softer now. Soft enough that Bep dared to enter the room and lean up against the table near her sister.
Dinner preparation was under way.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“Almelo,” Sofie said. “We’ll go to Almelo!”
Lena stared at her.
“Well, you said you want to leave, so let’s go!
“I didn’t mean …”
“Of course you did. Your family’s starving. So is mine, but you’ve got six people to think of. Plus yourself. That little baby could die, Lena. She could die!”
Lena thought about reaching out and slapping Sofie. She imagined the smacking sound, the satisfying feel of her hand making contact, the shock on Sofie’s face.
“We’ll go somewhere where there’s lots to eat, too far away for the hunger journeyers from the cities to reach. Almelo is far away. It’s almost in Germany. And I know people there … family.”
Lena put her hand in her pocket and her violent impulses out of her head. “How would we get there?” She was just humouring Sofie, really. “You said something about train tickets?”
“Yes,” Sofie said, jumping up from the stone step where they were huddled in the late January cold. “Train tickets to Almelo. I know exactly how to get there. I’ve been there. My mother …”
She paused.
Sofie’s expression, eyes downcast all of a sudden, puzzled Lena. She did not seem fully committed to her crazy idea.
“If we’re going to go somewhere,” Lena said, “why don’t we go to Maastricht instead, or leave the Netherlands altogether? Let’s go somewhere that’s already liberated!”
Sofie laughed. “Yes. We’ll swim across the Rhine while Germans shoot at us with machine guns. It will be an adventure!”
Lena smiled at her. “So you acknowledge how impossible
that
is. Well, we can’t just go and buy train tickets, Sofie, even if we had money. They’re not letting Dutch civilians on the trains.”
“We won’t
be
Dutch, Lena. We’ll be German. I’ll get tickets to Rheine. That’s not far across the border. We’ll say we’ve been living here for the whole war. We’re sisters.”
Lena looked at Sofie. She couldn’t imagine two girls looking less like sisters.
“And our mother has just died, and our father is sending us to our grandparents in Rheine.”
“You can say all that in German?” Lena asked.
“Hey, I’m good at languages, remember? And Juffrouw Westenberg said that I have an excellent German accent!”
Lena changed tack. “You don’t know what they’re like, the German soldiers. I dealt with them when I went to the country with Margriet, and what she goes through when she goes alone …”
Sofie shrugged, and Lena fought down a wave of annoyance. “My German is much better than yours, and I’ll bet it’s better than Margriet’s too. The soldiers will see lovely young German women when they look at us. We’ll be fine.”
Lena was silent for a long moment, struggling with herself. She could feel herself getting sucked into Sofie’s plan, eventhough she knew it was dangerous. Terribly dangerous. Still, if she didn’t give in, Sofie would just keep at her.
“How about the tickets?” Lena asked. “How will you get those?”
At this point, the excitement leaked out of Sofie’s face and a little bit of fear showed in her eyes. They had left the land of fantasy.
She knew a man, she said, a Dutch railway worker who had not gone into hiding when the strike started. Or rather, her stepfather knew him. That man would help them. He could get them tickets and escort them right onto the train. He could also help them get false papers. Sofie would need to take Lena’s identity card, to use the photograph on a new one, a German one.
Lena had never in her life thought of doing anything even remotely like this. It was a terrifying plan, filled with flaws. But it would mean that she could try to get food back to her family. She would find a way. And even if she failed, even if packages failed to arrive, hers would be one less mouth to feed. They
Dinner preparation was under way.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“Almelo,” Sofie said. “We’ll go to Almelo!”
Lena stared at her.
“Well, you said you want to leave, so let’s go!
“I didn’t mean …”
“Of course you did. Your family’s starving. So is mine, but you’ve got six people to think of. Plus yourself. That little baby could die, Lena. She could die!”
Lena thought about reaching out and slapping Sofie. She imagined the smacking sound, the satisfying feel of her hand making contact, the shock on Sofie’s face.
“We’ll go somewhere where there’s lots to eat, too far away for the hunger journeyers from the cities to reach. Almelo is far away. It’s almost in Germany. And I know people there … family.”
Lena put her hand in her pocket and her violent impulses out of her head. “How would we get there?” She was just humouring Sofie, really. “You said something about train tickets?”
“Yes,” Sofie said, jumping up from the stone step where they were huddled in the late January cold. “Train tickets to Almelo. I know exactly how to get there. I’ve been there. My mother …”
She paused.
Sofie’s expression, eyes downcast all of a sudden, puzzled Lena. She did not seem fully committed to her crazy idea.
“If we’re going to go somewhere,” Lena said, “why don’t we go to Maastricht instead, or leave the Netherlands altogether? Let’s go somewhere that’s already liberated!”
Sofie laughed. “Yes. We’ll swim across the Rhine while Germans shoot at us with machine guns. It will be an adventure!”
Lena smiled at her. “So you acknowledge how impossible
that
is. Well, we can’t just go and buy train tickets, Sofie, even if we had money. They’re not letting Dutch civilians on the trains.”
“We won’t
be
Dutch, Lena. We’ll be German. I’ll get tickets to Rheine. That’s not far across the border. We’ll say we’ve been living here for the whole war. We’re sisters.”
Lena looked at Sofie. She couldn’t imagine two girls looking less like sisters.
“And our mother has just died, and our father is sending us to our grandparents in Rheine.”
“You can say all that in German?” Lena asked.
“Hey, I’m good at languages, remember? And Juffrouw Westenberg said that I have an excellent German accent!”
Lena changed tack. “You don’t know what they’re like, the German soldiers. I dealt with them when I went to the country with Margriet, and what she goes through when she goes alone …”
Sofie shrugged, and Lena fought down a wave of annoyance. “My German is much better than yours, and I’ll bet it’s better than Margriet’s too. The soldiers will see lovely young German women when they look at us. We’ll be fine.”
Lena was silent for a long moment, struggling with herself. She could feel herself getting sucked into Sofie’s plan, eventhough she knew it was dangerous. Terribly dangerous. Still, if she didn’t give in, Sofie would just keep at her.
“How about the tickets?” Lena asked. “How will you get those?”
At this point, the excitement leaked out of Sofie’s face and a little bit of fear showed in her eyes. They had left the land of fantasy.
She knew a man, she said, a Dutch railway worker who had not gone into hiding when the strike started. Or rather, her stepfather knew him. That man would help them. He could get them tickets and escort them right onto the train. He could also help them get false papers. Sofie would need to take Lena’s identity card, to use the photograph on a new one, a German one.
Lena had never in her life thought of doing anything even remotely like this. It was a terrifying plan, filled with flaws. But it would mean that she could try to get food back to her family. She would find a way. And even if she failed, even if packages failed to arrive, hers would be one less mouth to feed. They
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