Chapter 13. A bumpy landing and how Mayhem saved the day.

Fred took one more look at the rudder of the aircraft and realized it was impossible to land his aircraft safely. He was going to have to bail out - and fast. He needed to put as much distance between him and the crash site as possible. Where was he? Over occupied France for sure, but where exactly? He had no time to look at the charts. He had to get out now. He said one quick prayer, checked to make sure that Mayhem was firmly tucked into his jacket and pulled the lever that would eject him from the airplane. One split second later, they were out of the aircraft and falling through the night sky. Fast. Without even realizing he had done it, Fred pulled the ripcord.

Mayhem felt a terrific jerk, then the terrible falling sensation was over. They were floating in the sky. He could feel Fred's heart beating frantically through his shirt. What was going on? Where were they? Mayhem was very relieved when he heard Fred say. "Okay Mayhem, we're in a bit of trouble here." "We're going to have a bumpy landing in a few seconds." Then, Fred pulled up on the parachute straps, and whomp they landed, rolling over and being tugged this way and that by the wind billowing through the parachute. Mayhem thought he was going to be crushed. Finally Fred got his feet under him. He was standing up and out of the harness before the air had even blown out of the parachute. Mayhem stirred a bit, relieved because there was a bit more room now. Fred reached inside his jacket and rubbed Mayhem's nose. "Thank goodness, we're both still alive" but, you've got to be a good soldier and stay inside for a little while". Fred quickly rolled up the parachute and harness. He had to find a place to hide his gear, because he couldn't carry it with him. He wanted to be far away from here before dawn. The enemy would certainly be looking for him when they found the burning aircraft. He left the parachute and harness in a hole inside the hedge, with leaves and twigs scooped over it as a cover. Fred took just a moment to get his bearings and with Marble still inside his jacket, set out walking at a brisk pace in the opposite direction from where his plane had gone down. It was very difficult to make much headway because of the thorny hedgerows everywhere, but they continued on. About an hour later, they came to a stream of water. Fred knelt down to fill his rubber water bottle and Mayhem took that opportunity to ask if he could come out for a while. Okay, fella, out you go. Fred unbuttoned his jacket and Mayhem popped out, getting his first look at France. Don't go too far, we're only stopping for a few minutes, Fred spoke in a hushed tone. He had noticed a narrow path about 100 yards away. "Should he take a chance and walk down the path?"Would it lead to a farmhouse? If so, was the family friendly? Perhaps they would turn him over to the enemy." He knew that the french countryside contained many families who were part of the Resistance, and would be glad to help him, but what if they weren't. He couldn't take the chance. He had to keep moving. By now he had decided he had decided to walk in a south, southwest direction until morning, where he would find someplace to hide during the daylight hours. He set off and Mayhem prowled along beside him. Mayhem was a good companion. His ears were much better than Fred's and he could be counted on to stop and listen carefully to decide if it was safe, before moving along.

As they walked, Fred started to feel some aches and pains. His left wrist was almost certainly broken when he landed, and he had several scrapes and bruises on his face.from where he ejected from the airplane. But most worrisome was the pain in his chest. He figured he had cracked a couple ribs and it was becoming more and more difficult to walk because of the pain. He had to stop quite often to rest and Mayhem was starting to worry. Finally just as darknight was disappearing and earlydawn was brightening up the countryside, Fred stopped. He simply couldn't walk another step. He found himself a little hollow spot near the corner of a field . He burrowed under the leaves gathered there, covering himself up, just like he had done with the parachute. He was exhausted. He would spend the day here and continue his walk when nightfall came again.

