Banner In The Sky

Early that morning, the villagers of Kurtal anxiously resume watching the summit from their telescope. Some complain that Saxo must have slowed everyone down, until they see “two small black specks” (242) approaching the summit. As the men wonder where the other two are, they let it slip that Rudi is on the mountain, which his mother is horrified to overhear. Ilse is not mad at the men for trying to hide Rudi’s climb from her, saying that she tried to “live my Rudi’s life for him” (244) and he is doing what he must. She goes to the church to pray. From the hut, Old Teo faithfully waits, staring at “the peak until his neck ached” (245). Teo, as tough as ever, insists on going with the other guides to wait at the base of the mountain, insisting that he was a climber before they were born.

Back on the mountain, Franz and Winter wake up to find that Saxo and Rudi are gone. Franz doesn’t want to leave the captain but feels compelled to protect Rudi. For a moment, he is also enraged at the idea of Saxo, the “Boaster of Broli” (247), being the first to summit the Citadel. Winter insists on going with Franz to find Rudi. While he is still tattered and wearied, Winter’s eyes are “burning again with their old bright fire” (250). Franz worries that Winter will slow him down but is shocked at his “sheer force of will” (251) in keeping up. The altitude is so high that both begin coughing. Eventually, they reach a narrow ridge with dangerous exposure on either side, a “catwalk in the sky” (252). After the ridge, there is a straight shot to the summit of the Citadel—but Rudi and Saxo are nowhere to be seen. When the men are nearly across the ridge, they find a knapsack with Rudi’s red shirt. They cannot see where Rudi would have fallen but know that Rudi would never have left the shirt. Franz ties it around his waist as he continues.

Chapter 18 takes place from Rudi’s perspective earlier that same morning. He climbs without major obstacles but finds it harder and harder due to the altitude. He despairs that Saxo will reach the summit before him. Rudi alternates between guilt for leaving the others and defiance, wondering why he shouldn’t be the one to summit. The mountain is so still it is almost unnerving, but Rudi assures himself, “I am not afraid” (259). When Rudi finally reaches Saxo, the guide tells him to go back to his "old woman of an uncle” (260), Saxo will not share the summit with anyone, let alone a Kurtaler. Rudi begs him to let him continue and reaches out to touch his arm. Saxo furiously wheels around, loses his balance, and begins to fall down the face of the mountain. As the rocks slide around him, Rudi clings to a boulder for safety.

Once the rocks subside, he sees where Saxo fell, his arm clearly broken. Saxo cannot find a way up, so Rudi scrambles down toward him. He takes off his pack and staff, leaving them on the ledge. Rudi knows he cannot carry him up the wall, so he tries to leverage himself to help Saxo climb up on his own. Despite several efforts, Rudi cannot get him up the wall. Saxo tells him to go on without him and “claim your victory” (267). Rudi knows that, even though Saxo is not a friend, it would be wrong to leave him. After examining their position longer, Rudi realizes there is not a route up, but there is a slim fault in the rock that would lead them back to their tents. With “the bitterest disappointment” (269), Rudi imagines what it would be like to scramble to the top of the mountain. Saxo urges him to go on to victory as “the conqueror of the Citadel. Your father’s son” (270). Mention of his father gives Rudi clarity. He makes a sling for Saxo and insists that they go down together. The process is excruciating. After going a few feet at a time, Rudi turns to help Saxo behind him. At one point they slip and, after gathering themselves, sit to rest. Rudi’s heart stops when he looks up the ridge toward the top of the Citadel and sees his uncle and Winter moving toward the base of the summit. Rudi wants to shout out to them but stops himself, realizing that if they don’t come back for him, they will reach the summit in half an hour.

Despite Saxo’s repeated insistence that Rudi abandon him, Rudi continues to guide him down. They fall over and over, “lurching, slipping, falling” (274) slowly. Rudi becomes so exhausted that he doesn’t think he can take another step. Saxo’s strength is almost entirely gone, and Rudi has to carry and drag him along. Gazing up the mountain again, he sees Winter and Franz on the Needle before the summit. Rudi collapses as “white mountain and sky spun around him” (275). Later, Rudi feels someone picking him up but remains unconscious. When Rudi wakes up, it is dark. He is back at camp with Winter and Franz, who carried him and Saxo. When Franz confirms that he and the captain made it to the summit, Rudi says, “We got our Herr to the top” (275).

After resting for an hour and refueling on tea and chocolate, the climbers begin their descent. Franz has the hardest job as the last man on the rope, carrying almost all of Saxo’s weight. When Saxo falls and insists he can’t go on any longer, the others coax him along. As they belay down a wall, Rudi slips and feels the rope grasp onto his chest, realizing how fragile his life is. Rudi wants to be as strong as he can, not making things harder on Winter, who guides him down. Eventually, Rudi is practically lowered down “like a bundle of firewood” (278), which is embarrassing for him. When he finally reaches the platform below the Fortress, Rudi feels Teo, whose eyes are filled with tears, holding onto him. Making it back to the hut and falling asleep is a blur. When Rudi awakes, there is a whole group around him, including Klaus Wesselhoft, one of the boys who always teased him. While Klaus greets him as “angel face” (279) again, Rudi can tell that his tone is different now. Saxo is able to walk slowly, and two men escort him back to Broli. Before leaving, Saxo shakes Rudi’s hand, thanking him for saving his life. He says, “I salute you” (280) and instructs Winter and Franz, the “conquerors of the Citadel” (280), to thank him, too.

Crowds greet the climbers at the base of the glacier, and the town celebrates more than ever in its history. People flood in from the surrounding villages. When they reach the town square, Rudi sees his mother. While she is crying, Rudi can see that behind them is something “deeper and stronger and more shining than tears” (281), as the two of them share a wordless and profound moment together. The mayor praises Franz and Winter, saying that everyone will know the Citadel as their mountain. Winter interrupts him and insists, “It is Rudi’s mountain” (282). Winter points to the top of the mountain, where Rudi sees his father’s shirt flying “like a banner against the shining sky” (283). Winter insists that Rudi and his father put it there. Rudi leaves with Teo to go wash dishes—he’s fallen behind over the past few days. The chapter ends by noting that Rudi proceeded to become the most famous Alpine guide, but this story is about him growing “from a boy into a man” (285).