Page 7 of The Secrets We Left Behind
Three white crosses were all that was left of them now, and it made her want to hold her sister even tighter to her side, to protect her from all the evil in the world, and shield her from any more pain.
“Elise—” Adelaide’s voice died away as shouts and gunfire suddenly echoed out nearby.
“Quickly, grab Oscar!” Elise scrambled with her sister to catch their wayward little terrier, and when Adelaide had hold of him, she positioned herself slightly in front of her.
“What’s going on?” Adelaide asked.
Elise’s heart was pounding as she stood, listening to the shots and knowing they were getting closer. The fighting had come terrifyingly close lately, which meant that some of their neighbors had chosen to move away; many of the houses had been left deserted in the wake of war. It was deceiving sometimes, the way noise echoed through the trees and from the nearby farmhouses, but there was no denying this was moving toward them now, and fast. There had been activity in the very near distance all day, and in previous days, but this was different. Hot bile rose in Elise’s throat as fear threatened to paralyze her.Arewe about to be in the middle of it all?They should have evacuated days ago!
“We need to get back to the house,” she said, launching into action and clutching her sister’s hand. “Quickly!”
They started to run, but no sooner had they started to move when soldiers suddenly appeared, running directly toward them with their rifles raised.
“Get back!” Elise shouted, yanking Adelaide with her. “Behind the tree! We need to hide.” She knew the big, gnarled oak wouldn’t save their lives if they were caught in the crossfire, but it felt a lot safer than standing away from any shelter.
“Are they British?” Adelaide asked as they crouched down, partially hidden from view.
“Yes,” Elise whispered back, staring at the large group of soldiers as they ran past. “It must be an entire regiment!”
Please don’t stop at our house. Please don’t stop.
The last thing she needed was to deal with soldiers commandeering their home. Gunfire echoed again and more soldiers appeared, and she looked across to their house, wishing they could make it; so close yet still so far away.
The fighting had been near enough to hear up until now, especially if the wind was blowing toward them, but this was the first time she’d felt as if they were in the thick of the war. And she hated not knowing whether they should make a run for it, or hunker down where they were to stay safe.
“What are they running from?” Adelaide asked.
Elise glanced at her. “German soldiers, I’d suspect,” she said. From what she’d heard, the war wasn’t exactly going in their favor, but there’d been so much to deal with after their father had passed that she hadn’t given it too much thought. Perhaps, like almost everyone else, she’d secretly believed that there was no way one army could defeat the British and French armies combined, not to mention the Belgian and Polish troops fighting alongside them. Perhaps she wasn’t so dissimilar to her father—his optimism had always been too far-reaching.
“They’re going past our house,” Adelaide whispered. “What are they going to do here?Whyare they here?”
Elise’s stomach knotted. She hoped they weren’t about to be stuck in the middle of all-out fighting. “I don’t know. But we need to get back to the house soon.”
She looked at Oscar in her sister’s arms, her fingers tight across his muzzle to stop him from barking, and reached out to touch his wiry fur. He’d been their brother’s dog, and had sat on the doorstep every evening for almost a year, as if waiting for him to arrive home, and she knew she’d protect the animal almost as fiercely as she’d protect her sister if it ever came to it.
As she turned her focus back to the British soldiers, she estimated there were eighty, maybe even a hundred of them as theycontinued on, passing their house and disappearing through the clearing on the other side. She leaned out, taking a few tentative steps to see if any more followed. There was movement; she could hear it in the trees but she couldn’t see anything, and something told her it might be their only chance to make a run for it.
“Quickly, let’s go!” she urged her sister, grabbing for her hand and letting her go on ahead.
Elise kept looking over her shoulder, praying they’d make it safely inside before gunfire erupted again. And just as they made it, as her foot connected with the bottom step leading up to their house, she heard something that made her blood run cold.
German voices. German shouts.
“Get in!” she yelled at Adelaide, roughly pushing her up the stairs and fumbling for the door.
They fell inside, stumbling over one another as Elise slammed the door behind them. Her hands were shaking as she fumbled for the lock, making sure it was securely fastened before running through the house to check the kitchen door, too.
“Make sure all the windows are closed,” she called to Adelaide. “And pull all the curtains.”
She had no idea if she was even doing the right thing, but it seemed safer to close everything. German soldiers could easily storm the house and kick down their doors, but it was all she could think to do, and it felt better than doing nothing.
Her breathing was ragged, coming in short, sharp pants as she positioned herself by their kitchen window, slowly lifting her finger to part the curtain and peek out.
“Those British soldiers have gone into the barn next door,” Adelaide said, standing on the other side. “They’re hiding in there!”
“All of them?” Elise opened her mouth to speak, but the words barely formed a stutter in her throat as she saw German troops marching toward the barn, rifles at the ready.
“Oh my God, we’re going to be in the middle of it!” she gasped, as loud booms shook their house. Gunfire erupted from the barn, and it was only a matter of seconds before the German army started to fire back. “Take cover!”
