V FOR VICTORY Jules carried the brushes Claude because he was bigger lugged the can of paint The two boys kept to the far side of the trees lining the road trying to stay out of sight German soldiers walk along here sometimes Claude whispered Jules swept his gaze up and down the road and to each side Well they aren’t here now he said A faint jangle of bells caught his attention and he turned to see a herd of goats com ing out of the forest onto the road behind them Jules tapped Claude on the shoulder and jabbed his thumb in the direction of the road Here he said and the boys crept from behind the trees onto the roadway What about them Claude pointed at the animals clip clopping along the pavement And the old lady A woman in a long skirt hobbled behind the goats urging them along with a stick 3
Don’t worry about any of that Jules said Now you paint 1918 Doesn’t eighteen go before nineteen Claude asked Yes usually but this time paint 19 then an 18 that’s all because it’s the year But it isn’t It’s 1943 Yes I know that but Never mind I’ll paint 1918 You do the V for Victory Claude bobbed his head happily and put brush to pavement pavement ignoring the goats that clattered past But when the goatherd passed by he looked up and whispered Why does that lady have a suitcase strapped to her back Oh is that the Ameri Shh Jules hushed his friend Make that V bigger It’s too little Once the goats were past all that could be heard was the scrape of the brushes on the pavement and the boys earnest breathing a little from the exertion of the hike and from bending bending over to paint And that other thing fear of getting caught Jules was just putting the finishing touches on his work when he heard shouts Achtung Then Garçons Arretez Boys Stop Jules leaped up and tugged at Claude’s sleeve Vite Vite he cried then dashed away He could hear Claude clomping along behind him and behind behind Claude the clanging of metal heeled boots on the roadway roadway Only German soldiers had boots that sounded like that Jules knew He glanced over his shoulder to see a couple of soldiers chasing them still far enough away that Jules wasn’t 4 Margi Preus
worried about getting caught The boys only had to duck into the forest that lined the road and take any one of a number of paths and they’d lose the soldiers in no time He glanced back again now Claude was loping in the wrong direction back toward the soldiers Claude Jules shouted The paint Claude yelled over his shoulder The goats skittered sideways as the soldiers ran past them Leave it Jules hollered There was no way Claude could retrieve the paint and get away before the soldiers reached him Jules clutched his head in his hands There was the woods right there full of paths leading in all directions But there was Claude about to fall into the hands of the Germans the Germans who would turn him over to that policeman Inspector Inspector Perdant Jules let his arms fall to his sides and ran back toward his friend 5 village of scoundrels
