Page 70 of Hearts of Resistance
‘Well...,’ Hazel started, clearing her throat and thinking quickly what to say in her defence.
‘No need to explain, I didn’t say a thing,’ Sophia said with a laugh, making Hazel grin. ‘Do you want me to take over for a bit so you can have a longer rest?’
Things had changed between them now, and for the better. Mind you, after what they’d been through, there was little they didn’t know about each other, and very little they wouldn’t trust the other with. Besides, not having Rose with them had brought them closer; they were both worried about her, and not knowing where she was or whether her mission had been a success was no doubt playing on Sophia’s mind as much as it was Hazel’s.
‘I’ll be fine,’ Hazel said, forgetting all about Harry and refocusing on her work. ‘I’m only worried that being on the radio so long could give up our position.’
Sophia nodded, following her all the way up and into the small room. ‘Look, if we were in the city, I think we’d need to be extremely careful. We’d have to be on the move after every transmission.’
Hazel agreed. ‘I know. But for all we know, we’re not as isolated as we think here. What if I’m compromising our security? What if we’re not being careful enough?’
She listened to Sophia sigh as they sat down. Hazel was at her desk and Sophia was on the bed, facing her.
‘How’s the radio holding up?’
Hazel groaned. ‘It’s terrible! I have to keep trying to patch it up, and I lose the connection all the time.’
‘Rose will be back soon. As soon as she’s here, we move on.’
‘I think we need to. We’re safer on the move than being sitting ducks for the Germans.’
Sophia lay back on the bed, no doubt deep in thought. She was the most introverted of them all, even though she was their natural leader. But the reason she was so good was because of the way she could read a situation, the thought she put into everything they did before they did it.
Hazel tried to tune into the BBC again once her communications for the day were over, but the signal kept fading out and her frustration was rising. Not to mention the fuzzy feeling in her stomach, the gnawing sensation she’d had ever since Rose had left. Something didn’t feel right to her, only she didn’t know if it was merely worry over her friend or something more.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
ROSE
Rose’s palm was clammy against the handle of her case as she walked. It was heavier this time. She’d thought the trip back would be easier because it was her second time and she knew what she was doing, knew what it was like getting past the security checks and into the train, how she felt playing her role. How wrong she’d been.
The case was certainly weighing her arm down, and she had to grit her teeth and force herself to keep walking, a smile fixed on her face as she pretended it wasn’t just about taking her arm off. In truth she could walk for hours if she had to – she was determined enough – but her stamina wasn’t her concern. It was being stopped. It was someone touching her case. Because this time, she had a crucial radio part and additional aerial with her, as well as explosives that she’d been given in case they needed to do more to assist before the landings.
The wind was cool on her cheeks but Rose welcomed it, enjoying how it felt against her flushed skin. She wanted the war to be over as much as the next person, but she also loved the work she was doing. Her racing pulse might unsettle her, but she was good at what she did, and something about that understanding always sent a sense of pride through her.
She noticed Gestapo and flashed a smile, not slowing her pace. She would be in the train station soon. Once she was inside she’d be able to show her pass, flirt if she had to, then find a seat and keep to herself until it was time to board. Only once she was seated and the train was moving would she start to relax.
Rose took comfort from the click of her low heels, the rhythmic noise soothing her as she kept up her fast walk. She was almost there, she was in the station, she was...
‘Roseanne?’
Her heart felt like it jumped with a thud to the concrete beneath her feet. Rose sucked back a breath and turned, knowing from the thick German accent who it had to be.
‘Kurt!’ she exclaimed, waving at him and grinning as if he was the best thing she’d seen all day.
He pushed off the wall he’d been leaning against and strode over, his smile wide, just like it had been that night on the train. She thought again what a shame it was that he was a Nazi. Not that she was even interested in other men, her heart was still full to brimming for Peter, but the thought still crossed her mind.
‘Are you heading back again so soon?’ he asked in German.
She nodded. ‘My, ah, business,’ she said, ‘it is all’ – she paused for effect –‘finished.’
He gestured in the direction she’d been heading and matched her pace as they slowly walked side by side.
‘If I wasn’t working,’ he said, eyes as bright as his smile, ‘I would have asked you to have dinner with me.’
She blushed, her cheeks hot, only it wasn’t because she was flattered. The burn inside of her was anger at the fact that a man who was an intruder in her beautiful country thought she would be swooning over the idea of dinner with him.
‘That would have been...,’ she said, laughing.‘Wonderful.’
