The Darkest Hour

by Roberta Kagan

  “I sure hope so.”

  “I know you are having a hard time sleeping. Why don’t you sleep with me? I could use a cuddle.” Ellie pulled me towards her and said something that I couldn’t hear, but I’m sure it was a prayer to her God.

  We went back inside the cave and lay down on the makeshift bed. Having Ellie’s arms around me made me feel safe. The foreboding feelings that made my heart ache were still running through my mind, but I eventually felt myself slowly falling asleep.

  It was time. I dressed in black, tied my hair back, and covered my head with a black knit cap Mama had made for me. I checked and rechecked my crossbow and counted the arrows. I had made quite a few and stuck them in my quiver. I practiced taking one out followed by another and counted my time.

  Ellie put her hand on my shoulder, and I looked up. Without a word, she dipped her fingers into a cup and brought the grease to my face. She reached into her pocket and took out a handgun. “Just in case you run out of arrows.”

  I merely nodded.

  “I have one thing to say to you.” Ellie put her hand on my shoulder. “Your job is to take out the driver and the soldier in the passenger side, and then keep firing until you can get on board and release the prisoners. Your only job after that is to take them away from the battle, and to keep running back here. Do you understand me?”

  “Yes.”

  “You and Stavros must not stop for anything. We will take care of the soldiers. You run like the devil is after you with the children…”

  “They are transporting children?”

  “Adults and children. You and Stavros will take the children.”

  “I will run like the hounds of hell are after me.”

  Ellie nodded and went down on her haunches to draw in the dirt a Spartan shield with the lambda in the middle. I used to insist that the lambda stood for Lambros rather than Laconia. Ellie looked at me and smiled. “You’re a warrior now, Zoe.”

  She kissed my cheek before she walked away. This was it. The time had come for me to prove worthy of being in the Resistance. There was no going back. No surrender. Victory or death at Thermopylae.

  Chapter 15

  I heard the trucks coming, and I flattened myself on the ground. In my head, I was singing our national anthem, The Hymn to Freedom, as I spotted the first truck heading my way. My goal was to fire my arrow through the windshield and hit the driver, and if I was quick enough, shoot the second arrow and hit the soldier in the passenger seat.

  The closer it got, the more patient I needed to be. I had to fire at the right time. Shoot and kill the driver through the windshield and the soldier in the passenger side. I waited as it approached and realized the driver had his door window down. I decided that it was easier to shoot through the open window. I stood up, fired my first arrow, and struck him in the neck. The truck veered dangerously close to the edge of the road and was about to slide off and into the gorge when the soldier in the passenger’s seat took hold of the steering wheel. I got a good look at him, fired the second arrow, and struck him in the head. The truck hit a tree and stopped dead.

  The element of surprise was now gone when the second truck came round the bend. I heard gunshots, and the front tire of the vehicle blew out followed by more shots. The truck careened towards me, and I narrowly escaped it running over me. I rolled away and came up firing at the two soldiers who came out.

  I hit one of the soldiers in the shoulder and down he went, but my fourth arrow got stuck in my quiver. I pulled on it desperately as the soldier approached with his gun drawn. He raised his weapon and was about to shoot me when a gunshot sounded. It hit its target. I turned to find Ellie right beside me. She didn’t look like my cousin. There was this wild look in her eyes that I had never seen before. Her usually calm, sweet face had hardened to an angry snarl. An avenging angel. That’s what she was – an avenging angel that had just saved my life again.

  “Go! Go! Go!” Ellie yelled at me as she ran to the other side of the mountain. There was another convoy of two trucks that would soon be coming around the bend. I climbed the vehicle, and just as I was going to open the back, someone from inside started shooting. There wasn’t supposed to be any soldiers with the prisoners. Damnation! I narrowly escaped the bullets by flinging myself to the side. I decided to slide under the truck and wait for whoever was firing to get out to come in search of me.

  I was right. Moments later, I saw two sets of uniformed legs as they jumped out of the back. I knew if I was in the right position, I could take them out. I would be shooting upside down when I slid out from under the truck. I had two arrows – one loaded and one ready to charge. I had to be quick or else it was over. I had once seen my brother shoot upside down, and I was about to do it for the first time, and the last time if things went wrong. I didn’t know where Stavros had disappeared to, but for the moment, those soldiers were my problem. The night air was punctured with so much noise – screams from inside the truck, Germans yelling, guns firing all around me. I needed to focus on the job I needed to do.

  On the count of three, I rolled out from under the truck. “Hey!” I shouted, which got their attention. They weren’t quick enough to raise their guns because I fired my crossbow and hit one soldier in the chest. Before the second soldier could react, I loaded the second arrow and fired. I hit him in the leg.

  I cursed myself for not killing him with a clean shot. I had lost the gun that Ellie had given me when I rolled under the truck. The dead soldier’s weapon lay meters from the still standing soldier. He was trying to hold himself upright, and I watched in disbelief when he pulled my arrow from out of his thigh. Blood gushed out, but he didn’t care and seemed determined to come after me. I picked up the dead soldier’s gun. It was a matter of who was going to fire first because he reached for his gun. His hands were covered in blood, and the look in his eyes was a mixture of terror and hate. It was an unfamiliar gun and felt heavy in my hand, but I fired.

