Chapter 50

50

The next day, the two girls were back on the streets with thousands of people surging through the town, ripping down German flags and signs, storming German-held buildings. Jana witnessed some brutal fighting and several times stopped to aid the wounded citizens. With the lack of police support and the barricades erected the previous day, the Wehrmacht were struggling to keep control. Parts of the city were taken by the Czechs. Euphoria combined with the pent-up emotion of six years of occupation was a powerful force. Jana felt no fear. She felt driven.

Until the planes came.

Motors thrumming. A sinister sight over the beautiful city.

Jana craned her neck in horror. Surely they wouldn't bomb Prague? The city had been spared bomb attacks under the occupation. Till now.

‘Take cover!' a voice yelled.

‘The Luftwaffe are coming,' another shouted.

The mass of people moved, taking on a life of its own. Jana was carried along, the panicked faces becoming a blur around her. Above, the engines roared. She glanced up at the underbelly of a plane directly overhead. In that moment, she knew. Instinctively, she ducked her head, her pulse thundering in her ears.

The bomb pounded the ground with a deep boom. The explosion threw her from her feet, her bones shuddering from the vibrations. As she was propelled through the air, images swirled in front of her face: an elbow, a hat, a small hand. Something thudded into her back with a force that took her breath. Her eyes closed and the world spun. It was as if she was underwater; the only sound her heartbeat, loud and fast, resounding through her. Opening her eyes, she saw it was snowing. That's strange in May. But the snow pricked her face and her mind jolted; the snow was a torrent of shattered glass falling from the sky. She tried to fling both her arms across her face but they were pinned to her side. She turned her head to see she was jammed between people. Then sound rushed in and she heard the groans as bodies shuffled to free themselves. Moments later, another explosion rocked the city. It came from the direction of the radio station.

Again, Jana stood in the cloakroom of the restaurant, washing away blood and grime, this time from her face. Most of the cuts were slight except one deep gash across her cheek. She examined herself in the mirror, satisfied there were no glass fragments in the wound. It had taken an age to extricate herself from the crowd, most of whom lay heaped along the pavement. Luckily, most people's injuries were superficial, and after helping where she could, she'd found Nela and returned to the restaurant cellar. Their main worry was the second bomb. It seemed likely that the Luftwaffe had targeted the broadcasting building that Egon and his men had taken siege of.

There was chaos on the streets and the girls had decided it was best to wait at the restaurant in the hope Egon would return there. Jana drank several glasses of water and it occurred to her that they were lucky that the water pipes had not been damaged. She began pulling out every pot she could find and filled each one with water; best to be prepared.

Nela's urgent cry brought her running from the kitchen.

Struggling down the cellar steps with a man leaning on his shoulder was Egon, followed by others, limping or clutching themselves, their clothes stained with blood.

‘The radio station is out of action,' said Egon, panting as he lowered the man to the floor. ‘The bomb wasn't a direct hit, but the tower is damaged.'

Nela, switching to a nursing role, asked who was injured and where. Jana fetched water and began tending to a man she didn't know who had a leg injury. He explained he was from a different resistance group and had met Egon at the radio station.

‘There's more of us following,' he said, flinching as she ripped the leg of his trousers apart.

Minutes later, more men appeared, helping those who were wounded. One man being supported was buckled over, grasping his stomach. He straightened and lifted his head. His hair was covered in debris, his angular face smeared with blood and ash. He groaned, pressing his hands against his wound. Blood oozed from between his fingers, turning his shirt crimson. The heavy-set man supporting him lowered him to floor before leaving to help another injured fighter.

Jana's head swam. She swayed, her legs weak. It couldn't be possible; her exhausted mind was playing tricks on her. She stumbled a few steps forward before her knees gave way and she collapsed beside the injured man. His dark eyes widened.

Her mouth dry and her throat tight, her voice was a rasp.

‘Andrej,' she said.

He gave a weak smile. ‘My darling, Jana.'

