Page 50 of Hearts of Resistance
‘Is Samuel dead?’
She turned at the sound of Hazel’s voice. ‘I don’t know.’ It was the only honest reply she could give. ‘We got him there. Somehow we managed to weave our way to the beach undetected, and the rowboat was waiting. But then there were shots fired. We didn’t know from where or how, but it was chaos,’ Rose said. It felt like days ago, not mere hours. ‘He could have been shot in the boat for all we know, or they could have rowed their hearts out and made it. I’m hoping and praying they did, but we’ll never know.’
Rose was trying to stick to what had happened and speak matter-of-factly, but the truth was, she was heartbroken. She’d been so fond of Samuel, as she was of all the men she’d helped to save, but it wasn’t his possible death that was causing her such pain. She was pleased for the cover of dark, preferring to be bathed in blackness so the others couldn’t see the tears in her eyes. After she’d lost Peter and then her baby, she’d sworn she wouldn’t ever shed another tear, but perhaps she wasn’t as cold-hearted and closed now as she’d thought she was.
‘Josephine was the woman who recruited me,’ she managed to tell Hazel, the words hard to get out. ‘She cared for me when I was shot and showed me what to do with the men I’d saved. She was there tonight, taking her own delivery, and I saw them grab her. They dragged her across the ground as she kicked and screamed, and for a moment our eyes met.’ Rose wished they had something strong to drink with them, anything to help dull the pain inside her as she relived what had happened. ‘I thought they were going to see, that they’d follow her gaze and see me hidden, but in that moment she looked away and started to scream and struggle. We took our chance to run, and within minutes we’d heard the single gunshot.’ Rose shuddered, hot bile rising in her throat that she was forced to swallow back down. ‘She was dead.’
‘Is that why you wanted us to leave?’ Hazel asked. ‘Because you thought they’d followed you?’
Rose felt like all the energy had drained from her body after reliving Josephine’s demise, and she was grateful when Sophia spoke up for her.
‘No, but it’s true they could have found us from that alone. There are more people now too scared to defy them, more who’d give us up than ever before. It’s impossible with the Germans everywhere.’
Rose listened to Sophia, wishing things could have been different. There was so much she still hadn’t told Hazel, secrets that were between her and Sophia alone. But with Josephine gone, that was going to have to change. They needed Hazel to be fully part of their little team, and there wasn’t time for her to prove herself worthy – Sophia had no choice other than to fully accept her.
‘If they’d captured and tortured her, she would never have given us up,’ Rose told them, needing to be the voice for her friend who’d been taken. She shifted her weight, the ground rough beneath her. ‘They could have done anything to her,anything, and she would have remained silent until the end.’
‘Unlike your contacts,’ Sophia said, words clearly meant for Hazel. ‘They’re why we had to leave like that. We had word they’d given us up, and the Germans showing up at our rendezvous like that was evidence it was good intel.’
‘They what?’ Hazel’s voice sounded shaky. ‘Who gave us up? Someone from Sebastian’s cell?’
Rose nodded. ‘Yes, the couple who were supposed to be meeting you. But we haven’t heard from Sebastian directly yet. I’m hoping he’s safe.’
‘They gave us up, all of us,’ Sophia said, glaring at Hazel.
‘It’s not her fault,’ Rose said. ‘Stop looking at her like that.’
‘If they hadn’t been on their way to meet her, they would never have been intercepted in the first place!’ Sophia snapped.
‘They might have beenhercontacts, but they were assigned to her by her superiors in London. What they did or didn’t do has nothing to do with her,’ Rose said angrily, not liking how hostile Sophia had sounded. She was one of the people in the world she was closest to now, but it didn’t mean she approved of how blunt she could be sometimes. Sophia had been through a lot, and it often showed in her demeanour.
‘Sorry if I’m a little annoyed at having to leave our bolt hole!’ Sophia fumed.
‘Enough,’ Rose said quietly, her voice firm. ‘There’s enough going on without any of us being at odds.’
Sophia was silent. The only noise was the sound of Harry’s still-heavy breathing.
‘Of course, sorry,’ Sophia said, surprising Rose by how quickly she apologised. ‘It’s not your fault, Hazel. They were members of our circuit, and they should have done anything to protect our identity and location.’
‘So it’s me they’re after? Is that what you’re worried about?’ Hazel asked. ‘Or is it just that you don’t want me here for some reason? Is it because you want me to prove myself, or is it something else?’
‘Hazel, they’re after all of us,’ Rose said. ‘Honestly, they will take anyone they can from our underground network, because we’ve been causing such chaos for them. Last week others took out a major supply truck, and we’ve been couriering things right under their noses. The entire region has been destabilised because of the Resistance. What we’re doing, it’s working, and they hate each and every one of us.’
She had to smile as she thought about how successful they’d been recently. They might be out in the open with nowhere to shelter tonight, but it meant that what they’d been fighting for had worked, and that was something to be proud of.
‘Tell her,’ Sophia said, her voice softer now. ‘It’s me who’s at fault. I don’t trust easily, and you’ve already proven yourself if you’ve managed to come this far.’
Rose paused. ‘We’ve been earmarked for assisting to cause disruption with trains and tankers. It’s why we so badly needed a new operator in the area.’
‘And these contacts, they might have given that information away?’ Hazel asked.
‘I doubt they knew enough to give much away, but they knew enough to compromise us personally.’ Rose shrugged, even though the others could barely see her in the dark. ‘Look, our cover was blown by people we should have been able to trust, but do any of us truly know our breaking point? We don’t know how long we’d suffer to save another until we’re in that situation.’
‘I would never give anyone up,’ Sophia said defiantly.
Rose shook her head. ‘Maybe their families were threatened? If there was a gun to the head of your child or mother or brother, who are we to say we wouldn’t say a word and expose the movement?’
There was no one they could threaten her with personally, but if her darling little child had lived? Would she have let that child be murdered to save the Resistance? She swallowed, repeatedly, always feeling the urge to vomit whenever she thought about that long, painful night with Sophia slumped beside her.
