“If they’re watching. Jørgen said they haven’t come this far yet. He hasn’t heard of any in the village, or even passing on the road.”
“That doesn’t mean they haven’t,” Evelyn said. “Anna, be sensible. We’ve come this far, and I have put you at more risk than you had any reason to be. I won’t do it any longer. I’ll go the rest of the way alone, and you will be far safer without me. You all will. You know that.”
Anna shook her head. “I don’t care about that,” she argued. “I promised to get you out of Norway. I can’t just leave you to fend for yourself now.”
“You’re not,” Evelyn said with a quick grin. “I am. I’m the one making the decision, not you.”
“If you continue alone, and Philip goes on his own, then we will all cross the bridge at different times and enter Namsos with very little risk, even if they have someone watching the bridge and the city,” Erik said, nodding. “Philip can meet up with us once we’re in Namsos. It is good. That is the best approach, I think.”
“I am out-voted, then?” Anna looked from one to the other, ending with Evelyn. “I’ll do what everyone else thinks is best, but I am not happy with this decision at all.”
Evelyn nodded, smiling sadly. “I know.”
“When we reach Namsos, we can get a message to our battalion and find out where and how to rejoin them,” Philip told Erik.
“Yes. Anna, I’ll make arrangements for you to get back to Rindal and our parents,” Erik said with a nod.
“You don’t have to make arrangements for me,” Anna retorted, tossing her head. “I can make my own way.”
“How? You don’t drive and the trains are too dangerous. The Germans are bombing the tracks and the stations.”
“I’ll find a way.”
“You’re being stubborn.”
“I think I’m entitled to be stubborn after everything we’ve been through,” Anna shot back.
Evelyn watched the two siblings arguing and felt an acute stab of homesickness. They reminded her forcibly of herself and Robbie, and suddenly all she wanted was to get home and see his freckled, laughing face.
Philip made a face and got up from his seat, turning away from the table.
“While you two have your argument, I will tell Jørgen that we’ll be leaving shortly,” he said over his shoulder. “If we’re going to make it there today, we need to get started.”
“He’s right,” Erik said, rolling up the map. “Now that we have a plan, it’s time to leave. Marlene, you will stay with us through the mountains. Once we reach the road, I’ll give you this map and we will separate.”
She nodded, avoiding looking at Anna.
“Let’s get moving.”
14th April, 1940
My dear Evelyn,
How are you? I think of you often. Now that this war seems to be moving in the direction we both knew it would, I wonder if you’re as anxious for it to get going as I am. I feel as if we’ve been waiting indefinitely, and now we’re still waiting. I suppose this is the normal progression of things, but I really must admit I wish I could just jump into the fight. I’m sure you feel the same way, stuck in Wales as you are. You’re probably bored silly. Don’t worry, though. You’ll be back at Northolt any day now and I’m sure Durton will bring some kind of excitement to your daily grind. But not too much, I hope!
I survived my first recon flight. We took off at four-thirty in the morning and landed in France to refuel just in time for breakfast. We were supposed to continue immediately, but lo and behold, there was heavy cloud cover over our target. So instead we were told to stand down for a few hours to see if it cleared. Eventually it did, and we got underway again. It was an extremely nerve-wracking flight, I don’t mind saying. We flew over three different points in Germany, taking photographs from a special camera fitted onto the belly of our Spits. We really did expect to run into some enemy fire, but we didn’t see even one wingtip to shoot at. I honestly don’t think the Jerries even knew we were there! We did our sweep and flew back to base without any trouble whatsoever. In the end, it was all rather dull.
Rob was thoroughly disgusted with the whole thing, and so was the Yank. As much as I want the war to get underway at last, and for all this waiting to end, I was rather glad that we all got back without any incidents. Does that make me a coward? On the one hand, I’m more than ready to get to work and meet the enemy head-on, but on the other, I’m rather glad it didn’t happen the other day. I don’t know what that means, really. Everyone else was very upset not to have had a great scrap.
Did you see the news out of Norway? We sunk eight of Jerry’s destroyers and one of her U-boats at Narvik yesterday! It’s absolutely fantastic! The U-boat was actually bombed by a catapult plane off a battleship. The CO thinks it might be the first time that’s ever happened. We did have an aircraft carrier there, as well. All said, it was a much-needed victory, and one that will hopefully show Hitler that we mean business. I’ve heard that we’re also landing troops today or tomorrow. I just hope it’s not too little, too late. The Germans have control of all the airfields in Norway, and their paratroopers are the best in the world. I want to believe that we can take Norway back, but I know that it will be a very hard fight to do so. If we’d gone earlier...but I suppose there’s no point in looking back. At least Chamberlain is finally showing
