Page 69 of Valor (Long Hot Summer: Christian Romantic Suspense #2)

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Northern Moravia, 1942

A crackling fire woke him up. Fred opened his eyes. Huge boulders towered all around him and ended in total darkness. Shadows danced on the walls. Water dripped somewhere in the distance. He was in a cave. Alive. Fred pushed up on his elbows, hoping to see the person who dragged him in there. But where was Hedvika? Jakob? Fred sat up so abruptly that the headache almost blinded him.

“Hey, take it easy,” a familiar voice cut through the confusion. Then, a strong hand pushed him back into the makeshift bed of pine branches and sheep hides.

“Mark? Where?—”

“Just stay still. You have a pretty big gash on your head. I don’t have much to stop the bleeding.”

“Where are they?” He turned toward the familiar face. His cousin looked older; his face covered in a beard.

“They are with Honza.”

“What?”

Mark let out a slow breath. “There are a few things you don’t know.”

Fred shifted his weight and then leaned against the cold stone.

“I’d say,” He mumbled under his breath, still unsure if this was a dream or if he drowned and entered some purgatory. “Can I see her?”

“All you need to know that they are safe. For now.”

Fred grunted. His eyes traveled around the perimeter of the cave. The small fire in the center gave enough light for him to make out a rifle leaning against the back wall, a plank supported by two stones laid out with some food, and a bale of straw his cousin sat on.

“You’re gonna have to take off your wet clothes. I can help you.”

Fred grimaced. Then, he slowly pulled his arm out of the wet sleeves of his shirt. That made him dizzy.

Mark got up and yanked. “Let me—” Not waiting for Fred’s reply, he pulled the soaked fabric over his cousin’s head. “Now, your pants. Want help with that?”

“No.” Fred stretched on the bed and wriggled his legs out of the sticky trousers. Mark shook out the clothes and hung them over a couple of tall branches that leaned against the wall. The dark stain on the back of the shirt made Fred cringe.

“You live here?”

“From time to time.”

“I thought you were drafted into Wehrmacht.”

“I was, but I’m not a killer.”

Their eyes met. “So, if they find you?—”

“Same as you. And them.”

Fred nodded. “What’s next?”

“We will stay here till tomorrow. I need to make certain you can trek across the mountains.”

“Trek where?”

“You will see when the time comes.”

“Are we taking them somewhere safe?”

“Who?”

“Hedvika and her brother, of course.”

“They had met their contact already.”

“Who? And where are they?”

Mark used a stick to push the burning logs closer together. “You will have to stop asking so many questions, cousin.” He added another piece of wood. “Got to keep the fire low. If anyone spots the smoke rising from the mountain, they will come looking.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“Fred.” His cousin looked up. “Let me make one thing clear. I know only what I need to know. And you will know even less. Stop asking. Follow orders. Do you understand?”

“But I need to know where she is. I need to?—”

“What?” Mark held his gaze unwavering. “Tell her you love her?” He scoffed. “Marry her, build a house, have kids?”

Fred glared.

“I saw you by the river.”

Anger rose in Fred’s chest. Mark had watched them as they tried to cross the raging waters. Why had he not helped? His fingers curled into fists. His cousin held up both hands in a mocked surrender.

“Have you forgotten what world we live in?”

“I don’t care that she is Jewish.”

“And I always thought you were the smartest one in our family. Her being Jewish is the least of your problems. You helped them escape and joined the resistance. My dear cousin, your lifespan outside this cave just shrunk to the length of one bullet. Forget about normal life; there is nothing like that anymore. And to be frank, I can’t see that it will ever return. Thinking that Hedvika and you could be together is pure crazy talk. This is your life now. You better accept it since you have no other choice.”

Fred clenched his teeth. He could jump his cousin and pummel him with his fists and make him take those words back. Yell at him that he would never give her up, that they had a future, only if he could speak to her. They could get married, he would get a job and help her raise Jakob, and maybe one day, they would have children of their own. Even as his mind spun down the fantasies, he realized it was impossible. A lone tear slid down his cheek. He would never see her again. Hedvika was lost to him, hidden somewhere under a floor or in someone’s basement, waiting for the tide of this terrible war to turn around. He was here, in the mountains, with no choice but to join his cousin in the resistance. Fred bit his lip till he tasted blood. There was one more choice. He could go back to the mill. Could he be just like his father? An informant? A collaborator? For the promise of favors and extra food rations. Would he sell his soul, just like Father sold his sister? No, he would never do that. Never.

Fred stared into the fire. As the flames slowly devoured the dry logs, the realization sunk deep into his soul. Today began his new life, the one that he never envisioned or planned for. If he got caught, no matter how strong his resolve, he would talk. Fritz would make sure of that. The Germans had their own methods.

“Just tell me she is safe,” he whispered.

“No one is.” His cousin pushed off the ground. “Hungry?”

He shook his head.

“Here.” He tossed him a chunk of bread. “Eat that. And that’s an order.”