“Yes.”
The door opened and Anna poked her head around it cautiously, then smiled and came in when she found Evelyn fully dressed in the pants and one of the sweaters.
“Oh they fit!” she exclaimed. “Good!”
“Yes. The pants are a little large, but nothing a belt didn’t fix,” Evelyn said, looking down at the heavy work pants and warm sweater. “I feel like a bit of a fool, but this is much more appropriate to hiking through trees and underbrush.”
“Yes, it is.” She tilted her head. “And you don’t look like a fool. You look like a woman who works on a farm. There’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, it is perfect if we do end up running into German soldiers. They won’t have any clue that you’re not a Norwegian.”
“Let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that,” Evelyn said, sitting on a stool and reaching for the clean pair of socks she had pulled out of her suitcase. She looked up sharply when Anna let out a loud gasp. “What?”
“Your...your feet!” Anna stammered, staring at her feet in horror.
Evelyn followed her gaze and grimaced. Her feet did look terrible. They were red and bleeding where several blisters had formed, burst, and then been rubbed raw by the walking yesterday.
“Yes. I sincerely hope the boots fit.” She pulled on her socks, covering the sight and reached for the boots. “If they don’t, I dread to think what my feet will look like by tonight.”
“You can’t walk like that!” Anna exclaimed. “Why didn’t you say something?”
“What good will it do?” she demanded, looking up. “I have to get to Namsos, and this is the only way.”
“But...you won’t be able to walk at all if you continue!”
“I don’t have a choice, Anna. I must. They feel much better since I washed them in warm water.”
“Wait.” Anna turned towards the door. “I’ll see if Mrs. Hansen has any kind of bandages. We can at least wrap them to protect the worst parts.”
“It’s fine!” Evelyn protested. “Don’t bother her! She’s already done too much!”
But Anna was already gone and she knew it was useless to argue. Once the kind woman with the big heart heard she was injured, there would be no stopping her. She let out a loud sigh and slid her right foot into one of the boots to see if it fit. She let out another sigh, this time one of relief, when her foot nestled comfortably in the old work boot. It fit. Thank God!
She slid the left one on and stood up gingerly, surprised when a dull throbbing was the only protest her poor feet made. She would try to pay the Hansen’s for the boots. It was worth any price not to have to put those loafers on again!
“She had some linen and some salve.” Anna was back, followed closely by Mrs. Hansen. “What are you doing? Do the boots fit?”
“Yes, they do.” Evelyn looked at Mrs. Hansen. “They’re perfect. You must let me pay you for them.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” she said, shaking her head. “They were sitting in a trunk, doing nothing. You have need of them. Now, take them off again and let’s take care of your feet. Anna says you have blisters all over them.”
“It’s quite all right,” Evelyn said, dropping back onto the stool.
“It’s not quite all right,” Anna said briskly. “Use the salve and wrap them up. Trust me. I grew up with this stuff. It works miracles.”
“It does,” Mrs. Hansen agreed, unscrewing the lid to a short, fat tub. “Though it smells terrible.”
Evelyn took off the boots and her socks and reached for the tub of salve. She knew when she was outnumbered. It was useless to protest. The quicker she did as they asked, the quicker they could be on their way.
“Oh goodness!” Mrs. Hansen gasped when she saw the raw and bleeding skin. “How were you walking around?”
“I’m stubborn,” Evelyn replied, wrinkling her nose as she scooped out the foul-smelling salve. “Ugh!”
“Yes, it smells very bad, but it will heal those up. Put it on nice and thick.” Mrs. Hansen turned towards the door. “That won’t be enough linen strips. I’ll get some more.”
She left and Anna handed Evelyn the stack of linen strips when she finished with one of her feet.
“I would wrap multiple layers,” she said, grimacing as Evelyn gingerly began wrapping her foot. “The more padding you have around it, the better. Will the boot still fit once it’s all wrapped?”
“I think so. There was some room in them.”
Evelyn grit her teeth and worked quickly, wrapping the linen strips around her foot and around her ankle. She was just finishing when Mrs. Hansen returned with another stack of bandages. She passed them to Anna and nodded in satisfaction when she saw that Evelyn had one foot finished already.
“Very good,” she said approvingly. “I’ll leave you to do that and I will go finish in the kitchen. I think your brother is getting impatient,” she told Anna as she turned away. “You’d best hurry.”
Anna nodded and watched as Evelyn applied the salve to the other foot.
“Don’t worry about Erik,” she said once Mrs. Hansen had gone. “I’ll explain that we were bandaging your feet. He won’t be angry once he knows what’s taking so long.”
“I want to get moving quickly as well. I understand his concern. We’re trying to stay ahead of one wave of troops and avoid another. We need to be on our way.”
Anna was silent for a moment.
“I will get you to Namsos in time,” she finally said quietly. “I promise. If I have to steal a car, I’ll get you there. As much as I would love for you to stay, I know how dangerous it is for you.”
Evelyn looked up and held out her hand for the other stack of bandages.
“Hopefully, that won’t be necessary,” she said with a wry smile. “I will make it to Namsos, but it’s not your responsibility to ensure that I do. If it
