Page 78 of Hearts of Resistance
It was silent now, and she hoped it stayed that way until she left. Sophia made her way to the kitchen, knowing her efforts would be fruitless if she didn’t have something to eat or drink or both with her. There was a meat safe that had been turned into a real safe some time ago, and she was thankful she’d been trusted with the code. She turned the dial, put in the correct numbers and reached in for all the money the safe held. She quickly stuffed it into her satchel, along with two papers she saw in there containing codes that could be useful.
Sophia then turned and scanned the kitchen, the space a mess from so many people using the same house. She opened a cupboard, looked for something,anything, to eat. She found some bread and put the chunk into the satchel. It would have to do. She fetched a mug and filled it with water, gulped it down and then turned to go. There were some old bicycles out in the shed, and she knew they were her only hope to get away fast enough. On foot she’d be too slow.
She kept glancing around outside, scanning the trees and thinking every shadow was the enemy, but she saw no one. When she reached the shed she hauled the rickety old door back and found an equally rickety-looking bicycle staring back at her, beside a crate half-full of apples. The bicycle was propped against a stack of old crates and covered in cobwebs, but she didn’t care. She quickly wiped it down, using her hand to get the dust from the seat and the webs from the handlebars. Then she took some apples to fill her satchel with, put the satchel in the basket at the front and pushed the bicycle out, wobbling as she got up on the seat and started to pedal. She struggled over the grass, pushing as hard as she could past the gnarled apple trees in the orchard. At least with her bag full of fruit she had a cover story, since she could be taking them to a friend or a relative, and with any luck they might help her to avoid detection.
She had a long ride ahead of her, but all she was going to think about with every push of the pedal were the thousands of maquisards who were relying on her. She was the only one left from the chateau, and if the message hadn’t been received by everyone that the landings were imminent, then they could lose the war. They needed to disrupt the lines and cause mayhem to ensure the German focus was anywherebutNormandy.
She gritted her teeth and settled into a steady rhythm.
There was no waythatwas happening on her watch.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
HAZEL
Blood poured from Hazel’s nose and down to her mouth, slipping past and dripping from her chin. She kept her face tucked close to her knees, refusing to let so much as one tear fall. She was stronger than that. No one was going to see that they’d defeated her.
No one.
She wondered what had happened to Sophia, whether Rose had been dead for days and they hadn’t even known. She squeezed her eyes shut, tried so hard to push the dark thoughts away, imagining her friends lying on the ground, bodies contorted, life squeezed from them.
She’d lost everything.Everything.The only thing she had left now was her bravery, her strength at refusing to say anything that would give her friends and her colleagues away. They could beat her all they liked, but she’d never talk.
Hazel lifted her hand, cringing when she parted her lips, the pain of moving after the beatings she’d received almost too much to bear. She touched her breast, felt the pill sewn into the pouch there. All this time it had been with her, a constant companion of sorts, an option if she was pushed to her limits.
She imagined swallowing. She’d been told she would be dead within seconds, maybe a little longer. If she used her fingernails to get it out, if she raised the pill to her lips and put it under her tongue, if she bit down on it...
Hazel dropped her hand, fisting it instead.No.
She wasn’t a coward, and she wasn’t about to give up now. There was a chance she could escape. There was a chance she could live, that she could help others, that she could be useful in the war again if she survived.
Swallowing that pill would be the easy way out, the coward’s way out, and she was strong enough to keep going. At least for now. The vehicle lurched and she slammed back, hitting her head and wincing. She tried to see where they were but it was still so dark. She’d been somewhere first, a house, where they’d asked her questions and taken pleasure in using their fists and boots on her, but now...
‘Get out!’
She stumbled as a rough hand reached for her, yanking her arm so hard she wondered if it would disconnect from its socket. One of her eyes was almost closed over, the swelling rapid, but she used her good eye to look around, to try to get a bearing on where she was. If she had the chance to escape, she needed to be armed with as much information as possible.
Hazel did her best to walk without stumbling as she was shoved forward, wondering how long they’d travelled for. She’d woken at one point, which meant she must have passed out, so she didn’t know how many hours they could have been driving.
A push from behind almost sent her sprawling, but she lifted her feet just in time to step into the building. There were guards nearby, and a shiver ran through her as she realised she was in a prison. It must have been commandeered by the Germans, and she wondered how many others were being held there. Would she be thrown in with men? Would they...She gulped, staggering as she tripped on something, her eye completely swollen over now. She thought of Harry, tried to summon happy thoughts and push away the terror of being raped and beaten and tortured. She just needed to focus on his smiling face. Had to believe he’d made it safely away.
The butt of a rifle slammed against her elbow. She stopped, almost numb to the additional pain. A metal door was pulled back and she was pushed forward. She stood, suddenly overwhelmed with tears when the door was shut with a slam.
It might only be a short reprieve, but it was enough.
She slowly, silently sank to the floor as she looked around, her strength disappearing now she was being left alone. There were narrow beds, lumps that she presumed were people sleeping on them, but other than that she couldn’t make anything out.
Hazel curled into a ball, the concrete as cold as ice and eating into her skin as she huddled tight. She was so tired, all she wanted was to sleep.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
ROSE
Rose gritted her teeth and tried to stop them from chattering. She was so, so cold, and no matter what the time of night or day, her bones never seemed to thaw.
Someone new had arrived into their already packed cell during the night, and the poor girl was still curled up on the floor, her body curved around itself as if she was fruitlessly trying to protect her stomach and face.
‘Hey,’ Rose said, placing a hand on her shoulder and gently shaking it. ‘Wake up.’
