The American Girl by Dempsey Eoin

Author:Dempsey, Eoin [Dempsey, Eoin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical
Amazon: B0BY5XJBTK
Goodreads: 123243083
Published: 2023-04-04T07:00:00+00:00

11

Saturday, May 11, 1940

The crowds of fleeing refugees were on both sides of the road. With no word from the government on what they should do, they had stayed true to their instincts and fled, even when it made little sense for most of them. Perhaps they thought this war would be like the last, even though it was already apparent that the German Army had moved on from 1914, even if the French hadn’t. Christophe weaved the truck through the masses of horse-drawn carts and trolleys. Some people were on horseback, but many just walked with as much as they could carry on their backs. It was impossible to count how many, but Maureen guessed the number had to be in the hundreds of thousands in this small part of Belgium alone. Every person they saw wore the same terrified look and cringed at the slightest noise. They knew that death was only seconds away at any time.

Neither Maureen nor Christophe spoke for the hour it took them to drive three miles back to where they’d last seen Gerhard and the children from the orphanage.

It was Maureen who broke the silence. “I see them!” she roared. “Up ahead on the left.” Christophe pulled the truck over to the side. It was swamped in seconds by refugees begging for a ride.

“We’re here for the children,” Christophe said as he got out.

“What about my child?” a mother holding a two-year-old said.

“And mine?” said another young mother.

Maureen looked at Christophe. “We have to stay focused,” he said. “We came here for the orphans. The non-Jewish kids will have a better chance.”

Maureen waved to Gerhard, and he and the bedraggled bunch of children struggled toward them through the thickening crowd.

Gerhard was covered in sweat and dirt, but he smiled as he turned to her. “We’re all okay. It was just one heck of a walk.”

“Did you see any more attacks?”

“One or two. Thankfully we didn’t get caught up in any. This is Amelie, by the way,” he said, gesturing to the girl beside him. “We’ve had quite a time together, haven’t we, my dear?”

“You could say that,” she said, shaking Maureen’s hand.

Antionette arrived a few seconds later with the rest of the children. She lined them up and had them count off. Christophe stood up on the hood of the truck to speak to the crowd of 50 or more, trying to catch a ride.

“We came for these children. They’re Jews. The Nazis will send them to camps or ghettos in the east if they get their claws into them.”

“You won’t let us on, and you’re taking filthy Jews?” one man said.

“Don’t you realize they come for the Jews one day and for us the next?” a woman beside him said.

“This is not a negotiation,” Christophe said. “Get on the truck and you will be removed. But we will be back. Keep moving. We might see you later.”

“You’re worse than the Nazis,” someone said, and Christophe jumped down.

He and Gerhard stood facing the crowd as the children climbed into the truck.

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