Chapter 17
If it wasn't for the situation we were in, I would've stopped and admired the view. The sun was a like a fiery, blazing eye in the white sky, stretching from horizon to horizon like a blanket. My feet ached so badly, as we had been walking most of the night, but I was also glad to see some light.
When the sun was beginning to show its golden rays a few hours earlier, it began to rain. Lightly at first, pitter pattering onto the grass and rocks around us, creating silver puddles on the smooth surface and a marshy, slippery terrain on the grass. They hadn't even let us stop and shelter somewhere, and instead pushed us forward, whilst they themselves used their bags as a sort of shelter.
The rain had completely drenched my clothes, my hair, my body… anything exposed really. It had completely drained the white from our gowns, and I felt extremely exposed without a jacket or anything covering my body. In fact, I noticed, that my skin was now very pale. I had been the only one without a jacket or anything, whilst both Artur and Liesl wore there's, whether it made a difference or not.
My fingers were slowly growing numb, as well as my toes. Bitter cold slapped at my face, my cheeks glowing red. My hair felt uncomfortable against my scalp, the ice in my throat spiked out, seemingly piercing my delicate skin.
"We need to stop. Can you not see Brigitta? Surely you have a heart not to let her wander about in those clothes that do not do any thing against this weather. She'll turn into a living icicle!" Liesl growled suddenly, and I looked back at her.
"Fine. If it stops your whining, then Rolf will give your sister his spare coat," the black-haired boy hissed spitefully, the we halted.
The blonde-haired boy, who was holding no one, and instead making sure we didn't try to escape, dropped his bag on the ground and rummaged through it. He pulled out a large, sage green coat, then threw it over to the boy holding me in place. He shoved it into my arms, and I gratefully put it on. In fact, it was so big, half of it practically dragged through the ferns.
It warmed me up a little bit, but I still felt myself shivering. Uncontrollably too. It wasn't at all unusual, as I'm not stupid enough not to know that being cold makes you shiver. Pretty sure most kids my age and below know that by now…
They led us to a flat, surfaced, stone floored area, and we sat down, eyeing the opposite party and vice versa. They had guns, we did not. They had good shoes, we did not. They had supplies, we did not. There was no way of getting out of their clutches, and even if we did, how long would we survive out there. Not long, that's for sure…
"Are you alright?" Artur asked, and I turned to face him.
"Yes. Why do you ask?" I replied.
"Your skin is really pale, and you're still shivering," he pointed out, and I looked down at my hand, which was resting in Liesl's own. Yes, it was certainly still a different shade from her palm.
"It's only because I was cold. I'm fine now, I just need a bit of time, that's all. If anything was wrong, I'd tell you both," I reassured them. They, however, still looked uneasy.
"Do you not trust me?" I asked, pouting a bit.
"No. No, it's not that…" Liesl replied softly, her eyes darting to the blonde boy, then back down at me.
I looked over, and realised he was still staring at us, whilst the others were sitting in a circle sort of shape, eating some food. His eyes, at first, showed sympathy and guilt, until he blinked a couple of times, and the hardness was back. He was quite obviously fighting himself. He loved Liesl still, but he also wanted to remain loyal to the Hitler Youth and the Nazis… I've done that… It was either keep everyone up and find my book, or leave it in the grass, my only form of sanity… gone…