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𝐀𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐈'𝐦 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞.
•───── ୨❀୧ ─────•
April, 7. 1917.
– Il n'y a rien ici... – The woman said with trembling hands. – Il n'y a rien pour vous. S'il te plaît...
(There is nothing here. There is nothing for you. Please...)
– Okay... – Schofield replied, lowering the gun. – Not German... friend... I'm a friend.
Margaret noted that the young girl seemed a little calmer after the corporal lowered his weapon and placed it on the ground.
– This place... this town... Ecoust? – He asked in a calm voice so as not to scare that girl even more. – Est-ce Ecoust ici?
(Is this Ecoust?)
– Oui... – The woman replied. William can finally sigh and close his eyes in relief. – Où sont les autres?
(Yes. Where are the others?)
– Others? – William asked, since he wasn't fully fluent in French. – No... just me.
Margaret just watched the scene in silence. So far, that girl hadn't noticed her presence.
– Me and her... – Schofield said, grabbing Margaret hand gently and pulling her out from behind him. – We need to be somewhere... we have to find a wood to the southeast. Eh... trees... Kroset...
He tried to explain as best he could, because he knew that this girl was not fluent in english either.
– Croisilles? – The woman asked after understanding what the corporal meant.
– Yes! – He nodded.
– The riviere. – The girl pointed her finger forward and the two followed her gaze to where she had pointed.
– River? – William asked.
– River. – The woman said. – It goes that...
She spoke with difficulty, but it was possible to understand. William nodded and felt something warm on the back of his neck, running his hand over the spot. His attitude drew the attention of the two women present there and Margaret approached him.
William had to hold on not to fall for the weakness he felt. With Margaret's help he sat down on the floor.
– Sit down, Will. – She said.
Looking at the back of the elder's neck, she noticed that all the gauze was smeared with blood. Margaret took a deep, worried breath and removed that gauze. The unknown woman watched the scene and approached when she felt she was safe with both of them.
She realized she was posing as a man and a woman when she looked up into Margaret's delicate but dirty face. The girl took a cloth and soaked it with some water from a bucket and handed it to Margaret.
– Merci ... – Margaret said with a smile that was reciprocated by the other girl.
Schofield's face was pale and tired, which was a bad sign for Margaret. She cleaned the entire place carefully, but still managed to hear some painful moans from William.
For a moment William rested his head in Margaret's hand and seemed to relax a little at that. For the first time, their faces got close enough that he made the shy nurse look away.
– Thank you... – He said.
Margaret just nodded and finished putting on the whole new bandage. The unknown girl thought for a moment that they were a couple, or that they had a similar relationship.
The sound of a baby caught the attention of all three present. Margaret and William stared at the place where the sound was coming from and the girl approached a kind of makeshift crib.
They were both sure of what they heard when they saw her pick up the baby from the crib. Margaret smiled for a moment when she saw such a scene. It was something beautiful and innocent in the midst of so much chaos that they were currently going through.
– Mon petit... – The girl said with the baby in her lap. It was beautiful how she smiled as she stared at the child.
(My little one.)
– It's a girl? – Margaret asked approaching.
– Oui. Une fille.
(Yes. A girl.)
The girl sat down with the baby on the makeshift bed and the two approached, kneeling on the floor to be taller than the girl.
– What's her name? – Schofield asked and the girl looked at him strangely.
– Je ne sais pas... – She replied still with a strange look on her face.
(I don't know.)
– Who is her mother? – Schofield asked, confused.
– Je ne sais pas... – She replied again.
Soon the two realized that it was an orphan or abandoned child. Both hearts ached to imagine that, but they were relieved when they realized how well that girl took care of the baby.
– I have food... – Margaret said and the two looked at her.
She soon removed all the canned items from her backpack and placed them on the girl's bed. Schofield would object, but this woman and the baby needed more. He knew there was also Margaret and that she hadn't eaten all day, but soon they would be in the Devons and there they would feed properly.
– Elle ne peut pas manger ça... elle a besoin de lait. – The girl said.
(She can't eat this. She needs milk)
– Milk? – Schofield asked. He remembered that he had filled his canteen with milk on that farm and opened the lid, raising the canteen for the girl to sniff.
The girl smiled in surprise and stared at Schofield. She also hadn't had contact with a decent man in months and was glad to see one so close to her.
The baby was also staring at Schofield intently, as if he were his mother's breast. Margaret found the scene funny and cute at the same time. It was comforting to find a baby in the midst of the chaos they lived.
