Oskar let out a breath relieved. He didn’t realize he had been holding it, “Very good, I have a funeral in the morning. The Heikkinen’s lost their eldest son in the fighting. I’m giving a service tomorrow morning here in the sanctuary.”
“What time is the burial? We can have the wedding after that.” Jenna asked.
Oskar stuttered a bit as he said, “There wo- won’t be a burial. According to the army, there.” He paused a moment steeling himself to say the words, “There wasn’t anything left of him to send home.”
Hale’s mother and Nea simultaneously turned white as sheets before Raynar said, “I see. Then the afternoon would be good?”
Oskar nodded, “Yes, any time after two o’clock should be fine. Will there be many in attendance?”
Hale opened up his arms to indicate the people around him, “Just my family and Nea’s. We don’t have much time to put together a large wedding. I’m due back to the front in a week.”
“Very good then. I’ll see you tomorrow, at two o’clock.” Oskar replied.
“Two o’clock it is. Thank you, sir.” Hale replied.
The family turned and left the little sanctuary. Outside, the wind had picked up and the biting cold made everyone pull their coats closer. The village was cast in a golden light as the Sun hung low on the western horizon creating long shadows.
Without warning a dull wale began to sound from the center of the village. The warbling alarm, faint at first, grew louder as it sped up faster and faster. Reacting to the warning, the villagers scrambled for cover.
“What’s that noise?” Nea asked.
“It’s an air raid siren!” Hale exclaimed. “We must find shelter.”
The sound of an air craft engine droning could be heard. Hale glanced up into the sky and saw a plane diving toward the main street of the village, “We’ve got to get Liv off the street or we are going to lose her!”
Raynar, turned and looked at Hale, “Untie her and lead her to safety. I’ll take care of the women.”
Hale turned and ran toward Liv who was tied to a post in front of the church. As he reached the animal, the noise of the air craft shifted and became higher pitched. As he worked to unbuckle her from the sleigh, he stole a quick glance over his shoulder. He spotted the approaching plane. Like everything else the Russians owned, the fighter was painted a dull and drab olive green. Each wing on the airplane sported a large red star.
The aircraft was diving straight toward the main street of the village. I’ve got to hurry! The pilot lined up his aircraft up perfectly with the main boulevard of Perjarvi. It almost seemed as if he was going trying to land the plane on the road. Hale stole another glance as he began working to untie Liv from the post, he noticed that the edges of the wings would just fit between the structures that lined main street.
As Hale finished with the knot and pulled Liv free of the post, the plane began to fire. Bullets struck the ground a few hundred feet down the street from Hale scattering those still in the street. The young sniper pulled hard on Liv’s bridal to get the old horse moving as the line of bullets rapidly approached. As he pulled hard on Liv’s bridal, Hale stole another glance back at the two advancing lines of bullets. Desperate to get out of the way of the advancing line of death, he tried to run as fast as he could toward the edge of the church and safety.
As Hale reached the corner of the structure, the plane sounded as if it was right behind him. The sound of dual machine guns firing and the roar of the engine created a frightening racket. Desperate to escape, he forgot his injury as he pulled hard on Liv’s bridal with his right arm. His injured shoulder screamed in protest as he led the horse into the alleyway between the church and a house. A trail of bullets was emblazoned into the ground, just missing Liv’s hind quarter as Hale pulled the horse to safety.
The sound of the bullets striking so close to her back legs caused Liv to spook and rear up on her hind legs. Hale lost his grip on her bridal as she yanked herself free of his grasp. Losing his balance, he fell to the ground. Time seemed to freeze as he looked up at the bottom of Liv’s hooves hovering over him.
Sporadic gunfire echoed through the village as people fired their guns at the departing air craft. The sound snapped Hale out of his frozen state and he rolled to the side just as Liv’s hooves came smashed down upon the snow-covered earth with a loud thump in the spot he had just occupied.
Raynar grabbed her bridal with both of his hands and began whispering into Liv’s ear to calm her, “Easy girl, it’s ok. You made it, you’re safe now.”
Liv, whinnied in protest as her panic filled eyes bulged. Hale, his shoulder still screaming in protest, came to his feet and joined his father. The two men worked to calm the frightened animal as they whispered soothing words into both of Liv’s ears, “You’re good now Liv, the plane can’t get you here.”
Slowly the panic-stricken horse calmed and the two men relaxed. The sound of a car engine sputtering to life could be heard over the wails of the town’s folk injured in the attack. The sound of the car engine increased as the driver accelerated rapidly toward the nearby cover of the forest.
Hale stepped out of the alleyway and looked in the direction the plane had flown in. He was surprised to see the air craft was drawing closer. It must have turned around and was now returning for another strafing run, “Fuck!” Hale exclaimed.
“Language Hale.” Raynar barked.
“My language is the least of our worries. The fucking bastard is coming back.” Hale gruffly replied.
Raynar, maintaining his grip on Liv’s bridal, turned toward the women who were standing up and brushing the snow off their clothes, “Get back down. The plane is returning.”
Nea and Jenna nodded. The two women pulled Aina down with them as they laid back down on the freezing ground. Ignoring his family, Hale ran to the sleigh, and pulled out his rifle. As the plane approached, Hale noted that it was a fighter/bomber based on what he had been taught. His eyes focused on the single bomb attached to the undercarriage for a moment. Why didn’t the bastard drop the bomb on us?
Focusing his mind on the task at hand, he raised up his rifle and took aim at the pilot. The pilot, seeing Hale standing defiantly in the middle of the street with his rifle raised, adjusted his course slightly, so that the bold Finn was lined up in his cross hairs.
Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Hale stood his ground, and held his breath. As the young sniper took aim and lined up the iron sights of his rifle on the brown leather skull cap of the pilot’s head, a line of bullets smacking into the ground began advancing toward him. Hale ignored the danger of the approaching attack and squeezed the trigger. His rifle barked and the stock recoiled hitting him in his bad shoulder. He choked off a scream as he dove to the side to avoid being hit by the rapidly advancing line of bullets.
As Hale dove into the alleyway and rolled to a stop, his bullet smashed through the canopy of the cockpit. The misshapen lead bullet, began tumbling through the air as it struck the forehead of the pilot. The bullet, traveling at greater than the speed of sound, met the pilot’s forehead which was traveling at around four hundred mile per hour as his plane dove with a dull smack. The bone of the pilot’s forehead, shattered into pieces at the impact and continued traveling into the pilot’s brain at over one thousand mile per hour, cleaving the organ in half.
Killed instantly, the pilot slumped forward onto the air craft’s controls, causing the plane to spin out of control. A few moments later a large fireball erupted as the plane struck several trees just outside of town. Raynar, his mouth hanging open exclaimed, “My God Hale you shot the plane down!”
Raynar’s sentence was choked off as a large secondary explosion from the crash site rocked the village. The bomb. Hale thought.