Page 19 of Winter's End
She paused at Sissi’s lamp post, then shivered in her coat and turned toward school. She walked past the SS guards with barely a nod, burning more keenly than ever to play her part in the plan Mila had proposed.
...
To her surprise, she saw for a full block before she reached the building that the school doors were wide open. Clusters of students stood chatting in the cold, a smattering of teachers walking from group to group.
She spied Sophie, her blond braids pushed up under a green wool cap, waiting on the top step. She picked up her pace, walking through clouds of her own cold breath.
“Evi!” Sophie ran down the stairs to meet her. Fat tears were running down her cheeks.
“What is it?” Evi rummaged for a handkerchief but could not find one. “What happened?”
As if the sight of her friend had fueled the spigot, Sophie cried even harder.
“Are you hurt?”
Sophie shook her head.
“Then what?”
Sophie worked to gain control. “It is Lukas.”
Evi reared back. “Sophie, you scared me half to death. What about Lukas?”
“He is…” Her friend took a shuddering breath. When she spoke, her voice was a whisper. “Lukas is quitting school. This is his last day, he told me. He is joining the Royal Dutch Police.”
Evi stared. “Surely not on the side of the –”
Sophie leaned in close. “No. He is joining so he can wear the uniform and be out and about after curfew. There are plenty of Royal Dutch police, you know, who are not collaborating with the Germans.”
“I know that, Sophie. So, Lukas will be amarechaussee– working for the Resistance.”
Sophie nodded and wiped away a tear, her expression a mix of pride and sorrow.
“But Sophie, that’s wonderful!”
She was fairly bursting to tell Sophie that she, too, would soon play a new role for the Resistance. But Mila had sworn her to silence about the plan, and she knew she must keep her word.
“Be proud of Lukas,” she whispered. “Think of it! He will surely save innocent Dutch lives. And, surely, he will not drop out of sight. He knows where to find you, Sophie.”
“I know.” Sophie kicked a stone at her feet. “But not to see him every day!”
Evi looked ahead at the last group of students climbing the steps to the entrance. “We must go inside. It is late.”
“I do not think it matters,” Sophie fell into step beside her. “With the power cut, and the days so short, my English teacher told us classes will be held for only two hours a day.”
“Two hours! It hardly seems worthwhile.”
Evi followed her friend up the stairs, but her thoughts were already elsewhere.
ZOE
For two nights, Zoe woke with vivid nightmares, reliving the bus ride home from Enschede – the brutality of the Nazis boarding, the pistol trained on her face. On top of that, the air raids had been increasing – whether because the Allies were getting close or because they were being repelled, she did not know. In any case, she felt as if something in her was slowly turning to steel.
She dressed quickly, nibbled around a half-rotted apple, and locked her apartment door behind her. She would make the time this morning to talk with Daan.
With the power out for much of the day, the hours and services at the petkliniekwere necessarily being cut. Medications were hard to come by, surgery by daylight alone was difficult if not impossible, and it took electricity to power the X-ray machine and the autoclave where their surgical instruments were sanitized.
She was turning her key in the lock to the office when Lise came up behind her, and by the time she shed her coat and scarf and donned her white coat, she heard Daan speaking to the receptionist.
