Chapter 7

That afternoon, the last primary things were brought to the hunting wagon and loaded. The Count, Madame and young Master would ride in the wagon, together with Nurse. Berndt was going to guide Licorne, Lothar and gardener Ernst would follow by foot.

Just before getting in the car, the Count took a last look at Giedraičiai Castle. And even though the sun was shining hard, the Count felt a shiver down his spine. He turned and walked to the wagon.

"Let's go," he said solemnly.

He lifted Hannibal in, then took Simonetta's hand to help her. With her other hand she gripped the wagon, but getting in was more difficult than usual for her. But she managed, after two tries. Taking deep breaths, she sat down.

"Are you alright?" asked Giedrius.

"It will have to do, won't it?" she said wryly.

Hannibal looked at his mother, not understanding why she was so... so unfriendly, lately. She had to be sick, he was sure. Probably something with her stomach, her belly was a bit larger than normal.

"Berndt, let's go."

"Yes, Count."

Berndt gently pulled the rope attached to Licorne's harness, the horse immediately followed him and off they were. It would take them two hours to reach the lodge, but it would be a lot safer there, no major roads or railroads in the vicinity.

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The path up to the lodge wasn't an easy path. It wasn't used much and it had overgrown severely. Berndt had travelled the path that morning with the first load, but that had helped not much removing the greenery that was on the path. Seeing that the people inside the wagon were often hindered by the branches, Lothar asked the Count if he could put Hannibal on Licorne's back and have Ernst take his place in the wagon, so that he could hack back the overgrown branches for them. The Count doubted if Hannibal would be able to remain seated on Licorne, but Madame told him he should try at least. So, Lothar moved Hannibal to the back of the horse, much to Hannibal's delight. Lothar told Berndt to watch the boy, then Ernst climbed into the wagon and started keeping the branches out of the wagon.

Hannibal was enjoying the ride. He was very comfortable on Licorne's back and did not threaten to fall off once. He looked around, saw various animals, though no large ones. The dog probably scared them away. The sun was warm on his back; he could feel the glow spreading to the rest of his body. He smelled greenery, crushed by the wheels of the wagon. And he smelled Licorne, whose body had a warm scent. And over the horse's scent, Hannibal could smell his mother's perfume, which he enjoyed very much. He could hear her too. He looked around, saw the rosary in her hand, and knew she was praying.

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The sound of airplanes overhead made him look up. He saw the bombers pass by, through the canopy of the high trees. When they had gone, he recalled the moment from his memory, and watched them fly by again and again. He counted the bombs on all planes.

"Let's hope they will be shot down as soon as possible," Ernst grumbled.

"Yes, but I'm afraid more are coming. And infantry and tanks," said the Count. "And I believe it is going to take a lot of time before this all will be over. The Soviet army will probably try to wear them out, lure them so far into the land that their supply lines will overstretch. That's when they will weaken, and then they will retaliate. They did that with Napoleon, they did it with them when they were here the last time, and they will do it again. Let's hope the Germans haven't changed their tactics. But I doubt it."

"I have heard there are some who welcome the Germans as liberators."

"Hm. The Soviets have 'helped' us against the Germans, now the Germans will 'help' us against the Soviets? I think not."

Lothar smiled and nodded.

"We don't need anybody," said the Count. "No Soviets, no Germans."

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Half an hour later, they had reached the lodge. Having been in the family for over 400 years, it had been altered and expanded quite a few times in haphazard ways. The original idea was a small shelter, now it was more of a Frankenstein monster. But it would suffice for the current purpose: housing the family and protecting it from unwanted visitors.

A small barn, several yards away from the lodge, contained the stalls and a bunkhouse. But Licorne could not rest yet, Berndt would make one last trip today, to get as many personal belongings as possible to the lodge. And hopefully it would be possible tomorrow to move yet some more things.

Everybody got out of the wagon. Nurse and Lothar went inside to prepare everything for the family, Ernst and Berndt started unloading the wagon. The Count brought his wife a chair from inside, and sat her down on it, outside, in the warmth of the afternoon sun. The ride in the swaying wagon had been hard on her. Hannibal remained outside too, exploring the surroundings, but not leaving his parent's sight.

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As soon as they had unloaded the wagon, Berndt went back to the castle with it. The descent was quick, but as he neared the castle, Berndt felt something was wrong, and he slowed down. He put his hand over Licorne's muzzle to quiet him, and he spoke softly to him. Slowly, he advanced. As he neared the edge of the forest, he distinctly heard engines running. Two deep diesel engines and one lighter gasoline engine. He bound Licorne to a tree and carefully, step by step, he moved forward. Going from tree to tree, he managed to get a good look at the courtyard. There he saw the two Panzer tanks, engines running. On the other side, two trucks. One was lifted with a bumper jack. Men in uniform walking to and fro. Germans. It was a company of the Totenkopf Waffen-SS. Then he saw the rest of the staff, but they were no longer standing. They were lying on the ground, in a disorderly row, a pool of blood under them. Berndt could see the white spots on the wall behind them, where the machine gun bullets had blasted away the terracotta paint on the plaster walls.

He turned around, softly. As careful as possible, he went back to the wagon. He put his hand over Licorne's muzzle again, then turned the wagon. The ascend with the empty wagon did not take him long, his nerves almost failing him. As he reached the lodge, he just let go of the horse and went inside. Licorne walked over to Hannibal, who was outside, watching the sun set. He lowered his head and Hannibal stroked it gently. White cabbage butterflies fluttered around them.

Nurse appeared in the door opening, she looked around and when she saw Hannibal, she quickly walked to him.

"Young Master, we must go inside."

Hannibal nodded and took the hand she offered him. Inside, he saw everybody busy blinding the windows with curtains and such.

"Hannibal, we have to be very careful now. It is not safe," said his father.

"Count, they will be moving eastward as soon as possible. I think they will go when they have repaired their truck."

"I sure hope so. But we cannot risk anything. The next few days will be very difficult, but the lodge is as safe as we can get. And with the food already here, we can survive for quite a while. I'm so glad we decided to bring the food with the first ride."

Simonetta did not speak, but she thought of the others who otherwise would have shared that food. She motioned Hannibal to come. He jumped of Nurse's lap and walked to her. His mother picked him up and cradled him.