Page 83 of The Secrets We Left Behind
Adelaide’s face was red, her eyes full of tears, but Elise wasn’t going to go easy on her, not now. If she wanted to be treated like an adult, then that was exactly what Elise would do.
“If you think you’re in love with him, then go to him. See what it’s like to be with a monster,” Elise said. “But if you do that, you’re no sister of mine.”
Adelaide’s eyes widened as she registered what Elise had said. Then slowly, deliberately, she turned her back.
“Get out of my room!” Addy cried, and Elise heard the painful catch in her voice, the emotion that she was struggling to keep down.
“I love you, Addy. I’ve done everything I can to keep you safe, to show you that I love you, but I don’t know the woman you’re becoming,” Elise whispered. “I only hope your commander is the man you think he is, because if you let us down tomorrow and choose him, he’s all you’ll have left.”
It shouldn’t have surprised her, given that Adelaide had always tried to see the good in everyone, believed that everyone deserved redemption, but it still hurt that she could be so foolish.
Elise knew she’d always regret walking away from her sister; she wished she’d gone to her and held her, refused to take no for an answer and listened to her instead of being so hurtful. But she couldn’t change the past, no matter how much she wanted to.
The sky was inky now, the landscape around them almost impossible to see even though her eyes had adjusted to the darkness. She was slightly ahead, with Harry close beside her, and Jack and Cate were silently bringing up the rear. They’d ended up staying together, but she was starting to think it was time to pair off, anxiety clutching at her throat as she kept straining to hear whether they were alone or not. Every rustle, every murmur, sent a wave of fear through her that was greater than the last, and they had to make their way around the outskirts of a village now; there was no other way.
“We’re approaching another village,” she whispered, stumbling a little over something in the dirt. Harry caught her arm and she straightened, grateful for his quick reactions. “I think it’s best we split off into pairs and we’ll see each other at the beach at Calais.” She adjusted the bag on her shoulder, Oscar tucked inside it, surprised at how heavy he was to carry.
“Agreed,” three voices whispered back in the dark to her.
“Tread carefully, though,” Elise warned. “Calais was decimated weeks ago when the German tanks came through—they as good as flattened the place so you never know what could have been left behind.”
Cate whispered a kiss to her cheek, and they embraced quickly before she and Jack started to move left, and Harry took up his position by Elise’s side. But they hadn’t been parted for more than minute before a sickening crack pierced the air. Was it a gun shot?
“Jack!Jack!” Cate’s whisper was panicked as Elise ran back toward them.
They’d largely resisted the urge to use flashlights so far, but Elise fumbled with hers now and turned it on, trying to see the others. Elise and Harry saw them out to the left and started to run to catch up with them.
“What was that?” she whispered to Harry.
“I think someone’s on to us.” Elise put her arm around Cate when they reached her, as Jack took the flashlight from her.
And then they all heard it. Elise felt Cate stiffen.Dogs.
Oh my God, we’re not going to make it.
“We need to find somewhere to hide,” Jack said. “We’re never going to outrun them if they have dogs.”
Elise didn’t say what she was thinking: there was no way they were going to out-hide dogs, either.
“We’re so close,” Cate cried. “Surely we can make a run for it, surely we can just keep going?”
“I don’t know about you, but there’s no way I can run for more than an hour. And that’s what it would be, minute after long minute trying to keep up that pace to avoid them,” Jack said.
“Harry,” Elise said, reaching for him, catching his fingers as he turned away.
She grabbed the front of his jacket and pulled him in, whispering into his ear. “I love you, Harry. I’m so sorry. I blamed you because I was angry with myself, but I’m so sorry.”
“You’re forgiven,” he whispered back, and she quickly kissed his lips. “A hundred times over, you’re forgiven.”
Hearing Harry’s words gave Elise the strength to keep going, and she used her flashlight to quickly scan the area. “Come on, we can do this. We find somewhere to hide, and we don’t stop until we do. No one is taking me down without a fight, not when we’ve already come this far.”
Elise turned off the flashlight and started to hurry onwards. She’d never been so scared in her life, and she reached into her bag to keep her hand around Oscar’s mouth in case he barked back or let out a growl.
A voice came to her on the wind then, just a whisper, but she knew the enemy was getting closer, and there was only so long before they were found.
They’re coming.
The four of them moved fast, but it was Harry who found the barn, grabbing her hand and dragging her toward it. They started to run, climbing a fence then stumbling, tripping more times than she could count, but they did it. She’d half-expected fingers to curl around her neck from behind or a gun to be rammed into her skull, but there was no one behind them yet.
