High Noon

Ch15

I lay on the ground and instead of responding with my name I said, "High noon."

There was silence as I scrambled to my feet, squinting through the dark and trying to see who they were. 

I heard more movement and then a flame of a match came on and through the light of the flame I saw a man. His face looked rough like sandpaper and his eyes were small and brown, he had thin gray hair like a storm cloud and he was looking at me up and down.

"You're a girl?" He said his voice coming out rough and deep.

I frowned, not knowing what that had to do with anything.

"Yes, what of it?"

"Nothing, I thought we had given that message to Edvard, who I'm pretty sure isn't a girl." The man told me.

"Even though he may act like one sometimes." Another man said and a series of chuckles came afterwards.

I thought about what happened at the market and sighed.

"I think he's dead." 

"Dead," The man sighed sharply and then blew out the match.

I heard him walk over and light an oil lamp and the light illuminated the room and I saw all sorts of men and boys surrounding me.

"Death is always a prominent thing nowadays, whether it's on the battlefield or here, and as long as those damn Nazis are here it'll continue to be that way." The man said angrily and then he cleared his throat and turned to me. "You realize what that message means, don't you?"

I shook my head truthfully.

"No, all I know is that the boy, Edvard, told me to deliver it to a man named Doc Martin." 

"Well, you delivered correctly, though I have no idea how you found us." The man that I guessed to be Doc Martin said.

"I was actually looking for someone else, a friend of mine, Antoine," I told them.

"Antoine?" A boy said coming up to me.

He was tall and had a dark skin complexion and his eyes were filled with alertness, but also intrigued.

"Are you Sophie?"

I nodded my head in confirmation.

"Yes, where's Antoine?" I asked, knowing he knew.

He shrugged and shook his head.

"I can't tell you that information, but he figured you might come back here so he wanted to give you something."

The boy handed me a necklace and I saw it had a locket at the end. 

I opened it and a little note was in there.

I snapped it back shut wanting to read it when I was alone.

"He talked very highly of you." The boy told me.

I nodded.

"Do you know when he's coming back?"

Doc Martin shook his head and then said, "Don't know, could be months, weeks or years, depends how long it takes to get the job done."

I sighed and clutched the locket in my hands, thinking about when I'd see him again.

"Sophie, when you leave I need you to not tell anyone who we are, don't even talk to anyone about us, got it?" Doc Martin told me.

I nodded my head in understanding and then suddenly a feeling came over me, I wanted to do something about the war, no one had to know that I was a revolter and if I was caught they would know that my family wasn't involved.

"I want to help." I blurted out.

Martin looked at me up and down and then said, "Are you aware of what you are saying? Do you want to live in the shadows, constantly on edge and wondering when or if you'll get caught or killed?" 

I nodded my head shakily, knowing the risks that I would be taking.

He lit a cigarette then went onto the table pulled out a slip of paper, quickly wrote something down then handed it to me, folding it up.

"Read this when you get home, we'll discuss about it then."

I took the letter and nodded.

I made my way to the door and silently closed it shut, I took a shaky breath calming my nerves, and then walked away.

When I arrived home, no one was there and I sighed, grateful for the privacy.

I went upstairs and sat at the edge of my bed, I quickly unfolded the letter that Doc Martin gave me and it read:

Noon tomorrow.

Café coffee.

Don't be late.

I folded it back up and put it in my dresser along with the secret code letter, that I still didn't know what it meant.

Noon tomorrow, café coffee, don't be late, I repeated the letter in my mind committing it to memory so that I wouldn't forget.

I fiddled with the locket at the end of the chain around my neck and clicked it open. I pulled the folded-up piece of paper and unfolded it.

Sophie,
As you can probably tell I am no longer at my house anymore, I had to be relocated since my position there was getting too risky. If you are receiving this letter that must mean that you've met my friend Charles. Now I can't tell you where I am or what I am doing, but I'm writing this letter to tell you not to get wrapped up in the revolters because once you're in it could ruin your life. It's more than putting anti-Nazism pamphlets into people's mailboxes and under their doors, people die from doing the things we do, we kill people, and they kill people. It's better to live safely than to live the way we are living, constantly on the move, looking over our shoulders in fear that the Nazis will arrest us and kill us. Sophie, I'm telling you this for your safety please, whatever you do don't get involved. Think about your family, please.
-Antoine.

I sighed and folded back up the paper slipping it back in the locket. It was too late to warn me now, I was already involved. 

Antoine was trying to protect me even when he was only God knows where, but I don't want to be protected anymore. I want to do something about the Nazis being here, I don't want to be a bystander to all of this especially after what I had witnessed happen to Ruth and Edvard in the market. Most of all for my Papa, if this war doesn't end soon, who knows when or if he'll come home?