She smacked her cheek.None of that! Stay alert!
Only thirty-five kilometers stood between them and freedom now.
She cracked the window, the bitterly cold air whipping along the side of her head. Hopefully the kids wouldn’t wake up, but she needed the stinging in her face to keep her awake. It wouldn’t do to crash on her last mission.
Her last mission.
The thought was bittersweet. The horrors in Germany reached a horrific peak much quicker than anyone anticipated. Arrests grew in number every day as people were sent to work camps. She’d done her best to keep her chin up. Keep a positive attitude and take one step at a time. But she had to excuse herself often, find a quiet place, and cry.
The tiny little network started by Celestia and Dr. Grafton had been able to rescue hundreds more children since Kristallnacht, but now it was going dark, fleeing underground as Hitler’s influence spread across Eastern Europe like a spider web.
She was proud of her work. She’d written her brother another letter, but with no response, her heart had changed. Especially during the planning of this last rescue. Each day, the urging she’d felt so strongly to see her brother waned like a candle about to sputter out the last of its light.
If her brother was in Hitler’s inner circle, his heart had to be full of hate. How else could he be a part of the atrocities happening?
She had to let him go. Seeing him was too dangerous, and she couldn’t risk putting anyone else in peril.
Her brother had chosen his path.
And she chose hers.
She lifted her chin. She would do whatever she could to save as many as she could. Just like Chaisley. Rick. Celestia and Dr. G.
She left the road for the hidden path which barely fit an automobile, maneuvering the car up a steep hill, then slowing to a stop for a moment. Below her the lights of small towns blinked andwinked. Just half a kilometer before her was one of the last hidden areas where people could pass in and out of Germany without a checkpoint. She glanced at her wristwatch, squinting to read the time in the darkness. 2:12 in the morning.
They had made it. Well. Almost. The wide meadow was just ahead. She pressed the gas pedal and sped down the narrow, rutted path, eager to be reunited with her friends again.
A kilometer past the border, her friends were watching for them and waiting with a different car and papers for these children to board a boat from Amsterdam to London.
Not far now. There. She’d made i—
Harsh lights exploded through the driver’s window.
No!She couldn’t stop now, they were almost over the border!
But someone moved into the road—
Dragging Dr. Grafton! A gun at the older man’s head.
Holding the gun was none other than her brother.
She slammed on the brakes and skidded in the snowy ruts. The car bounced and jostled, and she placed her other foot on top of the brake as well.
Gripping the steering wheel for all she was worth, she clenched her jaw.Oh, God, please don’t let me hit them!
The car bounced out of the right rut and slid into a tree trunk, coming to a stop with a soft thump.
Her head snapped to the driver window. They were mere inches from hitting the men.
She slumped against the seat and fought the shaking in her limbs. What could she do?
Well, she couldn’t fall apart. That was for certain.
“Melanie!” Her brother’s harsh German accent sent a shiver up her spine.
She looked over her shoulder at the children in the seat behind her. They were her first priority. They’d been instructed to stay quiet, no matter what. How scared they must be!
God, give me wisdom. And fast.
