The Shadow of War by Jack Murray (latest ebook reader txt) 📗

deck. Sick. He watched the ship plummetinto another valley and a large wave rose up, crashing over the top of thedeck. Manfred was soaking wet. The wind bludgeoned his face and showers ofspray blinded his eyes with salty sea water.

Thesea was a grey-white lather icing atop grey-black mountain ranges. Manfred feltnumb, his eyes were on fire, his stomach empty and sore. He stood on the deckimmobile. He wanted to leave but was unable to move. Instead, he was hypnotisedby the sight and sound of the maelstrom.

Finally,he moved his limbs slowly towards the door. It took several minutes but he reachedthe safety of his hammock. He stripped off his wet clothes and flung them ontothe floor. At last, lying in the hammock, sleep came. A fitful sleep, but rest,nonetheless.

Heawoke around dawn. Light filtered through the windows. The first thing Manfrednoticed was the noise, or lack of it. The ship was no longer rolling violently.The storm had abated.

Thesecond thing noticed was the ringing in his ears had stopped. It was then thatthe stench hit him. The smell of stale sweat, damp clothing and vomit assaultedhis senses and he nearly retched. He decided to get out into the fresh air.

 However,as he jumped down from his hammock, he realised that he ached all over. Hiseyes and face were smarting from the earlier exposure to the salty wind. He foundsome dry clothes and dressed slowly. Gerhardt was also awake. His face had adeathly pallor, but he managed a weak smile.

‘AmI dead?’ he asked.

‘Yes,you’re in heaven, my son.’

‘Niceplace.’

‘Smellsa bit.’

‘Bloodyhell, does it ever,’ said Gerhardt rising slowly. He looked around him andgrinned. ‘That was the worst day of my life.’

Thetwo boys looked at one another for a moment. An acceptance that worse wouldfollow. Then, Manfred laughed, ‘I know what you mean. We must be near by now.I’m going to find out.’

Acouple of minutes later, Manfred found a seaman cleaning up the filth on deck.‘How long before we make land,’ he asked him.

‘Ifit hadn’t been for the storm we would have been there by now. A couple ofhours, no more.’

Manfredthanked him and went below deck to relay the news. By now most of the hammockswere stirring. Sepp was up and dressed, although Christian grimly refused to bemoved by anything save an undertaker. Manfred and the rest of his friends went to the galley in search of food. With each passingminute on the calmer sea, their appetites returned.

When they arrived, Manfred spotted Kupsch. He motioned for therest of his comrades to follow him.

‘Johann, I want you to meet my friends.’

Theysat down alongside Kupsch. Gerhardt asked him what regiment he was in.

‘I’martillery. I shoot the big eighty-eight’s. Boom, boom.’

Thegroup laughed at this. The eighty-eight-millimetre gun was the deadliestanti-tank weapon in the war. It could knock out a tank from over a kilometre.This was well outside the range of the British tanks, explained Kupsch.

Sepppointed to him and joked, ‘No drinking the night before battle. I want your frigginghead to be clear.’

Thetable, including Kupsch laughed. He held his hands up and said, ‘I promise.Afterwards I get drunk.’

‘Howcome you’re not feeling like death, anyway?’ asked Sepp.

Kupschexplained about his hobby sailing boats.

‘Richboy, I thought your type was avoiding all this,’ said Lothar dismissing himwith a wave of his hand.

Kupschnodded his head, ‘Many of my friends are. Sorry, I should say former friends.’

‘Andyou?’ asked Gerhardt.

‘Idon’t like Hitler much, but a lot of what he says is right. Germany was a messuntil he came along. If this is what we have to do to be respected then damn, Iwant to be part of it. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life on my knees.’

Theother boys nodded their agreement. He had summed up how they felt. They hadgrown up in a serf state. No longer should the country accept this status. Theyouth of Weimar would lead Germany, if not to glory, then at least toprosperity where they would be equals with the other great powers.

Thegalley produced a big breakfast for the brave souls who were, once again,prepared to eat. Manfred and the boys ate hungrily. By the time they hadfinished, the galley was full. They agreed to head up onto the deck and spendthe rest of the morning waiting to see their final destination: North Africa.

 2

Theweariness and ache in Manfred’s bones slowly began to disappear as he stood onthe deck with his friends. The sky was a cloudless cerulean blue. Perfect. Thesea seemed to be playing a joke on the travellers. Gone was the black and whiteanger. It had been replaced by a serenity few would have believed possible insuch a dangerously spiteful sea.

Allaround they heard the sound of laughter as young men shared their stories ofsickness. It was almost as if they had seen the worst ofthe war. Even Manfred was laughing. No one, aside from Kupsch, had beenleft unscathed by the tempest. It was easy to laugh at other people and belaughed at too. The catharsis acted to distract the soldiers from what layahead. They welcomed anything that took their minds off the future.

Thenthe laughter stopped as quickly as it had arisen.

Severalofficers had appeared and began yelling at the young men. There was genuineanger in their voices. They walked along the deck and their presence created awave of silence that swept the length of the ship.

‘Whatare they shouting about?’ asked Lothar.

Kupschwent to find out. He returned a few moments later and reported.

‘Somekid was swept overboard last night.’

Orjumped.

Theyall looked at one another. So they had not yet reached land and death hadvisited them. It woke everyone up to why they were on the ship. An awkwardsilence fell on the group. Eyes avoided eyes.

Avoice shouted out from another group.

‘Land.’

Manfredand his friends turned around. It was true. Barely there, a hazy grey at thepoint where sky met sea. The sound of voices returned to the deck as thesoldiers started to talk excitedly again. These were young men. They lived inthe moment. The past was quickly forgotten, such is the joy of youth. But thememories never leave you. They come back. Later when you are