‘You are alive.' Her heart lurched and tears sprung from her eyes. ‘Where have you been?'

‘It's a long story…' Moaning, he hunched over.

Jana's head cleared and as she wiped her tears, adrenaline kicked in. ‘Have you been shot?' she asked. Her fingers shook as she undid the buttons of his blood-soaked shirt.

‘No. I was hit by debris when the bomb exploded. Our group were defending the radio station. That's where I met Egon.' He spoke between breaths, flinching as Jana peeled back his shirt. She held back a gasp as she saw the gaping wound in his side; she needed to staunch the flow. Nela was already ripping a sheet into strips and handed her a length before turning to her own patient. Jana bunched up the fabric and pressed firmly against the wound.

‘Are you trying to kill me?' he groaned.

‘I already thought you were dead. After I saw you in the hands of the Gestapo, and then you vanished. What else should I think?' She couldn't keep the accusatory tone from her voice.

‘The Gestapo were only making initial enquiries; they had nothing concrete, so they let me go. But I knew they had the scent that I was up to something and would keep digging. I moved my mother out of her apartment and she went to live with her sister in the countryside. It was the right time for me to flee Prague and join the resistance gathering in the mountains.' He touched her hand that was pressed against his side. ‘I'm sorry if you were concerned. '

‘I was a bit more than concerned,' she snapped. Then, gentler, she said, ‘You could have told me.'

‘Oh, Jana, how? I thought about you constantly but didn't want to put you at risk by making contact. With the Gestapo watching, I couldn't waltz into your bookshop and implicate you.'

‘They came anyway.' She heaved a sigh. ‘They have Papa. And probably my grandmother too.'

‘Tell me what happened.' He squeezed her hand, his expression so full of sorrow that she fought back a new onslaught of tears.

‘First, I'm going to tend to your injury. Keep pressing. I'm going to speak to Nela, a first-aid helper.'

Nela was tending to two wounded men, moving between them. Jana knelt down to her.

‘My patient will need stitches,' she said.

Nela nodded to the first-aid box beside her. ‘Needles and thread are there.'

‘But you need to do it,' she said, alarmed. ‘I have no nursing experience.'

‘I have my hands full here. Can you sew?'

She thought of the puppet clothes she had carefully stitched. ‘Yes, but not skin.'

‘Then today is the day,' said Nela, deftly wrapping a bandage around her patient's arm. Jana swallowed and reached into the first-aid box.

She took a bowl of water, disinfectant and the sewing materials to where Andrej sat propped against the wall.

He smiled at her wryly. ‘Can you stitch a wound?'

‘We shall see,' she said, a tease in her voice.

Tenderness flushed through her as she dabbed away the blood, her fingertips grazing his lean, muscled torso. He clenched his jaw as she applied the disinfectant and cleaned the wound, then watched her thread the needle. Aware that his eyes were on her, her fingers jittered and it took several attempts before she succeeded.

Their eyes met as she poised, ready with the needle.

‘It will be fine,' he said softly. His face was full of love and her heart quivered.

Holding the wound firmly closed, she began to sew. The first stitch was the worst but then she focused on the task, ignoring Andrej's moans. She knotted and cut the thread and applied a dressing. Then sitting back on her haunches, she admired her handiwork before going to the kitchen to wash her hands.

It took a while before she had time to return to Andrej – the other injured needed care – but finally, the patients had been made as comfortable as possible and she settled down next to him. His face was white against his black hair, and several days' hair growth covered his chin.

‘How are you feeling?' she asked.

‘It's just a flesh wound; I'm fine. Now tell me what happened to your father and grandmother.'

She told him how she'd arrived at Babi's to find the children packed and ready to leave.

‘I've been wondering how the authorities found out.' She didn't add her suspicions about Pavel: that maybe he'd betrayed her out of revenge or financial gain, or even possibly Dasha, but continued to tell her story. When she finished, Andrej stroked her face and traced his fingers down her neck to the top of her blouse.

