Page 486 of Edge of Eternity (The Century 3)

Impatiently, Karolin reached out and touched the wire. She touched all

the wires, grasping each firmly in her hand. "Off," she said.

Alice kissed and hugged her mother and Lili. Helmut shook hands.

A hundred yards away, from over a rise, two soldiers appeared in the gray tunics and tall peaked caps of the Hungarian Border Guard Service.

Lili said: "Oh, no!"

Both men leveled their rifles.

"Stand still, everyone," said Helmut.

Alice said: "I can't believe we got this close!" She began to cry.

"Don't despair," said Helmut. "It's not over yet."

Coming closer, the guards lowered their rifles and spoke in German. No doubt they knew exactly what was going on. "What are you doing here?" one said.

"We came to picnic in the woods," Lili said.

"A picnic? Really?"

"We meant no harm!"

"You are not allowed here."

Lili was desperately afraid the soldiers would arrest them. "All right, all right," she said. "We'll go back!"

She feared that Helmut might put up a fight. They might be killed, all four of them. She felt shaky and her legs were weak.

The second guard spoke. "Be careful," he said. He pointed along the fence in the direction from which he had come. "A quarter of a mile from here is a gap in the fence. You might accidentally cross the border."

The two guards looked at one another and laughed heartily. Then they went on their way.

Lili stared in astonishment at their retreating backs. They kept on walking, not looking back. Lili and the others watched them until they were out of sight in silence.

Then Lili said: "They seemed to be telling us . . ."

"To find the gap in the fence!" Helmut said. "Let's do it, quick!"

They hurried in the direction in which the guard had pointed. They kept close to the edge of the forest, in case they needed to hide. Sure enough, after a quarter of a mile they came to a place where the fence was broken. The wooden posts had been uprooted and the wires, snapped in places, lay flat on the ground. It looked as if a heavy truck had driven through it. The earth all around was heavily trodden, the grass brown and sparse. Beyond the gap, a path between two fields led to a distant clump of trees with a few roofs showing: a village, or perhaps just a hamlet.

Freedom.

A small pine tree nearby was hung with key rings, thirty, forty, maybe fifty of them. People had left behind the keys to their apartments and cars, a defiant gesture to show that they were never coming back. As the branches were moved by a light breeze, the metal glittered in the sunlight. It looked like a Christmas tree.

"Don't hesitate," Lili said. "We said good-bye ten minutes ago. Just go."

Alice said: "I love you, Mother, and Lili."

"Go," said Karolin.

Alice took Helmut's hand.

Lili looked up and down the cleared strip alongside the fence. There was no one in sight.

The two young people walked through the gap, stepping carefully over the fallen fence.

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