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The bridge slowly came into view, giving an eery picture in the darkness. It looked unsafe in every regard, no lights to shine the way, the bridge’s planks old and unstable, and Peppone knew that there were machine guns pointed at it ready to fire at all times. The bridge itself was to no concern to Peppone, rather the machine guns that had taken him by surprise the first time he had crossed it. And so, he grabbed Don Camillo by the arm and stopped him to stay in the protective shadows of the trees.
“We should wait here for a while until we know it’s clear”, Peppone said. Don Camillo raised an eyebrow at him.
“Why would it not be clear, it’s an old, small bridge”, he countered.
“It so happens to be well-guarded!”
“And that’s why we wait?”, Don Camillo growled lowly “There is a man dying and with him the possibility to safe fifty men, and you want to wait at a bridge that might or might not be guarded?!”
“I said that it is very well-guard-”
“If he dies you will have to bear those fifty souls you could have saved, not me”, was Peppone harshly cut off by Don Camillo, but instead of answering, he fell silent. He didn’t want to be responsible for so many deaths, obviously, but risking his own life so foolishly when he could very well just wait for half an hour or two to make sure that they could pass without being shot at sight?
“Peppone”, Don Camillo’s voice suddenly broke the silence that had fallen between them “Do you trust me?”
Peppone instantly turned to look at the priest, a half calculating, half concerned look on his face.
“What kind of devilish plan do you have to ask this question?”, he wanted to know. Don Camillo shrugged innocently, before suddenly stepping forward and pushing Peppone with all his might towards the bridge.
“Run!”, Don Camillo screamed, sprinting after him as the first shots rang out.
“You are out of your mind!”, Peppone roared over his shoulder at him “You’re going to get us both killed!”
“If you don’t trust me then at least trust in God!”, Don Camillo answered and pushed Peppone across the bridge, always just one or two steps behind him. When they reached the woods on the other side, Don Camillo stayed close to him, his hands still pressed to Peppone’s back while they caught their breaths and waited for the shooting to stop.
“Did you get hit?”, Peppone asked after a while, feeling for his own body parts to make sure that everything was fine and that he did not miss being shot.
“No”, Don Camillo answered a bit shakily, but after a while, he moved away to follow the path to their destination and it was in this moment that Peppone realized that Don Camillo had kept so close behind him all the time to protect him with him own body.
Biting his tongue at the realization, Peppone followed Don Camillo to quietly walk side by side for the rest of the way.