Chapter 46

46

The woman who had greeted them, Ramona, was Egon's wife. She was broadly built with a loud laugh and bright eyes; Jana liked her immediately. Egon beckoned them to the warmth of the woodburning stove whilst Ramona went to fetch food for the little troupe.

Egon explained that this was his home, from where he was organising his resistance group.

‘But how on earth did you find me and what happened to you, Jana?'

She told her story and when Jana told of her experience at the couple's house the previous night, Egon laughed. ‘They're a miserable pair, those two. But they hate the Germans and keep an eye out for us.'

Jana continued. ‘But I had no idea that the woodcutter named The Bear would turn out to be you.' Her eyes welled with tears of thankfulness.

Ramona brought them all bowls of broth. ‘Rabbit,' she said, proudly, nodding towards her husband. The soup was rich and meaty, and Jana sighed with pleasure at the taste .

After they'd eaten, Ramona fussed over Yveta, examining her ankle and rebinding it in strips of clean linen. Jana, seated on a lopsided, rickety chair, finally dared to remove her shoes and gave a small moan. Her stockings, smeared in dried blood, stuck to large open wounds on each of her heels.

‘My, goodness, young lady, that needs seeing to straight away,' said Ramona, turning her attention from Yveta to Jana. Within moments, she'd brought over warm water and some type of tincture and helped to remove Jana's stockings.

‘…and you pushed that young girl in a wonky, old wheelbarrow all that way, with feet like that…' Ramona was saying as she tended to the raw wounds. Jana caught Yveta watching, her face thoughtful. There was concern in her eyes, and something else: recognition and perhaps gratitude. Jana gave her a reassuring smile, which Yveta returned: the first smile she had ever given her.

Maddie and Michal revived quickly after their soup and jumped at Egon's invitation to visit his cart horse in the barn. Michal was now seven years old and looked so much older than the shy child that used come to her bookshop for refuge and escape. Jana thought of the day she'd witnessed his mother's arrest, her pleading expression to protect her son. Michal had said his mother had been expecting a baby. And what had happened to Michal's father who had simply not returned from work one day? She prayed the family would one day be united.

Her thoughts turned to Maddie as she watched her skip out the door in the direction of the barn. Three years had passed since she and her sister had seen their mother, Lillian. It was heartbreaking how many families had become separated during the war.

Ramona insisted that Jana rest in her rocking chair and made her comfortable with pillows and a blanket. Yveta was laid out on the settee with her ankle supported and raised, and the weary child closed her eyes and dozed. Jana would have liked to sleep too, but her mind continued to whirl; Papa would be frantic with worry not knowing what had happened to her. And what about Babi? Had the police suspected that she had been hiding children? Had she been arrested? Eventually, she allowed her eyelids to fall and drifted into a light sleep to the comforting sound of Ramona bustling around the house.

Sometime later, Egon returned with the children, their arms full of straw which Ramona used for four makeshift beds by the stove. Jana stirred from her rocking chair and padded over the floorboards in a pair of Ramona's socks, relieved not to be wearing shoes; it would take a few days for her feet to heal. Ramona had already said that she and the children could stay as long as they wanted. She was disorientated by the unexpected turn of events. Just yesterday she had been on her way to visit her grandmother for an afternoon, and now she was on the run with three children in tow. They were lucky to have found sanctuary with Egon and his kind wife.

Over the following days, visitors came and went. The men arrived on foot, on bicycle or horse. Egon talked with them in hushed voices as they smoked outside or they hid themselves in the barn till late in the night. She heard the muted sounds of radio broadcasts through the wall.

One evening, once the children were sleeping and Ramona had retired to the bedroom, Jana went to the bathroom to prepare for bed. She slipped on a worn, flannel nightdress of Ramona's and rubbed her teeth clean with a linen cloth. When she returned to the sitting room, Egon was gone. She guessed he was in the barn listening to the radio. After debating with herself a few moments, she followed.

Egon looked up in surprise at her footsteps, turning the volume down of the distinct tones of a BBC broadcast.

‘Please tell me what's going on,' she said simply. ‘I want to take part.'

He motioned to his stool, moving to sit on a bale of hay. ‘Thank you for storing the ammunition at your shop. It's been collected without any problems.'

