France: June 6th, 1944 (Midday)
An hour later they were both dressed and ready to go. Josie had hidden Joe's uniform and equipment in the same compartment she had hidden him in hours earlier before they left. Standing just outside her door, Josie looked him over with worried eyes as she searched for any sign that would give him away. Joe felt himself get nervous under her stare and started to pull on the cap on his head.
"Alright, wait a minute before following me out. Don't make eye contact or do anything to draw attention to you. Keep your head down and follow behind me but not too close. It shouldn't seem like your actually following me." She gave him instructions all the while praying in her head that everything would go alright.
"And what if I'm stopped?" Joe asked already knowing the answer.
"Pray like hell that you're not." Josie met his eyes making sure he understood the consequences of their little outing. "You still want to do this?" She asked just wanting to make sure.
"Lead the way." He told her as he held his hand out gesturing for her to go first.
They took an old side path rarely used in order to get through town. Joe stayed back while walking on the opposite side of the road from Josie. He kept his head down with his cap pulled down only stealing glances in Josie's direction when necessary. They had to cut through a section of town in order to get to the road that would take them to the farmhouse. It was the most direct route but it also meant more people and most likely a few Germans patrolling the area.
Sure enough as they got to the busy street two Germans were walking about surveying the area. Immediately, Josie recognized one soldier as Gus. On several occasions Christoph had used Gus to relay messages to her and he had always seemed like a nice enough man.
He was young and Josie always imagined that he should be laughing with his friends at school instead of being swept up in this war. But he was just doing his duty for his country like countless others on both sides. Gus was actually trying to learn French and asked Josie for help on several occasions. He had quite the crush on the beautiful blonde daughter of the local seamstress. It was pretty obvious to see given the fact that he seemed to "accidentally" tear his uniform on a weekly basis.
Exchanging smiles and quick pleasantries, Josie kept walking taking notice of the other German in the area. The older angry looking man seemed to be staring intently at each individual that walked by as if looking for a reason to cause problems. His eyes met hers and he narrowed them but as he started to move towards her Gus quickly stopped him. Whispering something in his ear, probably about her relationship with Christoph, the other man grunted in frustration before turning and leaving the area. Josie gave a quick nod to Gus and headed on her way noticing that Joe was sticking to the shadows as he waited to follow.
Josie turned the corner and waited for Joe to follow. He had his hands in his packets staring at the ground as he walked passed Gus. The German didn't seem to take notice of him and Joe pulled one hand free to wipe the sweat from his forehead. Josie could feel her heart beating almost painfully fast inside her chest. They both thought they were in the clear until they heard the heavily accented voice of Gus calling out to Joe.
"Monsieur!" He called out and Joe froze in his steps. He quickly composed himself as he turned to look at the German currently walking towards him. Josie stayed hidden behind the corner as she waited to see what happened next. She reached for the knife she had tucked away in the waistband of her skirt and began weighing her options. If she interfered she would give herself away and would have to run. That is to say if they even made it out of this moment because she was sure the other guard hadn't gone far. But if she did nothing Joe would be discovered and she wasn't sure if she could live with herself if she just walked away.
"Abandonné cette" The words were strained but they seemed to be music to Josie's ears as Gus held out a handkerchief to Joe. Luckily, Joe was quick to catch on and pretended to search his pockets before taking the small piece of fabric with a smile.
"Merci." He said to Gus and internally cringed at how American that one word sounded coming from his mouth. It didn't seem like the German noticed as he returned the smile and walked away. Joe tucked the handkerchief into his pocket and walked over to meet Josie.
"That was way too close. I think I stopped breathing for a minute there." She whispered to him feeling angry at herself for even trying to get him to the farmhouse in broad daylight.
"But I handled it." Joe smirked as if he wasn't fazed at all by the close call.
"With the one word of French that you know." She threw back at him.
"It worked didn't it?" Joe shrugged his shoulders.
"Come on, Soldier." She turned and walked down the road a bit before cutting through a hedgerow and leading them down the path towards the farmhouse.
As they approached the barn on the property, Josie could already feel the eyes on her. She knew the lookouts had spotted her as soon as she stepped into the field leading up to the building. She didn't have to worry and as long as Joe stayed close to her they would know he was safe to be there. She came to a stop outside the large wooden door and gave a quick knock knowing that they already knew it was her. The door quickly slid open and the two of them were ushered inside before the door slammed shut again behind them.
