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They’d cancelled his use of the American Express card so seeing as he was now spending his own money Rupert Wilkinson declined the offer of the more expensive Opel Ascona and plumbed for the smaller, and cheaper, Opel Kadett.
Travel map bought from the first petrol station he’d seen, he’d found his way to the only place, from his observations of the Hungarian border defence maps, that would be feasible to attempt an escape to the West without assistance from both sides of the border.
The only overt sign he’d seen of anything likely to happen there was the passing of another vehicle reversed into bushes, a man nearby watching an Alsatian dog having a shit. Nothing unusual there but the parking arrangement struck him as odd. It looked like concealment and the only people who couldn’t see him were the Hungarians.
He found himself some bushes of his own, out of the view of man and dog, and studied his maps. As the sun began to sink closer to the horizon, he checked his weapon, pulled on a windcheater and took a stroll towards the area facing the conveniently placed large fir tree at the border fence. Carefully, checking his surroundings, he pushed through the thicket and found himself a nice, relatively clean spot from which he could observe without being seen.