Had a Russian plane dropped a bomb in the clearing at that moment it could not have caused a greater consternation among Gregory's listeners.
"But you can't, darling! " Erika exclaimed. "We're snowed up here."
"Of course he can't " Angela supported her. "We don’t even know the way to the nearest village and it may be fifty miles away. He'd be frozen to death long before he got there."
Freddie sat silent with a strained look on his face. The girls continued their chorus of protest, but it was clear that their arguments were not having the least effect on Gregory and when at last they petered out in a miserable silence Freddie said:
"I do understand now, old chap, how important this thing is. From what you said it's quite' clear that by making any premature peace we should only be falling into Hitler's trap, and it's got to be a fight to the finish. I doubt if one of us could get through alone, but two of us might, and I'd willingly come with you if only there was some way in which we could leave the girls with a reasonable hope that they could remain here in safety."
There was an awful' silence as Angela stared at him wide eyed, but Gregory said at once: "I'll manage somehow, Freddie; you must stay and look after them."
Erika sighed. "You know, we've been very happy here; but fate didn't mean our happiness to continue. It couldn't with everything which we hold dear in the world at stake; and when the thaw came we should have felt drawn back anyhow. I don't believe that Gregory could get through alone, either, and I think I should be tempted to kill myself if I had to stay on here not knowing what had happened to him. But if we all went we could take the sleigh, drive and sleep by turns, collect wood to make fires when we have to halt and cook meals."
Angela nodded. "I know that Freddie feels he ought to go; and although I suppose we could manage for ourselves I'm not staying without him. Besides, it's up to us as much as the men to stop the Nazi terror bringing misery to countless people all over the world, and we've learnt to do so much in these last two months that I'm sure we should be a help rather than a hindrance."
"Very well, then," Gregory said quietly. "I wouldn't allow any of you to budge from here if I didn't know that your coming with me would enormously increase my chances of getting back to civilization with these grimy bits of paper. But as you're game to risk death with me I accept your offer. We start to morrow,"
Once the decision had been taken they began their preparations immediately. It was important that the sleigh should be kept as light as possible, in order not to overburden the horses, so they made out a list of things they might require, carefully assessing the value of each item before deciding to take it with them. Fur rugs to keep out the devastating cold, spades for digging the sleigh out if it got stuck in a snowdrift, hatchets for
chopping wood to make fires, paraffin with which to light them easily, and arms for their protection, were all essential. The rest of the load was to consist of various utensils and food and fodder enough to last them a week.
Having completed their list they turned in and went to sleep wondering uneasily where the following night would find them; but they were all up early the next morning and, concealing the anxiety which they could not help feeling under a rather forced gaiety, they set to loading the sleigh.
Over breakfast their light small talk petered out and it was a very silent party that harnessed the horses to the troika half an hour later. They had many regrets at leaving their Arctic refuge and little elation at the prospect that in a few days they might be back in civilization again. Between them and safety lay the possibility of capture by the Russians or worse of their getting lost in the limitless forests and dying from cold and hunger.
It was still dark when they started and Freddie, who had taken the reins for the first spell, drove the troika in a zigzag course between the trees to avoid the great snow covered barrier they had erected across the track. The road was now only a big snow filled gully between the two masses of trees, but in its centre, where there were no drifts, the surface was even and hard enough for the horses to trot on without burying their hooves further than the fetlocks.
Freddie turned the sleigh to the right on reaching the road as it had been decided to head towards Petsamo until they could find a side road leading west, in the direction of the frontier. Apart from losing their way their main danger lay in the possibility of running into Russian detachments which might be patrolling that section of the broken battle front, but owing to the rigours of the climate such detachments must be rare, so they hoped to get through unchallenged.
If they managed to get back into Finnish territory there was still a risk that the two men might be arrested for murder, but over two months had elapsed since the charge had been brought against them and the Finnish police must since have had a multitude of more urgent matters to attend to. Unless they had the unlikely misfortune of running into Monsieur Wuolijoki, or the. Chief of Police himself, they did not feel that they had to worry very much on that score; particularly as they had no intention or trying to get back to Helsinki but meant to strike across Northern Finland into Norway.
Resting the horses for ten minutes in each hour they drove for three hours but during all that time they saw no sign of a side road leading to the west; so Gregory decided that they had better enter the next wide break among the trees where they could strike west across country. Half an hour later they turned left along a clearing which penetrated the forest as far as they could see, finding little difference between the snow covered grassland and the snow covered surface of the road.
As they advanced the clearing widened until the trees had fallen back a mile or more on either side of them; but after another hour the ground became broken and uneven, which slowed up the pace of the horses. Ten minutes later they became stuck in a snowdrift. They soon had the sleigh free and the work of digging it out warmed them; but they were not so pleased at having to exert themselves when it got stuck again a hundred yards further on.
In the next hour they had to dig the sleigh out of snowdrifts six times and in their heavy furs it was a wearing business, but at last they struck hard snow and were able to move on again at a decent pace.
The short day was now over and full dusk had come when they reached a barrier of forest lying right across their path, where the trees were so thick that it was impossible for the sleigh to be driven between them. Gregory said that they must turn south but that as long as it was dark they might pass another gap in the trees by which they could get further westward; whereas they would later have the moon which would be full that night to light their way; so their best course was to eat and afterwards sleep for a few hours.
Having put on the horses' nosebags and rugged them up they made a meal of a portion of the cooked food they had brought with them; then snuggled down together under the furs in the sleigh, burying themselves under the great heap to keep in the warmth as much as possible.
At ten o'clock they roused up and set off again, driving south along the edge of the forest until a clearing opened in it. Turning west they drove on in a zigzag course from clearing to clearing, or sometimes across broad stretches of open land, until one o'clock in the morning.
They had reached another impasse and Gregory felt that, even allowing for the evening halt, enough had been asked of the horses in one day. In the clear Arctic night with a moon only occasionally hidden by scudding clouds they proceeded to form a camp. The men collected and cut branches while the girls got a fire going and it was soon blazing well enough for them to melt snow in saucepans for drinking water for themselves and the horses. They had to wait a little until part of it had died down sufficiently for them to cook on. By making a separate pile of part of the red embers Angela was able to heat up some tins of soup and warm up some coffee. After they had eaten they piled the fire high with all the branches they could find and, curling up in the sleigh, went to sleep.