THE JOURNEY 

By Tessa Harvey

    John-Paul looked tired and a little defeated. He sighed heavily and speaking in a normal quiet voice with a French accent explained the tandem did not belong solely to himself. He needed to hide it safely and, slightly embarrassed asked her not to watch.
    Alice turned away. She was no heroine and what she knew could easily be forced from her, perhaps emperilling other lives. He returned after a while.
    A young maid in the colonel's household, Lotte, had slipped her some food in a paper bag just before Alice left the house.
    Now she shared the nourishing cheese and egg sandwiches with her companion. He produced a bottle of water.
    He had been unable to hide from the German colonel, but the man barely noticed him, driving fast and somewhat erratically.
    Alice explained how the officer had helped her, but then had felt a sudden urgency for his own family.
    "He is in trouble, right enough," added John-Paul. "Spies have reported him as not being fully committed to Hitler."

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