CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

I did not know how long I was in the river. I surely would have drowned if I had not found that piece of floating wood. I held on to it as gently as I could, for the water was cold and I did not want to get any pains in my arms or legs. That would certainly mean death. After a while, I managed to grab hold of some tree branches near the edge of the river. I pulled myself up into the tall grass that grew up out of the water, and crawled my way toward dry land.

I walked for a little while, keeping low to the ground. There was no one around. Feeling a little safer, I decided to rest for a while. I sat down on a stone, and took off my clothing to let it dry. Most importantly, I tore the stars from my shoulders so that no one would recognize me as an officer.

When I began to walk again, I found a road and decided to follow it. After several hours, I came to some railroad tracks. A little further down, I could see two guards keeping watch over the tracks. In the distance, the sound of an approaching train could be heard. I waited down at the bottom of the hill next to the tracks, and stayed out of sight from the guards. Eventually the train passed. It was not going very quickly so I felt it would be possible for me to jump aboard. Many cars passed in front of me, but it was not until I saw one with a cloth cover that I decided to take my chances and jump on. Luckily, the guards were not looking my way, and I managed to get on without being seen. Of course, there would be other guards on the train itself, so I climbed underneath the cloth cover to hide. Inside, I found myself lying upon a car full of brand new guns. I guessed that they were being sent to the town of Mestre, for it was the closest place in the area.

I was very uncomfortable. My clothes were still wet, and I had not eaten in quite a while. I thought about how well my leg had done during these last few days. I decided that Dr Valentini was a genius. I began to miss Catherine again. I tried to imagine being with her in the future, but the cold wetness of the guns made it difficult. I thought about how I had lost my cars and my men just like a manager loses his goods when a fire destroys the store he works in. Then I thought, "Would a manager go back to work at that store if he knew the owners would shoot him for not speaking their language perfectly?" Of course he would not. That was when I decided I was finished fighting for the Italians. I had nothing against them. I was just finished.

Thoughts of returning to Catherine came back. When would I see her next? Tonight? No. At the very earliest, it would be tomorrow evening. I decided that once I was with her again, I would never leave her side; not even for a business trip. But where would we live? We could go almost anywhere.

(end of section)