Page 42 of Hearts of Resistance
The floorboards above creaked and she saw Hazel startle.
‘What was that?’
Rose pointed up. ‘We have a guest,’ she explained. ‘We’ve been working with others in the area, rescuing pilots, but this one was injured and we couldn’t get him out when the last of the submarines came through. He’ll be gone with the new moon.’
Hazel looked uncertain and Rose understood how she felt. It was overwhelming, and all the training in the world couldn’t possibly have prepared her for what she was going to be doing. If she hadn’t been recruited on the ground as she had, Rose was certain she’d have looked just as worried.
‘Gosh, I felt like I was top of my class during training and now I’m like a fish out of water!’
‘Stop,’ Rose said. She stood and moved around the table, holding out her hand and waiting for Hazel to stand. When she did, Rose opened her arms and hugged her friend long and hard. ‘It’s so good to see you again. We’re sitting here talking, all stiff like we’re strangers, and it’s silly. It’s been so long since I’ve seen someone from my past life, it’s as if I need to be taught how to behave again.’
Hazel hugged her back and relaxed in her arms. ‘It’s good to see you again, too.’ She sighed audibly. ‘I definitely never expected to find a familiar face over here, that’s for sure.’
Rose pulled away and wrapped her arms around herself. ‘The work we do, it changes you. I didn’t mean to be cold with you, but I feel different now. As if I’m not even connected to the old me, like I’m watching from above or something peculiar.’ She knew how silly that sounded, trying to explain her feelings.
Hazel touched her arm before dropping back into her chair again. ‘I can see that. I know you’ve been through so much and I haven’t done anything other than be put through my training. I don’t know how we’re supposed to do the things they train us for, then simply return home at the end and pretend like nothing has changed.’
Rose nodded. She understood completely; her old life felt like a distant memory that she could barely reach out and touch. She couldn’t imagine going home and being the same person again, especially not being able to divulge how active they’d been during the offensive in France.
‘Hazel, I—’
A thump outside made Rose jump. She was used to the unexpected now, but a loud noise when they were so careful to be quiet and go unnoticed was unusual.
‘Wait here,’ she said, glancing at Hazel before hurrying to the door. She waited a second, then opened it a crack to take a look, ready to fight if she needed to. She was always on guard, always on edge, one eye half-open even when she was sleeping.
She gasped when she saw Sophia buckling beneath the weight of a man dressed in a British RAF uniform. Rose dashed out, calling for Hazel to join them.
‘Help! Quick!’ Sophia hissed.
Rose grabbed one side of him, taking part of his weight as her boots skidded on the damp grass. She slumped beneath him, trying desperately to stay upright.
‘Who is he?’ she asked Sophia as the man moaned. ‘And how the hell have you ended up with him?’
‘What in the world?’ Hazel gasped.
Sophia collapsed just as Hazel reached them, darting to help catch the man as he grunted and slipped forward. He was filthy, his face covered in dirt and dried blood, his uniform torn and snagged.
‘Found him,’ Sophia panted as she let Hazel take over, ‘crawling through the wooded area on my way back.’ She stumbled to the door and held it open. ‘I could hardly leave him, could I? Josephine had already gone.’
‘What’s your name?’ Rose asked as they hefted him up the steps. One of his legs was working, but he was cradling an arm and the other leg was dragging and making him groan with every bump.
‘Harry,’ he muttered, barely audible.
And just as she was about to reply, he slipped straight from their arms and landed with a thud on the hard timber floor.
Rose stood dead still with the others for a moment, all of them frozen with the shock of what had just happened, before jolting into action.
‘What do we do with him?’ Hazel asked as Rose dropped to the floor beside him. She bent low and listened to his breathing. It was shallow but at least he wasn’t dead.
‘He’s alive,’ she said, glancing at Sophia. ‘We can’t carry him upstairs, so let’s get him to the sofa and then we can check over his injuries.’
Sophia looked as though she was about to pass out, and Rose wanted her to rest. She’d been out for hours and the last thing Rose needed was for her to collapse from fatigue when they were on high alert.
‘Samuel, get down here!’ Rose called to the man who was sleeping upstairs. She’d told him not to come down unless he was told to, preferring to keep him well hidden until it was time to leave. There had been too many of their own caught by Germans in the past few weeks, their countrymen turning on them and giving information to the Nazis. They no longer knew who they could trust.
‘Hazel, get hot water and towels. They’re in the kitchen,’ Rose ordered, kneeling beside their new patient as she waited for Samuel to come down to help her. ‘I’ll need bandages, too. Bottom cupboard.’
Samuel came down the stairs so quietly she didn’t hear him until he was standing near her. He looked worried and she didn’t blame him. He was so close to getting back home and away from an enemy who’d take pleasure in his capture; he was probably a nervous wreck.
