Page 69 of The Secrets We Left Behind
“What’s happened?” he asked.
“Adelaide isn’t here. She’s gone,” she said, hardly able to believe what she was saying. “When did you last see her? Was she even here when we got home last night?” Was there a chance that she’d been gone all this time? That while she was wrapped in Harry’s arms, she’d been completely oblivious to the fact that her sister was missing?
“She was here, Elise. I promise you, she was here.”
Cate was behind her then, her hand warm on her shoulder. “Don’t be too hard on her, Elise. If she went willingly to him ...”
Elise groaned and stepped into Harry’s arms, not caring that Cate was watching or that Jack had come down the stairs from the attic.
Harry held her as she cried. Her first thought was that something terrible had happened to Adelaide, but Cate’s words had held the truth. Her sister had gone to her Nazi boyfriend, and instead of climbing into bed with Addy and being with her, she’d chosen to be with Harry instead.
She only hoped it wasn’t a decision that she’d live to regret. Because if Adelaide didn’t come home ... Elise pressed herself even closer to Harry’s chest.
“What if she’s told him about us?” Jack asked.
Elise forced herself to turn in Harry’s arms, and saw the worry etched on Jack’s and Cate’s faces. “Even if she’s in love with him, I know my sister, and she would never, ever give any of you up.” She trembled, fear thrumming through every fiber in her body. She only hoped she was right.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
ADELAIDE
Adelaide found Elise, Cate, Harry, and Jack sitting upstairs in the attic, eating dinner. They’d spread out a picnic blanket, one that brought back vivid memories of lunches with her siblings when they were children, outside on the grass. But this wasn’t a fun picnic like the ones she remembered, but a necessity to ensure their houseguests remained undiscovered.
She guiltily wondered if they would have been at the table downstairs had she not been out with Wolfgang; Addy could only imagine their fear at the prospect of her arriving home with him.
“Hi,” she said, raising her hand as she stood in the doorway. Every pair of eyes turned to watch her.
“Hi.” It was Cate who spoke first, gesturing to the meager quantity of food laid out on the blanket. “You must be hungry, come and join us.”
Addy smiled and walked silently over to Elise, her head down as she sat beside her, wriggling closer even though her sister hadn’t said anything to her. They’d been so close all their lives, Elise always only one step away, always there for her, and she suddenly needed to be with her, no matter how angry she was.
But as she lay her head on Elise’s shoulder, her sister still didn’t say a thing; she just took her hand and held it as she resumed a conversation that must have started long before Addy had arrived home. She’d been expecting an interrogation about where she’d been, anger followed by a stern telling-off, but Elise acted like she’d been there all along, and she certainly didn’t seem angry. It was like a silent truce of sorts, and as she held her sister’s hand, she realized there was nothing in the world she cared more about than Elise.
“So we have maybe ten days, give or take, until the new moon,” Harry said, putting down his plate of mashed artichokes. “We had a full moon a few nights ago. I couldn’t sleep and I just stared out at it for hours, it was so high and round in the sky.”
Addy looked away guiltily, thinking of the food that Wolfgang had given her, which was so much more palatable than the tasteless slush Harry was eating.
“Why are you concerned about the moon?” Addy asked, lifting her head slightly from Elise’s shoulder.
“Because that’s the night they’re leaving,” Elise said, as Jack and Harry turned their attention back to their dinner. “We made contact with Papa’s old friend Mr.Bernard, and he’s arranged passage for us, so long as we can all make it to the beach and stay hidden until the boat comes for them.”
A shiver ran through Adelaide. “Will it be safe?”
Harry’s eyes were hard. “As safe as sneaking into a boat on a beach potentially surrounded by enemy troops could ever be.”
Cate’s expression was kinder, softer than Harry’s, and Addy wondered why he was being so short with her. Had something else happened while she was gone, or was he just worried about leaving?
“An underground movement has started, a resistance of sorts, and they’re helping to liaise with the British army,” Cate told her.
Addy sat back, her thigh pressed against Elise’s as she took the plate of food Cate offered, not wanting anything to eat but notliking to be rude. Or perhaps she should have simply refused so there was more to go around.
“Adelaide, where were you last night and today?” Elise whispered, turning to her as they talked about the new resistance movement. “I’ve been worried sick.”
Addy rolled the mash around in her mouth, not wanting to tell Elise the truth but knowing she had to. “I didn’t think you’d approve, so I didn’t wake you. I went to meet him early this morning.”
“This morning or late last night?” Elise asked.
Adelaide raised a brow, staring straight back at her sister. “You were the only one tucked up in bed with a man all night, Elise.” Her sister’s cheeks flushed a deep pink, and Adelaide wished she could take back her words. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”
