Evelyn watched as they talked together in low voices. Peder shuffled from one foot to the other, his hands in his pockets as he kept one eye on the small group of soldiers and another on the road.
“What do you think they’re discussing?” she asked.
“Knowing Erik, probably what’s the best way to help us,” Anna replied. “He won’t want to leave me, but unless there’s someone with them who’s a skilled motor mechanic, he knows we won’t be able to continue.”
“Even if we could continue, if the Nazis have taken Trondheim, where will we go?” Peder asked. “If the Swedish border agents wouldn’t even allow the King through...”
He didn’t finish, but he didn’t have to. Evelyn was well aware that if a king wasn’t allowed into Sweden, the odds of her getting through were not good. Not unless she snuck through between border checkpoints.
“You need to get through to London,” Anna said after a moment in a low voice. “You and I will be all right in the end, but Marlene is an enemy. We have to get her out of Norway.”
“All I can do is try, which is what I’ve been doing,” he retorted.
“And I appreciate it,” Evelyn said with a smile. “I know you’re doing your best.”
Erik turned and came back to the trio by the car.
“I’ve talked it over and they agree with me. You can’t stay here, and there’s no way to get your car running again safely,” he told them. “If you come with us, you’ll have a better chance at avoiding the Germans.”
“Come with you where?” Anna asked, glancing over to the other soldiers.
“Into the mountains. There are five more of us. We came down to scout and see if the Germans were on the road yet. Leave your car and come with us. It will be safer than on your own.”
Peder was already turning to close the hood of the Volvo. “I don’t have anything but my radio,” he said, “but the girls have bags.”
“We can easily carry them,” Anna said.
“Hurry and get them, and then let’s get off the road and back into the trees,” Erik said briskly. He glanced down at Anna and Evelyn’s feet. “Do you have any better shoes? There’s snow higher up and as we go north, it will get deeper.”
“I have some boots,” Anna said, turning to go towards the back of the car. “Marlene, do you have anything?”
“Not boots,” Evelyn said, following her. “I have a pair of sturdy loafers, but I don’t know how much use they’ll be in the snow.”
“They’ll be better than what you’re wearing,” Anna said, glancing at the fashionable pumps on Evelyn’s feet.
She nodded and pulled her suitcase out of the back of the car, setting it on the ground and crouching down to undo the straps. While Erik waited, she and Anna quickly changed their shoes as Peder stowed the toolbox in the back of the car. He pulled out the case with his radio, the basket of food Else had packed for them, and a small toiletries case.
“Is this yours, Marlene?” he asked, holding it up.
Evelyn glanced up from redoing the straps on her case and nodded. “Yes. Thank you.”
“I’ll carry it if you like,” he offered. “My case is not heavy.”
“I don’t want to be a bother,” she protested, standing. “I can manage.”
“Let him take it,” Erik advised behind her. “We have a steep climb ahead and it will be rough going already.”
Evelyn looked at Peder and nodded reluctantly. “Thank you.”
He smiled at her and turned to lock up the car. “You’re welcome.”
Once the car was securely locked, they turned to start towards the trees. As she stepped off the road, Evelyn had the strangest feeling of leaving safety behind. She pressed her lips together and glanced back at the black Volvo. They would be safer with a group of Norwegian soldiers than on their own on a main road with an advancing German army. So why did she suddenly feel as if she was walking into danger, rather than away from it?
Reaching the trees, she paused and turned to take one last look at the car, pulled to the side of the road.
“It looks so forlorn, doesn’t it?” Anna asked beside her, following her gaze. “Almost as if we’re abandoning it.”
“Do you think I’ll ever see it again?” Peder asked, pausing and looking back with them.
“Perhaps.” Evelyn looked at him and her lips curved. “If anyone tries to take it, they’ll quickly realize why it was left there.”
“Perhaps it will still be there when you can return with a mechanic,” Anna agreed.
He nodded and turned to follow the soldiers into the woods. “Perhaps.”
Evelyn followed, stepping into the trees. As she went deeper into the forest, following the others, she couldn’t help but wonder if she wasn’t now putting nine more innocent people in danger simply by being here. Anna and Peder were the only ones who knew and understood the true danger if Evelyn were to be caught. The others had no idea that they were assisting a woman who was on the SD’s radar. If they did, she doubted they would have been so quick to agree to help them. Erik, especially, would be horrified to think that he had aided a British spy who had put his sister’s life in danger. Yet she had no other choice. She had to find a way out of Norway.
And she needed them to help her do it.
Knutshø
Eisenjager left the small shop behind the petrol pump and walked to his car parked near the edge of the road. The black Volvo had stopped to refuel a few hours before. After a nice chat with the woman behind the counter, he learned that two women and a young man were in the car. One of the women had gone into the shop to pay for the petrol while the other had got behind the wheel. The man, who had been driving when they
