Reyna Feldman, a twenty year old Jewish girl from the tiniest of villages in France, is on the run. Captured by German soldiers while trying to escape over the border, she's taken to an internment camp in Freiburg, Germany, where she meets SS Philli...
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Happy Wednesday!! I got the idea for the beginning of this chapter at midnight two nights ago, and could NOT stop thinking about it until I finally sat down and wrote it today! I really like it, and think it sets things up for the next phase of this story! :)
It was raining.
Pouring, more like it.
They'd set up camp the night before underneath the stars. There had been no fire, for fear that its light might attract unwanted visitors. So they'd settled for a makeshift bed of fallen fir boughs, and had used their coats as blankets in a futile attempt to keep warm.
Despite her exhaustion, she hadn't slept a wink, every rustle of a tree or snap of a twig jolting her awake, that is when she'd managed to stop her teeth chattering long enough to actually fall asleep. They'd awoken at first light and after a meager breakfast of bread and cheese, had set out. It had been a grueling day. The bone chilling air of the previous night and that morning had given way to an oppressive mugginess by mid afternoon, and the rain had started soon after. They'd stopped, sheltering underneath the low lying branches of a grouping of pine trees, hoping the down pour would cease. It hadn't though, so they'd trudged on.
She was drenched, her hair sopping and her clothes soaked through. Luca was no better off. The only things that had remained dry were what they'd stuffed into the rucksacks on their backs. She looked up at the sky. The rain had finally began to lighten up, the dark gray clouds that had hung in the air all day now glowing with the faintest hints of orange and red. The sun was going down - an involuntary shiver raked through her - and the temperature with it.
"How much further?" She asked, her throat burning with thirst. She hadn't drank anything in hours, not wanting to open her pack and risk getting everything else wet while she dug around for the canteen inside.
"We'll need to make camp soon," Luca said, his eyes continually scanning the horizon. She didn't say anything, just nodded. They continued on for what felt like an eternity, the orange glow of the sunset having nearly faded completely when he stopped. "There," He nodded in the direction of a rocky outcropping that had appeared through the trees. She squinted through the dimness, her heart sinking. She didn't know what she'd been hoping for, but the thought of sleeping out in the open again, in sopping wet clothes with no fire made her stomach twist. She blew out a breath, and followed, her eyes catching on the smallest of openings in the rock face as they got closer. "Come on," Luca said, stepping aside to reveal the mouth of a cave. "In here."
The entrance was cramped. Despite her small frame, she had to crouch down to fit through it. Light flooded inside from behind her as Luca flipped on a flashlight and squeezed through the opening himself. She looked around. Despite its tiny opening, the cave itself was expansive. They were standing in a chamber at least twenty feet wide, and at least double that in height.
"Take this."
She turned around, her eyes falling on the flashlight Luca was extending to her. She took it.
