The Valhalla Exchange - Jack Higgins [57]
At the door, he paused, looking at the ambulance, then glanced along the street. 'There are no others? No one else is coming?'
'You were lucky to get us,' Howard told him.
He opened the rear door of the ambulance and Gaillard climbed inside. Schenck lay there, the heavily bandaged arm outside the blankets, the eyes closed. He opened them slowly and on finding Gaillard, managed a smile.
'So, Doctor, here we are again.'
'You did well.' Gaillard felt his pulse. 'What about Schmidt?'
'Dead.'
'He was a good man, I'm sorry. You have a slight fever. Is there much pain?'
'For the past hour it has been hell.'
'I'll give you something for that, then you can sleep.'
He opened the bag which Voss had brought, found a morphine ampoule and gave Schenck an injection, then he climbed out of the ambulance again.
'Will he be okay?' Howard asked.
'I think so.'
They went back into the inn and found Hoover and Finebaum at one end of the bar, Voss at the other looking worried. Meyer had the Armagnac out and several glasses.
'Excellent,' Gaillard said. 'Herr Meyer, here, who is Mayor of Arlberg as well as a most excellent innkeeper, was about to treat me to a shot, as I believe you Americans call it, of his best brandy. Perhaps you gentlemen will join me.'
Meyer filled the glasses hurriedly. Finebaum grabbed for his and Hoover said, 'Not yet, you dummy. This is a special occasion. It calls for a toast.'
Howard turned to Gaillard. 'I'd say it was your prerogative, Doctor.'
'Very well,' Gaillard said. 'I could drink to you, my friends, but I think the circumstances demand something more appropriate. Something for all of us. For you and me, but also for Schenck and Voss and Meyer here, all those who have suffered the disabilities of this terrible war. I give you love and life and happiness, commodities which have been in short supply for some considerable time now.'
'I'll drink to that,' Finebaum said, and emptied the glass at a swallow.
'We'd better get on up to the castle now,' Howard said.
'Where you will find them awaiting your arrival with a considerable degree of impatience, General Canning in particular,' Gaillard told him. 'I'll hang on here for the moment. I have a patient upstairs.'
'Okay, Doctor,' Howard said. 'But I'd better warn you. My orders are to pick you people up, turn straight round and get the hell out of it. I'd say you've got an hour - that's all.'
They moved outside. Finebaum said, 'What about the kraut? We take him along?'
'Voss stays with me,' Gaillard said firmly. 'I'll very probably need him.'
'Anything you say, Doctor.' Howard shoved Finebaum up into the cab of the ambulance. 'Finebaum's survived on the idea the only good one is a dead one for so long, it's become a way of life.'
'So what does that make me, some kind of animal? It means I'm alive, doesn't it?' Finebaum leaned down to Gaillard as Hoover started the engine. 'You look like a philosopher, Doc. Here's some philosophy for you. A funny thing about war. It gets easier as you go along.'
The ambulance drove away across the square. Meyer, who was standing in the porch, said in German. 'What did he say, the small one, Herr Doktor?'
'He said a terrible thing, my friend.'
Gaillard smiled sadly. 'But true, unfortunately. And now, I think, we'll take another look at this boy of yours.'
Hesser was seated at his desk writing a letter to his wife when the door was flung open unceremoniously and Schneider rushed in. He had the Alsatian with him and his excitement had even infected the dog, which circled him, whining, so that the lead got tangled in his legs.
'What is it, man?' Hesser demanded. 'What's wrong with you?'
'They're coming, Herr Oberst. A British vehicle has just started up the hill.'
'Only one? You are certain?'
'They've just phoned through from the guardhouse, Herr Oberst. An ambulance, apparently.'
'Strange,'