The Secret War

Chapter 7- Lily

~Lily~

"And you are Miss... er, Savne Neilson and Herr Stein then? My name's Lily." I say while correcting my language.

"And I'm Hope! Pleased to meet you!" Hope grins like a goof, then reaches out to shake the man and woman's hands. I follow her in suit, trying to smile just as big, but not as silly. Savne Neilson nods and shakes my hand, a firm gripping handshake, then Herr Stein's is slack and sort of floppy.

"And you have met our good friend, Osu Lumme, I assume?" Herr Neilson asks us. I nod in response, and Britta smiles again at us cheerfully, as if she didn't just tell us the saddest story Hope and I have heard in our lives. These people really do know how to hide their feelings. Ansgar is even worse than Panem was!

"Oh yes, she was just telling us about the Lofoten Islands." I say with a frown. Savne Neilson nods and then her forehead creases with what looks to be like worriment.

"Something's going on over there. Something very sinister. Our Resistance is trying to figure out with the little intelligence we know, but it is very tricky to find out. And, well-" Savne Neilson stops abruptly to close the curtains that show the street near the door and the little foyer and the high windows near the fireplace. "I'm sorry, I forgot to close the curtains." she smiles. I look at her in puzzlement.

"There's always someone watching here. They, meaning the government, don't want anything suspicious going on involving the government in Ansgar. There's guards crawling all over the city now. It's a wonder you two didn't get caught while you were coming inside the city walls." Herr Stein explains quietly. "By the way, how did you fake the passports?"

I just shrug. Hope answers for me. "Somehow we got a hold of one of the passports and copied it." she says with an indifferent blink of her brown and gold eyes. The Neilsons just stare at us.

"You... copied it?!" They both say in unison.

Hope and I just look at each other, knowing these people never heard of just copying something, as if it was as easy as counting. "Um... we'll explain later." I giggle a little, even tough I shouldn't, but the two don't pay attention to my remark and guide us to the upstairs rooms.

- - - - -

"This is the bathroom, this is the guest bedroom, this is the second guest bedroom, or Marino's room when he stays over, and this is my room. Oh, and the study is up the second flight of stairs to the attic, where Marino is. Would you like to have some help unpacking?" Savne Neilson asks us while pointing to rooms up and down the narrow second story hallway, filled with various expensive looking paintings and a hardwood floor.

"Sure! We'll need all the help we can get..." Hope adds with a slight sigh. Savne Neilson laughs and Hope and I move all the hatboxes into the guestroom, where two wooden queen beds with patchwork quilts with white and brown fur pillows stand in a surprisingly large room with more wood floor, a small desk lamp sitting on a chest of drawers in the corner, and a wooden armoire with pained flowers on the sides of the closet sits in the opposite corner. Two windows sit on each side of the queen beds, and one window in between both beds, then a brown fur carpet. Hope immediately rushes to the pillows, and squeezes the nearest brown pillow.

"Oh my God, they're soooooo soft! They remind me of your jacket at home, the one that's black and really soft and fluffy and I like to pet it and you get all pissed-" Hope starts to gush about my black fluffy jacket, but I whack her with my hat that I got out of my hatbox. She giggles and throws a pillow back at me.

"FEEL IT!!!! IT'S SO FRICKING FLUFFY!" she screeches and whacks me again with a white pillow. I hear a quiet cough come behind me, and I quickly turn around to find Savne Neilson looking at us half in confusion and half amusement. I blush a deep shade of red, and I get up from the ground as fast as I can. I drag Hope up from on top of the bed, still stroking the pillows, and she smiles with a embarrassed smirk.