The figure crouched and took a step forward into the small tent seized from the former occupants of the hill. The diminutive figure turned and closed the flap behind her. She turned back to Kivi and asked, “How’s your arm?”

  Kivi glanced down at the gunshot wound on his right arm. The sharp pain had lessened to a dull ache during his brief rest. “It would be a hell of a lot better if I’d have been left alone to sleep.”

  Sofia grinned as she reached out and pulled the sleeves on Kivi’s right arm up to reveal the wound. Seeing the makeshift bandage she had applied to the arm still wrapped around the wound she replied. “And you’d still be asleep if you had bothered to go to an aid station for proper treatment at any point in the last forty-eight hours.”

  “Bah! It’s just a scratch woman. Now leave me alone so I can get some sleep!” Kivi roared.

  Sofia’s grin widened. “Are you always filled with so much bluster?”

  “Only when there are nearby enemies that need to die or when nosy women interrupt my sleep,” Kivi shot back.

  Sofia gently unwrapped the bandage and frowned. “What?” Kivi asked. “It feels fine.”

  “The skin around your wound is red and inflamed,” Sofia observed.

  “So? Like me, the skin will be less annoyed if you leave so I can go back to sleep,” Kivi said.

  “Are you always such a big baby when you don’t get your beauty sleep?” Sofia asked.

  “Baby? Now you listen here woman, I’ve been awake for practically two days,” Kivi snarled. “In fact, I’m so tired I can’t even feel the metal fragments in my ass.”

  Surprised by Kivi’s outburst, she asked, "Have you been injured again?"

  “What of it? I’ve had far worse,” Kivi snapped.

  Sofia looked up from examining Kivi’s arm and met his gaze. "Well, if someone doesn't properly treat this wound, it will become infected. Then no matter how big and strong you think you are. You will die shivering in a pool of your own sweat.”

  An image of several men dying in this manner flashed into his mind from his memories of the Spanish Civil War. Men that had what should have been survivable wounds. “I’ll get it looked at after I get some sleep,” Kivi said.

  “No need,” Sofia said. “I brought a first aid kit with me. I can take care of it quickly.”

  “That was thoughtful of you,” Kivi admitted.

  Sofia made direct eye contact with Kivi and smiled warmly. “I’m glad you realize that. Perhaps you aren’t as big as an oaf as you pretend to be.” She chuckled as she added. “Once I’m finished with your arm, perhaps I should look at your other wounds and treat them before you go back to sleep?”

  Kivi chuffed in amusement. “Hale warned me about you.”

  “He did?” Sofia asked.

  “He warned me that you were constantly trying to get his pants off,” Kivi replied.

  “Did he now?” Sofia hissed in irritation. “Did he tell you why?”

  Kivi shook his head as he held out his arm to Sofia as she opened the first aid kit. Sofia took a gauze pad, along with a bottle of vodka from the first aid kit. Upon seeing the vodka, Kivi grinned. “Is that for me?”

  “Yes, but not in the way you had hoped,” Sofia said with a giggle.

  She twisted the cap off the bottle and slowly tipped it until some of the vodka poured out onto the wound. “Dammit that hurts!” Kivi cursed.

  “I knew it! You are a big baby,” Sofia said.

  Sofia used the sterile gauze pad to absorb the alcohol on the wound. She followed up by pouring water onto the caked blood and dabbing it away with the pad. “What are you doing?”

  “Clearing away the dried blood,” Sofia replied.

  “Is that necessary?” Kivi asked.

  “Yes, the wound must be disinfected,” Sofia replied.

  She finished the task and closely examined the wound. “I don’t see any yellowness, so I think we got to your injury in time.”

  “So, you didn’t need to wake me up?” Kivi asked.

  “Men! Your minds are too fixated on three things! Sofia snapped.

  “What are the three things?” Kivi asked with a twinkle of amusement in his eyes.

  “Eating, sleeping, and sex,” Sofia replied.

  “I disagree,” Kivi said.

  Sofia stopped what she was doing and tapped her chin, using her right index finger. “You’re right. In your case it's butchering, eating, and sleeping.”

