Freedom Fighters Ch. 1


The date was June 15, 1940. The war had just ceased it's raging in my
country five days ago. The King of Norway had escaped to England along
with our country's gold bullion. From there our people would continue
to fight.

The war in France was still raging, but the outcome was very certain.
Germany would be the new master of the continent. Only England would
stand defiant against Hitler.

My name is Aase Langeland. My Parents, Peder and Hanna Langeland lived
here in Kristiansand on the southern tip of Norway when the Germans
invaded. I have an older brother, Tryggve, but I learned two weeks ago
that the Germans killed him. He was a Norwegian soldier, a soldat. I
miss my brother, and I miss my mother. She was killed the day after
Tryggve died defending our people. From what I have heard, it was a
British bomber that had just dropped its bombs over the water after a
German gun battery had hit one of it’s engines and was trying to
escape when the German anti-aircraft guns scored a direct hit causing
it to crash. It crashed in the downtown area where my mother was
shopping. She was killed instantly.

My father who is a Lutheran pastor was in Trondheim at the time, and I
have not seen him since.

I was at home alone when the Germans came to our home searching for my
father. Short fat German soldier knocked on the door.

"I am looking for Herr Langeland. You will tell me where he is." The
German said.

His face a menacing sneer as he looked me up and down. His eyes
settled on my breasts.

"He is in Trondheim." I replied embarrassed by his lewd gaze.

"Ja? Then you will come with me." He said and grabbed me by the hand.

"Why?" I shrieked. I was getting ready for the new day when he had
knocked on our door.

"You will explain to Gestapo. Come now." The German grabbed my hair
and pulled me outside.

There was a truck waiting. Its engine was running and two younger
soldiers were guarding the back of the truck.

I was slammed into the tailgate, which had been lowered. It stunned me
and I fell to the ground. The German kicked some dirt at me and spit
on the ground next to me.

"Into the lorry. Now!" He shouted.

One of the younger soldiers picked me up and helped into the truck.

I looked at him; thankful he had placed himself between the evil
Sergeant and me.

"Takk." I said quietly to him.

He smiled and sat on the bench in the back of the truck.

"Kreuger! You are a German soldier, a Fallschirmjager. Do not even so
much as utter one little word. These are prisoners and we are soldiers
doing our duty. Remember that!" The Sergeant shouted.

"Yes Sergeant." The soldier replied.

I sat down and covered my face. My nose was bleeding and my head hurt.
I had hit that tailgate harder then I thought.

A hand to my right touched my shoulder. I turned and looked to see who
it was.

"Dreng?" I mouthed the words.

He nodded and took my hand. We remained silent. I was glad, in all of
this darkness to see the face of the one person I knew well.

It was Dreng Larsson. We had gone to Gymnasium (high school) together.
We had often gone to dances together. He was the only male I had truly
had contact with, other then the male members of my family. He was
also the first boy I had kissed. If my father had ever found out, he
would have forbidden me from seeing Dreng. But my father really liked
Dreng. Dreng had done many odd jobs for my father around the church.
Fixing this and painting that. Dreng was handy with his hands. My
father had always thought it was to do good deeds, but Dreng and I
knew that his reason was so he could be near me. We were very close.

The truck slowed down and stopped. Dreng let loose of my hand and
looked at the floor. I followed his example and remained
expressionless.

The Sergeant barked some orders and the two guards dropped the
tailgate and jumped out of the truck. Their rifles at the ready.

"Jeurgens! Guard the truck. Klieg! Come with me. Move!" He barked.

"Dreng...what is going on?" I whispered.

"Aase. They are rounding up all of the ministers in the area. They
want your father. They will hold you hostage until he surrenders." He
explained.

"And you?" I asked.

"I escaped from Grimli. I was held as a prisoner of war. I was
captured two weeks ago. Now I go to be shot." He said, accepting his
fate.

"Nooo!" The words escaped from my mouth.

"Silence!" The German sentry stuck his head inside and warned us, "If
the Sergeant hears either of you it will be all the worse for you."

Dreng fell silent.

Two shots rang out and I jumped in my seat. A woman screamed and
pleaded for her man.

The Germans returned, dragging a Lutheran minister. It was Pastor
Vorstett. One of my father's colleagues. His face was bleeding and he
was in pain.

"If you try to escape. I will shoot you next time. But not until I
have shot your children and then had some fun with your wife." The
Sergeant taunted Pastor Vorstett.

