He turned the corner and lifted his head, seeing Bear’s place down the street. A strange sight met his eyes. A young, lithe woman stood in the middle of the road, her shoulders hunched. The curve of her body in the baggy black dress looked familiar, but what would Cornelia be doing here? Had something gone wrong with her deliveries?
He took half a dozen steps toward the woman. Even with her head bent, the pale light ignited the auburn color in her hair.
Cornelia.
His breath hitched. She was so beautiful, so vulnerable. Needing to keep up his disguise, he couldn’t run to her as he wanted, but he went to her. His fingers tingled as he touched her shoulder.
She jumped and turned. As she did so, he lifted his head and pushed back his hood, and her mouth became as round as a wagon wheel.
“HUSH. DON’T SAY anything.” Gerrit placed his finger over Cornelia’s lips. It tasted salty from sweat. “What are you doing here?”
She hugged him, pulling him close, relishing the feel of him. “I found you. I can’t believe I found you. Here I stood, thinking they had taken you.”
“What’s going on?”
“You can’t go there.” She tipped her head in the direction of Bear’s house but didn’t release her hold.
“I have to get some ration cards.”
“It’s a trap. Anki saw Maarten being taken from here. She overheard the Gestapo say they were waiting for one more person. We think that person is you.”
His hand on her cheek trembled with the news, and she covered it with her own. “I can’t believe I found you. You are safe.”
She closed her eyes and tilted forward to kiss him, to let her heart speak directly to him. Before her lips could touch his, a dirty hand reached around from behind and covered her mouth. A matching hand covered Gerrit’s lips and someone pulled both of them from the street, around the corner of a brick building, and deep into a dark, dank alley.
“DON’T MOVE.” A low German-tinged voice growled in Gerrit’s ear. “I am going to help you.”
Gerrit struggled and kicked, trying to wriggle free. The Nazi kept a tight hold on both Cornelia and him. Gerrit had to get her released. Even if he couldn’t get away, he had to make sure she stayed safe, as he had always protected Dorathee. He twisted and turned, but the man strengthened his grasp. His hot breath warmed Gerrit’s neck.
“I’m going to help you, Gerrit Laninga, like I helped you before.”
Gerrit stilled. The voice sounded familiar. He tried to think. He had heard it before, but where? How did this Nazi know his true identity?
“I could have killed you, but I missed on purpose.”
His heart careened into his ribs.
“More than once I could have turned you in to the Gestapo. I never bought your flimsy story about your drinking problem. Your little girlfriend is daring, but not a very good actress.”
It must be.
“If I uncover your mouths, do you promise not to scream? I can’t save you if you do something that stupid.”
Gerrit glanced at Cornelia, telling her without words to promise. They nodded in unison. The dirty hand slid from his lips.
Gerrit reached for Cornelia’s hand and squeezed it before they turned. Even in the dim alley, those unmistakable blue eyes pierced the darkness. “Who are you?”
“My name is Neumann, but that’s not important.”
“Will you let us go?”
The soldier grasped his wrist. “You can’t.”
Gerrit clung to Cornelia’s hand, sure they would soon be separated. “Are you arresting us?”
“Nein. But it’s too dangerous for you to be on the street. They are waiting to take you into detention, like they did the others. Eyes are watching all over for you. If you had stood in the street a moment more, it wouldn’t have been me who grabbed you.”
Cornelia gasped. “It was a trap.”
“I couldn’t keep up the charade any longer, so I had to tell them where you were. Instead of taking you into custody on the spot, though, I talked them into this orchestrated razzia. They had already uncovered the location of your headquarters, so they sent that woman to flush you into the open and lure you here to make the arrest. I wouldn’t have let you get any closer to the house, but your girlfriend got to you first.”
Gerrit nodded. “Why did you miss? Why are you helping us?” He kept his voice low, but he needed to know more.
“The way you stared at me as I lined you up to execute you, pleading with me for your life. I thought I could do it, but I couldn’t.”
“There’s more.”
“The Gestapo found that my brother in Munich was hiding Juden. Right before the incident here, we received word from a friend of his released from the same camp as my brother. Helmut died there. Over the last five years, I have arrested men and women for saving Juden, men and women just like my brother. And he died.”
The soldier cleared his throat. “You have the same eyes as my brother. I wasn’t able to inflict grief on another family the way it has fallen on mine.”
“You didn’t kill me.”
The German shook his head.
Boots clacked on the street in front of them and a few trucks rumbled past. The soldier pulled them farther into the darkness.
Realization dawned on Gerrit. “You are the one who has been following me.”
“Ever since I found you at the house beside the canal.” He rubbed his cheek. “I volunteered to be the one to hunt you down. Your brazenness almost got you into trouble more than once.”
“All this time, you have been the one watching over me.” Thoughts buzzed in Gerrit’s head as he tried to comprehend. He didn’t know what to say. Even when he had faced a firing squad, God sent the most unlikely of people, a German Gestapo officer, to watch over him.
Cornelia trembled beside him.
He stroked her hair.
