“Take him,” she cried to Cate. “Keep him safe and love him, for Addy. I need to know he’s safe.”
She thrust the whimpering little dog toward her friend, eyes straining until she could see his white fur nestled in Cate’s arms, listening as Cate comforted him. Elise helped to push the boat out further, crying so hard she couldn’t see anything through the blur of her eyes, resisting the urge to reach out to one of the men and beg them to pull her over the side.
“We can’t take a dog with us!” a male voice objected.
“Just you try and stop me,” Cate shot back.
Elise stood, the water up to her waist, as the last person in the world she loved disappeared into the night.Thank you. She wanted to thank Cate for taking Oscar, to call out to her one last time, but when she opened her mouth, the only thing that escaped was a cry.
Eventually she waded back to shore, soaking wet and starting to shiver as she ran low up the beach and crouched down in the dunes, wiping at her eyes as she caught her breath.
She sank her fingers into the sand then, balling them and focusing on the soft granules sticking to her skin and sliding in her grip.
Adelaide has gone, Harry has gone, Cate has gone. I’m all alone now.
But she refused to shed any more tears, refused to think about Adelaide and what it must have been like at the end, with the cold nose of a pistol pressed to her head.
The Nazis had taken everything from her.
“I stay and fight for France,” she murmured to herself as she forced her body up and stood, hand on her heart, filled with the most overwhelming sense of purpose.
The war has only just begun, and I have nothing left to be afraid of. There is no one else left to lose.
Elise secured her bag over her shoulder and started to walk. She was going to join the underground movement, not just for Adelaide and Harry, but for everyone who’d lost someone to the Nazis. She wasn’t going to stop until all the Wolfgangs in her beautiful country were either dead or facing the justice they deserved.
And it was a promise she was prepared to keep.
“Vive la France,” she whispered as she looked toward the inky-black sky.
Vive la France.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CATE
Cate didn’t have time to mourn for what she’d left behind. The little boat was battered by waves as they moved into deep water, and she clutched Oscar tight under one arm, the other holding the side of the boat to stop her falling in. But it was Jack who worried her. His groans grew deeper every time the boat slapped down, and she feared that he wasn’t going to make it. She’d thought he was healing so well, but now she realized he’d been hiding his pain from her, knowing there was nothing else she could do for him. And after walking for so many hours without stopping, the exertion had been too much. Again.
They were so close, but Jack was almost out of time.
“Here we go. Nice and steady.”
Out of nowhere, a huge ship appeared out of the darkness, and their little boat bounced beside it. She watched in amazement as the man next to her flashed his light three times, and someone on the enormous ship returned the signal.
“Watch your heads!”
She looked up, ducking as something that looked akin to a coffin was lowered over the side. The men around her scrambled to get Jack in, and she only wished she could go up with him; but it seemed the next one was for her, and she carefully got in, not releasing her grip on Oscar.
“They’re not letting you take a stray on board a hospital ship.”
“Just you watch anyone who tries to stop me,” Cate said. Anyone who tried to get her to throw Oscar overboard was going to have to throw her with him, because she was taking the dog back to England with her, no matter what anyone said.
The box lurched and banged against the side of the ship before moving upwards into the air, and Cate buried her face in Oscar’s fur, whispering to him as they moved, inch by inch, until they were suspended over the hulking boat and then guided down to the deck.
“Out you get,” someone said, and she quickly sat up and climbed over, finding herself surrounded by orderlies.
Cate blinked, thinking her eyes must be betraying her.
“Welcome on board theDinard,” one of the orderlies said. “Are you injured?”
