Take Me Home

13. Discovered

Axel and Freya were sitting up together in the loft. He watched her as she sat next to him and he turned his head toward her. She looked mentally depressed at the moment. He blinked and looked down. Who was that young man? Maybe he was her brother, but he highly doubted that. He stared at the candle for a moment, which was still flickering in front of him. He had eaten the apple when he had woken up and seen it. Freya must have been up here before he had woken up...

He cleared his throat as Freya looked at him, her blue eyes meeting his. They were pretty, he realized. Then, he quickly glanced away, uncomfortable with the way they held eye contact in that silent moment.

"That was Roger. Roger." She pointed down, Axel got the idea. He nodded, sitting up straight on the hay pile, arms and hands resting calmly on his lap.

"Why?" He questioned softly, narrowing his eyes.

She sighed loudly as the sun finally reached high enough to shine through the cracks between the wood of the barn, allowing light to stream through and brighten up the place. He leaned forward, blowing softly at the candle and watching the flame vanish in a small cloud of smoke. Then he looked at Freya from the corner of his eyes, she was watching the candle, her eyes tired.

"Roger wants to help. Help." He didn't know that word yet. Axel inhaled, turning around and reaching forward to pick up the book. He opened it, finding the German section and looking in the H's. He-lp. He found it. Ah. It was the same words he had screamed when he had fallen into the ocean that night. Hilfe...

The boy, Roger, was here to help Freya. Help her do what? His expression was confused as he just nodded in return. Freya watched him give up the conversation and she sighed, looking away.

The sound of a hammer pounding on wood could be heard in the distance, outside the barn. Axel perked up, swiveling his head left, toward the direction. That was probably the man. Restless, he sat back and watched Freya stand up, her dress sweeping the floor as she stood. He tilted his head as he watched her walk back toward the ladder, her face still downcast and her blues focused on the ground. He felt pity for her. He wasn't too sure exactly what she was going through, but he felt bad because it seemed she had to go through it all alone.

It wasn't like trying to talk to her would do any good, after all he could hardly speak English. He was learning, but slowly. He looked at his ankle, which was relaxed in front of him. If it was broken, it would take a good few months to completely heal. But it didn't feel like a bad break. Axel leaned his head back on the hay as Freya climbed down the ladder. He was so, so restless. He had the desire and urge to stand up and move around. He groaned quietly, looking around. Maybe he could try to stand up. He could hold onto the wall, and balance on one foot. It would be better than continuing to just sit here and wait for it to heal.

He shifted and sat up, pulling himself toward the wall. He placed both of his hands on it and carefully raised his right leg, balancing on his left knee. His ankle was on his left, so he kept it in the air. Then, pressing against the wall, he slowly stood up, using his arm muscles to keep balance and lean himself on the wall. Once he was standing up, his left leg bent so it was in the air, he attempted to take a step forward. It wasn't really a step, it was more of a hop. He hopped on his right foot, one hand on the wall as he stood upright. He had managed to get up the ladder with a broken ankle. His face lit up into a grin as he managed to take another hop forward, ankle avoiding contact with the ground.

But he did wonder how it wouldn't feel to place it on the wooden floor of the loft. Would it be unbearable pain? Or tolerable?

He slowly lowered his foot. It pressed on the ground, but once his upper foot began to smooth onto the ground, he felt a sharp stab of pain as his ankle moved. Gasping, he raised it back up, his jaws clenching as the pain slowly faded. He wouldn't try that again. Axel frowned and looked toward the ladder. What was down there? He had seen the land on the ride to the barn after Freya had found him. But he wanted to see more of it.

Axel was a young man with a lot of common sense. He also let curiousity get the best of him. Curiousity can kill. That was what his father had said to him. His father. Axel stood there for a moment. Had his commander told his parents what had happened. Did they think he was dead?

Oh. He slowly slid down the wall. Sitting, he thought hard about what was going on at home. His crew probably assumed he had died. After all, he was lucky to be alive. He didn't know how he was, he should've drowned. They probably had gone to his family and had told them he was MIA (Missing in action) and after a certain amount of time, if he wasn't found, they would claim he was dead.

Axel brought his knees up to his chest, careful not to move his ankle the wrong way. He sat there, the ladder directly in front of him. He stared at i as he thought about what his family was going through. His Ma was probably frantic with worry. His Pa, a lead general in Hitler's army, wouldn't have time to do anything about it. Axel knew that his Pa would find out, but his Pa also had to deal with the thousands of other MIA's, POW's, and KIA's. (Missing in action, Prisonor of war, and killed in action.)

He had two older brothers. Both were also serving. One was a pilot. The other was a paratrooper like Axel. He didn't and couldn't know if they were alive right now. They were about ten years older, the eldest being 13 year six older. He was the youngest. Axel stared at the floor. He missed his home. He wondered how Germany was getting along in the war. The biggest fear was that America  would join the fight.

Germany was trying to get a deal with Russia, to become Allies and take over all of Europe together. Hitler and Stalin. Axel hope that Hitler was succeeding in his plan and that Stalin had accepted the truce. Hitler wanted England. Axel wondered how long it would take for him to get it. Axel wondered how long it would take for him to be rescued.

He sighed, returning his attention to the ladder. Would it be possible to go down? He hadn't a feeling that Freya wouldn't agree. He pictured her shaking her head, her finger traveling to those red, full lips as she motioned for him to keep quiet. He smirked, shaking his head slowly.

Sunlight glinted through the cracks between the wood that made up the wall. The emerald eyes narrowed as he stood, one foot on the ladder. He agilely turned, keeping his left foot in the air as he faved the ladder. He begun to climb down.

His right foot hit the bottom of the barn as he slowly lowered his left, raising his head to look around. He saw horses, who raised their heads to look at him in curiosity, bickering and neighing softly. Axel limped over to one, reaching his hand into the stall and petting it. Axel smiled softly, stroking the horse gently as it sniffed him and searched for food.

He laughed softly as it sniffed him more, nickering and nodding its head and poking at his hand. Then, it lifted its muzzle and nosed Axel's his hair, sniffing and nickering still. Axel laughed, stepping away and fixing his hair as he watched the horse, a smile left on his face.

Axel saw movement and saw the cat in the corner. He grinned, slowly kneeling down and clicking his tongue. The cats ears perked up and it stood, briskly walking toward Axel. It began purring, rubbing up against Axel as he ran his hand along its back. He had always loved cats. He had one back home. They were as good as dogs. He liked both equally.

Axel was so focused in petting the cat, he didn't hear the footsteps.

He didn't see the shadow of the person who walked in.

But the sun was shining through the barn doors, and it made the shadow grow so that suddenly Axel was not in the sunlight anymore. His emeralds snapped up, seeing a brawny, tall shadow against the wall in front of him.

And it wasn't Freya.