Clara's Soldier by BRITTANY FICHTER

Author:BRITTANY FICHTER
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BRITTANY FICHTER

8

SUGAR PLUM WARNINGS

A sense of relief settled over her, but it was quickly choked out by exhaustion. How long could she go on like this without losing her sanity? On the cusp of death, they were whisked away to safety, only to be hunted again. And she’d only experienced it three times. James had made countless trips across the world. How many more could he survive?

Where was James? Clara sat up. The world around them was dark and chilly, and she sensed they were outside once again. She could just make out the hint of a purple light in the sky where the moon should have been, and she was rather sure she’d been lying with her head on his legs, sprawled out in whatever place of cold, wet darkness they had been sent to this time.

As if hearing her thoughts, James groaned. “I should have known.” And though Clara couldn’t see him, she imagined him running his hand through his short hair and leaning his head back, eyes closed the way he always did when he was angry or annoyed.

“What do you mean?” She kept her voice low in case the Nazis were nearby. Seeing the yellow eyes now before she was oriented might just give her a heart attack. “They looked real enough to me.”

“That’s not it.” He pushed himself into a sitting position. “I should have known as soon as I saw them that it was too good to be true.”

“I don’t understand.” She leaned over and tugged on his arm. “While you’re thinking, let’s at least get out of this cold.” She glanced up at the dark purple sky. “Wherever we are.”

And yet, James didn’t move or speak. She shivered and crouched down beside him while she waited for him to answer. To her surprise and disappointment, he didn’t put his arm around her.

How long they sat that way, she couldn’t tell. While she waited, though, her eyes adjusted to the low light squeezing its way through the clouds. They were sitting on a wooden platform of some sort. Heaps of snow piled around the platform’s railing and on the ground around them, but their spot, mercifully, looked to have been swept clean. She wanted to keep exploring, but the air was growing colder by the moment. She was losing feeling in her fingers so she tried again. Maybe if she coaxed him to answer, he would get up and figure out where they were.

“James, I—”

“Jones died in the jump at Normandy. Kelly lost a leg during a prior jump. They sent him back to the States several months before all… this started happening.”

“Oh,” she breathed, closing her eyes. “I’m so sorry.”

He shrugged. “Guess I hoped it was a miracle. I got to see you after all. I figured… maybe I was getting them back, too.” His shoulder drooped. “I’ve been doing this a long time, Clara. But something… something’s not right. I missed the rats, and I shouldn’t have. I would never have been caught off my guard like that before.

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