Page 80 of The Storyteller of Krakow

Her eyes widened, then she stood straight. ‘Where are they?’ Her eyes roved about the camp.

‘Not here,’ I said, then looked upwards towards Monte Cassino.

‘I don’t understand.’

I had to say it. I had to. Even if I didn’t know what she would do. I had to risk it.

‘There’s someone outside the wire. No one will find him. Bad wound. Fever. I need you to come with me.’

‘But?’ Her brow creased with confusion. ‘The paramedics will find him.’

‘He’s not one of us.’

For a moment, the confusion on her face stayed, and then it dawned on her, slowly, releasing the tension under the skin and making her open her mouth into a perfect O.

‘Zosia!’ Janek called out.

She looked behind her to him, and then back at me.

‘Please, Zosia. I wouldn’t ask unless it was important. You know that. You know me.’ I prodded my forefinger into my chest. ‘You know me, Zosia,’ I repeated. ‘Please.’

She chewed at her bottom lip, then glanced at Janek again. She wasn’t going to do it. She wasn’t going to help. My mouth was suddenly dry with the realisation that Matthias was either going to die, or she was going to tell Janek, and in which case, he would be arrested and I could not let that happen just yet.

‘What you have? Water? Clean cloth? Anything for fever?’ she suddenly asked as Janek began to say her name over and over again in a childish singsong.

‘Some things. But nothing for the fever.’

Zosia nodded, then turned on her heel and went to Janek.

‘Lena needs me a while longer,’ she said, loud enough for me to hear. ‘I’ll be back soon.’

I saw Janek reach out to grab her by the arm, but she was quick and went into the aid tent. A moment later, she came back with a small kit under her arm.

‘Zosia,’ Janek implored as she walked past him, head held high. ‘Zosia!’

Impressed, I followed her to my truck.

‘Where is he?’ she asked, opening the door.

‘He’s up high, a farmhouse. We can’t go all the way in this.’

‘We can go as far as we can in this,’ she said, climbing in. ‘Anyone stops us, then we are just looking for one of our own. Then, we walk.’

Her voice had an edge to it that I had never heard before. She did not wait for me to answer nor argue with her, just got in the cab and slammed the door shut.

I followed suit, jumped in and began to drive.

The sun was just beginning to rise as I drove, the soft light spilling over the treetops. In this moment, it was as though there was no war, nothing of the past, nor even the future. Just me and Zosia – perhaps the way it should have been all along.

Beside me, Zosia sat in silence, her gaze fixed on the landscape flashing by. I could feel the tension radiating from her.

‘I’m sorry for getting you into this,’ I said. ‘This could get us in trouble. But I didn’t know what else to do.’

Zosia shrugged and kept her gaze on the outside world. ‘Maybe I need a bit of trouble,’ she said.

I knew there was more to be said. More to find out about why and how Zosia had decided to defy Janek, but I also knew from so many days of listening to others’ stories, you had to be patient, you had to let them tell it when they were ready.

‘I’ve seen how you and Anka have been,’ she suddenly said. ‘I was glad you had a friend. But I missed it – you know. It was you and me.’