The Pastor's wife was pushed roughly into the truck after her husband
was pushed inside. He lay on the floor. Obviously in much pain.

"Pastor Vorstett!" I whispered. He looked up at me.

"Aase. Is your father safe?" His words barely audible.

I nodded. Pastor Vorstett closed his eyes. He was praying silently to
himself.

The truck drove on for another ten minutes, but swerved and braked
very hard.

"Out! Out!" Cried the Sergeant, "Find cover!"

The two soldiers in the back dropped the tailgate and rushed out. We
all hurried as a plane circled overhead.

Eric looked up.

"British!" He hissed, "Come!" He took my hand and we dove into a
ditch. He landed two meters in front of me as the first bullets from
the plane slammed into the ground in front of the truck.

There was a huge explosion and something landed on top of me. I don't
know what it was, but I could not breathe. My breath was knocked out
of me.

I heard several screams and one of the soldiers fired at the plane.
Then there was only silence. Fru Vorstett screamed.

"Lars! Lars!" She cried out.

Dreng came over to where I was and the weight was pulled off from me.
I was stunned. He knelt down and lifted my face.

"Aase?" He asked softly.

"Ja." I said. I opened my eyes.

"You will live." Dreng said and helped me off of the ground.

"Hans? Sergeant?" One of the soldiers said as Dreng helped me out of
the ditch.

Dreng looked around. All of the Germans were dead on the ground. The
driver had died in the cab of the lorry. The belligerent Sergeant had
his face half-blown away when one of the bullets struck him.

"Soldat! They are gone. I'm sorry." Dreng said to the German. Dreng
spoke perfect German. So did I.

The remaining German dropped his rifle on the ground and sat there.
Sobs racked his body as he cried.

"Hans! Hans!" He said.

To Dreng he said, "Hans was my brother. We joined up together. We
never let anyone know that we were brothers. Half Brothers actually."

"I am sorry, soldat. We all have lost loved ones." Dreng said and
patted the German on the shoulder.

The German remained there for a few moments, looking at his brother's
body.

"Go! You must go! I will not take you in. I am not a butcher! Not like
the Gestapo." To Dreng he added, "Be careful Nordman, you have a price
on your head. If any of our men get you...it is kaput for you."

"Takk soldat. Keep safe." Dreng said and took my hand.

Mrs. Vorstett had lost her husband. The Pastor had been killed before
he had even gotten free of the truck. The explosion had thrown him
into the air and he was dead when he hit the ground. A British bullet
had hit him in the chest.

"Fru Vorstett...we must go! Herre Pastor is dead." Dreng said and
patted her hand as she pleaded to him.

"Nei. I will bury my husband and go to my parent’s house. They live
two kilometers from here. You go. God grant you safety. Will you help
me?" She asked the German.

The German nodded.

"Ja. I am a Christian man, Frau. I will bury Herr Pastor." He said and
picked up the Pastor's body.

Dreng took my hand and we ran across the field towards the tree line.
Once we were hidden under the canopy of trees, I took his face into my
hands and kissed his eyes.

"I thought that I had lost you too, Dreng. When Tryggve died, I
thought that you had perished also." I said, breathlessly.

"Nei. I was captured. The Germans are not butchers. Not all of them.
They did not get us into this war. The British and the French did when
they made plans to mine Narvik. We were stuck in the middle. The
Germans were the first to react." Eric said.

"My father said that Hitler is evil and he won't be happy until all of
Europe is under his control." I said. Not understanding why Dreng
would stick up for the Germans.

"Hitler is very evil, Aase. Many bad things are going to happen before
he is taken from power. Many young men will die in vain before this is
over. German, Norse, Danes, British, French, Pole, and who knows whom
else. The German soldat, I saw many of them die to protect their
prisoners, our soldiers, as the British strafed our columns. It is all
bad. Both sides." He said, then added, "I was sorry to hear about your
mother. She was always good to me, Aase."

"Ja. I miss her, and Triggie." I said.

"I tended to your brother when he was wounded. That is how I was
captured. German paratroopers. Like those fellows back there." Dreng
pointed back in the direction where we had just come from.

"Dreng...what shall we do?" I asked.

"We head northeast. A few kilometers from here my family has a cabin
that we use for vacation and to ski during the winter holiday. We will
be safe there. My parents have food and clothing there. We will stay
for a few days. Until I can figure out something else." He said.

