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Please read the text after the actual chapter.

It means a lot to me.

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13th February 1942

It was night when Elizabeth crossed the border between France and Germany in a forest.

Liz wasn't wearing Bert's uniform, but pants, a shirt, and a coat. She did not want to cause a stir and was not her intention to be shot. In the past few days she had spoken German in her thoughts more often so that she could get back into the flow of speech.
Fortunately, her English accent was barely recognisable; a gift for which she was more than grateful in times like these.

Nevertheless, she decided to cross the border at night. Simply because she didn't trust the whole situation. Anyone would find out she was an Englishwoman. She might be mistaken for a spy and executed. (Yes, she had the tendency to exaggerate.)

But still: her feeling told her that she had to save two people.

With slow steps she crept through the undergrowth as she caught a glimpse of a house. She ducked and examined it: it appeared to be a small farm. A light was on in a room.

But then another thing got her attention: breathing noises.
So she was not alone!
It wasn't an animal, she would have noticed that because of her newly acquired abilities. No, it was a human!

Her eyes widened and her pulse started racing and she tried to breathe too little and as slowly as possible. There were two options: sit and wait or run across the field just a few yards in front of her.

The other person also seemed to have become rigid. The only question was whether this person saw them self as hunted or a hunter.

A branch crashed over Elizabeth and she looked up. Her heart skipped when she saw a silhouette.
She fell back and started to panic when the person said "Shhh".

Liz held still for a moment, but what if its was a trap? She got up resolutely and ran back into the undergrowth.
A muffled sound signalled that the other person had jumped off the tree and the steps that she were being followed.

It was only a few seconds before she was caught up and thrown to the ground. The stranger put his hand on her mouth and said to her in german: "Would you please keep quiet for a while for the benefit of both of us !? Unless you want to get in trouble."
The voice belonged to a man, a young man. Elizabeth guessed he was in his early twenties.

The young man got up and looked around carefully and listened.
"They are gone... You can get up, madame."

Elizabeth looked at him incredulously. The light beam of the waning moon fell right on his face. Still, Liz couldn't really see him. She got up and brushed the dirt off her clothes. "Why did you do this?"

"Would you like to be caught by the Nazi pigs, young lady!?"

Liz raised an eyebrow. To be honest, this was not what she expected to hear first in Germany.
"I beg your pardon?"

The stranger laughed dryly: "You don't think I don't know that you have something to hide... Otherwise you wouldn't cross the French border in the middle of the night", he held out his hand, "I am Hans by the way."

Liz looked skeptically at his hand. Should she really shake it?
'You can still burn his fingers', she thought and took his hand. In fact, he just shook it.

"Elizabeth", she was anxious to pronounce her name as German as possible.

"Would you like to come into the house with me? It's warmer than out here." Liz just nodded. "Alright, come on."

Slowly and quietly, they went back to the house Liz had just seen.
Despite the kindness that Hans showed, she was skeptical. Very skeptical. And to be honest: she felt bad because of her way of thinking.

It wasn't long before they stood at the door of the house and entered.

"You can come, Martha."

When Elizabeth entered, she saw a little girl, about 10 years old, showed up from behind a closet.

"This is Elizabeth, she will be staying here today," he turned to the Englishwoman, "Elizabeth, this is my little sister, Martha."

The little girl came up to her and held out her hand to Liz: "Hello Martha."

'If he was up to something, he would certainly not lure a little girl out of hiding.'

"Does anyone else live here?" Elizabeth asked.

Hans' face darkened:" No... Our mother was killed by the Nazis and our father died on the front line. "

Elizabeth had to swallow. Died on the front line. Every day, she was afraid that Bert would suffer this fate too. But she was pulled out of her thoughts when a young but crystal clear voice came.

"I'm going to bed, Hans. Good night", the girl turned to Liz, "and good night, Elizabeth."

"Good night," the other two said at the same time, and Martha went upstairs.

Hans went to a box and took out some blankets and a pillow: "I can offer you to stay in the barn if you want to. You would only have to share this with Basil. "

"Basil?" Elizabeth was surprised to hear an English pronounced name.

"Our stallion... a beautiful English thoroughbred."

"Yes… No problem. I'm glad that I have a roof over my head this night." She laughed dryly, wanted to loosen herself.

"Follow me."

The two went through the back entrance to the barn. On the way there, Hans took a bottle of water and an oil lamp and gave Liz the items.

Without a word, so as not to cause a stir, the young man showed Liz the place to stay.
There was silence until Liz gathered her courage and asked a question: "Why are you doing this? I mean... why are you so hospitable to me? "

"At times like this we have to stick together... otherwise this war will never end."

With a scowl and a short "good night" he left the shed and left Elizabeth alone.

Not all alone, because the snort of a horse sounded in the immediate vicinity. Liz took the lamp and went to the source: in front of her was a beautiful chestnut red horse with a white blaze.

"So you're Basil," she said in English, "I guess we're the only British people here, eh?"

"Of course, what do you think...", the horse snorted in English, "I would like to have my privacy now. See I'm not a fan of being disturbed in the middle of the night."

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at the sarcasm: "Sorry... It wasn't my intention to disturb you."

The horse took a few steps back in amazement: "You understood me!?"

Basil's eyes were about as wide as Liz's when she first spoke to the bird.

"Yes…"

Basil came up to her and sniffed at her: "So you're one of the magical kind."

Elizabeth just nodded. "Interesting... good night."

With that, Basil went back to where he was and Elizabeth laid the blankets on the floor and curled up.
Tomorrow she had to get out early because she still had a long way to go.

But she couldn't fall asleep right away because her thoughts were circling.

What if it was actually a trap? But on the other hand… On the other hand, her feeling told her that she had nothing to fear with these two.

And her feeling was always right.

After more than a month I finally managed to write a chapter again.
I want to say a few more things and I hope someone reads it.

It was originally planned that Elizabeth's role in this story would be less significant than before. But that's changing now. Don't worry, the focus is still on Mary Poppins and Bert. But Liz will get a bigger role than I had planned and for a good reason:

In this story Elizabeth more or less shows the power of the individual. She has a goal in mind and wants to make the world a better place. She doesn't want war, hate, suffering.
And she does everything in her power to do this by helping where she can. And that's what we need in times like this!

The world has changed; there is a pandemic. A lot has changed and in a very short time. We all have to get involved now and try to contain the virus as much as possible.

Stay at home if possible! And if you work in a systemically relevant profession: please take care of yourself!

Maybe you know, but maybe not: I used to be a medic, but had to change my job after an accident. But I'm healthy again and I will soon take up this job alongside my apprenticeship on a voluntary basis.

If I can, I will write and publish a chapter. But if nothing will be uploaded in the near future, it will be because I have other things to do.

Take care and stay healthy 3