La musique la ramène

9

"I have received a message back." Benoit smiled, making us all excited to know about the newly founded information, that could help us get Hans back.

"What did they say?" Maria asked, the hope and joy in her voice made us all smile.

"There is a secret underground circle, where some of the Germans have been hiding." He began. "Hans is not there, but there are people who will know where he might be."

"Brilliant!" Louis grinned, looking to the rest of us.

"Where is this circle?" Adele asked, looking to Benoit and then to me. "Is it in Paris?"

"No, it is in Strasbourg." He answered. "On the border between France and Germany." Benoit got out a map, showing us the route and place we needed to get too.

"How long will it take to get there by car?" I asked, thinking it was going to be quite a journey.

"It will take about 5 hours." Benoit cringed, as the words came out of his mouth.

"That is so long." Adele sighed, not liking the idea of driving for that length of time. Besides, we wanted to get there as soon as possible to see where Hans might be. Time was not on our side and we needed to find the quickest way.

"The train is two hours." Benoit suggested. "But you just won't have access to a car when you get there."

"That will be fine." I replied. "We won't really need one, until we find out where we need to go to next." I sighed, thinking if it would be smart to train it without a car.

"Well, if you find out you need some cash to buy a car, just let us know." Benoit offered, which we were so grateful for.

"We need to drive back into Paris and get the train as soon as possible." Louis said, looking at the time. "We could easily get there by today."

"Yes, we need to get a move on." I agreed. "Thank you Benoit, I don't know what we could have done without you."

"I am just a letter or telegram away." He smiled. "I will telegram that you will be on your way very soon. The place you need to go, is the cathedral. That is were you will find them, just tell them my name and you will be able to enter."

"Thank you." We all said, before walking out and immediately going back to Paris to get on this train as quickly as possible.

*

"I am impressed that we made it." I breathed out, watching as the train pulled out of the station, with us on it.

"Oh me too." Adele laughed. "That is my exercise for the year, I'm telling you."

We all laughed, thinking how crazy everything was and how we were one step closer in finding Hans. As I put my hands in my pockets, to get my ticket out ready for the Ticketmaster, the small envelope fell out onto the floor.

Looking at it, I picked it up and traced the writing with my thumb, smiling at the thought of him writing it. Kissing it gently, I slipped it back into my pocket and proceeded to try and enjoy the long train journey.

*

"Psst-" I heard someone say, then nudging me to wake up. My eyes slowly came too, as I see my friends watching down on me. "Come on sleepy head, we are here."

I gasped, standing up and grabbing my suitcase; following them off the train and onto the platform in Strasbourg. Looking around, I could see hardly anyone here. It was almost like a ghost town.

I remember reading about this area. As it was so close to the German border, it was injured the most. Hardly anyone from the city survived and that was probably why the Germans decided this was to be their hiding spot.

"Where do we go now?" Maria asked, looking at a map that was on the wall.

"Benoit said the Cathedral." I reminded them, while we all looked at the map, finding the way to get to it.

"Oh look, there it is-" Adele pointed out. "Move, let me see it and work it out." She held her finger to the Cathedral and then to where we were. "So that means, it is not that far away. It is about a 10 minute walk."

"Not bad at all." Louis nodded his head, following his lover; while Maria and I followed behind them both.

As we walked along the lanes, most of the buildings had been destroyed or they were just abandoned. It was sad, but it also freaked me out because there was no one there.

"I don't like this place." Maria whispered to me, which I nodded my head in agreement.

"Neither do I." I replied. "It scares me."

As we eventually got the place, we looked up and saw a very beautiful cathedral beaming down to us. It was really spectacular and intact, no bombing or the invasion had altered it in any way - which to me symbolised hope and living on.

"I will knock first." Louis said, walking up to the door and wrapping his knuckles on the door. The door opened immediately and two men appeared in front of us.

"Who are you?" They asked. They were both elderly gentlemen, both French and both in their normal everyday clothes.

"We are friends of Benoit." He began. "We have come for help."

"He wrote about your arrival." One of the men replied. "Please, come in and sit down. You must be tired and hungry from your journey."

Food and drink was placed on the table at the front of the cathedral, which looked amazing. We all sat there and completely stuffed our face with the food. While a few more men came out and looked to the four of us.

"We have been told you need help locating some one." The young one said. "What is the mans name."

"Hans, Hans Miller." Maria said, praying in her head that they would know where he was. "He was born the 12th of March 1922."

"We will have a look in our records, but for now just stay here and eat as much as you want." He replied, before walking away into one of the other rooms.

As we sat around the table, I reached over to get another slice of cheese, but the sound of a piano playing made me stop in my tracks.

"That is beautiful." Adele smiled, listening to the music play. My whole body exploded with butterflies, as I listen to the music playing, alongside the recognisable piece that only I knew.

"Amelia?" Louis asked, but I had completely cut out anyone else and only focused on the music playing. Rushing off in the direction of the music, I pushed through some door and saw a man in a light blue blouse, with light brown trousers, playing the piano.

His back was to me, I could not see his face. I prayed that it was him. It had to be him, but that one tiny ounce of doubt was eating me away. His blonde hair, the long parts at the top and the shaved sides, made it clear it was in fact him.

"Miss, you are not allowed in here." A voice from behind me said, making me turn around to face him. "I will take you out to the others."

The music stopped, but I did not get a chance to turn around and see him, before I was being dragged out of the room.

"Get off me!" I shouted, fighting with every ounce in my body to see him. "Please I have to see him."

The man stood still and could no longer move me, because of how stubborn I was being.

"Bruno!" I screamed.