We did not arrive at the cabin that night. As we made our way to the
east, we almost ran into several Germans. They were either out on
patrol, or on several occasions, we discovered where they were
building anti-aircraft gun emplacements to protect the docks in the
city.

As dark began to fall, Dreng found a hollow in the side of a hill. I
was very cold and hungry.

When I had been arrested I was wearing only a light sweater, a light
wool shirt and summer shoes. My shoes had long since been torn to
shreds by the sharp granite we had been forced to climb as we made our
way northeastward.

My feet were bleeding and I could go no further. Dreng returned to
where I was.

"Aase I have found a good spot for the night. We can build a small
fire." He said.

"I cannot walk. My feet." I explained.

Dreng bent down and looked at them.

"Why did you not tell me?" He asked.

"I did not want to complain." I replied.

"Aase you must speak up. What if we are pursued, how would you run?"
He said. But his words were tender. He knew that this had been a
trying day for me.

"I am sorry..."I began.

"Come. I will carry you. It is not far." He said.

The spot he had chosen was well hidden. There was plenty of brush that
hid our spot. He built a small fire with some twigs and a box of
matches.

"I am sorry we have nothing to eat. Tomorrow we shall dine on dried
fish and flatbread. I think there is also some smoked herring and some
canned fruit. Now we must sleep." He said and covered me with his long
army jacket.

I fell immediately asleep on his arm as he held me close to him. We
slept spoon style to keep warm. His front against my back.

"Aase. Wake up. There is a German patrol. Gebirgs I think." Dreng had
covered my mouth as he spoke to me.

"What are Gebirgs?" I asked.

"Mountain troops. Mostly Austrian. They are very good soldiers. We
must be quiet and move quickly. Can you walk?" He asked.

I stood and nodded. My feet throbbed but I could forget about the
pain.

"Ja?" He asked and took my hand.

"Don't let loose. If you need to stop, tell me. We will find cover.
But for now we must move. They are only a few meters from us." He
cautioned.

We walked east, quietly. I saw a soldier as he stopped and looked
behind him at the column of his comrades approaching, he was ten
meters from us. But we escaped.

We made it to the cabin just before noon. Dreng had me hide behind a
woodpile as he went up checked the cabin out.

"Come." He spoke softly and waved to me.

I limped to him, but he rushed to me and picked me up and carried me
to the cabin.

"Aase. Your feet are very raw. I must clean them and bandage them.
Wait here." He said.

He had laid me on the feather bed in the middle of the small cabin.

Returning with a basin of water, some soap, and an aid kit he smiled.

"It will be well now." He reassured me, "After I am done here, we will
get into some warmer clothes. My mother has a pair of hiking boots
that should fit you."

I nodded as he gently washed my stinging feet, then bandaged them.
Then he cleaned my face of the dried blood.

"Now we find some food." He said clapping his hands together. He acted
as though this was a great adventure.

"Dreng. What shall we do if the Germans come here?" I asked him.

We had eaten. My belly was full but we both knew that there wouldn't
be enough food to last us much longer.

"I think the best thing to do would be for us to either work our way
inland to Telemark or west to Stavanger. But this is something we must
think about. The way will be rough. Neither one of us have papers. We
must think hard." He said.

"Ja. But now I think I would like to lay my head on your lap. It has
been a long time since you have held me." I said in my most feminine
voice.

I crawled over on the bed to him and lay next to him. He positioned
himself so that his back was against the wall and lay my head gently
on his thighs.

Stroking my hair he spoke softly, "Aase, I am very glad that we found
each other. I still remember the day that you came to see me when I
was ordered to my unit."

"I was very sad. I thought that I might never see you again, Dreng.
You are my very best friend. You have been a big part of my life." I
said.

"Ja. I have been very blessed to have the Pastor's daughter as my girl
friend." He said.

"I would be more if you wanted." I told him softly.

"Ja?" He was surprised, then asked, "My wife?"

"Ja. If you wanted. My family is gone. I have no one else to protect
me." I said.

"Don't you worry. No one will harm you as long as I live." He
reassured me.

"I know that I am safe with you Dreng. I will always be safe with
you." I reached up and touched his cheek. He took my hand and kissed
it gently.

We lay there satisfied to be reunited. The boy that I had known for so
long was now a man. He had guided us though the German lines safely.
Now I would willingly remain at his side for as long as we both lived.

"Dreng...if you wish we could go toRyukan. It is near Telemark. I have
an aunt who lives there. We could be safe for awhile." I suggested.

