Suddenly his eyes shot open, revealing two unique green iris's that stared straight up at the sky, as the soldier gasped in air and began coughing up water.
Freya gasped, standing and backing up as the soldiers eyes flickered to her, widening, as he continued coughing up seawater. She watched from a safe distance, only a few feet away, as her blue eyes locked on the figure as he finally stopped coughing and began breathing unusually hard, almost motionless again except for the heavy rise and fall of his chest. His eyes were closed now, but his fists were clenched. Freya stood on the sand, awkwardly staring at the unmoving form, unsure whether she should step forward and try to get him up.
The waves rolled onto the shore, rising higher and crashing harder. If she didn't help this boy, he would surely drown with the rising tide. She looked toward the waves, picturing him suffocating under the heavy waves as she walked away. They were almost at his waist now, withing half an hour the tide would reach his head. Heart torn, she threw one desperate glance back at the way toward her home before turning and heading toward him.
Her feet crunched softly on the wet sand as she reached him, leaning down and balancing on her knees, not caring if she got her nightgown wet. Eyes skimming over him, she gently reached her hand forward and checked his pulse, looking up at his face to see if there would be any movement.
His eyes stayed closed, but his breathing deepened. She frowned as she realized his pulse was steadying now, growing stronger. He must be awake. Possibly just in shock.
Clearing her throat, she asked quietly, "Are you okay?"
He stopped breathing for a moment before taking in a deep breath and scrunching his eyes before slowly opening them, coughing a bit more, the green in his eyes reminding her of emeralds as they slowly focused on her. He studied her for a moment, weakly turning his head toward her.
He began to say something, then stopped, coughing up more water but as he did he turned his head the other direction to avoid spitting up any seawater on her. She waited patiently, worry painted across her face. Then he turned back to her, looking back up at her as he began to whisper.
"W-wo bin ic-ch...Sie h-haben mich ver-verla-" He stopped abruptly, turning again and coughing up more water. His whole body shook under his coat as he shuddered with effort to get water out of his lungs.
Freya watched silently, her head spinning. She couldn't understand a word he was saying. He didn't speak english, she didn't know what to say to help. Her eyes narrowed in a sense of helplessness as she waited for him to finish his coughing fit. When he did, he turned back to her again and waited, staring up at her.
"Do-do you understand me? Can you speak English?" She said quickly, her hands forming prints in the sand beside him. He seemed to understand something because his eyes narrowed and flickered away for a moment before returning to hers.
"Ich s-spreche Deutsch." He replied shakily, voice tight as he looked away, waiting.
Freya stared at him, completely dumbfounded. She had absolutely no idea what he had just said. Her eyes must have reflected her panic because he attempted to lean up, but fell back with a grunt of pain. This caught her attention and she looked down toward his legs. One of them were oddly twisted, she just now realized. His eyes followed hers, resting on his leg and he sighed painfully, looking up at her.
"Englisch?" He questioned softly, looking back up at the sky. She shot a glance at him.
"Yes."
He nodded, looking around before trying to sit up again. She reached forward and helped him sit up, then realized the tide was almost on them. They needed to get out of here.
"We need to get out of here, the tide is rising. I can help..." She trailed off, looking at the puzzled expression on his face. He was just as clueless as she was.
She motioned to the water, then brought her hands up in a sweeping motion and pointed at the sky, which was darkening. Then, she pointed at his leg and turned to point at her horse, still tied to the rock a good distance away. Fear was shown i his eyes as he tried to comprehend what she was getting at, but he seemed to understand a little. Looking around, he weakly reached his arms up to his chest to undo the buttons on his coat, releasing a few spare bags and pulling a few items out of his pockets. She reached forward, supporting him and he slipped the coat off, revealing a simple white shirt on underneath. He then pulled a few items out of his pants pockets, relieving him of extra weight her didn't need. She stood by him, a hand on his back, preventing him from falling down.
He looked up at her again, then motioned he was going to try and stand. She nodded, stepping up and holding out her hand. He gripped it, weakly helping her pull himself up, putting most of his balance on one leg. Then, an idea entered Freya's mind and she shook her head at him, slowly lowering the soldier back onto the sand.
"Wait here please." She called back as she walked briskly across the sand back toward her horse, feeling his gaze on her back as she untied Cadence and walked her over to him.
He looked up at the horse and seemed to get the idea. Stepping away from Cadence to help him up, she held out her hand. She grasped his hand again, pulling him up to a standing position and supporting him, one of his arms wrapped around her in effort to stay standing. She guided him over to Cadence and he somehow managed to help himself onto her back, using one of his legs to push himself onto her and both of his arms to balance himself. She made sure he was steady on Cadence's back, watching the soldier wrap his arms around the horses neck and clinging softly to her mane.
Freya turned, looking at all the supplies of his on the beach. It would probably get lost in the tide. She motioned toward it, his eyes turning and focusing on the items. He shook his head, turning to her in curiosity.