Neumann touched her arm. “You aren’t safe yet, not until liberation comes. We’re not going to give up this town without a fight. All these extra soldiers you see are here to defend the village—one of the few villages in Friesland they have decided to defend. The Canadians will be here by nightfall and we expect a firefight. You can’t go back to the farm because it’s too dangerous there now.”
Gerrit’s mouth went dry and he swallowed hard. Liberation. The word brought tears to his eyes. Cornelia rested her head on his shoulder. This long struggle had almost come to an end.
The Gestapo officer pulled his metal helmet lower over his eyes. “I have to go back to the house where they’re waiting for you or they will grow suspicious. I’ll tell them I found you and shot you on the spot. That will give you time to get to safety. Stick to the back roads and keep the hood over your face. I’m sorry about your friends. I will do my best to hold off their executions.” He took a step forward.
“Wait.”
But the blue-eyed soldier darted away, either not hearing Gerrit’s soft call or not answering it.
Gerrit leaned against the rough brick of the building. Cornelia fell into his arms. “I can’t believe it.”
“Neither can I.”
He held her, reveling in her heart pounding against his, which hadn’t slowed in hours. By all rights, both of them should be dead. “Are you okay?”
“Better than okay. Better than anything, you know. I have something to tell you.”
He kissed her forehead as voices floated from the street. “That will have to wait.” He held his breath, not wanting to make a sound until whoever passed had long gone on their way.
She rested her head on his shoulder. The tickle of her breath made him glad for the building’s support.
All fell very, very quiet, like when the birds and the trees were still before thunder breaks.
A boom crashed in the distance and a fireball lit up the dusk.
Cornelia startled. “What was that?”
His pulse raced. “It’s the Canadians.” Their liberation appeared on the horizon. “We have to get out of here so we
don’t get caught in the fighting.” He grabbed her hand, pushed the hood over his head, and pulled her to the street, praying they would make it across the bridge.
In between his prayers, he wondered what she had been about to tell him.
CORNELIA GRASPED GERRIT’S hand and struggled to keep up as he dragged her through the streets. Pain shot up her leg with every step. She gasped for breath, having run so far today and having eaten so little. “Please slow down.”
He turned toward her and slackened his pace until they walked side by side. “You’re limping. Are you hurt?”
She shook her head, unable to summon the breath needed to answer him. After a few more steps, the burning pain become worse than ever and buzzing filled her ears.
Gerrit swooped her into his arms. A few hundred meters and they would be home. Halfway across the bridge, a shell whizzed past them and exploded in the canal, showering them with cool water.
Her heart accelerated like a speed skater at the start of a race. “They’re shooting at us!”
Gerrit’s legs turned as fast as a bicycle’s wheels and they flew over the ground between them and the house.
They fell inside and shut the door, breathless and shaking.
Gerrit drew her toward him, quivering as much as she did.
It was like the beginning of the war all over again.
CHAPTER 40
For a minute or two, Cornelia and Gerrit sat together in her front hall. He gazed at her beautiful heart-shaped face, dirt and tear-stained. He brushed her leg and discovered the filthy bandage. “You are hurt.”
“As I was on my way to the second delivery, a convoy of German trucks appeared, chased by Allied planes. Either a bullet grazed me or I was scraped by some debris.”
“You were shot at?” A ripple of shock streaked across his chest.
“I ran for the ditch and flattened myself as much as possible. I didn’t dare move. I have never been so frightened in all my life.” She shivered.
He rubbed her arms. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”
“I’m not.”
He shook his head. “You’re glad Allied planes shot at you?”
“Ja.”
“Why?”
“I lay there in the ditch, unable to move or think. But I could pray, and I prayed more than I did that first night in Nijmegen. I had never been in so much danger. Psalm 56, the one you taught me, came to mind. And do you know what?”
He desperately wanted to know.
“God gave me this incredible calmness and serenity. He took away my fear. All of it. Whether I lived or I died, God’s will would be done, and I was at peace.”
“You weren’t afraid?”
“I wasn’t. All those soldiers died on the road there. I held the hand of one as he passed into glory.”
Gerrit wrapped her in his arms. “I want to make this nightmare end for you. For all of us.”
She traced the outline of his lips with the tip of her thumb. “I learned something else out there today.”
All rational thought fled. “What?”
Just as she opened her mouth to tell him, someone thundered down the stairs.
“ANKI.” CORNELIA STOOD, her hand over her heart.
Her sister flew the rest of the way down the hall. “Gerrit! Corrie found you.”
“I hear I have you to thank for the tip.”
“I stopped by to tell you that Johan joined the Canadian troops when they went past on the road. The shelling prevented me from going farther.”
“Johan did what?” Cornelia swayed on her feet.
Gerrit’s strong arms supported her. “Let’s have Anki look at your leg and then we will get you something to eat. Johan needs to do this.”
She let him lead her to the kitchen while Anki drew the blackout curtains. The explosions continued in the distance. Each one reminded her of Johan, fighting their oppressors.
Gerrit slid her into a chair and kissed her forehead. “You look like you’ve had a tough day.”
The surge of energy that kept her going from first thing this morning tapped out and she sank against the chair’s back. “I can’t believe all that happened.” She had been interrogated by two soldiers, was shot at by the Allies, held a boy’s hand as he died …
She drew Rolf’s soldbuch from her pocket. “Look at this.”
