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Colder than the Snow ((me and Houdini))

Senka frowned "Those dogs will pick up out scent, if we hide they'll find us, we should just keep moving" she said began to climb higher.
 
"OK", he replied. The ridge they were on forked out in two separate directions. "If we go that way", he said, pointing southeast, there's another German military camp about eight miles down. I think we should stay away from there. "If we head the other way", he offered, "southwest, there is a large town about ten miles away. Maybe we could reach the town by nightfall and hide there among the townspeople. Also, we would still be continuing towards Switzerland. What do you think?"
 
"All rigt, lets head towards the town" she said with a nod and began to follow after him, keeping her eyes and ears out of any disturbances.
 
He led the way southwest towards town, trudging on as fast as they could manage. After some time had passed, and although his feet were cold and tired, he realized there was no time to stop and eat. He pulled two apples out of his knapsack, passing one to Senka, followed by some cheese. "I know there's no time to stop, but we have to have something to keep our energy up."
 
She nodded and said "I understand". She bit into the apple, it making a crunching sound as she did. She ate it slowly, thinking as she did about what they should do next. They couldn't go into the town dressed as German officers. Thats what their pursuers would be looking for.
 
As the hours passed and they seemed to keep far enough ahead of their pursuers, Josef began to think of what their plan would be once they got close to town. As they got close to the outskirts of town, he noticed a couple of homes down the hill situated farther outside town than most. "That house doesn't have any smoke coming from the chimney", he told Senka. Lets see if we can sneak up to it and find something else to wear inside."
 
Senka looked at him as they approached. She nodded and said "Thats what I was thinking. She walked up to the house slowly, looking through the windows. "There dose not seem to be anyone inside" she said.
 
They entered through the open door, finding a modest, two-room house. It was clear that an impoverished older couple lived there. He picked up a pair of tattered pants out of the closet, as well as a worn button-up shirt. Something as non-conspicuous as he could find there. "I'm going to wear these", he informed her, "but I'll keep my uniform with my things. It might not be a bad idea."

As they were in a hurry, and there wasn't much privacy there anyway, he quickly changed on the side of the room, removing his uniform shirt and pants, and replacing them with the stolen ones.
 
She nodded. She opened another cupboard to find some old clothes, like the ones he wore, just for a women. they were made of wool so they would keep them warm. She put on the trousers before throwing the skirt over the top, along with the shirt. She let her hair out and wrapped it up in a scarf like she had seen some of the younger local girls doing. She also did not care much about privacy at the moment. She he have looked, he might have gotten a glimpse of what he had been hiding from him before.
 
"You look quite the part", he complimented her. Although he hadn't looked at her while she was changing, he couldn't help noticing the softer look that she had with her hair down now. "But let's get out of here before we get caught. We need a story. Maybe we should be a young married couple. They are quite conservative in these towns. They may be shocked if we're traveling together unmarried. Perhaps we could be a couple from Switzerland returning home from an uncle's funeral. I'll tell them that you're an Italian-speaking Swiss. That way you won't have to talk, lest your Russian accent give us away."

He wondered if she could pass for an Italian. Her features were decidedly Russian. But he doubted if many residents of this town had seen many faces of any extraction besides German.
 
Senka looked at him and said "Alright, thats a good story, it shouldn't be to difficult to believe" she said to him. She put the pack on her back and said "We should go, before the owner of this place decides to return" she said looking at him.
 
They scurried out of the empty house and back into the safety of the woods, before heading the mile or so more into town just before dusk. The town was different than Josef had remembered it. No doubt, it had suffered the difficulties of war. There were a lot of older people around, of course all the young men are off at war. But still, there was enough bustle to be able to blend in to. As they headed down the main street, he lead them towards a shoemaker's shop. "I think it would be best to ask a local shopkeeper if he has an extra room." If the soldiers come here, they'll look first at any inns.", he explained to Senka.
 
Senka followed him into the town. She looked around as they walked, still cautious. They blended in well, it would be very difficult to spot them now. When he spoke and nodded and said "Alright, thats a good idea" she said quietly.
 
