Page 60 of Hearts of Resistance
‘She’s determined, I’ll give her that,’ Sophia muttered.
‘She’s better than just determined. She’s damn good.’
Sophia laughed. ‘Fine. I’ve been hard on her, but you two have history. I was never going to trust her with my life without her proving herself to me first.’
‘I know. It’s been just the two of us for a long time.’ She knew it must be hard for Sophia. If it was her, she’d definitely feel threatened by the past she shared with Hazel.
Rose kept an eye on Hazel as Sophia kept scanning the trees around them, careful to keep watch and make sure they were safe. Rose knew Hazel was fast, but seeing the speed with which she tapped her codes was incredible.
‘The RAF failed to destroy their targets, so all circuits are mobilised!’ Hazel announced, her voice full of excitement. ‘The train lines must be blown up tonight!
‘You’re certain?’ Sophia asked impatiently.
‘Stop second-guessing me, I know what I’m doing! We’re—’
‘Hazel!’ Rose yelled, as a cracking noise echoed out and without any other warning, the roof suddenly collapsed with a series of thuds as it fell to the ground. She ran to the door, waiting for the billows of dust to settle, waiting to see if she could see Hazel on the ground. Where was she? Was she dead?
‘Hazel!’ Sophia gasped, pushing past Rose as she stood gaping, and leaping over some of the fallen-in roof.
It was Sophia who reached Hazel first, dragging her out and patting her back as she coughed and spluttered. Rose quickly retrieved the wireless, hoping it wasn’t too badly damaged.
‘You didn’t have to do anything quite so dramatic to prove the message was correct,’ Sophia scolded, still holding Hazel as Rose offered her water.
Hazel coughed. ‘It’s up to us,’ she spluttered. ‘The others will be cutting cables and derailing trains, but we need to blow that bridge or any part of that line up, and then get as far away as we can.’
Rose shivered despite the mild weather. ‘We can do it. Of course we can do it. It’s why we’re here.’
‘Is my radio broken?’ Hazel asked, rubbing her head.
Rose nodded. ‘It’s fixable, except for the aerial. I think that’s as good as gone.’
She packed it all up into Hazel’s satchel, adrenaline starting to course through her veins. This was it. This was what they’d all been waiting for, and now they had to do their part to make the Allied landings a success. London and Paris were counting on them!
‘Come on, let’s rest a little and plan our attack,’ Sophia said. For the first time, Rose thought she looked rattled, although maybe she was just nervous herself and imagining it. ‘We’re going to have a very limited window of time, and the place could be heaving with bloody Germans.’
Rose glanced at Hazel one more time, hoping she wasn’t hurt. It had been a fast, brutal fall.
‘You’re certain you’re going to be—’ Rose started.
‘Don’t worry about me,’ Hazel said, coughing and clearing her throat. ‘I’m tougher than I look.’
Rose already knew that. ‘I think we all are,’ she muttered.
‘What?’ Sophia asked.
‘Tougher than we look.’
Hazel laughed and then suddenly they all burst into laughter. Rose leaned back against the old stable wall and hoped it wouldn’t collapse; Hazel sat there with cobwebs in her hair and all covered in dust; and Sophia stood there in the middle, bent over, giggling like Rose had never heard her laugh before.
‘There’s nothing funny about any of this,’ Hazel said, still grinning. ‘It’s awful and scary and bloody terrifying. Why are we even laughing?’
Sophia shook her head. ‘Because if we weren’t laughing we’d be crying.’
‘Sophia, you have experience detonating explosives. What about you, Hazel?’ Rose asked, wiping her cheeks to brush away stray tears from her silly laughing episode. ‘I mean, this isn’t just a little bomb, this is...
‘I’ll take charge,’ Sophia said. ‘But Hazel will know what to do if anything happens to me.’
Rose wasn’t surprised – she knew a lot more about Sophia than anyone else – but Hazel?
