Page 74 of Hearts of Resistance
‘I know nothing because I was paid to take those things,’ she said quietly. ‘I needed more money, so I said yes, and they told me I had to make it back or I wouldn’t be paid. I am guilty.’
He smiled as if he believed he’d been the one to push her into finally talking, as if his tactics had succeeded.
‘You see? So much easier when you talk.’ His laugh was sinister, or maybe she hated him so much that she was imagining the cruel undertones. ‘Perhaps we can be friends after all.’
Rose nodded, forcing a tight smile. ‘I would receive a package, but I never saw who was delivering it. My job was to leave it near a train station,’ she lied.
‘That is all?’ he asked.
Rose smiled. ‘Yes. I don’t want to get into trouble. I never meant to do anything wrong.’
‘I will get you something to eat. I am a man of my word,’ he announced as he turned around. ‘When you’re ready, you will tell me the rest.’
She watched him go, knew the second she saw him hesitate he was going to turn and say something else.
‘If you don’t tell me everything?’ he said in a low, quiet voice. ‘Then you willnevereat again. I promise you that.’
Rose didn’t doubt him. He liked her being passive, and if she didn’t stay that way, she was certain her life would be short and miserable. She could die here, and no one would care. But she didn’t want this filthy Nazi to get the satisfaction of seeing her take her last breath.
He returned with a piece of bread, covered in dripping, and a chipped cup half-full of water. She took it gratefully.
‘Thank you,’ she said, eyeing the piece of bread, her mouth full of saliva as she anticipated her first bite. She didn’t care what it tasted like or how old it was; eating something,anything, would help her to stay alive.
Rose waited for him to leave before eating. Her stomach growled and groaned loudly in response, but she ate slowly. She chewed every tiny mouthful well and swallowed it down before pausing and taking another, wanting to feel full, knowing it might be the last thing she ate for some time. She sipped the water, too, a few little mouthfuls before finishing the piece of bread. She was still hungry, but it had taken the worst of the pains away and she knew it would give her more energy for whatever her captor had in store for her next.
She sat against the wall, the concrete so hard on her bottom that she felt as if her bones were protruding through her skin. Rose shut her eyes and willed sleep to find her, the cold seeping back through her body, chilling her right through as she imagined Peter’s smiling face, imagined how warm she’d feel in his arms, the strength of his embrace.
‘Get up!’
Rose was jolted awake by the rough voice, followed by something loud banging. She jumped up, bleary-eyed, realising she’d been asleep but not having any idea how long she’d been out.
‘Get up!’
There had to be others. If it was only her he wanted to rouse, then why wouldn’t he be standing in her cell?
Her door opened and she waited for instructions. A man pointed, one she hadn’t seen before, and she obeyed, walking out and standing still. She wanted desperately to glance back, but he was holding a gun and the last thing she needed was to be smacked with the butt of it again and suffer more injuries.
There were more footsteps and she wondered who was there, but still she didn’t look. Was she being taken out to be executed? She trembled at the thought even though she knew they wouldn’t kill her yet. They hadn’t tried hard enough to extract information from her; there was still so much they would do to her before they gave up on what she did or didn’t know. The Resistance had been too disruptive for them not to question her hard. Surely?
‘Walk!’ The command was shouted and she started to move. It didn’t take long before a guard pushed a door open and she stumbled out into the bright morning sunlight, the glare causing her to squint her eyes until it was like looking out from behind pinpricks.
But as her eyes adjusted and she was roughly shunted in the back, she realised what was happening. For whatever reason, they weren’t going to interrogate her any more here. The cattle car was waiting for them on the tracks, already full of others. Rose stepped forward and clambered up when she was told to, looking at another woman who looked hungrier and far sadder than she about their situation.
Her heart bled for them all, seeing the looks on their faces, the haunted gazes staring back at her. These women would have children. Husbands. Grandchildren even. Their pain was so much worse than hers would ever be. The men would have wives they were desperate to protect.
The door was shut with a bang, and Rose stood up, clinging on to the sides. As they were juddered and shuddered every which way, she bravely held her hand to her heart and looked at the others crowded in with her.
‘Have you heard the news?’ a young man murmured, just as Rose opened her mouth.
She shut it and shook her head. ‘What news?’
‘It’s happening. The Allies are coming, and soon.’
The smile on Rose’s face grew so big she couldn’t stop it. So it was true, it was happening. She didn’t care how he knew and she certainly didn’t ask questions, but it gave her a quiet hum in her chest, told her that perhaps all was not lost. ‘Join me,’ she said proudly, hand still on her heart. ‘We’ll sing “La Marseillaise” until our throats are hoarse and we cannot sing a breath longer.’
She started to sing their anthem, softly at first and then louder as her voice stopped quavering after so long being quiet. It didn’t take long before others joined her, and soon every prisoner was defiantly singing their song – their French song that would be like torture to the Germans’ ears.
‘France for ever!’ she yelled, before launching straight back into the anthem with all the gusto she could muster.
