Cornelia traced a direct route to Bear’s house, alternating between a brisk walk, jogging, and all-out running, whichever her injured leg and burning lungs allowed. She forced her breath through her constricted throat. Gerrit had been ahead of her.
If he made it that far. Their small village teemed with German soldiers, more than she had seen the entire course of the war. She pushed and shoved her way through a group of them, all noisy and raucous, like a group of teens at a soccer game.
Her heart threatened to explode. “Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up.”
She turned onto Prince William Street where Bear’s house stood. From Anki’s description, Cornelia expected to find the way clogged with soldiers and trucks, but all sat quiet, in stark contrast to the main streets. They had come, collected who they wanted, and left.
She gasped, drawing in short, ragged breaths.
Too late. She had arrived too late.
She didn’t know what else to do other than to stand in the middle of the street. For weeks she had been too afraid to act on love. When she had, it turned out to be too late.
Because the Germans wouldn’t show mercy to their prisoners. Gerrit wouldn’t escape execution a second time.
GERRIT. HUNCHED OVER his cane, neared Prince William Street. The way he had his hood drawn over his head blocked his peripheral vision. He had been wary, careful to the extreme, because the main streets teemed with German soldiers, men he had bumped against but who paid him little attention. His gut twisted. The Nazis should be leaving, not congregating.
He turned the corner and lifted his head, seeing Bear’s place down the street. A strange sight met his eyes. A young, lithe woman stood in the middle of the road, her shoulders hunched. The curve of her body in the baggy black dress looked familiar, but what would Cornelia be doing here? Had something gone wrong with her deliveries?
He took half a dozen steps toward the woman. Even with her head bent, the pale light ignited the auburn color in her hair.
Cornelia.
His breath hitched. She was so beautiful, so vulnerable. Needing to keep up his disguise, he couldn’t run to her as he wanted, but he went to her. His fingers tingled as he touched her shoulder.
She jumped and turned. As she did so, he lifted his head and pushed back his hood, and her mouth became as round as a wagon wheel.
“HUSH. DON’T SAY anything.” Gerrit placed his finger over Cornelia’s lips. It tasted salty from sweat. “What are you doing here?”
She hugged him, pulling him close, relishing the feel of him. “I found you. I can’t believe I found you. Here I stood, thinking they had taken you.”
“What’s going on?”
“You can’t go there.” She tipped her head in the direction of Bear’s house but didn’t release her hold.
“I have to get some ration cards.”
“It’s a trap. Anki saw Maarten being taken from here. She overheard the Gestapo say they were waiting for one more person. We think that person is you.”
His hand on her cheek trembled with the news, and she covered it with her own. “I can’t believe I found you. You are safe.”
She closed her eyes and tilted forward to kiss him, to let her heart speak directly to him. Before her lips could touch his, a dirty hand reached around from behind and covered her mouth. A matching hand covered Gerrit’s lips and someone pulled both of them from the street, around the corner of a brick building, and deep into a dark, dank alley.
“DON’T MOVE.” A low German-tinged voice growled in Gerrit’s ear. “I am going to help you.”
Gerrit struggled and kicked, trying to wriggle free. The Nazi kept a tight hold on both Cornelia and him. Gerrit had to get her released. Even if he couldn’t get away, he had to make sure she stayed safe, as he had always protected Dorathee. He twisted and turned, but the man strengthened his grasp. His hot breath warmed Gerrit’s neck.
“I’m going to help you, Gerrit Laninga, like I helped you before.”
Gerrit stilled. The voice sounded familiar. He tried to think. He had heard it before, but where? How did this Nazi know his true identity?
“I could have killed you, but I missed on purpose.”
His heart careened into his ribs.
“More than once I could have turned you in to the Gestapo. I never bought your flimsy story about your drinking problem. Your little girlfriend is daring, but not a very good actress.”
It must be.
“If I uncover your mouths, do you promise not to scream? I can’t save you if you do something that stupid.”
Gerrit glanced at Cornelia, telling her without words to promise. They nodded in unison. The dirty hand slid from his lips.
Gerrit reached for Cornelia’s hand and squeezed it before they turned. Even in the dim alley, those unmistakable blue eyes pierced the darkness. “Who are you?”
“My name is Neumann, but that’s not important.”
“Will you let us go?”
The soldier grasped his wrist. “You can’t.”
Gerrit clung to Cornelia’s hand, sure they would soon be separated. “Are you arresting us?”
“Nein. But it’s too dangerous for you to be on the street. They are waiting to take you into detention, like they did the others. Eyes are watching all over for you. If you had stood in the street a moment more, it wouldn’t have been me who grabbed you.”
