Except this.
Sebastiaan cursed and stomped on the brake.
Aleida braced herself on the dashboard. They’d managed to cross from the Netherlands into Belgium, but refugees and soldiers clogged the roads.
Bas ran his hand through thick blond hair. “I have enough petrol to reach Boulogne, but not if I have to stop for these idiots.”
A stoop-shouldered woman with a shawl over her head pushed a heaping handcart. She glowered at Aleida.
Aleida ducked her chin. Only three people occupied their large vehicle.
If only she could join those on foot, hide in peasant’s garb, and blend into the masses.
Her plan lay in shards on the floor of her mind, and she tiptoed through and poked at the splinters. Could nothing be salvaged? With Bas at Tante Margriet’s, where could Aleida and Theo go to flee from him?
A whimper rose from the backseat.
Bas scowled at Aleida.
She offered an apologetic smile. “If I could sit in the backseat—”
“No.” He slapped the seat between them. “A wife belongs with her husband.”
Theo slumped against the door with his white-blond hair mussed and his perfect little mouth warped by fatigue. He held his stuffed elephant, cupping the floppy trunk against his cheek. More whimpers bubbled out.
“Tay-Oh,” Aleida sang out with a sunny smile. “Tay-Oh. Would Oli like to play a game?”
Theo blinked, sat up, and handed Aleida his best friend.
She held the elephant down in her lap. “Oli, where’s Theo? You’ve forgotten? Please say you haven’t forgotten, Oli.”
Theo shook his head, and his eyes shone. “Oli not forget.”
“That’s right,Schatje. Elephants never forget.”
Bas snorted. “Who made up that nonsense?”
Aleida’s mouth tightened. “It’s an English saying. If you want to go to England, you’d better get used to it.”
His gaze knifed into her. She’d pay for that flippancy later.
But now her son needed her. She dangled Oli’s trunk over the seatback and pointed it at Theo. “That’s right, Oli. There’s Theo.”
Giggles poured out, and Theo slid off the seat and scooted behind Aleida. “Where am I now, Oli?”
Aleida swung Oli’s trunk in a loop, then pointed it at her son. “See? Oli will always find you. Oli will never forget—”
“What’s this?” Bas spoke with an air of gleaming anticipation.
On the road, people scattered to each side, cars pulled over, people spilled out, ran.
“Oh no.” Aleida leaned forward, craned her neck up.
Two dark green shapes winged down from the sky, spitting sparks, dragons scorching the earth.
German aircraft!
“Theo!” Aleida sprang to her knees and groped over the seat for her son. She had to get him out to safety. “Come toMoeder! Come—”
