‘I heard someone say that the Allies have entered Germany via Belgium and France.’ Her stomach churned at what this meant. ‘We are fighting on our own soil in the west, too.’
‘You meanGermanyis fighting on its own soil.’
The frustration in his voice surprised her. ‘You are still angry with me?’
He turned on her. ‘Damn right I am! What were you thinking, accepting a lift with them?’
‘I’m sorry. I told them we didn’t need a lift but that made them suspicious. It happened so fast.’
He pulled the schnapps bottle from his coat and tossed it aside. ‘Why didn’t you try harder to say no?’
‘He insisted. I felt he wanted to help.’
‘Your only thought was getting to Bremen.’ He pointed at the distant road, which was lined with military vehicles. A convoy was heading westwards, kicking up a trail of brown dust in its wake. ‘It is a miracle they didn’t realize I was British.’
‘One of them wouldn’t stop staring at you. I thought he might have known but no longer cared.’
‘I don’t believe he knew. If he did he would have called you a traitor and shot me.’
He turned round to look at her when she stopped. Realization dawned on his face. ‘I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have called you that.’
Elsa marched past Sam, angry with him for voicing what she was already feeling herself.
‘Elsa, don’t take it to heart.’
‘How can I? I have no heart. I am a traitor.’
He caught her arm to slow her. ‘Now you are being silly.’
His words only riled her more. ‘You don’t understand. I sat among them pretending to be someone I’m not. Those menare about to sacrifice their lives for people like me.’ Her eyes smarted with shame. ‘And I’m helping a man who would happily shoot them in the head if he had a gun!’
He pulled her into his arms. ‘Hush!’ He looked around to see if anyone had heard. ‘You’ll get us all killed.’
She stiffened and pushed him away.
Sam frowned. ‘Is that what you want?’
‘Of course it’s not!’
‘Then I don’t understand what just happened back there. You had a choice. You could have made an excuse and refused the lift but you didn’t. Why would you put me in that position?’
‘I didn’t mean to.’
‘That’s not good enough. You are an intelligent woman, but what you did back there was naive.’
She turned away.
‘Unless you didn’t really care about what might happen to me. Did last night mean nothing to you? It meant something to me! All it took was Gerhard to smile at you and offer you a lift and suddenly you no longer care!’
‘Of course I care!’
‘Then help me to understand what possessed you to say yes.’
‘He was being kind.’
‘He is a soldier who kills his enemy.’
‘I didn’t think about how it would be riding in the truck. I knew I’d done the wrong thing, but before we got in it felt easier to say yes. He insisted and I was afraid if I continued to refuse it would raise his suspicions.’