Cornelia gasped. “It was a trap.”
“I couldn’t keep up the charade any longer, so I had to tell them where you were. Instead of taking you into custody on the spot, though, I talked them into this orchestrated razzia. They had already uncovered the location of your headquarters, so they sent that woman to flush you into the open and lure you here to make the arrest. I wouldn’t have let you get any closer to the house, but your girlfriend got to you first.”
Gerrit nodded. “Why did you miss? Why are you helping us?” He kept his voice low, but he needed to know more.
“The way you stared at me as I lined you up to execute you, pleading with me for your life. I thought I could do it, but I couldn’t.”
“There’s more.”
“The Gestapo found that my brother in Munich was hiding Juden. Right before the incident here, we received word from a friend of his released from the same camp as my brother. Helmut died there. Over the last five years, I have arrested men and women for saving Juden, men and women just like my brother. And he died.”
The soldier cleared his throat. “You have the same eyes as my brother. I wasn’t able to inflict grief on another family the way it has fallen on mine.”
“You didn’t kill me.”
The German shook his head.
Boots clacked on the street in front of them and a few trucks rumbled past. The soldier pulled them farther into the darkness.
Realization dawned on Gerrit. “You are the one who has been following me.”
“Ever since I found you at the house beside the canal.” He rubbed his cheek. “I volunteered to be the one to hunt you down. Your brazenness almost got you into trouble more than once.”
“All this time, you have been the one watching over me.” Thoughts buzzed in Gerrit’s head as he tried to comprehend. He didn’t know what to say. Even when he had faced a firing squad, God sent the most unlikely of people, a German Gestapo officer, to watch over him.
Cornelia trembled beside him.
He stroked her hair.
Neumann touched her arm. “You aren’t safe yet, not until liberation comes. We’re not going to give up this town without a fight. All these extra soldiers you see are here to defend the village—one of the few villages in Friesland they have decided to defend. The Canadians will be here by nightfall and we expect a firefight. You can’t go back to the farm because it’s too dangerous there now.”
Gerrit’s mouth went dry and he swallowed hard. Liberation. The word brought tears to his eyes. Cornelia rested her head on his shoulder. This long struggle had almost come to an end.
The Gestapo officer pulled his metal helmet lower over his eyes. “I have to go back to the house where they’re waiting for you or they will grow suspicious. I’ll tell them I found you and shot you on the spot. That will give you time to get to safety. Stick to the back roads and keep the hood over your face. I’m sorry about your friends. I will do my best to hold off their executions.” He took a step forward.
“Wait.”
But the blue-eyed soldier darted away, either not hearing Gerrit’s soft call or not answering it.
Gerrit leaned against the rough brick of the building. Cornelia fell into his arms. “I can’t believe it.”
“Neither can I.”
He held her, reveling in her heart pounding against his, which hadn’t slowed in hours. By all rights, both of them should be dead. “Are you okay?”
“Better than okay. Better than anything, you know. I have something to tell you.”
He kissed her forehead as voices floated from the street. “That will have to wait.” He held his breath, not wanting to make a sound until whoever passed had long gone on their way.
She rested her head on his shoulder. The tickle of her breath made him glad for the building’s support.
All fell very, very quiet, like when the birds and the trees were still before thunder breaks.
A boom crashed in the distance and a fireball lit up the dusk.
Cornelia startled. “What was that?”
His pulse raced. “It’s the Canadians.” Their liberation appeared on the horizon. “We have to get out of here so we don’t get caught in the fighting.” He grabbed her hand, pushed the hood over his head, and pulled her to the street, praying they would make it across the bridge.
In between his prayers, he wondered what she had been about to tell him.
CORNELIA GRASPED GERRIT’S hand and struggled to keep up as he dragged her through the streets. Pain shot up her leg with every step. She gasped for breath, having run so far today and having eaten so little. “Please slow down.”
He turned toward her and slackened his pace until they walked side by side. “You’re limping. Are you hurt?”
She shook her head, unable to summon the breath needed to answer him. After a few more steps, the burning pain become worse than ever and buzzing filled her ears.
Gerrit swooped her into his arms. A few hundred meters and they would be home. Halfway across the bridge, a shell whizzed past them and exploded in the canal, showering them with cool water.
Her heart accelerated like a speed skater at the start of a race. “They’re shooting at us!”
Gerrit’s legs turned as fast as a bicycle’s wheels and they flew over the ground between them and the house.
They fell inside and shut the door, breathless and shaking.
Gerrit drew her toward him, quivering as much as she did.
It was like the beginning of the war all over again.