Free Saving the Rifleman by Julie Rowe Page A

course.” He glanced behind them, but no one appeared to be following. “Was nursing what you wanted to do?”
    “Oh yes. My father was very good with animals.” Maria smiled at the memory. “As a child I helped him with cows and horses at birthing time and went with him when he assisted the neighbours with their livestock.”
    “Your family must be worried about you.”
    “I imagine they are. I sent letters at the outbreak of the war, but I don’t know if they arrived or not.”
    He took her hand in his and squeezed. “We’ll get word to them as soon as possible.”
    When he looked at her with such steady eyes, she believed they could do anything. “Thank you. What about your family?”
    “I’ve had no contact with anyone since the first battle. My unit ended up strung out behind enemy lines. My family have no doubt been told I’m a casualty.”
    “They’ll be overjoyed then, when you arrive home alive and well.”
    “That’s the spirit.” He brought her hand up to his face as if to kiss it, but rubbed his cheek against it instead. The small caress warmed her from within. “With such positive thinking we can’t possibly fail.”
    His confidence in her was more enticing than any honeyed words anyone else could give.
    He was dangerous, so dangerous. Yet he was a danger she longed to embrace.
    * * *
    Dawn turned the horizon pink and Maria was falling asleep on her feet, stumbling and hanging on to his arm, before John began looking for a place to stop and hide for the day.
    They’d avoided several German patrols, but those seemed to be mostly looking for young men or any gathering of more than two people. A single woman helping a limping man wasn’t drawing attention.
    That wouldn’t last. The officer from the hospital wasn’t going to give up the hunt for them easily. They’d not only escaped him, they’d humiliated him. John had no doubt the man wouldn’t rest until they were caught.
    They were at the very edge of the city now. The road here was in poor repair, pockmarked with holes and littered with cast-off and broken household items.
    Maria stumbled and he tried to catch her, but he stepped in a hole and they both went down in a tangle of arms and legs. Pain shot through his injured thigh, robbing him of breath, but he still managed to hang on to Maria and keep himself under her. He had no wish to squash her.
    It took a moment before he could take in enough air to speak. “Are you all right?”
    “Yes, I think.” But her quivering voice said otherwise.
    “Maria?” He got his hands around her rib cage and lifted her up so he could see her face. Had he injured her when they went down?
    She gasped when he held her above him and sat up, setting her on her knees next to him on the ground.
    “Are you sure you’re not hurt?”
    She swallowed and nodded. Her cheeks were red and she shook under his hands, but she didn’t seem hurt. “I’m sorry, I’m just very tired.”
    “We should look for somewhere to sleep.”
    “Where? The houses all look occupied.”
    “A barn loft should do for us.” He got to his feet and held out a hand to her. “Come on, let’s see what we can find.”
    They came across a farm that seemed quiet and he led her into a barn half hidden in a clump of trees. A couple of old horses were the only occupants. He pulled her up into the loft where they found several woollen blankets in a heap on the hay-strewn boards.
    “We didn’t get very far.” Maria shook the blankets out and laid them on the floor.
    “We’re outside the city. That’s something.” John leaned one arm up against the wall, taking some of his weight off his injured leg.
    She wasn’t looking at him at all. Just fussing with the blankets. Then she stopped. “It’s going to take more than two or three days to get to the Netherlands, isn’t it?”

Chapter Seven
    “If we’re lucky we can get there in three.”
    Maria sighed, tired beyond belief. “I stopped believing in luck some time ago.”