Hans excused himself, and returned in a moment with a pencil and a thin square of paper. “My Lisa,” he said, “she is the one who knows the way. We cannot keep a map here. It isn’t safe.”
He set about drawing a map as best he could.
“Here, just past the creek,” he said, “you will go through the Puig del Mas. It is on the outskirts now, but it is where the town of Banyuls began. You must be here when the vineyard workers go out for the day, as often there are border guards here. You will try to blend in.” He indicated Edouard’s hat. “It is too nice for a worker, you see? You must seem to belong. If you are very lucky, perhaps the morning will be too cold for anyone who does not have to be there.”
He continued drawing the path, going through the markers and the risks.
“Here the route passes an empty stable. After this, there will be seven pine trees on the plateau that will indicate the right direction. They will be always to your right.
“Here the path follows a low stone wall.
“A boulder marks the path here.
“Here, you will cross a clearing, and there will follow a steep vineyard where there will be no path at all, where you must clamber up through the vines.”
Edouard took a shot with his Leica: Hans drawing a map of escape. This is what they did. Clandestine. Forbidden. This was a man who risked his life for others. A Jewish German, like Edouard himself.
“Here, you must be very careful. The path is precarious. It will not be easy. There is a narrow ridge at the top, where you will need to rest if you can, but look carefully first.”
He marked on the little map a point where it was very easy to lose the way if you weren’t careful, as the path would be barely visible and at the same time the seven pines would be hidden behind a hill.
“Here the path is very close to the road,” he said. “You must be absolutely silent and listen for traffic. You cannot easily be seen from the road just above, but you can be heard. You will not wish to invite a closer look over the edge.”
From there, the path would rise more gradually, but it wouldn’t feel much easier that long into the hike.
“There is a gray stone that marks the border,” Hans said. “Beyond that, Lisa and I do not go, but the path continues on directly to the town of Portbou. You will come to a pond, and if your canteens are empty you will want to drink, but you must not do so. The water will make you sick. Typhoid. You understand this?”
Edouard nodded. Typhoid caused high fevers, diarrhea, and vomiting. It could kill a person, even one in the best of health.
“You must carry on along the cliff wall until you see the valley and the town. The road there will take you past the Spanish border station, where you must register. Show them your travel documents, your Spanish and Portuguese transit visas. It is possible still that, as you will have no French border stamp, they will turn you back. It is possible even that they will take you into custody, to be handed over to the Gestapo. It varies from one day to the next. If all else fails, you will offer them money.”
“A bribe?” Edouard clarified.
Hans shrugged as if to say there was no point in calling out bad behavior as such if it might work in your favor.
“In any event,” he said, “you must have a Spanish entry stamp or you will not be allowed on the Spanish trains or into Portugal. From the border post, you will go directly to the train station and take the first train to Lisbon. If the last train to Lisbon is gone, take some other. You must try to get a train out the same night, before the rules change or anyone simply changes his mind.”
“Yes, of course,” Edouard said. “Now, you said it’s best to leave in the morning, to blend in with the workers. But if we left midday—”
“Both of you?” Hans said, confused. He looked to Nanée. “But you are working with Varian. And what about the child?” Then to Edouard, “No, only you are going over the mountain?”
“I can’t leave France without Luki,” Edouard said.
“But this, it is not—a child? No. The path up, at best it is three or four hours. Sometimes it is ten or more. The mountain, it can destroy a grown man. Even for you alone, it would be better if you had a forward person and a rear, in case the Kundt Commission are out. So that someone can distract them while you hurry forward or back. You cannot be caught.”
“If it comes to that, I can delay them,” Nanée said. “I have an American passport. Luki and I both do.”
“But the girl is Edouard’s daughter?” Hans said, confused.