d be out on the road. Another one would be out
at the village we came from. Before us lay the path towards the
Finnish border, but it crossed a wide field before entering the
woods. I knew the way well but with the full moon out you could see a
great distance, like in the day, on the bright snow and I was afraid
to be spotted crossing that field.

I told Nelka I was afraid to risk this trip towards the border as it
was so light. But we had little choice, for the patrols would be out
any minute now and we could not remain on the road. With no other
choice left we retreated into the woods, off the road and settled
under some thick pine trees for the night, right in the snow. It was
Xmas eve.

We survived the night and even slept a little. It was also evident
that Nelka was developing some kind of flu and was running a
temperature. I used to joke that she melted the snow around us
because of that. Luckily there was no wind. The snow was deep and we
dug out a hollow. The temperature was probably about ten or fifteen
above. Remember we had no covers--just our clothes. We ate some of
our remaining black bread. We were tired from so much walking and so
we slept.

By morning it was obvious that Nelka was ill and had a temperature.
We had to act quick and invent something, so we went back to the
village and I entered the same hut again. The woman had quieted down
and did not push us out. We also found there another couple who
turned out to be an officer with his wife trying to get out as we
did, so we decided to stick together. The woman suggested that we go
by sleigh to the next village and try to cross from there. So we
hired a sleigh and started out--this time the four of us with the
driver. It was now fairly safe to move along the roads by day with
the night patrols off.

We drove to the next village about ten miles away. When we came to
the village, our driver said he wanted to stop at the tavern which
was located at the entrance to the village. He went in while we
waited in the sleigh. When he came out a soldier followed him onto
the porch. He looked at us suspiciously and then asked the peasant
where we were coming from. The peasant named a village to the east.
The soldier then suddenly said: "Why your horse is turned the wrong
way, wait a minute," and he stepped back into the tavern.

Our driver whipped up his horse and we went down the road as fast as
we could. Looking back we saw several soldiers run out on the