Evelyn nodded, eyeing the area with a feeling of dismay. The temperature had dropped significantly and while the stone walls protected them from the worst of the wind, it still howled and whistled through the gaping holes where the roof used to be. Anna saw her face and smiled faintly.
“Don’t worry. The fire will help a lot, and we can start a smaller one over here as well. You won’t freeze.”
Evelyn was betrayed into a short laugh. “Are you trying to convince me or yourself?”
“Both.” She straightened up and looked around the back of the structure. “Why don’t we gather some of these old rocks and stones and put them in a circle? We can set a fire inside them and not risk it spreading.”
Evelyn nodded and turned to begin gathering the largest rocks she could find. Her feet were throbbing and she didn’t think she would ever get warm again, but moving helped keep her mind off both the cold and her predicament.
“Marlene, I’m actually getting quite a good signal over here,” Peder called from the other side of the barn where he had settled down with his radio. “I should be able to get through to London again. I’m going to try, anyway.”
“Thank you!” She glanced at her watch, squinting in the darkness. “It’s been two hours, hasn’t it?”
“Yes.”
Erik looked over from where he was arranging the wood in the makeshift fire pit.
“What have you learned about the German troops?” he asked. “Anything?”
Peder shook his head. “Only that Oslo is occupied and they are moving north and west.”
Erik nodded and was silent, going back to the fire. Evelyn carried two very large rocks over to set them down near their corner.
“Once you get instructions from London, we’ll be able to make a plan,” Anna said, dropping a few more rocks onto the growing pile. “Don’t worry. We will get you out of Norway.”
Evelyn looked at her in surprise. “What makes you think I’m worried?”
“You look as if you’re heading for the gallows,” she replied with a laugh. “It’s not that bad yet. If we stay in the mountains, we’ll be fine. The Germans won’t come into them until they’ve secured all the low-lands.”
“Perhaps not, but we have to be on our guard,” Erik said, overhearing. “We’re going to keep guard in shifts through the night. Three of us will patrol the area while the rest sleep. We’ve already discussed it. You will be safe enough tonight.”
“I appreciate everything you’re doing for us,” Evelyn said earnestly. “Thank you.”
“It would be done, regardless of whether you were here or not,” he said dismissively. “There is no need to thank us.”
She swallowed and went back to looking for appropriate stones. Anna’s brother wasn’t very friendly, but she supposed she wouldn’t be either if she’d been separated from her unit in the midst of a German invasion.
“Don’t mind Erik,” Anna said in a low voice. “He isn’t very happy with the English these days, and I’m afraid he’s not being very friendly towards you. Please don’t take it personally.”
“I’ll try not to.” Evelyn hesitated, then glanced at her. “Is it because we dropped mines in the waters?”
“Among other things. He seems to think that the invasion is England and France’s fault, and perhaps it is. But there is no point in blaming anyone now. I told him as much earlier, but he is stubborn.” Anna shrugged. “He will warm up once he gets to know you.”
Evelyn was silent. She wasn’t particularly bothered by Erik’s coolness towards her, but it was obviously weighing on Anna’s mind. He hadn’t been impolite or rude, he just wasn’t overly friendly, and that was fine. She wasn’t there to make friends. She was there to get out of Norway as quickly as possible, and with the least amount of exposure. If he could help her do that then that was all that really mattered.
“Marlene!” Peder called to her a few minutes later and waved her over. “I’ve got through.”
Evelyn went over to him quickly, Anna close behind. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Erik look over sharply, but he made no move to join the small group on the other side of the barn. Peder was listening intently to his headset, one hand pressing it against his ear while the other reached for his pencil and paper. Anna switched on a flashlight and held it over his shoulder to give him light while he was writing, and Evelyn watched as he scrawled an illegible short hand over the page. It looked like a mix of Morse code and his own peculiar brand of coding. Whatever it was, she was very relieved to see it. At least now she would have a course of action to follow that didn’t consist of simply running without a destination in mind.
“I hope he can decipher that,” Anna whispered, “because it looks like Greek to me.”
Evelyn grinned. “It’s coming through in Morse code, but he’s obviously got his own shorthand that he uses as well,” she said.
“So then, if the Germans intercept the message, they can read it?”
“Hopefully not. It’s encoded, but I’m afraid it’s a very basic code. Let’s hope the Germans have other things on their mind at the moment and aren’t monitoring wireless messages.”
Anna looked at her in disbelief. “That’s it? We’re just going to hope they’re not listening?”
Evelyn nodded grimly. “I don’t have the code that...others use in these situations,” she said in a very low voice. “I was never supposed to be in this position yet, you see. I’m sure that will be corrected when I get back.”
“That doesn’t help us now,” Anna muttered.
“That’s all of it,” Peder said, removing his headset and bending over the paper. He went through the message and translated it into the basic code that Evelyn would be able to transcribe. After a few minutes, he turned around and handed the paper to
