Page 37 of Summer of Fire
She just nodded, unable to speak, clutching at his comforting hand as it cocooned hers.
‘We have to get out of here before anyone wonders where he’s gone and starts looking for him.’
Lizzie had never been so relieved to see anyone in her life.
CHAPTER 18
Jack knelt and rummaged through the soldier’s jacket but found nothing worth taking. Then he turned to his lifeless pale body, covered only in an undershirt, and pulled his heavy frame across the grass.
Lizzie moved to help him, but Jack shook his head. ‘Let me handle it. I don’t want you to go near him after what he did. I’ll have to bury him to try and avoid reprisal killings of local civilians.’
Jack dragged the body into the thick undergrowth beneath the trees and hastily dug a shallow grave. Lizzie collected his discarded clothing and handed it to Jack when he reappeared. They searched the area for any remnants of the incident, and Jack buried the clothing, along with his own blood-spattered shirt.
Lizzie’s heart was still pounding, and she felt like she was living through a nightmare.
Jack washed his hands with water from his canteen.
‘As soon as he is due to report in, they’ll figure out he’s missing and start looking for him,’ Jack said. ‘We’ll have to hope they don’t find him.’
Lizzie was grateful to be free of her attacker, and felt no regret about his death. ‘I can’t believe he went for me like that in broad daylight,’ she said, her voice a whisper.
Jack tilted her chin up to examine the damage to her face. He winced as he looked at her cheek. ‘He hit you, the bastard Jerry. A quick, painless death was too good for him, but there was no time to give it to him good and proper.’
‘Thank you for saving me,’ Lizzie said. The whole thing seemed surreal, and she still couldn’t get her head around what had happened.
‘Did he, you know…’ Jack’s words tailed off, and she sensed his reluctance to be explicit.
‘No, no, he didn’t,’ she said, a pink blush staining her cheeks. ‘But he would have if it weren’t for you. I couldn’t stop him,’ she said. The helplessness rang out in her voice. Tears slid from her eyes, and she shook uncontrollably.
Jack reached for her, and she leaned her head against his chest. He wore just a thin vest. She let herself sink into the cocoon of his arms and he comforted her with soft, soothing sounds as he stroked her hair. ‘There, there. It’s all over now. You’re in shock. It’s only natural after going through something as awful as that.’
Lizzie’s sobs gradually subsided, and she looked up into his blazing eyes. There was a second when their lips were so close, she thought he would bend to kiss her. She held her breath.
But then he released her and pulled away abruptly. ‘Come on. We need to get out of here before someone comes.’
Jack peeped around the hedge to check no one was coming along the track, and he beckoned for Lizzie to follow him. She stooped to pick up her yellow silk scarf from the ground.
‘That was smart,’ Jack said. ‘I wouldn’t have known where you were if you hadn’t left a clue.’
‘You were the last person I expected to see,’ Lizzie said, ‘but I thought it was worth dropping in case someone passed by.’
‘Where is the bicycle?’ Jack said.
Lizzie walked back along the track, and he followed her. ‘It’s here,’ she said, picking up the battered frame from where it lay behind a bush.
‘Did he hide it there?’ he asked.
She nodded. ‘There’s something else. Something important.’
Jack studied her face. ‘Did you find Hannah?’
‘No,’ Lizzie said. ‘Sorry.’
Jack looked downcast, and Lizzie’s heart lurched painfully at the sight of his obvious disappointment. ‘But I got the package she asked you to collect. Or at least, I think that’s what it is.’
Now Jack’s head shot up and his eyes shone. ‘You clever, clever girl. I knew I could count on you.’
Lizzie said, ‘Well, no, you didn’t. Not at first, anyway! You rejected me for the assignment.’