  No surrender. No mercy.

  Just after I shot the German, Stavros came rushing over. He had blood on his face and on his shirt. He looked at the two dead soldiers, gave me a pat on the head, and we boarded the truck.

  To my amazement, there were twenty terrified children in the back. “Get out of the truck!”

  “I want my mama.” That almost broke me because I wanted my mama as well, but neither of us was going to get what we wanted.

  “I’ll take you all to your mothers; come on, let’s go!” I lied. Sometimes you have to lie, and this was one of those times.

  Just as we got out, Stavros threw a hand grenade into the truck, and it exploded. We herded the children through the thick brush and away from the fighting. We told them to run because we needed to get away from the Germans. They ran. Stavros was in the front, and I was in the back herding twenty children. I almost stopped when I heard an explosion from where we had been, but I remembered Ellie telling me to run like the devil was after me.

  “Stavros! Are you all right?” I yelled at him.

  He didn’t answer, but we kept on running and headed for the caves. We reached them as more explosions sounded. Stavros took the children further into the caves, and I loaded my crossbow and sat at the mouth of the cave opening.

  I took a deep breath and noticed my hands were shaking. I tried to stand but my knees trembled, so I decided sitting was the better choice. I sat back against the cave wall, and I took in great gulps of air. I don’t know what was going on, but I was ready to pass out. I heard voices approaching. I dragged my crossbow and loaded it. I was feeling quite sick, but I was going to defend the children with my life if I had to.

  “Zoe! Don’t shoot; it’s us!”

  I dropped my crossbow and raced into Ellie’s arms. She looked the way I felt. Behind her were fifteen women, and behind them were the rest of the Resistance cell.

  Ellie put her arm around my shoulders and leaned in. “Upside down shooting, ZoZo?”

  “I bet Laskarina never did that!”

&nb
sp; We laughed as we trudged our way into the cave. Ellie let go of me to usher the women inside, and I remained at the entrance. Dionysius also stayed, and we guarded the cave together. I could see the fires from the burning trucks light up the night.

  Freedom or death. Freedom won. This time.

  Chapter 16

  I was ready to lie down on the ground and sleep. I wanted someone to wake me when the war was over. Every time I shut my eyes, I could see the German soldier’s blue eyes looking into mine. He wasn’t much older than me. Was it terror? Was it hatred? I don’t know, but I didn’t want to see his face, so I tried to stay awake.

  I wasn’t sure why we didn’t just leave the cave and rendezvous with the other team that was waiting on the other side of the mountain. I glanced towards Ellie. I wondered if she could read my thoughts, because she smiled and came towards me.

  “How can you read my mind?”

  Ellie chuckled and sat down next to me. “You’re not that hard to read, ZoZo. You’re fidgeting and not getting the rest I told you to get. You want to get out of here…”

  “I do. Why haven’t we left?”

  “We’re waiting on two teams to come back.”

  “Shouldn’t they be here already?”

  Ellie paused for a moment and then nodded. “Yes.”

  “Does that mean something has happened to them?” What a stupid question. Of course, something had happened; that’s why they were late. I do ask the most idiotic questions sometimes.

  “Never stop questioning, because if you stop, you will never learn.”

  I wasn’t sure what to say about that because most people told me not to ask so many questions. “What does it mean that they are late?”

  “We will find out when they get here.”

  I was about to continue asking my questions, but Dionysius called out to Ellie that we had company. A company of what? Ellie left my side and joined him at the cave entrance.

  I expected the worse and had my crossbow at the ready, but I shouldn’t have. Uncle Petros, Apostolos, and two other men walked in. Ellie put her arms around her father, and they stood there for a long moment. If someone had asked me if Ellie had been worried about the team’s delayed return, I would have said no. She clung on to Petros, and it was clear that it was a relief.

  I was a little jealous…I wished I could have hugged my father that way again. I slapped myself on the head for being so stupid.

  “Ow,” I muttered and hoped no one had seen what I had done. I went over to my uncle and gave him a hug trying not to think of my irrational jealous moment.

  I mentally rolled my eyes because Apostolos was nearby and he was giving me a look that I couldn’t decipher. I turned away and went back to my little corner of the cave.

  After Ellie finished speaking to them, she came over and sat beside me. She just stared at me. “What?”

  “Go and talk to him.”

  “Who?”

  “Your boyfriend.”

  Ellie was having far too much fun at my expense. I glanced at Apostolos, who sat just a little further away from me, and let out a low growl that had Ellie laughing. That wasn’t my intention.

  “What’s wrong with him, Zo?”

  “He’s old enough to be my father!”

  “Was your papa a child when he had you? He’s just eight years older than you.”

  “That’s old. Look at that hair! It’s so black that if you stick him in the sun, it turns blue.”

  Ellie snickered. “He has beautiful eyes.”

  “Light blue eyes are unnatural, and he’s so tall that I’m going to need a ladder to talk to him!”

  Ellie fell over laughing. “Oh, Zoe, I love you, but you are adorable when you’re clueless.”

  “I don’t want to marry him.”

