "Perhaps Freddie's wrong, and when they've cut enough fuel to supply their regiment for the night they'll move on again."
Returning like ghosts flitting through the silent trees they soon reached a position where they could observe the Russians and, as they lay there watching, their spirits sank to zero. Eight tents had now been erected in the clearing; the fire in the house had been got going again, as they could see by the smoke coming from its chimney. Four petrol engines had been hauled into position and the big circular saws were adjusted to them. Three squads of men with axes were already at work chopping down the nearest trees; and while some hacked away at the branches with machetes others hauled the tree trunks towards the saws for cutting into suitable lengths.
When darkness fell the little party was still gloomily watching, although all of them had realized that there was no hope of the Russians moving on that night. They were once more homeless and fireless in the great frozen north. They had the sleigh and their furs, but to sleep in the open meant risking frost bite; and if they moved on, where in those grim endless, forests could they hope to find shelter?
Chapter XXIII
The Women's War
ERIKA was already shivering with cold. "Come on," she said despondently, "let's get back to the sleigh."
Without a word the others followed her through the gathering darkness in miserable dejection.
Among the things which they had brought with them was a hay box containing a big stoppered can full of hot coffee. It was still warm when they broached it and after a drink they all felt a little more physical well being but no less depressed. During the three weeks they had lived in the house they had made many expeditions with Bimbo, which had given them an opportunity to explore the surrounding country, but on none of them had they found any sign of human habitation. They were faced once more with the same horrible dilemma that they had come up against a few hours before they had first found their refuge. Should they drive back towards Petsamo, where they would now be quite certain to fall into the hands of the Soviet troops? Or should they follow the road south east which would take them into Russia, where they would just as certainly be arrested and thrown into the local jail when they reached the first Russian village?
Angela's deep blue eyes sparkled angrily in her pale face. "What I couldn’t t do to these filthy Russians " she exclaimed. "Surely there's some way in which we could turn them out of our little home. We've all been so happy there."
Freddie shook his head. "We've got our rifles, darling, and I daresay Gregory and I could pot a few; but that would only be like stirring up a hornets' nest. Two of us couldn't possibly tackle eighty of them."
"Nobody but a lunatic would expect you to, my hero," she said sarcastically. "I meant that you should use that marvellous brain of yours to think up some way of getting rid of them."
Freddie remained quite unruffled by her taunt. He knew perfectly well that brains were not his long suit and he did not mind admitting it. "You've got a better head than I have," he replied at once, "so you do the thinking and I'll carry out any plan you like to suggest."
Erika looked hopefully at Gregory for a second, then quickly away again. She felt certain that if his brain had been functioning properly he would have hatched some clover scheme in no time but, although he had got back scores of pieces of miscellaneous knowledge since he had lost his memory, his brain was still incapable of constructive thought.
He was just standing there with a look of childish interest in his eyes; obviously willing to accept anything that anybody else might plan but totally unable to plan anything himself His face, which so openly portrayed the crippled state of that once swift and brilliant mind, wrung her heart with pity to such an extent that she could think of nothing else just then. She found it impossible to focus her own mind on the problem of producing any scheme which might save them from freezing to death that night or, at best, a terrible journey through the snows which would end in their capture.