"Ich bin Axel." He gave a small smile, revealing straight, white teeth, and pointed at himself. Freya blinked, turning to him in confusion, narrowing her eyes.
"Axel." He repeated, pointing to himself once again, smile disappearing as he tried to get her to understand him.
Oh, that was his name. She smiled, understanding now.
"I'm Freya." She pointed to herself as she said her name. He nodded, looking at her for a moment before turning back to rearrange himself on the horse.
She began to pull Cadence across the beach as the tide reached her feet, the two walking through the sand and water as Axel sat quietly on the horses back. Her mind raced as she guided Cadence up the hill, reaching the flatter part of the path and leading her toward the house. She was saving an enemy soldier. She was bringing him into England. If this was all a fake, if he was a spy, if he was planning to attack from inside...
Thoughts entered her mind as they all walked in the shadows of dusk toward the barn. Should she tell her Grandpa? Grandma? Would they help heal this soldier? Or would they turn them in?
Freya sneaked a glance back, seeing Axel looking around, fear in the emerald colored eyes. Tense and in pain, he stared at the land around him, unsure where he was or what was going to happen to him. Freya sighed softly. She would help him heal and get better, without her Grandpa and Grandma knowing. Plans formed in her mind. She could store Axel in the barn, up in the loft. There was a lot of spare hay and space up there and her grandparents never went up there. She could bring him food when she went to feed the horses, and she could give him some of her fathers extra clothing he left...
She paused on that thought. What would her father think of what she was doing? Her father had always been a good man, opening the doors and giving away anything to whoever needed it. Something inside her told her he would be proud that she was helping this boy. After all, he may be an enemy soldier, but he still had a heart and soul. He was still human.
Guiding the horse and soldier around to the back of the house, she slowly opened the barn doors. Leading them inside, she helped Axel off Cadence and placed him on the barn floor while she put Cadence in her stall and fed her.
"Ahem...so, you'll be staying up there..." She pointed up to the loft, a 12 step ladder the only thing leading up to it, "And you'll have to be quiet when you're up there because no one can know you're here," She brought her finger up to her lips and he nodded, repeating the action and bringing his own finger to his lips. She smiled, "Okay. And, you're probably hungry after your ordeal...I'll get you some food after getting you settled."
She helped him up, then notice he was a few inches taller than her, she hadn't't notice before. Guiding him to the ladder, she stood behind him as he slowly placed his good leg on the first step, reaching his arms up to grip the ladder. He began pulling himself up, revealing he was quite fit and lean to pull himself up the ladder with an injured leg. She climbed up the ladder behind him, making sure he didn't slip. He didn't and when he reached the top, he turned around and helped her up. Once up, she pointed him to a large pile of hay in the corner of the loft. The loft wasn't fenced in, he would need to be careful. But up here, she was almost positive that no one would find him. She hadn't't even been up here for almost a year.
He made his way over to the hay pile, collapsing on top of it, leaning his head back against the pile and relaxing for a moment before focusing his attention on her. She brushed away a few spiderwebs in the corners with her hands and then moved some of the hay around him to spread it out for a larger bed. Stepping away, she eyed the area. It wasn't too big, or comfortable, but it would have to do.
"Okay...you'll be staying here." She pointed to him and then held it out in a top signal, palm of her hand facing him. He nodded.
"And, I'll bring you food if I have the chance. But I can go ahead and bring you water, stay here." Aware he couldn't understand her, she climbed down the ladder and got a clean bucket, then an extra one, filling one with water and leaving the other one empty.
Once she climbed back up, she brought the bucket over to him and set it beside Axel, watching him take it and shakily bring it to his mouth, drinking. She set the other bucket in the corner in case he needed it and then began heading toward the ladder.
"Well, sleep good. Make sure you stay quiet, okay. I'll be back in the morning. It won't get too cold or anything...Goodnight." She signaled to him to be quiet again and then waved and began stepping down.
"Vielen Dank." She heard him whisper something and turned to look at him. Clueless still, she just smiled reassuringly and continued down the steps.
Once down, she left the barn, the last light of dusk slowly leaving as she closed the barn doors and made her way to the house. She was determined to help Axel get better. She would help him. Maybe she could be friends with him. Was it German he spoke? She decided quickly she would visit Pastor Evan and find out what language he spoke. She would find a way to ask him without giving the fact that she was sheltering the enemy soldier in her barn.
Inside, she walked past her grandparents, who were in the living room, and headed toward the stairs. "I'm going to bed. Goodnight." She made her way upstairs, hearing a 'Goodnight' from her Grandpa.
Changing into a clean nightgown, she slipped into bed after putting her brown waves into a bun. She felt as though she had done the right thing, helping Axel. Freya couldn't help but feel wrong at the same time. What would happen if people found him? She pushed the thought away, focusing on the thought of helping him get better.
Axel needed her to help him. It was too late to turn away now.
She would help him. Maybe she could even learn his language. Or teach him English.
She fell asleep not too soon, dreaming about a young soldier drowning, emerald eyes crying for help.