31st May 1943

Peter was awakened by the probably most beautiful whistle he had ever heard.
He went outside to look for the source of this wonderful sound. A crooked smile crept onto his lips when he saw Elizabeth sitting on a tree trunk. She reached out and a little robin landed on her left index finger.
Elizabeth whistled and the little bird answered her. After a brief conversation, the bird seemed to nod and flew away. Her gaze followed her feathered friend and the rays of the rising morning sun surrounded her profile in a golden light.
That and the fact that she seemed so content and completely at peace with herself made her seem unreachable - almost as if she were out of this world.
But this moment did not last long, because when she lowered her head clouds moved in front of the sun and Peter recognised the dark and deep circles and the sad veil over her eyes.

He didn't want to see her like that. So he went up to her and greeted her with a friendly "Good morning."

"G'mornin'" she replied with a smile and wanted to get up. Peter held out his hand and pulled her up. "Thanks."

"May I take you to breakfast? I know there isn't much here, but yesterday we got fresh honey and strawberry jam from a farmer. "

"Yea' why not?"

Elizabeth liked the hospitality she received here. It was very different from Matthew and Michael. The people here were also very upset and damaged, but somehow also friendly. Peter and Johnny alone increased the comfort - and so did Bert.
But the good feeling shouldn't last long.

"I've already heard that we have a troublemaker here," said a disgusted voice that belonged to a stocky, tall, blond man who was just biting into an apple.

That 'as to be Andrew, Liz thought and wrinkled her nose slightly.

"Who-" he paused when he saw Elizabeth. A disgusting grin spread across his face. "Oh... you are Alfred's little one, aren't you?", He walked around her, "you look even better in real life than in the photo."

"Get away, Andrew!" Peter didn't seem to be impressed either and stood protectively in front of Elizabeth - but Elizabeth didn't liked that at all.

"I am still Sergeant Stone to you, Lance Corporal! You have nothing to say to me!"
He bit his apple aggressively.

"'ey!", Liz stepped out from behind Peter, "'ow about if everyone does what they wanted t' do? We're going t' 'ave breakfast and ya just go back t' the shithole you came from."

She had already heard from Bert and Peter that Andrew was anything but nice, but she would never have thought that he was so obnoxious. She didn't like him from the first second.

"Elizabeth," hissed Peter, but she ignored it and walked past him.

Andrew stopped chewing - had he just heard right? His head turned red and he dug his nails into his apple. "You think you're very special, don't you? Arrive here and pretend to be the boss right away. Do you always act like that? "

"No", she pretended to think "only with-"

"Liz, leave it!"

"You better listen to Pegg..." Andrew's voice was calm, but also somehow threatening. His face cold as ice.

Peter was torn: should he stay here in case it escalated or should he get Bert to take care of it? Liz would surely listen to him rather than him.
But the conflict was not necessary, as Bert came out from between the tents only a few seconds later with an energetic "What's goin' on 'ere!?".

"Your daugther or whatever she is, is pretty disrespectful."

Elizabeth stepped next to Bert and said loudly to him: "Don't worry, I only act like that when idiots are around."

That was too much! Andrew dropped the apple, grabbed Elizabeth by the collar and pushed her roughly against a nearby tree before drawing his rifle and aiming at her.
Immediately Bert and Peter rushed towards her and stood protectively in front of her. Her eyes widened briefly in shock, but were quickly covered by a dark shadow.

"Get out of the way," Andrew and Elizabeth said at the same time; the latter pushed them aside.

"You can't just shoot 'er!" Bert shouted angrily.

Without them noticing, more and more soldiers came and watched the scene. None of the participants registered this, they were too fixated on themselves for that.

"Oh really!? We don't need someone like that! - "Andrew paused. He had an idea! Slowly he lowered the rifle and began to grin, revealing his yellowish teeth.

"Well... how about a deal," he walked around Bert, "or let's call it... a game." Bert said nothing and wordlessly made it clear to him that he was listening.

Andrew picked up the apple again and tossed it in the air a few times and caught it again before pointing to a soldier standing next to a thick rope: "Reed! Tie the brat to the tree."

"What!?", Bert asked, "what kind of game is that."

The soldier did as he was told and Liz tried to defend herself, but Andrew aimed at her again: "Don't move, doll. Or you won't have a choice. "

Liz paused but glared at him. When she was tied against the tree, Andrew came up to her, roughly took her face in one hand and placed the apple on her head with the other.
"What are you up to!?" Liz asked, trying to move as little as possible. Later it was said that she would be shot as soon as she drops the apple.

But Andrew didn't answer her, went directly to Bert and pressed his rifle to his chest: "You've got three shots in here. Three attempts. If you hit the apple, she can stay. If you miss, she has to go or", he breathed into Bert's ear, "or the problem will take care of itself and you just have to clean."

