Page 26 of Hearts of Resistance
‘It’s the big stone cottage,’ she told them. ‘We’ll go through the back door.’
Suddenly a blast of noise ricocheted around her, an explosion that made her trip and fall to the ground.What in God’s name ...?
Rose gasped. She looked down at her arm, blood trickling faster and faster down her skin, skin that was suddenly so terribly burning hot. She opened her mouth to say something but her vision blurred and she stumbled when she tried to get up, the damp leaves beneath her somehow pulling her back down towards them.
Big hands grabbed for her, strong arms pulling her to her feet as more bangs filled the air around them. They were being shot at!
Rose turned, unsteady as she saw one of the men she was with fire a gun. And then everything went silent.
‘Run!’ one of them ordered.
Rose ran fast, tripping every few steps, or at least it felt like that, but holding tight to the man’s hand as they dashed frantically for her house.
Her breath caught in her throat, the wound in her arm sending shooting pains through her entire body, but she didn’t have time to care or worry.
‘Downstairs in the cellar,’ she said. ‘All of you.’
‘It’s the first place they’ll look!’ the man that had been helping her said, his eyes wide. She guessed he was probably twenty, maybe younger, and she hated the fear in his expression.
Rose paused, shut her eyes, thought for a moment about where they could be safe. There was a shed in the garden, but that would be too easily raided. The cellar had seemed logical, but perhaps her attic? She suddenly smiled despite her pain.
Peter’s mother had given her a crib, his own baby one, and after so long trying and not getting pregnant, they’d brought it here. She hadn’t wanted to have a nursery at home until they needed one.
She pointed upstairs. ‘Go,’ she said.
‘What if we have to escape? We can’t jump out the window up there!’ complained one of the men.
‘You won’t need to.’
Rose hurried them into the room and showed them the closet. ‘Get in.’
‘There’s no way we can all fit in there!’
‘Just do it.Quickly.’ She glared at them, then glanced down at her arm. She left the room and took her shirt off, hiding it under her pillow and getting one of Peter’s long socks out of the drawer. She used her left hand and her teeth to tie it tight around her wound, not wanting to draw attention to the blood there.
Her hands were shaking so much, quivering from shock as much as terror.I’ve been shot.The three words kept echoing through her mind as she hurried, securing the tight knot and then stripping off the rest of her clothes. She stuffed them in her bottom drawer and quickly found a dress to pull on, then she raced back into the room where she’d left the men. She didn’t know if they’d seen her through the open door or if they were already hidden, but given the circumstances she didn’t care.
‘Get in!’ she ordered, seeing one of the men still standing in the room as she struggled to pin her hair up, trying to change her appearance.
‘I can’t fit. I’m going under the bed,’ he muttered.
She forgot her shaking hands as she took charge.
‘This ismyhome and I make the rules,’ she ordered, taking a doll from the cot, also a gift from her mother-in-law, and wrapping it in a blanket. ‘Get in the closet or walk out my front door and meet your fate.’
The man stared back at her but she held her ground, and seconds later she was pushing on the door to shut them all in, him included.
Rose took a deep breath and pushed the crib closer to their hiding spot. She could do this. All that determination and grit she’d had about doing something to help, well, this was her chance. She’d been in mourning long enough. She refused to look down at her stomach, her slightly rounded belly not big enough for anyone else to notice she was pregnant. She clutched the pretend baby, hoping whatever Nazi soldiers came looking fell for her ruse.
She forced herself to breathe normally as she started down the stairs. Each step felt heavy, her footfalls loud to her own ears. And then came the knock she’d been expecting. She heard loud noises and wondered what was happening, but she clutched the doll tight and refused to give in to any panic. Fear pulsed through her as she wondered if there would be retributions for the entire village for what she’d done. They wouldn’t give up until they found the perpetrator.
Rose hurried the last two steps and ran to the door, pulling it open then quickly stepping back and patting her pretend baby. She held it close, making shushing noises at the same time.
Tears formed in her eyes and she didn’t blink them away. She was pretending to be a scared mother comforting her child, which meant there was nothing wrong with crying.
‘We’re looking for French cowards,’ the tall German officer said, in such good French she could hardly believe it. ‘Men who think they are still soldiers. Step aside.’
She stared at him, wide-eyed, taking a few steps back. If he hadn’t been the enemy she would have thought how handsome he was, but there was nothing about the cold blue eyes of the German that she wanted to admire. He was like a walking advertisement for Hitler’s perfect Aryan race.
