Page 17 of The Secrets We Left Behind
“Grab him under the arm,” Elise said. “I’ll take this side. We need to get him to the table, next to the other soldier.”
She saw Addy grit her teeth from the exertion, the man a deadweight, and they hauled him up so he could stumble forward. What she hadn’t been expecting was the sudden howl he let out the moment they had him upright.
“Shhh!” she hissed.
“Elise, he’s in pain!” Addy scolded.
“Pain or not, we don’t need anyone else coming here looking to see what’s happening, do we?” Elise snapped back. “We could be killed for hiding them here!”
Adelaide gave her a sharp stare but Elise ignored her, cross with her naivety, kicking the door shut behind them as they helped the soldier across the room. One of his legs was useless, dragging behind him, and she could tell that was the primary source of his pain.
When they finally had him next to his comrade, she instructed her sister to lower him. “Carefully does it, nice and slow.”
They both grunted with the effort as they levered him into a chair. Then, as his eyes closed in relief, they stood back for a moment. Elise caught her breath, looking at both the men now sitting at their table and wondering what on earth they’d done. Inviting them in was one thing, but these men looked close to death and she was no nurse. What were they going to do?
“Addy,” she said, beckoning for her to follow. She walked into the kitchen, leaning her head closer to her sister. “I need you to scrub the blood off the doorstep. We can’t have any evidence that anyone injured came here tonight, do you understand?”
“Yes, of course.”
Elise glanced back, shaking her head that she’d so easily given in. She didn’t even want to think how long they’d have them for. “You need to clean it as best you can, then check for marks from where they dragged themselves and come in and help me.”
Addy’s fingers brushed against her arm. “Do you know what to do for them? I mean, they’re so badly injured ...”
Elise swallowed, not wanting her sister to see how rattled she was. It was her job to keep their little family together, to make sure they were safe. “I’ll be fine, I have a very strong stomach. You just worry about your job, and I’ll worry about mine.”
Addy suddenly threw her arms around her neck, and Elise embraced her back, not used to her sister being quite so affectionate. “Thank you, Elise. We did the right thing opening our door to them.”
Elise gave her a quick squeeze back before retrieving her father’s rifle from where she’d dropped it, carrying it with her and putting it on the table within easy reach, as Addy disappeared to clean the step. If either of those men thought they could lay a hand on her or her sister, she planned on teaching them a very fast lesson.
“Where did you learn to speak English?”
Elise turned at the sound of a raspy, deep voice. She could see that the first soldier had tried to stand, holding on to the table for support. He was the leaner and taller of the two, his eyes a warm brown and the dirt smearing his face doing little to hide how handsome he was. His hair was a dark blond, but mud clung to the tips and made it stick up at the front.
“Sit down,” she ordered. “Our mother had a love of languages and our grandmother was English, so it was important to them that we learn.”
He smiled, and she was surprised how white his teeth were, or maybe it was just because of the contrast against his dirty cheeks.
“Need t-t-to s-s-surrender,” the other soldier chattered, his teeth audibly clanging together as he stuttered. “Help me surrender. Please.”
“That didn’t go so well for you the first time, so I’d say that option is off the table,” Elise said, setting the water to boil and finding some old towels that she kept for cleaning. She scooped them up and marched back to the table, touching a hand to the soldier doing all the jabbering. He looked like he was about to slide straight off the chair.
“You saw what happened, didn’t you?”
She met the gaze of the more coherent of the two again. “Yes, we did see,” Elise said gently. “I’m so sorry.”
“Those bastards, they just massacred us! We tried to surrender and—”
“I know,” she replied, taking a deep breath. “I know what they did, I saw all your men, and you’re right, it was nothing short of a massacre. I’m so sorry.”
She wanted to touch him, to even just put a hand on his shoulder, but it felt too intimate for someone she didn’t really know. Instead she turned to go and fetch the water, not sure what else she could do for either man other than clean their wounds with warm water and apply bandages where needed.
When she returned, she cleared her throat and looked between them. The one who’d been babbling away like a madman was silent now, just rocking gently back and forth in his chair, and she wondered if perhaps he was no longer right in the head. He was sizeable, broad-shouldered and heavier than his friend, and she didn’t know how they’d restrain him if he wouldn’t let her tend to his wounds.
“Your friend, is he ...”
“In shock, I think.”
She nodded. “All right, well then, shall I help you first?”