  “No one is forcing you to marry him now. You’re too young. When you get to sixteen, then you two will make a beautiful couple.”

  I almost gagged at the thought. I stopped myself from saying, ‘why don’t you marry him?’ At least I’m not an insensitive imbecile all the time.

  “He’s just come back from battle, and he wants to talk to someone.”

  “Where do you think I was? I wasn’t baking bread.”

  Ellie’s obvious amusement was making me slightly annoyed. “Yeah, but it was a little dicey, so he might want a little…”

  I stared incredulously at her. I leaned in and whispered, “Are you asking me to go over there and kiss him?”

  “Heavens, no! Just talk to him.”

  I sighed. “When are we leaving?”

  “Soon. We’re waiting for our trucks to arrive so they can take our precious cargo. Once they do, that team will handle their rescue from there.”

  “The dawn is nearly here; won’t it be too late if we delay?”

  “We have a few more hours before daybreak,” Ellie reassured me and glanced at Apostolos again. “You and he would make such beautiful babies. With his hair and your eyes…”

  I slapped my cousin on the head, which only made her laugh more. I loved watching her laugh because it made me feel good. She was still chuckling when she left me.

  It didn’t take Apostolos long to make his way over. I really wanted to move, but that was rude even for me. He sat down and let his head fall back and looked up into the cave wall. I rolled my eyes. What was he trying to do?

  “Zo…”

  “Zoe,” I corrected him. Only my family called me ‘Zo’ or ‘ZoZo.’

  “Miss Lambros…”

  “Oh, dear God,” I muttered. He was older, but he turned away and didn’t look at me. What kind of fool doesn’t look you in the eye, especially when he was trying to impress me? “What do you want, Toli?”

  Have you ever seen a puppy when you're playful with them? They wag their tail, and they have a happy look on their face. If Apostolos was a dog, then his big blue eyes would be all round with happiness and his tail would spin at dizzying speed. It didn’t take much to make him happy. I had only used his nickname. I didn’t agree to marry him. Is that how all men are? God help me.

  “I know it’s not the right time to talk to you about this…”

  He was not going to ask me to marry him, was he? I hoped I wouldn’t be forced to shoot him with my crossbow. It was loaded and ready.

  “I don’t want to marry you.”

  “Oh, I know that.”

  Oh, good. He wasn’t a complete idiot.

  “I didn’t mean we should get married now. You’re too young, and you know, young and young…”

  What? What was he babbling about?

  “When you’re older, then we can get married like your father promised.”

  He was still talking, and for the first time, I thought ill of my father. How could he promise me in marriage to an Athenian with lunatic blue eyes and that stupid accent of his? What was my father thinking! Must have been the anxiety about the war. That had to be it.

  “Don’t you find it old-fashioned to be promised in marriage?” Please, say yes, please.

  “No. It’s a great tradition. That’s how my parents got married.”

  Of course, they did. Oh God spare me, I’m sorry I called you names. Save me. Just when I was losing hope, I remembered something.

  “I don’t have a dowry.”

  “You have all the fields your father left you, and your brother’s fields and houses.”

  Damn. Forgot about the fields. “Do you want to marry me for my money?”

  Apostolos laughed, and all I wanted to do was slap him. “I have more than enough money to keep you in luxury. You will be my queen with servants and everything you want.”

  Keep me in luxury? Keep me? Ugh.

  “I know it will take some time for you to love me, but it will happen. I can wait.”

  I was going to make a snarky comment, but he was honest. I could see it in his eyes. I believed him. “Toli, I’m not ready to marry you.”

  “Oh no, not now! When you turn sixteen. We will have a huge wedding, and
everyone will dance and sing.”

  “Not even then.”

  “You say that now because you’re not ready, but I will prove to you how much I love you.”

  I had never had any boys give me their undying love before. What was I supposed to do with that? I was about to tell him that I wasn’t going to be ready at sixteen either when I saw Ellie approaching. Gone were the smiles and the relaxed woman I had seen only thirty minutes before.

  She went down on her haunches and touched my hand. “I want you to get up and go with Stavros, Apostolos, and Dionysius. The cave has another exit, but it will take you some time to get out. You are to go through the caves with our guests.”

  “I thought we were waiting on—”

  “We’re not. Dimitri went further down the path looking for the truck. The Germans found them. We need to get the women and children out of here.”

  “You’re not coming with us?”

  “No. I’m staying with my father and the rest of the men.”

  “What are you defending? Piles of rocks? I’m staying with you.” I was getting more than a little angry at this new arrangement.

  Ellie put her hands on either side of my shoulders. “I’m giving you an order. Your mission is to save those women and children.”

  “Why?”

  I could see the frustration in her eyes. I could see she wanted to yell at me to follow orders like a good soldier, but she didn’t say a word for a long moment. “One of the women in that group is an important member of the Resistance. If she is captured…it’s important, Zoe. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, but why would we do this in the first place? Why did we wait so long?”

  “That wasn’t the plan.”

  “Well, it’s the plan now. Let’s all leave.”

  “We can’t. When the Germans find the cave empty, they will enter and follow us.”

  “Or they could say no one is here and move on.”