Gerrit took it and examined it. Anki leaned over his shoulder. “Where did you get it?”
“This belongs to the boy whose hand I held as he died. And that’s all he was. Like Johan, just a boy.” She pinched the bridge of her nose.
A closer burst shook the little house. She clasped her hands to prevent them from shaking.
Gerrit rubbed her knee.
“I reminded him of his childhood faith. He told me he saw heaven.”
“What a beautiful sight that must have been.” Anki wept beside them.
“I took this so I could write and tell his parents about his final moments. They will want to know.” Would someone do that for them if Johan died?
Her sister wiped her tears. “That’s a good thing to do.”
They all fell silent while the air around them buzzed. Gerrit sat beside her, not quite touching her. She felt his presence nonetheless.
“I’m proud of you.”
She studied his strong, square jaw. “God turned back my enemies, just as He promised. He gave me the courage of Daniel and his three friends combined. I don’t know how else to explain where my bravery came from.”
“Because there is no other explanation.”
“You’re right. I acted not in my own strength, but in the Lord’s. That is how I want to live my life.” She looked between her sister and the man she loved.
Gerrit smiled at her and the warmth of it drove away the chill. “That’s how we all need to live.”
Anki nodded. “I want to clean you up and examine your leg. Gerrit, can you move her to the chair in the front room?”
Again he scooped her into his capable arms. She nestled against him, listening to the steady beat of his heart. Ach, did she love him.
He remained next to her as Anki cleaned and dressed her wound, then went to the kitchen to prepare a small meal. The percussion of explosives continued every few minutes, drawing closer and closer.
When Anki left them alone, Gerrit pulled Cornelia against his side and rested his head on top of hers. “I love you, Cornelia.”
Her body relaxed at his words. She had come home.
Anki entered the room with some bread and coffee.
Cornelia ate the food, Gerrit beside her the entire time. The weight of fatigue fell heavy on her, and she had a difficult time finishing. She set her empty cup on the floor and rested her head on his shoulder.
The last thing she remembered was the smell of his line-dried shirt.
CORNELIA’S BREATHING TURNED soft and even. Gerrit didn’t dare move, not wanting to wake her. The fine lines caused by hard years of war faded and serenity softened her face.
This is what he wanted, every day for the rest of his life. How could he convince her that she could trust him with all of her heart? That he wanted her fully and wholly?
When Anki came down the stairs, Cornelia had been about to tell him something she had learned today. He wondered what that might be.
Could she have been about to utter the words he longed to hear from her?
His emotions agitated inside of him. Mostly he, too, was worn out. Five years of war had taken their toll. More than anything, he wanted it all to be over. All the fighting, all the loss, all the uncertainty.
He leaned back on the davenport and drifted off. He dreamed that Cornelia picked him a sunset-red, fully opened tulip. She handed it to him.
A loud detonation jolted him awake. Cornelia sat up with a start. “What was that?”
He missed the warmth of her against him. A succession of explosions answered. “Freedom.” The house shook and the windows vibrated from the force. Another burst and they shook even mor
e, threatening to shatter. “Get to the hall. Away from the windows.”
They picked up davenport pillows to cover their heads from any debris that might fall and hurried to safety. Anki raced down the stairs. Together the three of them sat on the floor, huddled under pillows, their knees drawn to their chests.
And waited.
Cornelia scooted closer to him. “At least this time I’m not waiting alone.”
He grasped her cold hand. “You don’t ever have to be alone again.”
The rat-a-tat-tat of machine-gun fire pierced the air. The smell of smoke drifted under the door.
They sat without speaking while the battle for the bridge continued outside the door.
He wondered about Bear and Maarten and prayed for their safety. With the Allies closing in, Gerrit hated to think about what the Gestapo would do to their prisoners.
He prayed for Johan, too, in the midst of the fighting. Cornelia needed him to return alive.
A burst of light illuminated the gloom, filtering around the edges of the blackout curtains. Immediately, a gigantic boom followed, rattling the dishes in the cupboards, glass crashing to the floor as the entire house shook. He gripped his pillow tighter over his head while Cornelia cowered lower beside him, Pepper on her lap. Plaster rained around them.
She squeezed his hand. “What was that?”
“I think someone tried to blow up the bridge. Either the Germans are trying to prevent the Canadians from getting into town, or the Canadians are trying to prevent the Germans from escaping.”
A few more rounds of gunfire popped.
Then came silence.
Gerrit held his breath. Judging by Cornelia’s stillness, she must be holding hers too.
Several minutes of quiet passed. Then several more. They sat for a long time before vehicles rumbled past.
Cornelia leaned over, her breath tickling his neck. “Do you think it’s over?”
“Stay here. Keep the pillow over your head.”
She didn’t follow as he made his way to the front window, the one that overlooked the canal. He lifted the corner of the shade, bright sunlight illuminating the scene.
Smoke rose near the bridge, but it remained intact. Whoever had tried to blow it up had been unsuccessful.
Liz Tolsma Page 27
