Page 214 of Valor

CHAPTEREIGHTEEN

Northern Moravia, 1942

A firm shakeof his shoulder jolted Fred out of sleep. He opened his eyes, but the darkness failed to dissipate. His teeth chattered.

“Get dressed.” Mark tossed his clothes at him. They were still a bit damp, but the fire was out, and his cousin seemed ready to head out. Fred pulled on his pants, then the shirt. When he shoved his feet into his old shoes, he grunted. They were still wet. Praying he wouldn’t get blisters, he tightened the shoelaces.

“Ready.” He stood.

“Good.” Mark struck a match, and the faint light illuminated a narrow passage. “Follow me. Watch your head; there are a couple of low-hanging boulders. And don’t panic when it gets a bit tight. Turn sideways and squeeze through.”

Fred nodded, wishing he had saved a few bites of Mother’s bread the night before. His stomach growled so loudly that he wondered if it would echo off the cave’s walls.

“Stay right behind me,” Mark ordered. The match burnt out. They were plunged into total darkness. Fred gritted his teeth. What did his cousin say about the low-hanging boulders? Fred placed his left palm on his forehead, then reached through the darkness and found Mark’s shoulder with his right hand.

“Okay, if I hang on for a bit?”

“If that makes you feel better.” Mark moved forward with confidence. Fred wondered for how long his cousin would lead him through the twists and turns of this tight underground path. His eyes stayed blind in the darkness, even though he tried to focus on his guide in front of him. There was no sound aside from their steps and the rhythm of his cousin’s breath. Was this what being dead felt like? Buried down deep in a cold, dark place. The priest at the church talked about heaven, but after all that Fred had seen, he was no longer confident there was one.If that makes you feel better,his cousin’s casual reply swirled through his mind.

There was nothing that could do that unless he could turn back time, save them all, and tell Hedvika how he truly felt about her. He would ask her if she would be his girl and maybe even find enough courage to approach her father and beg for his permission to marry her. But all those hopes died yesterday, together with her family.

“This is the first boulder.” Mark halted. “Duck.” Fred, his hand still covering his forehead, let go of his cousin and waved his free arm in front of him, searching for the rock. When his fingers touched the wet surface, he traced it all the way to the sharp point at the end. It was about five feet off the ground.

“Where are you?” Mark’s hushed voice echoed through the passage. “Get on your knees and follow me. Count 127 steps.”

Fred crawled under the protruding stone, hoping there were no snakes. He cleared the boulder and felt the walls on both sides. Was this what Mark meant by narrow? His breath caught. Blind, squeezed by granite walls, his cousin’s steps slowly fading somewhere in front of him, Fred felt utterly alone. Despite the chill, sweat broke out on his forehead.

“Fred?” A flicker of light broke through the blackness. The scent of sulfur jolted him out of the spiraling panic that threatened to choke the very life out of him.

“Come on, man.” Mark’s eyes glistened in the fading light. “Ouch,” he hissed, then dropped the small stick. “We got to get going,” he reached for Fred’s hand. “If you tell anyone, I’ll break your nose,” he said, squeezing his fingers.

“I’m—” Fred forced the words through his clenched teeth. “Sorry.” His voice was shaky. “I’ve never?—”

“Hush, they may still be looking for us,” Mark hissed. “I don’t know how the sound carries through this maze or if there are any shafts above us open to the surface. The last thing we want them to do is wait for us at the mouth of the cave.” The whispered words pulled Fred back to reality. This dark, damp cave was the least of his worries. It offered a refuge and relative safety when they needed it. Fred had no idea where his cousin would take him, but the one thing he knew for certain was that the real darkness waited outside. By now, there would be a price on his head. As he began his step count, gripping his cousin’s hand, Fred promised himself that he would do all that was in his power to find her. One day, when this nightmare ended, he would tell Hedvika how much he loved her.

CHAPTERNINETEEN

Northern Moravia, 2025

Meghan’s shoes were wet.She looked up the steep hill Oliver seemed to be determined to climb.

Lord, is this for real? Or am I on some weird reality show, and the camera crew will suddenly show up and tell me this entire thing was a setup?

“Are you okay?” Oliver’s eyes searched hers.

“Nope.” She breathed the words. “None of this is okay.”

“I’m sorry,” he said and stretched his arm toward her, offering his hand.

How would holding his hand make any of this better? Meghan was pretty sure that Oliver still wasn’t completely honest with her. He may be a small-town history teacher, but educators didn’t get chased by armed Russians very often.

“What are you not telling me?” She dug her fists into her hips. “And you better fess up the whole truth.” She glared at him. “Because I’m not climbing this mountain without knowing why.”

“Okay,” he agreed, a little too quickly to calm her anxiety. “I’ll tell you everything, but we have to keep going.”

The urgency in his voice made her look over her shoulder. There was no one across the river. She caught snippets of words. Or did she? The rushing river drowned out most of the other sounds.

“There is a cave in this direction.” He pointed to the low growth of trees.

---