He thought about it for awhile.

"We could go there. But we can't remain. Before I was captured, our
Brigade commander had word passed that we should carry on the fight
anyway we could. There has to be others who are willing to stop
Hitler. We will find them and join them. I you choose not to fight,
then I will see you safely to your aunt's. But I swore an oath to my
country and my king. I will not surrender." Dreng said.

"I wish to be with you. I would be your wife if you would have me,
Dreng." I said.

He looked surprised at my statement.

"You would be my wife?" He asked, amazed.

"Ja. I could do no better." I replied.

"I will have you. I would be proud to have you as my wife." He
replied. He lowered his head and kissed. I wrapped my arms around his
head and held him tight to me.

I slid my hands under his heavy sweater and rubbed his chest.

"Dreng. We don't have to wait to be married. The country is in chaos.
We might never find a pastor. What if we made our vows before God that
we are married?" I suggested.

He never answered my question. Gently we unclothed each other. As we
lay naked on the feather bed and under a large down blanket, Dreng
gently entered me for the first time. I was not sure if he would fit
into me. But gently he rubbed my female area with his hand and when I
was ready, he got on top of me and slowly entered into me.

At first there was pain. I was virgin. But once the pain subsided, the
pleasure I felt was not to be found in the words of any language that
I knew.

"Dreng! Ahh...Jaaa!" I cried out as the first wave of pleasure shook
my whole being. My body was on fire!

Dreng's breathing became faster. I felt his abdomen tense and finally
he held me tightly as the warmth of his loins filled me.

We lay still, not moving. Not wishing to break the intense feeling of
wonder at what we had just experienced. I felt Dreng's seed slowly
seeping from me. It was a feeling I could never forget. To be loved
and protected by this man was all I wanted from life.

"Aase. I would protect you with my life." He vowed to me.

"Dreng. I will love you everyday of my life." I returned.

I awoke to the smell of kippers and biscuits. Dreng was already awake
and had prepared our breakfast.

"Aase. Eat. It is hot. You rest. While you eat breakfast I must make
sure that all is well." He said as he dished up my food.

As I kissed him good morning from the bed, he broke away abruptly and
putting on his army jacket headed out the door.

'Yesterday I was a scared child. Today I am a woman.' I told myself.
Now I could understand why my mother was always so cheerful and happy
the next morning after I heard her and father making love. Even though
my feet still ached, my whole body was alive. I was alive!

I had finished eating. I got out of bed to go tend to my personal
needs. I hobbled across the floor and went outside to where the out
shed was located. As I passed urine, my private area stung. I wiped
myself. There was blood on the paper. I was afraid for a moment, then
remembered what my mother had told me about the difference between men
and women. This was the first time I had ever known a man and this was
the proof of my purity.

I finished up quickly and went inside. I needed to wash myself, and
found the water pitcher and a wash cloth.

Cleaning myself with the water and wiping myself dry, I felt much
better. But then the realization of everything occurred to me.

'Aase, you must be careful! Dreng does not need a child to care for
also!' I warned myself as I tossed the water from the basin outside.

Dreng returned in twenty minutes. He was whistling to himself when he
walked in. I had finished my food and was cleaning up the remains of
our breakfast.

"Aase. You need to stay off of your feet. I will take care of those."
He scolded me gently and led me to a wooden chair.

"Sit." He ordered me. I sat down and he pulled out a footstool from
under the bed and placed my feet on it.

"Dreng. Where are your parents?" I asked him.

"I don't know. I went to the house and they were not home. That is
where the Germans recaptured me. Herre Larstad is a Quisling. I had no
idea he would notify the Germans. He has been at odds with my father
for many years. I will repay him someday for his deeds." He said.

I gasped. Larstad was in my father's congregation. I had always
thought of him as a grouchy old man, but never as a Quisling followed.
Quisling was a traitor to the Norwegian people. He was a devout Nazi
who had caused much chaos when the Germans invaded. Now Quisling was
in charge of the puppet government.

"Ja Aase. I am sure that it was Larstad. He has everything to gain if
my parents are denounced. He has wanted our land for many years but my
father would hear none of it. Now they are gone and I may never see
them again." Dreng said. I could tell he was sad.

"Dreng. We have both lost much. But now we have each other. I will
remain at your side, if you let me." I said softly to him.

"Then stay at my side and I will be at yours, Aase." He said and wiped
his hands. He came over to where I was seated and held my face and
kissed the tip of my nose.

