Summary

The narrator and Cécile met under a chestnut tree and took a walk into the woods. On their way, they did not say much and the narrator observed their surroundings. When they stopped at a vista, the narrator took Cécile’s hand. He told her how happy she made him and how he wished they could keep walking forever. Cécile teased him but then agreed she wanted this too.

The narrator insists on getting on with his story. Their brief “embrace and gentle kiss” in the hills lasted a moment compared to what happened next (404).

One morning, a truck raced past the shop. Then “two German armored cars” passed in pursuit of the truck (404). Moments later, the narrator heard machine gun fire. The narrator and his father ran into the road and saw the vehicles swerve to a shop. The...