Page 33 of The Secrets We Left Behind
Cate inhaled deeply through her nostrils, gripping the blanket tighter around herself as her internal argument raged. She could see one faint light up ahead, a house, and she guessed there would be more.
She’d been so, so close.
The voice spoke again, but it was the glowing tip of a cigarette that caught her attention the most, followed by the sound of boots scraping that revealed two more soldiers. German soldiers.She’d walked straight into an ambush, most likely in place to catch British soldiers, not a girl on her own.
“What are you doing out here?” barked the first voice.
She tried not to quiver as he moved in front of her, another soldier moving behind her. They were close, so close she could taste the tobacco smoke rising off their cigarettes, could smell the damp of their uniforms. Cate could almost feel their hands on her, could sense their intention: a woman out on her own in the woods at night, after dark, was surely an easy target. She gulped. Would anyone even hear her if she screamed?
“He said,” the soldier behind her muttered with a snigger, “what are you doing out here?”
Cate hugged herself tighter, terrified of their words, of their hands, of their weapons.Of their sense of smugness at being three men against one defenseless woman.
“I’m looking for my dog,” she said in near-perfect French, fighting the tremble in her voice and jutting her chin high as she looked one of them in the eyes. “Have you seen him?”
CHAPTER NINE
CATE
“Your dog?” It was asked with another snigger, with an arrogance that she wished she could smack away with her palm.
Cate had never been so frightened in her life. She nodded, giving the scowling German her sweetest smile. She could only imagine how wet and bedraggled she appeared, but at least it had started to rain again and it wasn’t completely beyond the bounds of possibility that she could have become so disheveled searching for a beloved dog. She gulped. A dog that didn’t exist, which would be a problem if they decided to help her look, although she doubted that was going to happen. She wiggled her still-squelching toes, the mud caked into her shoes.
“I’ve been searching for so long,” she replied, forcing tears that were easy to conjure, given the circumstances. “I was so worried, with the fighting so close, and I haven’t been able to find him.”
The soldier snorted and puffed on his cigarette before blowing smoke into her face. Her eyes watered as she tried not to cough, not wanting to give him the satisfaction even as the smoke curled around her skin.
“Your dog, eh?”
Cate fought the tremble that threatened to shake her body as she eyed the gun at his side. She glanced sideways, frantically searching for a way to escape, but there was none. Even if she dropped the blanket so she could run faster, where would she go? They could have dogs nearby for all she knew, dogs who would sniff her out and rip her to pieces if the soldiers didn’t shoot her first, a bullet piercing her back or entering the back of her skull. It would be a death sentence for Jack, too, if she was gone.
They moved closer to her, trapping her all the more tightly between them. The one with the cigarette lifted his hand and put his thumb beneath her chin, forcing it to jut upwards as he inspected her face. Cate clutched the blanket tighter between her fingers, clenching her toes as she forced her feet to stay still. She wouldn’t show them how afraid she was, just as she wouldn’t spit in their faces even though she’d never wanted to do something so badly in all her life.
“I don’t think you have a dog,” he sneered.
She forced her eyes up, staring back at him, not hesitating. “Why else would I be out in the cold, sir?”
The soldier behind her laughed. “Maybe you were out looking for some company, eh?”
Cate felt fingers against her hair and she bit back a scream, but she was saved by heavy footfalls that echoed out of the darkness from the woods. She strained her eyes to see, her stomach sinking as she realized it was another soldier, and when he stepped out of the dark shadows, her blood ran cold. He was clearly superior to the other three, even the way he held himself, his posture as commanding as his stare. Was that the SS symbol on his hat? If she’d thought the first three were bad, then he was probably pure evil.
I need to get them further away from Jack, she thought in a panic.I need to put more distance between us.
She’d been walking for some time, but still, if they were moving in the direction she’d come from, they could end up finding him, and with more soldiers arriving ... She knew there was a chance she was starting to lose her mind, delirious from so long without food and water, not to mention the sheer terror she’d experienced, but she still needed to lead them as far away as possible. Maybe he’d manage to crawl to a farmhouse if she didn’t come back?
The new soldier spoke in German, and although she knew a little of the language, she couldn’t make out what they were saying; they were speaking too fast. Although she did make out the worddogand perhapsstop.
He stepped closer as the other soldiers backed away, and she had the sudden feeling that they’d been less of a threat together than he was alone. Just looking into his eyes, seeing his calm, self-assured arrogance at being superior to the other men, and being superior toher,terrified her. She knew instinctively that he was a man she’d never be able to escape from.
“You’re missing your dog?” he asked.
Cate nodded and forced a smile. “Yes, I am. He’s been missing for some time and I’ve been out looking.”
“Where is your house?” he asked, his head tilted to the side ever so slightly as he considered her, as if he were trying to figure out whether she was lying or not.
Cate inclined with her head rather than pointing, not wanting to lift the blanket from her body. If he saw so much as a glimpse of her uniform, if he suspected her for even a second, if ... She stood straighter, refusing to start panicking now. Just like she’d pretended to eat beans with Jack, she was going to pretend she was a French woman searching for her dog.
“The first house there,” she said, the lie falling from her tongue so easily she surprised herself.