"I will love you forever."He told me.

We remained in the cabin for three more days. By then my feet had
healed enough for me to walk. Dreng packed as much food into two
rucksacks as remained in the cabin. Dried fish, flatbread, canned
fruit, canned meats and potatoes.

"Tomorrow we go to Ryukan on the Hardanger Plateau and we will see
your aunt. But today we must allow your feet to condition themselves
to those hiking boots." Dreng said.

I had been given his mother's hiking shoes. They fit me a bit snugly,
but they were leather and they would stretch some. He had also fitted
me with some wool pants, a heavy sweater and some warm underwear.
Cotton and wool stockings padded my sore feet. No matter how cold it
got at night, I would remain warm. There were two heavy sleeping bags
hanging from our packs.

"We will hike with our packs to the falls. If the Germans stop us we
will tell them we are taking a vacation from the city until the
British stop bombing it. We can eat our lunch at the falls. I will try
to fish. Maybe we can have some fresh trout for lunch Aase. I need to
see if you will be able to walk long distances with your feet. When we
return tonight I will re-bandage them and put some more ointment on
them." He explained the day's schedule to me.

As we walked, I was so very happy to be alive! Holding his hand and
talking about our own plans for our future. The day was brisk and
clear. A wind from the north was blowing and all seemed at peace.

We reached the falls at noon. Dreng helped me off with my rucksack and
I gratefully lay on the grass as the sun warmed me.

Dreng laid out a blanket on the grass and I got up and laid on it as
he put together his fishing pole. It was a fly rod.

"Aase. Do you remember the falls here?" He asked.

"Ja. I came up here with you and your parents after church. This was
where you first kissed me Dreng." I replied.

"You do remember." He smiled and came over to me and sat on the
blanket.

"I could never forget that day. It was the day that I fell in love
with you. Oh, we were younger, but now that I look back, yes it was
love." I confided in him.

"Aase. I wish us both a very long life. I want to love you for as long
as possible." He told me.

"Dreng...I need to talk to you about something. We have slept together
every night since we came to the cabin. Dreng...we must be careful. If
we are not, well, there could be a child." I did not know how to
broach the subject to him, but did my best.

"Aase, I have been thinking about that also. You are right. We must be
very careful. But I know that when we are together, it is the most
wonderful thing in the world. If a child is to be, then we will be
ready. I will be ready." His words soothed me fears. All would be
well.

Dreng returned with two trout and a small bundle of sticks.

"We have lunch." He said proudly.

I sat up and smiled at him. Trout would be very good. I have not eaten
it in several months.

"I will prepare the fish." I told him.

"Nei. It won't be necessary. I have already cleaned them. Here, take
them and I will build a fire. You can cook them." He said.

As he lit and banked the fire, I was busy getting out the flatbread
and some canned elderberries for our lunch. When I had found the
items, Dreng handed me a green stick.

"Poke it into the fish and roast it on the fire. We don't have a pan
or any oil. This is the best we can hope for." He said.

I poked the first stick into the fish's mouth and skewered the whole
fish onto the green stick and set it on the fire. Dreng did the same
and set his next to where mine was.

"We will turn it in a few minutes. I think we have some canned cheese
down there also. We will eat a big meal now and have the rest of the
cheese and some flatbread for later." He said.

I was willing. I was very hungry.

After lunch we lay in the sun. Full and contented. My head lay on
Dreng's chest as we watched the clouds overhead move slowly to the
south.

"Dreng. How will you find those who are willing to fight the Germans?"
I asked.

"There will be ways. Perhaps someone will approach me; perhaps I will
decide to settle down with you. We will see." He said. His voice was
sleepy.

We headed north on the Kristiansand to Ryukan road. Being that we had
no papers issued by the Nazi's we would be detained by them if we were
stopped. But there were many that had lost everything in the invasion.
There were refugee camps scattered throughout the countryside where
Norwegian officials gave identity cards, which could be used to get
the ration cards.

As German army trucks came up the road, Dreng and I would hide in the
forest. We made it into a game, but we knew that once we had left
Kristiansand, we were fairly safe.

It was on the second day when we came across one such refugee camp.
There were many people that I was acquainted with from my father's
congregation. Rural people who had their homes requisitioned by the
Germans and now homeless.

"Aase!" A woman's voice called my name.

I turned and recognized Fru Hilders, a woman from the church.

"Fru Hilders. How are you?" I asked.

