The Secret Rescue by Cate Lineberry

while his brother and three brothers-in-law were fighting with the partisans.
    While several partisans carried Shumway upstairs to a room in the hotel to rest, Stefa escorted the others into the dining room and announced to the great delight of the American men and women that the hotel would serve them a meal. While they sat at a long table and waited for food to be served, Stefa suggested they pool whatever American money they had so they could buy a few items they might need. He would exchange it on their behalf and take some for the cost of the meal. They agreed; and when Stefa returned, he gave the Albanian money to Thrasher, the pilot and senior officer in the group.
    The Americans ate a lunch of mutton, cornbread, vegetables, and the sweet soup Hayes, Rutkowski, and the others had enjoyed so much before. It was the most the Americans had eaten since arriving in Albania, and they savored every bite. When they finished, Stefa, rather than Gina, assigned them to various homes in town and quartered some of the nurses, including Watson, in the hotel. Jens and Lytle, a nurse from Kentucky, would go with Stefa, who seemed to have been designated the Americans’ new leader and who perhaps, the group thought, could lead them safely to the coast where they hoped to find a boat to take them back to Italy.
    Hayes was paired with medics Owen, Abbott, and Cruise, and they were briefly introduced to their host, an Albanian named George, who told them to meet him outside the hotel in a few minutes. In the meantime, they ran upstairs to check on Shumway, who was settled in a bed in a barren room with white plastered walls. Though the room was cold, Shumway appeared comfortable. It was the first bed any of them had seen since they’d been in Albania, and the men suspected Shumway would rest easier that night than any of them.
    Assured their friend was safe, they took their leave and stood outside the hotel, watching people roam the streets. Many of the men who appeared to be partisans carried various weapons and wore homespun woolen clothes and parts of German and Italian uniforms they’d found or taken. Almost everything about Albania was so strange and different to the medics that they weren’t surprised to also see Italian officers and enlisted men in uniform milling about the town despite Italy’s surrender to the Allies a few months before. These soldiers were as stranded as the Americans. After the Germans had invaded, tens of thousands of Italians had run into the mountains fearing that they would be captured or killed, and many now earned just enough from doing menial tasks to keep themselves from starving. Between one thousand and two thousand Italians were thought to have joined the German forces. Others joined the partisans, but the partisans were mostly interested in their weapons, equipment, and coats and resented the Italians for the way they had treated them when they ruled the country. As many as a hundred Italians a day would perish in the harsh winter ahead.
    George came out of the hotel along with four other medics, including Wolf, and told Hayes and the others in his group to follow him. They had only walked a short distance down the road before they arrived at an Albanian bar with a handful of local men perched at tables and nursing their drinks. George introduced them to the bar’s owner, an English-speaking man who would host Wolf’s group of medics that night.
    As the Americans seated themselves, the bar owner asked if they wanted some schnapps. Hayes rarely drank, but the others wanted to try it. The man brought out four glasses and poured about an ounce of clear liquid in each. The three men downed their drinks, one at a time, until only Hayes’s was left. They motioned for him to take it until he finally picked up the glass and swallowed. Before he knew it, his throat burned as if it was on fire, and the top of his head felt like it was going to explode. The other men laughed as Hayes tried to regain his