Chaisley put a hand to her mouth and her limbs sagged. “Is it over then? Everyone is safe? The children?”
“They had a frightening journey, but they seem to be fine.” The relief in Melanie’s voice was palpable.
“I was about to check them over right now.” Dr. G’s words comforted her.
A groan preceded some nasty slurs from the Nazi.
She tensed. “What about him?”
Rick kissed her temple. “You and Melanie need to get on the ship with the kids. I’m going to take him back with us to London.”
“What?”
“Don’t panic. He’ll be locked up the whole time. I’ll make certain of it. But I need to get him back to SIS to see what needs to be done. Attempting to murder Dr. G and kidnapping Mel are serious offenses—but more than that, they’ll want to interrogatehim. I’ll join you at your home as soon as everything is taken care of. Shouldn’t be more than a day or two at most. All right?”
“It’s not what I would choose, but I know it must be done. We are over the border still, right?”
“Yes, barely.” He led her by the arm back to the car. “Let me make sure the engine will still run and that it’s safe to drive back to the ship.”
Chaisley stood in the snow and listened to the engine crank. Granted, it didn’t sound as smooth as it had, but it still purred.
“Mel, are you up for driving everyone to the dock?” The tenderness in Rick’s voice was sweet. “This brother of yours and I will ride in the trunk with the lid open. That way I can keep him out of trouble.”
She laughed. “Of course. Chais, you should probably ride up front with me. Dr. G can sit in the back with the children.”
Rick walked Chaisley to the other side of the car. Once she was in the seat, his breath brushed her cheek. “I love you, Chaisley.” Then he pressed a kiss to her lips.
“I love you, too.” Her heart broke free of its confines the terror of the evening had wrought. They were safe. All of them. Now they just had to meet her grandmother at the ship and set sail for London.
The door clicked shut.
But so many others weren’t safe. It broke her heart to think of men, women, and children across the continent still suffering.
As they jostled along while Melanie maneuvered the car back to the main road, Chaisley’s body slumped against the seat.
“You okay?” Mel’s voice was soft. Concerned.
“I am. Just thinking about all the people still suffering.” She nodded and listened to Dr. Grafton tell the children silly jokes in the back seat. They giggled and chattered back. What a glorious sound. A good sign that they weren’t too traumatized by the night’s events.
“Me too.” Mel’s wistful tone preceded a quick grip on Chaisley’shand. “But we are going to keep working. Even if it’s just one person at a time. We’re going to do everything we can.”
Lord, help us to do just that.She closed her eyes and breathed deep, allowing the voices behind her to bolster her spirit. “Sounds like the little ones have had quite an adventure.” An adventure. Hopefully, they would remember it that way and not with nightmares. The resilience of children amazed her.
--------------------
When they were all finally safe aboard the ship, Chaisley lay on her bed thinking that sleep would overtake her immediately.
But it didn’t.
Rick was in a lower deck of the ship with his captive.
They still had to cross the channel and make it safely to London and then home.
But one hundred and three lives had been rescued from an evil man’s grasp.
She hated to leave. There were hundreds, if not thousands, more. And what about God’s chosen people? The Jews were being persecuted so much worse than she had ever imagined could happen.
Her heart ached with the overwhelming thought.