Elizabeth's eyes widened in shock and she started to panic.

"What if I refuse?" Bert asked coldly.

"Then I'll shoot. And I'm not going to make any effort to hit the apple... You know where I always hit", he took a few steps to Elizabeth and brutally pressed his forefinger into the pit of her stomach. It hurt incredibly and she writhed so the apple almost fell off her head - But Andrew held it: "That would be quite painful and also excruciating. Oh and... there won't be any farewell talks either. "

Bert didn't know what to do. He knew that Andrew would have no problem pulling the trigger and he also knew that he was not a bad shooter himself.
But he was now forced to shoot his foster daughter and as he knew Andrew, he had to go back a few more meters.

"Just do it," said Liz. She trusted Bert more than anyone else here and she didn't want Andrew to aim at her. But then something occurred to her: When the shot was fired, there was an ignition, a small fire. And the bullet would fly through the air. She could manipulate both fire and air! Andrew knew nothing of her magical powers, which is why one could think that Bert just shot well - if she manages to deflect the bullet.
The young woman had to be careful not to start smiling and hoped that her eyes didn't sparkle with excitement.

Bert agreed with a hoarse "okay" and was taken by Andrew to his point, which was several meters away from Liz. Bert picked up the rifle and aimed while Andrew stood beside him with a nasty grin. His hands were shaking like never before and he felt incredibly bad. It wasn't just anyone he was aiming at - no, it was his foster daughter and one of the most important people in his life. He would do anything to save her. And now? Now he pointed a rifle at her and was possibly the reason for her death. But Bert also knew very well that there was no way out. He had to do it. He was a gifted marksman and had to make use of it now.

"I'm sorry, Lizzy."

Then he pulled the trigger.

Elizabeth closed her eyes at his words and concentrated fully on her magic. Not even a second later she felt the apple fall from her head. At that moment she didn't know anything. Has the apple been hit? Has she been hit? Would the pain come later? Would she even feel pain? Was she dead?
Liz opened one eye and then the other and saw Bert and Peter's relieved faces. She was alive!
The next thing she felt was the rope loosening around her, but she stopped. She had to process all of this first.

"Well... she can stay..." Andrew grumbled, took his rifle and walked away.

When he was gone, Elizabeth let herself fall against the tree and slid down. Her legs were very shaky and it felt good to sit.
Bert came up to her and looked at the bullet hole in the tree: it was full of splinters and you could see the remains of the apple. He considered briefly what to say. Should he yell at her and ask what that was about? Should he hug her? Ultimately, he decided to apologise - everything else could be discussed later.

"Lizzy, I... I'm sorry..."

"It's okay," she bent her legs and put her arms around her knees, "you 'ad no other choice... I'm sorry that I put ya in such a situation..."

Bert sat down next to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

Silence.

Neither of them knew what to say, so they just sat there.

London on the same day

In the late afternoon, Mary Poppins was sitting on the windowsill and she was looking outside. Her thoughts revolved around various things, but she kept thinking of Elizabeth. She hadn't heard from the young woman in a long time and she was slowly started to worried about her. Well… more than usual.
A little robin landed on the nearest branch, but the nanny didn't really notice.

"This is a message from Liz," it chirped and now had Mary's full attention.

"'ello Mary, I 'ope that this message finds ya well. I just wanted t' tell ya that I'm fine… Well given t' the circumstances of course. I left Michael and Matthew some time ago and was just passin' through. Or rather... I followed my feeling. Last night I reached my presumed goal and ya will never believe me who I met: Bert!
I'm with 'im and his division now. I also met Peter and Johnny. They were actually the ones who found me and brought me t' him.
Please don't worry about me Mary. I think that I'm safer now than before...", the bird looked at her with cocked head, "that was roughly what she said. I apologise very much in in case that I could not reproduce everything exactly. "

"It's okay, thank you!" Mary replied gently.

"Do you want me to message her?"

"No, I'll write a letter... relax a little."

With a nod the bird flew away and Mary had to process the news: Liz was now with Bert. She didn't know whether to be happy or to worry more.
On the one hand, both were right on the front line and could fall any day.
On the other hand, they would probably be more careful now and, above all, take care of each other.

Mary looked at her hands: they were trembling.
They trembled because, despite everything, the news scared her.
She was trembling because she worried about Elizabeth and Bert.
She was trembling because she felt that bad news was about to reach her.

After MONTHS I was finally able to write the next chapter.

But let me explain why I needed so long to update this story.

First: I finished my apprenticeship and therefore I had a couple of exams I had to study for. After that I immediately started to work and I mainly had the late shifts and many weekend shifts.

Then I had some private problems (no details here).

And I'm finally moving out and I bought a new car and I had to work on my flat and the car.

Soooo… I hope you understand