The Attempt

The Attempt

Thursday of May 1947

The next day in the Court's waiting room ...

"I'm sorry, but please understand ... We all appreciate the great effort you have made and are very grateful.

But we are a small newspaper and can't afford to pay a lawyer to take your case.

To attack an prison supervisor is a serious crime, and it was not the smartest thing for you to do!"

She begins to get seriously scared.

Even her own boss doesn't believe she is innocent.

If the judge finds her guilty, it will mean she will have to remain in chains for another five years of her life.

She will never have a family and a home for herself if this continued again and again.

The rest of her life will only consist of sweating and working under the hot sun.

Sunday October of 1947

"No! - This must not happen!

I could now have been lying in a warm bed with clean sheets, and with my head resting on a soft pillow.

Instead I sit here with a almost empty stomach, chained to the wall in this cold ,damp cellar.

I should have been released today, but the judge believed their false charges, so now they can keep me on the farm in chains for years !

I tried to write to my father and friends with strong political connections in Europe but when i finished they confiscated my envelope and took me by force without explanation !

How could I be so stupid !

The editor with all his fine words, and my friends in the party always talking about liberating the country.

They had all only looked at me as a pawn in a game of chess.

Ready to be sacrificed for the cause!

I must try to find a way out of this nightmare !

No matter how small the chances are,

I have to try to run away!

I just have to!

Three years have gone by since Maria was sent back to the farm.

The reward for stopping a runaway was 3000 $.

This was a large amount of money for a mere guard.

It sometimes happened that a guard would fix up a false escape attempt to earn extra income,

And to get revenge on some poor girl who might have offended him refusing to sleep with him or even salute him with a smile every time that he passed by.

None of these incidents were ever investigated.

Wednesday December of 1947

"One day me and another prisoner were ordered to run back to the provision room and take four bags of product to deliver them in the other building across the yard.

While crossing a small path on the way suddenly i felt like my heart stopped beating for a second, when i saw a large iron nail lying on the ground.

Trembling with excitement i ran behind some empty water barrels with my hurt bumping wildly in my chest.

I couldn't find any better hiding place as the muddy yard was empty from anything that could conceal someone during the day.

I quickly began hammering, trying to break the bolts holding my leg irons with a brick that i found there.

Nothing happened.

The dammed chains was just too strong and even the brick that i used broke in half !

Oh damn ! I can't wait any longer !

They will find me.

The other woman had walked on.

She probably ignored me as she was in hurry.

This might be the only chance i would ever get.

I had to get it off very fast, if i wanted to manage to get away in time !

But the guards patrolled the yards very often as a had noticed and soon or later they will easily discovered me.

Damn !

I hear voices approaching me !

I ran towards the the wooden fence desperately searching for a opening.

The old wooden fence was almost fifteen feet tall and impossible to climb by a human.

But i was lucky.

The heavy rain had done some demages in the fence last week.

Part of the fence collapsed two days before in this corner and the men that did the repairs didn't manage to close a small gap between two beams.

I slipped through.

I managed to hid in a nearby forest and after i used a small stream to hide my tracks behind me.

I climbed in one old oak tree to spend the night safe from the hounds sensitive smell but my sleep was full of nightmares.

At least two times i woke up checking the ground if someone was there ready to grab me by my ankles and take me prisoner again.

I can't stay there , and in these striped clothes i will be spotted easily from the farmers.

So i decided after washing quickly my hair in the cold nearby stream to sneak up inside an isolated house.

I have spotted the farmhouse two days before as i followed a animal path deep inside the woods.

It seemed empty.

I found bread and some fruits in the cellar downstairs.

I managed to take some provisions with me inside an old cloth that i found in the table.

As i prepared my self to leave i saw a glass bottle with some banknotes hidden inside.

Thats was probably all the money that this poor farmer had.

But i took them all.

I will need them for my new start after the borders.