I swallowed hard, knowing what I would have to do much sooner than anticipated. "I was about to ask you if you wanted to get some supper tonight, but I have a feeling you might have other plans now," Claude suggested.
"Ja. I have to save her."
"You love her," Claude stated.
"I do love her. Thoughts of her kept me going this past year, and I didn't even know if she survived the terrible odds here. She is alive though, and I'm going to do what I promised myself I would do if I found her to be here still."
Claude placed his hand on my shoulder. "What about you, Charlie? What about your life?"
"I believe I was given a second chance so I would not have to die with guilt. Therefore, if I die trying to save this woman, I know I will have died doing something right."
Claude nodded his head. "You are on to something, brother. You are a smart man."
I don't know if I could refer to myself as intelligent for the decisions I was making, but in my mind, the outcome was better than being a puppet for an evil dictator. "Take care of yourself," I told Claude. "When we all get out of this place, we must find each other, ja?"
"We're brothers, Charlie. We'll always find each other."
It was a proper goodbye—one I once thought I would never have. I didn't know if my actions would result in death or the ability to never to see Claude again, but he was alive and well, and that was enough satisfaction.
I spent the next several hours deciphering a plan. There was a chance Amelia wouldn't trust me or want to leave. There was no telling where her thoughts were at, but she was unaware of her imminent future, and she needed to know her options.
It was later that night—the prisoners were confined, and the only soldiers left on the grounds were the night guards. I made my way into the cell Amelia was assigned, finding her frail body asleep between several other lifeless women. She was so much smaller now than she was when I left. I was able to scoop her up with one arm and take her out of the cell. She was startled by my presence.
I took her far enough away from the other guards and the other cells so I could explain to her the situation at hand. "We need to escape," I told her.
At first, she seemed to be without words. I hadn't heard her speak in a year, and it was all I yearned for at that moment.
"Charlie," she said through her breath. She seemed lost as she stared into my eyes.
"I'm here," I told her. "I'm here."
"When are we leaving?" Amelia finally asked me.
"As soon as we can," I told her.
Amelia covered her hands over her face, shaking her head. "I can't leave Lucie," she replied.
Lucie. "Who is Lucie?" I asked, feeling as though I had forgotten something important.
"Leah's daughter." Leah—a pregnant woman Amelia helped just before I left for Prague.
"She's alive?" I asked. I don't know why I asked that question.
"Lucie, the baby, she is alive. Leah was executed."
Shame was all I could feel. "It isn't fair." What else could I say? It wasn't. At that moment, I knew I would do whatever I could to protect baby Lucie along with Amelia. It was the very least I could do for that innocent little girl.
Amelia placed her hand on my left shoulder, allowing her fingertips to skate down the loose material of the empty sleeve.
"Your arm, Charlie."
Amelia's eyes filled with anger, but I kissed her pretty lips to remind her that I was alive. "This war could take my arm, but it could not take me." The sensation of our lips connecting after everything we had been through made me feel like, together, we had access to the key that would open the door to a future we both desired.
There was not much time for reconciliation, but I knew what I had to do.
Chapter 24
May 1943