Jana sighed with relief.

Egon continued. ‘The allies are advancing towards the German border…' His eyes shone with hope. ‘The time is close when we will rise up and free ourselves from the Germans.'

‘How can I help?' She sat down and pulled her nightdress over her knees.

‘It will be dangerous,' he warned, ‘but we'll need non-combatants who help with movement of supplies, building of barricades and tending to our wounded.' He looked at her with concern.

‘I'm used to the risks. I've worked with you before.' She raised her chin. ‘I'm ready to do so again.'

April brought swathes of bluebells to the forest floor and sunshine filtered through the branches. Egon's visitors became more frequent and Jana was invited to their meetings, often in the barn where they listened to the latest news. She was filled with nervous excitement as plans were made and the day that she would accompany Egon back into Prague neared. She dreaded the thought of leaving the children behind, but she knew they were in good hands with Ramona .

On the evening before the planned departure, Jana returned from the bathroom and passed the couple's bedroom door; it was ajar and she caught a glimpse of Egon and Ramona standing in a tight embrace. He stroked back her hair and murmured to her in a soothing voice. Ramona's shoulders shook with stifled sobs. Jana was moved by their love and when Jana lay down on her bed of hay, her thoughts turned to Andrej. If only he could have been with her when she returned to Prague, side by side, united in their fight.

That night, she had the most perfect dream: she and Andrej ran along the Charles Bridge, draping one Czech flag after another over the balustrades. Then hand in hand, they sped down the riverbank of the Vltava River to their steamboat where they slid off their clothes and made passionate love.

She awoke, her heart racing, her body tingling with desire. But reality crushed down on her; Andrej was gone, murdered by the Gestapo. She was sure of that now; it was the horrific but obvious conclusion. If only she had told him just once that she loved him. He had uttered those sweetest of words, kissing her tear-stained face that evening on the steamboat following the massacre, but consumed with guilt and misery, she'd bitten them back. Now she wished she'd returned his words and that before he'd died, he'd known how deeply she loved them. Now it was too late.

The children stirred as she prepared to leave. She hugged each of them to her breast.

‘Be good to Ramona,' she said to Maddie. ‘I'll come back for you,' she assured Michal. His lower lip wobbled and two pink spots appeared on his cheeks.

She turned to Yveta, who had watched the farewell with a stiff, white face, but it was Yveta who spoke first.

‘I wish you weren't going. '

Jana wrapped her arms around her bony back and the girl's rigid body softened and grew limp against her. Yveta exhaled a shuddering sigh.

‘Thank you,' she said in a small voice.

Jana swallowed the hard lump in her throat, knowing how difficult it had been for her to utter those words.

‘It's time to leave.' Egon pattered her on the shoulder and she turned finally to Ramona and took both her hands.

‘Take care of the children.'

‘Rest assured I will. And you two take care of each other,' Ramona said, her eyes flitting to her husband and back to Jana again.

The air was so charged with emotion that Jana was relieved to leave the house and gulp in the crisp, early-morning air. The horse and cart were waiting, and Egon helped her up onto the front bench before settling beside her. As they trotted off, Jana looked over her shoulder and waved goodbye to the little group, their anxious faces imprinted on her mind.

Birdsong filled the spring air and at the sound of horse hooves, red squirrels scuttled through the undergrowth and darted up the trees. Egon, deep in thought, was silent as they rode, and Jana grew afraid of what lay ahead.

An hour later, they halted at a small farmhouse where three men, a teenage boy and a woman awaited them. Jana's spirits lifted to see that the woman was Nela. They smiled at each other. As they all boarded, Egon leaned towards Jana.

‘Nela has been learning first aid. One of your tasks will be to assist her if necessary.'

She nodded. ‘But what about the boy? He's so young.'

‘Don't worry. He's just here to drive the horse and cart back home. Once we reach the outskirts of Prague, we will continue on foot.'

At noon, Jana, Egon, Nela and the three men mingled with the crowds in central Prague, lowering their eyes when they passed the soldiers on patrol. Egon slowed to a stroll and indicated a building across the street.

‘That's our target,' he said. Jana looked up at the plain, four-storey building. It was the headquarters of the Prague radio station.