– Boujour... – Schofield said as he played with the baby's chubby little hands.
– Avez-vous des enfants? – The girl asked, but there was no answer, just a lost look coming from the corporal. – Children? You.
(Do you have children?)
– Shh... it's okay... – William would say to the baby.
– Elle vous aime. – The girl said, referring to the baby who smiled as he faced the Corporal. (She likes you.) – Continuer de parler. (Keep talking.)
– They went to sea in a sieve. In a sieve they went to sea. Despite what all their friends might say, one winter morning, one stormy day, in a sieve they went to sea. Far and few, far and few are the lands where the Jumblies live.Their heads are green, their hands are blue and they went to sea in a sieve...
And after his bedtime story, Schofield can listen. The loud sound of the bell ringing, signaling that it was already 6:00 am the other day. The Devons would battle after sunrise and he wouldn't arrive in time to warn them.
Margaret also listened and knew they had to go, even wounded, hungry, and tired.
– C'est le matin. Les soldats te verront. – The girl said when she saw that the two were packing their backpacks to leave.
(It's morning. The soldiers will see you.)
– No. Margaret, you will stay here. – Schofield said suddenly, which startled the nurse.
– What? Of course not! – She denied looking at him angrily.
– You almost lost your life three times in just one day, I don't want there to be a fourth time. You will stay here with her and I will come back to get them when I send the message to the Devons. – Schofield said. Margaret just shook her head in utter despair.
– No! I'll go with you! What if something happens to you? There will be light outside and they will see you! – Margaret said, but Schofield didn't listen.
– Don't scream, Margaret. I'm going to go back and get you three out of this place safely. – He replied.
The girl just looked at the situation in silence. She didn't know what they were talking about, but she knew it was a small argument.
– Will... please, I can't lose you... you need to get to the Devons safely, you won't be able to go alone! – The girl said already crying when imagining Schofield alone out there.
– Margaret, listen to me, please: I'll go to the Devons, deliver the message and come back as soon as I can. I swear to God and my life that I'll come back to get you, to get you two. – Schofield said as he put his hands on Margaret's face to wipe her tears. – I will come back.
And then she nodded, letting herself be overcome by the corporal's confident words. Margaret hugged him tightly and was warmly reciprocated by him. They walked away and he approached the small door he entered the cellar again.
– William. – Margaret called him once more before he left. – If you don't come back... I'll never forgive you.
She said, with tears in her eyes and her heart aching. The man felt bad for making her feel that way, but he had to go back, even though he didn't know if that would even happen.
William nodded and quickly walked out the basement door. Margaret heard his footsteps recede, until she couldn't hear anything else. Her heart ached just imagining that something could happen to the corporal.
But he promised he would come back and Margaret trusted him.
– Asseyez-vous un peu, tu as l'air fatigué. – Margaret heard the girl say with the baby in her lap. (Sit down a bit, you look tired.)
Margaret sighed and went to the basement again. She slung her heavy backpack off her back and sat down on a wooden chair. She had never felt such intense weariness as that.
She saw the girl approach with the same cloth she used to clean William's bruise and wipe Margaret's bruised cheek. The girl carefully cleaned the place and the nurse thanked her when she was finished.
– Margaret? – The girl said, pointing to the nurse. Her name pronunciation came out of the woman's mouth in a funny way, since she wasn't English.
– Oui. – Margaret agreed, smiling. – And you?
– Lauri. – The girl said, pointing to herself. Now they both knew each other's names and it would be easier to communicate. – C'est ton mari? Husband?
– No. – Margaret shook her head. – Friend...
Lauri didn't know the word "friend", but understood what she meant when she darkened that same word out of William's mouth. The girl removed Margaret's helmet to make her comfortable and saw the state of her face and hair, totally messed up and dirty.
Margaret saw Lauri reaching for another clean cloth and dampening it, returning to her side. She wiped Margaret's entire dirty face and smoothed her hair into a braid. Lauri realized then how beautiful that girl was, even dressed like a soldier and totally dirty.
Margaret could see everything getting clearer, which only made her feel more and more distressed. "Did William make it?" That was what was going through her mind.
– Is this place... safe? – Margaret asked. She pointed to the spot and tried to make Lauri understand. – Safe?
– Oui... safe. – The girl replied. She had lived there for a few weeks and no one had ever entered the place until that morning.
Margaret could only pray and ask that both they and William would be all right.
Schofield exits the basement through the same place he entered in the film, when he scapes from the german soldier. I wanted to clarify in case anyone didn't understand .