Page 75 of Hearts of Resistance
When her throat was hoarse from singing and the train began to slow, Rose felt some of her confidence start to fade. She looked around, wondered where they’d been taken and why. If the Germans were worried about an impending attack, why would they have brought them even closer to Normandy? Or perhaps they truly didn’t know where to expect it. Maybe all their codes and incorrect messages had worked after all!
‘Get out!’ The words were shouted as the side of the car slid open. It was another prison. She’d hoped for that and not a longer trip to a camp near Germany, even though she knew they were both merely different forms of evil.
A guard grabbed her hair, dragging her down and shoving her forward. Tears burnt in her eyes but she refused to shed them. She just had to stay alive long enough for the invasion to happen. If she survived that long, she might just make it back home alive.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
HAZEL
‘I should be happy about leaving.’
Hazel didn’t care who could see them. She stood on tiptoe and threw her arms around Harry’s neck, kissing him boldly on the lips. It would be the last time she’d ever see him, and engaged to be married or not, she was going to kiss him.
‘You should definitely be happy about leaving,’ she whispered in his ear, holding him tight. His body was warm against hers and she wished she’d been brave enough to kiss him days earlier. Perhaps then she’d have been able to spend more time with his arms encircling her.
‘If anything changes, if you ever want to find me...’
Hazel pressed a finger to Harry’s mouth. She couldn’t think about him once he’d gone. She didn’t need to be wonderingwhat ifand being miserable thinking of him if she ever made it home. All she wanted was the sweet memory of his kiss and the warmth of his body against hers when he held her.
Harry shuffled back a step and she hoped she hadn’t leaned on him too hard. He was still limping badly, and she was certain he was gritting his teeth and braving the pain so she wouldn’t worry about him.
‘Here’s my address,’ he said, passing her a scrap of paper from his pocket. ‘Memorise it then throw it away. Please.’
Hazel took it from him and stared at it, committed the address to memory immediately.
She stood still when he leaned back in, his lips soft as he stole one last kiss. He held his mouth to hers and they stayed like that, her tears trickling down to meet their lips. When he stepped back this time, he fanned his fingers down her cheeks and gave her a glimpse of his dimpled smile.
‘Goodbye,’ he whispered, fingertips brushing her arm before falling away.
She nodded, biting down on her bottom lip.‘Goodbye.’
He limped away from her then and she stuffed her fist against her mouth, biting down on her own knuckles and staring at his back as he left. Harry never turned back, never looked at her one last time, and she held that memory of his smiling face in her mind as she fled back up to the attic. The men that had taken him were trustworthy, they were good at what they did, and so long as he managed to keep up, he’d be gone by nightfall.
There was nothing left for her to do, but the attic felt like her safe place. She lay down on the small bed up there and tucked her body into a ball. She’d been strong for months, and now she felt so hurt, it was like a knife had been embedded in her stomach.
Harry was gone, and instead of being overjoyed at him being safe, she was miserable. It was selfish and stupid, but it was the truth.
It was dangerous for them to have another shipment so soon after the last in the same location, and they were all starting to get nervous over the lack of contact from Rose, but they needed the weapons. It was too soon to know whether something had gone awfully wrong or whether the delay had simply been inevitable, but it wasn’t stopping any of them from worrying. And Hazel hadn’t received any information back that suggested something had happened. Which meant she needed to stop worrying and stay positive. Rose was alive, she had to be, and all her fretting wasn’t doing anyone any good.
She listened in to her radio, smiling when she picked up the soothing voice of the BBC presenter. She stretched out, eyes shut, hearing every word even though to someone else she might look as if she was asleep.
And then she heard something that changed everything.
‘Sophia!’ she screamed, forgetting her usual muted tones, the fact that she always spoke quietly and quickly, and only to her intended audience, not the entire house. ‘Sophia!’ Hazel scribbled down the words, the poetry that she was certain meant...She sucked back a breath and went through it one more time. It had only taken her minutes and she was certain of the meaning.
‘What is it?’ Sophia asked, breathless as she suddenly appeared at the top of the stairs, leaning in the doorway.
‘It’s happening,’ Hazel whispered, hardly able to believe it. ‘They’re going to be landing in Normandy soon. We have targets to attack, and we’re to disrupt as much as we can before and during the invasion.’
Sophia’s eyes widened. ‘You’re certain?’
‘Yes, I’m certain!’ Hazel said excitedly. ‘Tell the others. They must do as they’ve been instructed.’
Sophia turned and took a step down before spinning around. ‘I wish we knew where Rose was. I don’t feel right.’
Hazel knew exactly what she meant. ‘We need to stay safe, Sophia, in case there are urgent messages to be sent out.’
She nodded. ‘I’ll brief the others, you stay tuned in. And then rest a little. We need you well rested before all this starts to happen.’