  Kivi barked out a laugh. “I do enjoy a good battle.” His expression turned serious as he asked, “What makes you think I have no interest in sex?”

  “Because I haven’t seen you take the slightest interest in me,” Sofia replied. “I gave you an invitation to disrobe in front of me and you didn’t take it.”

  “Should I?” Kivi asked. “You're young enough to be my daughter.”

  “Merciful saints preserve me!” Sofia exclaimed.

  “What?” Kivi asked.

  “Hale wouldn’t touch me because he was too married. Now you won’t take an interest in me because you’re too old! How do you Finns ever reproduce?”

  Surprised at the sudden outburst, Kivi asked, “What do you mean how do we reproduce?”

  “Now I understand why Finland has such a small population. None of the men are interested in sex!”

  “Your what? Maybe seventeen? Why are you so interested in sex?” Kivi asked.

  Sadness cast a shadow over Sofia’s face, dimming the sparkle in her eyes and pulling down the corners of her lips. Despite her youthful beauty, a haunting depth lingered in her expression, as if she carried the weight of the world on her slender shoulders.

  Sofia’s face seemed to bear the weight of a thousand unspoken sorrows, each one leaving its mark upon her delicate skin. The lines of her brow furrowed in a silent plea for understanding, while her lips, once painted with a rosy hue, now quivered with the weight of unshed tears.

  Though her eyes still held a glimmer of their former brightness, there was a melancholy depth to their gaze, a silent reflection of the pain that lingered within her soul. Yet, amidst the sadness, there remained a quiet resilience, a flicker of strength that refused to be extinguished.

  Sofia’s sadness only served to enhance the fragile beauty that lay beneath the surface. Kivi’s heart softened as he witnessed the sorrow roiling beneath Sofia’s typically stoic exterior. He sensed the unshed tears that filled her eyes. He found his own barriers melting away in the face of her tragic beauty. It seemed impossible not to be moved by the depth of emotion that radiated from her troubled heart.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause you such pain,” Kivi whispered in a gentle voice.

  The pall of silence lay over them for nearly a minute before Sofia replied, “I know. You don’t know what I have experienced. What I want more than anything is to cleanse from my soul.”

  Kivi reached out with one of his large hands and gently stroked Sofia’s cheek. “If you can talk about it. Perhaps it will help me understand.”

  Sofia opened her mouth to reply when blinding sunlight suddenly filled the tent and Pekka’s voice said, “Oh good, you are both together. That saves me the trouble of having to track both of you down.”

  Kivi hastily withdrew his hand. Did Pekka see anything? he wondered. “What’s happened?”

  “Hale has been captured,” Pekka said.

  “What?” both Kivi and Sofia said simultaneously in alarm.

  “I sent him to ferret out an enemy sniper that was harassing our lines and somehow the bastard turned the tables on our young prodigy and captured him,” Pekka said.

  “How do you know he was captured and simply isn’t chasing his quarry to the ends of the earth?” Kivi demanded.

  Pekka unslung the rifle on his left shoulder and handed it to Kivi. Kivi took the rifle and looked down at the weapon. He immediately recognized it. “I see your point.”

  Pekka drew a knife from his belt and held it out, saying. "I found this on the ground next to the rifle."

  Sofia’s eyes widened as she recognized Hale’s knife. “His grandfather gave him that knife.”

  “And his father gave him the rifle,” Kivi added. “He wouldn’t voluntarily leave either laying on the ground.”

  “Exactly,” Pekka agreed.

  Chapter 22

  Noon

  Two Hundred Meters East of Loytavaara Hill

  Central Finland

  February 1st, 1940

  Kivi kneeled and examined two sets of tracks. “This first set here. I think these belonged to Hale.”

  Pekka nodded. “I agree.”

  “Who does the second set belong to then?” Sofia asked.

  “It looks like this second set of tracks belonged to a heavier man,” Pekka observed.

  “How can you tell?” Sofia asked.

  Pekka pointed at one of the boot prints. “See how the edges of the boot print are more defined than Hale’s?”

  “Yes,” Sofia said.

  “The print is deeper. "Therefore, someone who weighed more than Hale made it," Pekka said. “Also, look at the tread. This didn’t come from a standard issue Finnish Army boot.”