‘Where is your locket?' His fingers lay on the base of her throat.

‘A German stole it from me. A soldier named Brandt.'

Anger flashed across Andrej's face. ‘I'm sorry that happened. '

They were quiet for a few moments and Jana, sitting on the floor beside him, took his hand.

‘They have Papa and Babi; I'm terrified that…' Her voice trailed off.

‘Don't give up hope. This will be over soon, and they will be freed.'

‘How can you be sure?' She so wanted to believe his words even after the bombing that day. ‘But we can no longer broadcast now that the radio station is out of action.'

‘There is an alternative site planned. The resistance will have retreated there. I must join them.' He struggled to rise, but groaning, slumped back down.

‘No, you're not well enough,' she said, alarmed at the idea of losing him again so soon.

‘Listen, Jana. We haven't long before all German troops congregate on Prague and burst through the barricades. We're one of the last cities to be liberated and it looks like the Nazis want to use our city like a fortress: a place for a one last stand against the allies.'

‘We can't let that happen,' she said.

Jana could not bear to think what the Nazis would do to the civilians in such a scenario; what revenge they would wreak before the final battle.

‘Rest just a short while,' she said, desperate to keep him close a few moments more.

He sighed and leaned his head on her shoulder. She put her hands into his thick hair, pulling out pieces of debris, and stroked his head with soothing fingers. The moment was so precious, one of the few they had spent together. An urgency gripped her, as if time was running out; she wanted to know about the man she had forced herself to reject, but that her heart never had. A question burned to be answered .

‘You said once that long ago there had been someone special in your life. What happened?'

He was silent for a few moments as she continued to stroke his head.

‘It was seven years ago. I married young. We were in love,' he said.

Her heart jolted. ‘You were married?'

‘Briefly. We were expecting a child.'

Her breath caught; she had thought of Andrej as a loner.

There was a long pause before he spoke again. ‘She fell from a horse. She died from her injuries a few days later.'

Jana was lost for words for a few moments.

‘I'm so sorry, Andrej. And the baby?'

She felt him shake his head on her shoulder.

Her heart squeezed and she heaved a shuddering breath. Then her whole body went soft as she released all resistance and whispered, ‘I love you. I've tried not to, I don't deserve to, but I can't deny it any longer. I love you, my darling.'

He lifted his head from her shoulder, his eyes wet and shining. ‘My heart was in shreds while we were apart.' A tear ran down his cheek as he brought his face to hers.

Their lips met, soft and tender. The kiss was brief but it reached into the core of her soul. If only she could hold this moment, stop the clock, stop him going into battle, maybe leaving her for the last time. If only…

‘Sorry if I'm interrupting but I have two important announcements.' Egon stood over them, smiling and holding a tin of something in his hand. ‘I've come into possession of a treasure: several cans of beans. And the other announcement is that Hitler is dead. Unconfirmed, unfortunately.'

Jana's breath caught in her throat. Finally. Could it be true ?

‘Then surely the war must be over,' said Jana, hope rising in her chest. ‘We don't have to fight any more.'

Andrej could stay with her, safe, and they?—

‘The soldiers will keep fighting till the Germans officially give the order to lay down their arms,' said Egon. ‘Meanwhile, the battle continues in the streets. I'm going to join our fighters at Masaryk train station.'

‘I'm coming with you,' said Andrej, fumbling to do up the buttons on his bloodstained shirt.

With a sinking heart, Jana helped Andrej to his feet, insisting he eat a couple of mouthfuls of beans before he set off.

When it was time to say goodbye, he held her face in his hands. ‘I want you to know that I too have been consumed with guilt over the loss of lives in the German reprisals. But despite that, in my heart, I still believe we must never stop fighting for freedom. Whatever the price.'

‘Come back to me, Andrej. Please.'

‘I love you,' he said with a sad smile and limped up the cellar stairs behind Egon.