Mayhem was not quite ready to settle down yet. His senses were telling him to continue walking just a little further. But, he snuggled up with Fred until he could tell by the sound of his breathing that he was asleep, then he eased himself out of the warm spot between Fred's neck and shoulder. Mayhem could tell that Fred was in trouble and it was up to him to find someone or somewhere safe where Fred's injuries would be cared for. Mayhem stood silently sniffing the breeze and listening to the mysterious sounds that only a cat can hear, for several moments, then he turned to the southwest and disappeared into the earlydawn shadows. Mayhem moved quickly, being pulled towards what he knew instinctively would be a safe place. After about 1/2 mile he stopped. He was very close now. He jumped atop a stone fence, near the edge of a small village. Several families lived here while tending their crops and livestock in the surrounding fields. Right in front of him, on a little three legged stool, sat a young girl milking a cow and singing to herself. To his surprise, there were half a dozen unusual blue-grey cats nearby, sitting quietly or playing in the grass around her. While Mayhem watched, she picked up a wooden bowl and filled it with warm milk. She set it down and the cats, in turn had their fill of the fresh delicious milk. She spoke gently to each of the cats, calling them by name while they rubbed against her ankles as she continued her milking. Mayhem knew this was the place he had been looking for. He stepped forward and made his way towards the girl and the cats. She looked up when he was quite near and said in french "hello little cat, are you hungry?"Mayhem knew by the sound of her voice, that she was the one who would help him rescue Fred. Where did you come from, she asked? Mayhem decided to be brave. He jumped up onto her lap and mewed softly into her ear. She looked at him in amazement. What was going on. This little cat was telling her something. Next Mayhem jumped down and ran off into the hedgerow. Did this curious little black and white striped cat want her to follow him? How unusual this was. She finished milking the cow, and said to herself, I think I'm supposed to follow this cat. She called to her older brother, who was milking their other cow just a little distance away. Come here, Etienne she said, look, here's a strange little cat who want me to follow him. Will you come with me? Ahh, Chloe, Maman will be very angry if we don't bring back the milk before 8:00. You know she wants to make fresh cheese with it, to sell in the village. Please, Etienne, we'll only be just a little while, I'm sure its important. Please, please come with me. So off they went, through the hedge, across the field on the other side with Mayhem darting ahead of them, stopping regularly to make sure they could keep up . It didn't take very long before they were almost back to Fred's hiding spot. Mayhem flew quickly into the hollow where Fred was sleeping and landed, with a thump, onto Fred's cracked ribs. Fred awoke a howl of pain. It was difficult to say who was more startled, Fred, the children, or Mayhem. The children, to their credit, did not run away, but stayed frozen to the spot. They watched as Mayhem hopped up into Fred's arms and nuzzled him on the cheek, as if to say, see while you were sleeping, I've found someone to help us. Then, Mayhem hopped out of Fred's arms and went back over to where the children stood. Fred carefully stood up, reached into his small pack and pulled out his only bar of chocolate, which he held out to the children, to show that he was not going to harm them. Etienne looked at him closely then said something to Chloe in French, which Fred could not understand. Chloe ran off back towards where they had come from and Fred sat down again, because he was really very weak from the pain in his ribs and wrist. Etienne approached Fred cautiously. Monsieur, what is happened? Are you not well? Are you British? Etienne's English was not very good and Fred's french was atrocious, but they were able to understand each other . Fred motioned that his airplane had crashed and he had bailed out, then walked through the night to get to safety. Etienne was able to make Fred understand that Chloe had gone to get help and that his family would give him refuge.


Within a short while, Chloe arrived back, bringing two men and one woman with her. While the adults talked and gestured with Fred, Chloe snuggled Mayhem in her arms and fed him little bites of creamy yellow cheese that she had hidden in her apron. The men brought with them a stretcher which they used to carry Fred back to the cowshed. There was a straw pallet there which would be a good bed for him. While the men talked and made plans to assist him, the woman cleaned Fred's scrapes and cuts and wrapped his ribs carefully. She brought him more of the creamy yellow cheese and hard bread to eat and gave him a glass strong homemade red wine to drink. After they made him as comfortable as possible, the family left, still talking rapidly among themselves. Fred finished the wine, and bread and drifted off to sleep again, thinking about Margo, who would be beside herself with worry in England. Mayhem, on the other hand, was feeling more like himself, so he climbed up onto the window ledge and looked out into the french countryside and thought about what had transpired that day so far. This was one of the memories that he would keep to share someday with his family in Whiteflower field colony. But the sun was warm, his tummy was full and before he knew it, his eyes were closing. What he wondered, as he settled down for a nap, would happen next?