“I think someone’s on to us.” Elise put her arm around Cate when they reached her, as Jack took the flashlight from her.

And then they all heard it. Elise felt Cate stiffen. Dogs.

Oh my God, we’re not going to make it.

“We need to find somewhere to hide,” Jack said. “We’re never going to outrun them if they have dogs.”

Elise didn’t say what she was thinking: there was no way they were going to out-hide dogs, either.

“We’re so close,” Cate cried. “Surely we can make a run for it, surely we can just keep going?”

“I don’t know about you, but there’s no way I can run for more than an hour. And that’s what it would be, minute after long minute trying to keep up that pace to avoid them,” Jack said.

“Harry,” Elise said, reaching for him, catching his fingers as he turned away.

She grabbed the front of his jacket and pulled him in, whispering into his ear. “I love you, Harry. I’m so sorry. I blamed you because I was angry with myself, but I’m so sorry.”

“You’re forgiven,” he whispered back, and she quickly kissed his lips. “A hundred times over, you’re forgiven.”

Hearing Harry’s words gave Elise the strength to keep going, and she used her flashlight to quickly scan the area. “Come on, we can do this. We find somewhere to hide, and we don’t stop until we do. No one is taking me down without a fight, not when we’ve already come this far.”

Elise turned off the flashlight and started to hurry onwards. She’d never been so scared in her life, and she reached into her bag to keep her hand around Oscar’s mouth in case he barked back or let out a growl.

A voice came to her on the wind then, just a whisper, but she knew the enemy was getting closer, and there was only so long before they were found.

They’re coming.

The four of them moved fast, but it was Harry who found the barn, grabbing her hand and dragging her toward it. They started to run, climbing a fence then stumbling, tripping more times than she could count, but they did it. She’d half-expected fingers to curl around her neck from behind or a gun to be rammed into her skull, but there was no one behind them yet.

“Come on,” Jack said as he flung the door open. “Get in.”

Harry hesitated, but Elise didn’t let go of his hand. She felt his pain, knew the pain of his memories as he was faced with holing up in a barn as Nazis descended again, but she needed him.

“Please, Harry, come on,” she whispered.

“There are horses in here,” Cate exclaimed, as a soft nicker came from the shadows. “Quickly, we can hide in their stalls.”