Page 41 of Winter's End
Pulling up short, she turned around and pedaled in the other direction, crossing over the main road with fading expectation. She had not gone more than two kilometers when a silo loomed into view, set far back from the road.
She pedaled faster until she came upon a break in the roadside foliage, a narrow dirt road that could be a driveway. Had she not noticed the battered mail box nearly hidden in a bank of overgrown ivy, she would have missed it altogether. She pushed the brush aside.Beekhof.
Hesitating, she sat there for a moment, then made her way up the dirt road, her tires spitting dirt. Eventually, the dirt road turned to gravel. She heard a dog barking as she came upon a pen with a few squealing pigs, a single horse grazing beyond a picket fence. A big German Shepherd loomed in front of her, barking furiously, racing at her side to the weathered porch.
She took in the two-story white frame farmhouse, its black trim peeling in places, and rang the doorbell. There was no answer. The dog danced around her, barking. She glanced at the windows, covered by curtains, and rang the doorbell again.
“Nice dog,” she said, shading her eyes against the bleak winter sun. “I don’t mean anyone any harm.” She pedaled backward, looking for movement behind the upstairs windows.
She was about to give up, when the door was opened little more than a crack. A boy of perhaps fourteen or fifteen peered out. He wore denim overalls, a worn plaid shirt, and a decidedly wary expression. The Shepherd barked.
“Hush, Otto.”
“Hallo,” she said quickly. “My name is Evi Strobel. I hope I have come to the right place. I am looking for Jacob Reese.”
The boy retreated, began to close the door. “There is nobody here by that name.”
“Please!” Evi held a hand against the door. “Please, wait! The American airman saved my life.”
The boy peered out again, eyes narrowed. “There is no American here.”
He started to shut the door, but Evi was faster. “Wait! I am telling the truth. Jacob Reese saved my life! I want to thank him.”
The boy stared through the narrow opening. “Why did your life need saving?”
“I was – I was in a very dangerous situation,” she blurted, a hand still on the door. “Someone was trying to – hurt me, and the American came from out of nowhere and shot him.”
A pause. “Where did this happen?”
She blinked. “At the tavern, just down the road.”
The boy took a long moment. “Wait here.”
Evi peered at the Shepherd. “Otto, is it? Hallo, Otto. My name is Evi.”
The dog peered back, his tail wagging. “Good boy, Otto.” She rubbed her hands together, swaying in the cold.
Finally, the boy reappeared in the doorway. “It is cold,” he opened the door a bit wider. “Come in. Jacob is out in the field with my father. You can wait inside.”
ZOE
Piercing sirens for most of the night made sleep impossible. Zoe tossed and turned, reliving the flash and fury of the exploding train, haunted by the fear that not all of the volunteers had made it safely home.
She was up and pacing before first light, and from the moment she emerged from her small apartment, she felt the tension in the air.
Word of the train explosion was likely everywhere by now, and if the liberated food was an unexpected windfall, there was little doubt the Germans would find a way to unleash new furies in revenge.
Daan was waiting for her at thekliniek. He motioned her into his office and closed the door.
“If I close my eyes,” she said, “I can still feel the force of the blast.”
Daan nodded. “Mission accomplished.”
She did not wait for him to ask. “Wagons full of food were unloaded at the hospital, Daan, but German checkpoints popped up quickly. I ran into one myself, andGodjizdankI was not transporting food, or I might not even be here this morning.”
She shivered at the memory of the cold-eyed German guards and prayed, once again, that there was nothing in her purloined shoulder bag that could be of any value to the Reich.
Daan’s voice was soft. “We have managed two huge offensives in as many days, Zoe – the train explosion and a great blast at the Cinema building. The Germans are beyond furious. They are on high alert, and no doubt we will feel the repercussions.”