  “I recognize that tread,” Sofia said. “The man who made these tracks was wearing boots issued to Red Army soldiers.”

  Hale’s platoon fanned out and provided cover for the trio as they followed the two trails. They quickly reached the spot where a recent Finnish patrol had found Hale's weapons. “It happened here,” Pekka observed.

  Kivi nodded, then turned toward the trail that led away from the hill. “They went this way.”

  “Why would Hale voluntarily walk into captivity?” Sofia asked.

  “He wouldn’t,” Pekka replied. “Somehow, this single Soviet sniper got the drop on him.”

  “Kuznetsov?” Kivi asked.

  “Maybe,” Pekka agreed. Then added, “Though that would disagree with the recent intelligence we have on him.”

  “How so?” Kivi asked.

  "According to 14th Division intelligence," Pekka replied, "they have seen Kuznetsov in the same areas that the White Death frequents."

  “If they’re correct. Then this can’t be Kuznetsov,” Kivi agreed.

  "Since the men of the 54th seem to be much better suited for the type of warfare we engage in, someone new then," Pekka said. “There is no reason to believe that their snipers wouldn’t also be of a better caliber.”

  “So, what are we going to do?” Sofia asked. “We can’t just let the Soviets have Hale.”

  Pekka pondered the question for nearly two minutes before he replied, “I have orders to hold Loytavaara Hill with my company. If the Soviets recapture the hill, they will reestablish their supply line with the 54th. I can’t allow that to happen, no matter who the Soviets have captured.”

  “We can’t just leave Hale to the enemy,” Kivi argued.

  “I agree. If no one else can be spared, I’ll go,” Sofia said.

  Kivi, his voice dripping with skepticism asked, “You? By yourself?”

  “I’m tougher than I look,” Sofia said with a confidence that she didn’t feel.

  “I can’t let you do that,” Pekka said.

  “I’m not under your command,” Sofia observed. “You don’t have a choice. I can do whatever I want.”

  “I’ll go with her,” Kivi volunteered.

  Pekka let out an exasperated sigh. “If it were anyone else, I couldn’t spare you Lieutenant, but Hale freed me from Volkov back in December. I feel like I owe it to him to allow you to try.”

  “You owe it to him to allow both of us to try,” Sofia said.

  Both men gazed down at the small woman skeptically. “Do you think the stories Hale told about her are true?” Pekka asked.

  Kivi smiled. “I do.”

  “Would you be willing to allow her to tag along? She’s fluent in Russian, so she could be useful,” Pekka asked.

  “I am also perfectly capable of using a rifle,” Sofia added.

  Kivi’s eyes fell to his freshly wrapped arm and his heart softened. “Yes. She can come.”

  “Very well then. I think I can spare a lieutenant and a random woman who has made it clear that she is not under my command,” Pekka said. He turned to Kivi and added, “You’re at your best on the attack. I feel like keeping you here to defend this hill would be a waste of your talents.”

  “Indeed,” Kivi agreed.

  Sofia rolled her eyes. “You were just whining about wanting to get some sleep.”

  Kivi chuffed in amusement. “That was before I found out that Hale was captured by the enemy.” He smiled as he said, “I can’t let the only student I’ve taught, that still draws breath, to disappear without me trying to get him back.”

  “You used to be an instructor?” Sofia asked in an incredulous voice.

  “Yes,” Kivi replied.

  “I can’t picture you standing in front of a class with a pointer,” Sofia said.

  Pekka chuckled. “He didn’t exactly teach in a classroom.”

  “It’s settled then. Me and the lady are going to rescue Hale,” Kivi said as he slung Hale’s rifle onto his shoulder.”

  Chapter 23

  Mid-Afternoon

  Four Kilometers East of Loytavaara Hill

  Karelia Oblast, Soviet Union

  February 1st, 1940

  Sofia's apprehension grew the moment she caught sight of the red and yellow wooden pole indicating the boundary of the Soviet Union. The pair had followed the trail left by the enemy soldier and his presumed captive Hale Karhonen. The trail led back to the Kuhmo road and then eastward toward the Soviet Union.

