supposed to do?’ the woman replied curtly. ‘Drive over rubble?’
‘You didn’t need to take such a long diversion,’ the guard said. ‘There are much quicker ways.’
Edith had learned a little German since the invasion, but not enough to follow a rapid-fire conversation. The guard grew even more irate as the driver took a left turn into a narrow street lined with bomb-damaged shops.
‘Where does this one get us?’ he shouted. ‘You couldn’t do worse if you were trying to take us off course.’
The driver slammed on the brakes, then turned back and scowled at the guard.
‘Fine, I’ll drive,’ the guard said. ‘You sit back here. But keep an eye on her. She may look weak but she’s a terror.’
As the guard tugged on a cord to release the rear-door catch, the driver grabbed a tatty double-action revolver from the map pocket inside the door and shot the guard in the head.
Edith gasped as warm blood spattered her arm. Fearing that the driver would go for her next, she reached for the door handle, but a girl who’d sprung out of an alleyway opened it from outside.
‘I’m with Eugene,’ Rosie explained. ‘Can you walk? We need to move quickly.’
Notes
2 Kriegsmarine – Name for the German Navy during the Nazi era.
CHAPTER SIX
While Rosie pulled Edith from the car, Eugene walked around the front and tried to calm the trembling driver.
‘You did great,’ Eugene said, as he looked at his ashen-faced German friend.
‘I’ve never shot in anger before,’ she stuttered, as she reached through the driver’s side window and handed Eugene the revolver she’d used to shoot the guard. ‘Now, get it over with.’
The German trembled as she stepped out of the car. On the other side, Rosie was appalled by the state Edith was in, breathing the stench of urine and infected wounds as she helped the younger girl limp into a cobbled pedestrian alleyway.
‘I remember you,’ Edith said, though her ears rang from the gun blast and she didn’t catch Rosie’s reply.
‘Are you ready?’ Eugene asked the driver. ‘Show me the back of your left hand, as if you’ve held it up to shield your face.’
The driver smiled awkwardly as she held the back of her palm out to one side. ‘The things we get ourselves into,’ she said, managing an awkward smile as Eugene lined up the old revolver.
‘You’re completely sure?’ Eugene asked.
‘I agreed to your plan, didn’t I?’ the woman said, as her fear turned to anger. ‘They won’t believe me if I come out of this unscathed.’
Eugene moved the muzzle of the pistol to within half a metre of the outstretched hand and sent a bullet straight through it. The woman screamed and spun backwards, crashing into wooden boards covering what had once been a fishmonger’s shop.
‘Christ,’ Eugene said, feeling awful as he holstered the pistol and cocked the machine gun slung around his neck.
‘Edith’s really weak,’ Rosie shouted, from the other side of the car.
‘Just get her clear,’ Eugene shouted back. ‘She weighs nothing. I’ll piggyback her.’
It was a small town and they’d already made a lot of noise. The Germans would arrive within minutes, but Eugene still needed to strafe the car with machine gun fire to make it look as if it had been ambushed by a larger gang.
He worried that the bleeding driver was still too close to the car, so he tucked his hands under her armpits and dragged her a few metres back along the cobbles. Her face was streaked with tears and he felt horrible after all she’d done to help.
‘I’m sorry,’ Eugene told her. ‘They’ll fetch an ambulance for you.’
The woman gave Eugene a half-smile half-grimace. She was losing blood and close to passing out from the pain, but he’d been careful to put the bullet into a spot where it exited cleanly and was unlikely to do lasting damage.
‘Get out of here,’ she groaned. ‘I’m suffering for nothing if you’re caught.’
Eugene opened up with the machine gun. Bullets punched the car’s bodywork, pinged off the engine block, burst tyres and shattered the windscreen. Then Eugene moved to the other side of the car and made sure he got a couple of extra bullets through the guard.
Eugene knew Edith had been knocked around, but it was worse than he’d expected and he gave Rosie a concerned look as he handed her the machine gun.
‘Germans will get here any second,’ Eugene said, as he crouched down low. ‘Edith, I need you to put your hands around my back and hold on tight.