Free My Friend the Enemy by Dan Smith Page B

shoulder to cuff. It glistened wet with what I imagined to be blood.
    â€˜Get up,’ I said in my strictest voice. ‘You’re coming with us.’
    â€˜He doesn’t know what you’re saying,’ Kim said.
    â€˜You tell ’im then.’
    â€˜How am I going to tell him?’
    â€˜You speak German.’
    â€˜I know how to say “please”; it doesn’t mean I can speak German.’
    â€˜All right, well . . . get up!’ I made a lifting motion with my hands, flicking the pistol up and down, but that only alarmed the airman even more and he flinched away from us. He looked the way I’d felt when Trevor Ridley had picked on me earlier that evening, and seeing him react that way made me feel sorry for him. I started to feel bad for frightening him.
    â€˜I’m not going to hurt you,’ I said. ‘I just want you to stand up.’
    â€˜ Wasser ,’ he said.
    â€˜Vasa?’
    â€˜He wants water,’ Kim said.
    â€˜We haven’t got any.’
    â€˜I have. I brought it in case we got thirsty.’
    I stared at him. ‘Maybe we should give ’im some, then.’ ‘Really?’
    â€˜I don’t think he’s dangerous. I mean, he doesn’t look dangerous. What do you reckon? A bit of water should be all right.’
    Kim thought for a moment, then agreed, and took the water bottle from her satchel. It was made of metal, like a soldier’s water bottle, and she threw it towards the man. Itlanded in the undergrowth beside him with a dull thump and he picked it up in his right hand. He tried to open it, putting the bottle between his thighs to hold it while he twisted the cap, but it was too tight. Then he tried unscrewing it with his teeth, but still couldn’t do it. Eventually, he dropped the bottle and began to sob.
    â€˜He’s crying,’ Kim said.
    â€˜Why?’
    â€˜He’s thirsty, I suppose.’
    â€˜And scared.’
    â€˜Yeah. Probably sad that he’s lost his friends, too.’ She stepped closer to him, picking up the bottle. ‘Keep pointing that gun at him.’ She half crouched beside him, ready to escape at any moment, and unscrewed the cap of the water bottle and offered it to him. She waited, watching, but he didn’t move. He just looked at her, afraid, so Kim stretched out her hand and lifted it to the man’s mouth.
    He drank a long, deep drink and moved his head away from the bottle, whispering, ‘ Danke ’.
    â€˜He’s hurt,’ Kim said, relaxing a little. ‘Not breathing much.’
    The airman coughed.
    â€˜I think he might be dying.’
    â€˜Dyin’?’
    â€˜Maybe. I don’t know. I’m not a doctor.’
    She stayed where she was, suddenly unafraid of the man now she could see he was hurt, and I found myself losing my resolve to keep pointing the gun at him.
    â€˜He looks young,’ Kim said.
    â€˜He looks old enough to me.’
    â€˜Maybe to you, but I’ve got a brother,’ she said. ‘He’s nineteen – eighteen when I last saw him, and he looks about the same age.’
    â€˜You sure? He looks older to me.’
    â€˜No, he’s no older than Josh, and that makes him just a teenager.’
    â€˜Who’s Josh?’
    â€˜My brother, you clot.’
    â€˜Oh.’
    Kim sat down and continued to look at the man. I kept my distance, held the gun up, but it was beginning to feel heavy now. I couldn’t keep pointing it all night.
    â€˜We should take him now,’ I said. ‘To the soldiers.’
    â€˜What do you think they’ll do to him?’
    â€˜I . . .’ I shook my head. I hadn’t really thought any further than taking him prisoner and becoming a hero. I’d imagined Trevor Ridley’s jealousy and I’d seen Kim boasting about the capture, but I hadn’t thought about what the soldiers would do with this man.
    â€˜D’you think they’ll kill