  Kivi noticed Sofia’s growing apprehension and asked, “Can you do this?”

  Sofia snorted. “Cross an invisible line in the snow and enter the thrice cursed Soviet Union?”

  Kivi nodded in reply. “Of course I can!” Sofia proclaimed.

  “Then tell your face,” Kivi replied. “You look terrified.”

  “My last few years of life within the hell hole they falsely proclaim as the worker’s paradise we’re horrible,” Sofia said.

  “Maybe you should stay here, or better yet, report back to Pekka what we have found so far,” Kivi suggested.

  Sofia defiantly shook her head, “No, if you go. I go. Hale risked his life to bring my family out of the Soviet Union. He deserves no less than my best to rescue him from the same fate.”

  Kivi’s face softened. “You love him, don’t you?”

  “As a brother,” Sofia said.

  Kivi chuckled. “No, I think you love him on a much deeper level than that.”

  “Even if I did, he cannot return the feeling. He is married,” Sofia said.

  “True, and Hale being who he is will not betray Nea’s trust,” Kivi said.

  “Have you met Nea?” Sofia asked.

  “I have,” Kivi replied.

  “What’s she like?” Sofia asked.

  “It’s hard to say without a point of reference to compare her to,” Kivi said.

  “Can you try?” Sofia asked.

  “Well, I guess what I said is not entirely true,” admitted Kivi.

  “What do you mean?” Sofia asked.

  “That there is no point of reference to compare Nea to. In fact, she’s a lot like you.”

  “I suspected as much,” Sofia admitted.

  “How?” Kivi asked.

  “Hale seems drawn to me,” Sofia said. “I could see it in his eyes that I reminded him of her.”

  Sofia gazed intently up at Kivi, and he felt something he hadn’t experienced since he was a young man, a connection to a woman. He quickly pushed the feeling away and asked, “So we cross?”

  Sofia nodded resolutely. “We cross.”

  For a second, I thought I felt a connection. Then it evaporated, thought Sofia.

  Fifty meters into the Soviet Union Kivi held up a fist. Recognizing the signal from her time with Hale, Sofia stopped. Kivi, who was standing slightly in front of the diminutive woman hissed, “I see movement up ahead.”

  “What should we do?” Sofia asked.

  “As much as it pains me to say this, we should hide,” Kivi said.

  The pair slipped off the road and into the woods. Sofia spotted a large lump in the snow the pair could use for cover. “Over there.”

  “Good eyes,” Kivi said. “Looks like a boulder buried in snow.”

  Kivi and Sofia slipped behind the snow-covered rock and waited. Within minutes, they could hear the distinct sound of skis sliding over the packed snow on the road. The first man to come into sight wore clothing similar to that of a Finn. He wore a white hooded parka with matching white pants.

  That’s where the similarity ended. His skis and boots were standard Soviet issue. Instead of a Mosin-Nagant, the rifle slung on his shoulder was an SVT-38. “I have seen no one in the 54th wearing a dark green greatcoat. It seems like the Soviets have finally learned their lesson on that score. That soldier isn’t wearing a pack, so this must be a local patrol,” Kivi observed.

  “Should we kill him?” Sofia asked.

  “No, that would alert the rest of the squad to our presence,” Kivi replied. “The best thing we can do is wait for them to go by.”

  “Won’t they wreck the tracks we are following?” Sofia asked.

  Kivi nodded. “Yes, but there’s nothing to be done. It’s already occurred.”

  “What do we do then?” Sofia asked.

  “We’ll just have to figure it out. Since there is a patrol, it’s likely there is a Soviet unit nearby. My guess is the sniper came from there, so that is where Hale was likely taken,” Kivi said.

  “Why would they just send one man?” Sofia asked.

  “I bet they sent their best man to scout out our positions to prepare for an attack. It’s what I would do if the situation was reversed,” Kivi guessed. “These Soviets seem to be much more competent than our previous opponents.”

  “Why would they attack so soon after losing the hill?” Sofia asked.

  “As long as we hold Loytavaara Hill, a hill that overlooks the Kuhmo road, they won’t be able to get any supplies to the 54th,” Kivi replied.

 

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