He opened the door to the shoemaker's shop, holding it for Senka. "Good evening", he greeted the man inside who was getting ready to close shop for the night. "My wife and I are on the way back to Switzerland, and we need a place to stay for the night. We don't have much money, so we didn't want to stay at the inn. I always trust shoemakers, since my father is one. We wonder if you have an room we can pay you a bit to stay in.", he suggested.

"Sure", came the reply. "My son is away in the army in Russia", the shoemaker said. "You can use his room". The shoemaker took them upstairs to the room over the shop and left them alone.

Josef looked over at Senka. "This seems like a decent place to hide for the night", he said, looking around the small room.
 
Senka said nothing as Josef did his work. She looked down at the floor when he spoke of his son being in the army. She followed him upstairs and once they were left alone she looked around and said "Yes, this should be good until the heat dies down a little" she said softly.
 
"Yes, I didn't want to arouse any suspicions by asking for more than one night, but if this seems like a safe place, we could stay two or three days. We could tell him you are ill and we need to stay a bit longer. Sorry, I didn't know his son would be a soldier."

He looked over at the small bed. "You can have the bed tonight", he offered. "It's funny, we're free now, in a sense, but I feel like we're in jail. What did you do to pass the time?"
 
Senka looked at him as he spoke. She nodded and said " It's fine, you could not have known that". She sighed a little to her self and looked around for a moment and said " I hoped that I would get out before something truly horriable happened. We hear about the things that happen to prisoners of war. I prayed and held on to the good times in the past" she said to him.
 
He sighed as he pulled the drapes back, revealing a dark sky but the light of a full moon shining through. "You were right to worry. Horrible things do happen to prisoners there. It was one of the reasons I could stay no longer." He looked over at her, her face gleaming as it was bathed in the moonlight. "Now I hope you can look forward to good times in the future too."
 
Senka watched as he pulled the draped back. She looked at him, the moons light shining on her face. "You truly are different from the rest of them..." she said to her self softly before she looked down for a moment before she turned and said "We should get some rest for the day ahead tomorrow" she said. She put her bag down before she undid the scarf in her hair and climbed into the bed. She looked down for a moment and closed her eyes in thought, but he would think she was just sleeping.
 
"Thank You", he said, his voice trailing off. It was early to sleep, but they did need it, and there wasn't much else to do anyway. He was glad that Senka, too, was not like he imagined her to be when he first met her. He felt safe here with her, on the run. He walked past the bed, her red hair now spread out every which way across the pillow. He rubbed gentlly with his fingers over her shoulder and upper arm through the blanket for a moment while he passed by. "Good night", he said, before settling down on a blanket on the floor.
 
Senka felt his hand on her shoulder and her eyes opened a little when he did. She replied and said "Good night". Her hand once more reached inside her shirt and held onto the ring as she did every night, sleeping with it held in her hand. It always gave her comfort, just like he had when he was still with her.
 
Before Josef fell asleep, he thought for a moment that it might be dangerous for them to both sleep so soundly all night, lest their pursuers come after them. But these thoughts passed as he fell into a deep sleep which lasted the night.

Evidently, all was safe overnight, since he woke up gradually to the first rays of light. He went in to use the bathroom, and found the shoemaker already awake, making breakfast. The shoemaker invited the two of them to join him and his wife, but Josef told him that his own wife, was unfortunately ill. The shoemaker kindly gave him a plate of eggs and some strong coffee to bring Senka.
 
It was a little after him that senka woke up. She looked down to see that he was gone. She supposed her had gone downstairs. She got up and fixed up her hair. Normally she would not have cared to much, but a regular women would fuss over such things. She then sat back done on the bed, putting the ring back inside her shirt. She almost walked down stairs when she remembered that she was supposed to be sick. So she waited for him to return.
 
As Josef walked back into their room, he was startled to see Senka sitting down on the bed. Although she looked a bit tired, she was quite put-together, he thought, especially for this time in the morning. He suddenly felt embarrassed about his own disheveled appearance. He hadn't done much besides run his fingers through her hair. And he knew his stubble on his face and his breath weren't doing much for him. "I got you breakfast here", he told her, handing over the plate, and placing the coffee on the table next to her bed.
 
Senka looked up at him when he brought her some food. She looked at him and said "Thank you...have you eaten?" she asked him picking up a fork and beginning to eat slowly. She looked up at him and as she chewed on the egg before she swallowed, waiting for his answer as she did.
 
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