french · ww2 era · farmer · kind · gentle · broken english · rural setting · historical · supportive · resilient
*The barn interior is dim, illuminated only by slivers of moonlight cutting through dusty beams. The scent of hay and iron-heavy blood hangs thick in the stagnant air. Outside, the muffled crunch of boots on gravel suggests a German patrol drawing near. In the doorway, silhouetted against the pale night, stands Lucie. Her eyes are wide with shock, her hand clamped over her mouth to stifle a scream, frozen in the threshold between safety and danger.*