"We are fine Aase. I am so very sorry to hear about your mother."

"Yes. It is sad. This is Dreng Larsson...Fru Hilders...is there a
pastor or someone who can marry us in the camp?" I asked.

Fru Hilders looked at me in wonder.

"Ja. It is the Justice. I will find him." She said.

Dreng was talking to some of his friends, trying to find out what
happened to his parents and came back to where I was.

"They are gone Aase. Larstad turned them in to the Germans. I will
repay him for this. I swear!" Tears were rolling down his cheeks.

I kissed his face and held him close to me.

"Dreng I am so sorry. I know how you feel. But I am your family now."
I said.

"Ja Aase you are my family." He replied.

"I found Fru Hilders. She is a friend. She has gone to get the Justice
for us. We can be married. Today." I said to him softly.

He looked at me, surprise registered on his face.

"Ja? That would make me very happy, Aase. Only that could replace the
sorrow I now feel." He held me to him tightly.

Fru Hilders returned with the Justice from the small town of Aa. He
introduced himself and we identified ourselves to him. The marriage
ceremony was quick and legal. He recorded our names and the date in a
ledger.

"You are now husband and wife. Stay safe Herre and Fru Larsson." He
said and left.

Fru Hilders invited us to her tent for a marriage dinner.

"Fru Hilders" Dreng said, "I thank you very much. But I know that you
have two children and very little food. Aase and I have some but there
is not enough for all of us. We will go north in the morning. Thank
you for being our friend. God bless you." He kissed her on the cheek
and took my hand.

I waved goodbye as Dreng took my hand and led me into the woods.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"To our honeymoon suite, Aase. To our honeymoon suite." He said. His
smile was infectious and I laughed. It was the very best day of my
life.

Dreng made a small lean to and placed our sleeping bags on the ground.
The evening was beginning to chill as I removed my clothes. I lay on
one of the bags that he had unzipped and pulled it over me. I lay
naked and ready to receive my husband on this, our wedding night.

"Aase. You are so very beautiful." He said to me as he knelt down
beside me on the ground. He wore only his under shorts.

I had never thought of myself as beautiful. But his words reaffirmed
the praise every woman wishes to hear.

He stroked my hair with his hand. The long light brown hair he pulled
from my eyes as he kissed me.

"Dreng...I will make you a very good wife." I told him.

"Aase, I never had any doubt. As I will make you a very good husband."
He said softly.

I lifted the sleeping bag for him to lie next to me. Instead he kissed
my breast and flicked his tongue on the tip of my nipple. I shivered,
not from the air, but from his light touch.

"That feels good." I told him.

He smiled gently, stood and dropped his underpants. I saw his
manliness throbbing with desire. Each heartbeat registered as it moved
up and down slightly.

He lay next to me and we held each other tightly was we kissed. My
hand found his erection and I held it in my hand.

"Ohhh!" He moaned softly as I stroked it up and down.

My mouth found his and we kissed again. His arm went around my neck
and he pulled me closer to him.

"Dreng...please...I want you on top of me. Fill me, love me." I begged
him.

As we switched positions, I grasped him by his manliness and placed it
by my waiting womanhood. Slowly and gently he entered into me until I
was filled completely. My body was on fire, in spite of the chilly
night air. I moaned as he suckled on my breast and stroked my head.

"Yes!" I urged him, "I want all of you!"

He thrust harder into me until I could feel him fill me entirely. It
was a heavenly feeling. I moaned my pleasure to the night as we found
a rythym and maintained it. As the pleasure began to consume me, I
wrapped my legs around his back and held him tightly to me.

"Dreeennnggg!" I gasped as the first wave of pleasure enveloped me. My
breathing became more ragged and soon another climax took me over.

I began to untense my body as he emptied his seed into me.

My joy was complete that night.

We made it to my aunt's house three days later. It was not that far as
we caught a ride from some Germans who were being sent there as the
garrison. Most of them were young and far from home. They fed us and
wished us a long life when they found out we were nemly weds.

"I hold nothing against them. They are serving their country." Dreng
whispered to me as we ate some sausage they had offered to us. He knew
that I was apprehensive about traveling with them. It brought back
memories of my arrest.

I took his hand and kissed it. He was so carefree and charming as he
conversed with the soldiers.

The lorry dropped us off in front of my aunt's house and we waved
goodbye to our hosts. With full bellies we knocked on the door.

My uncle answered the door.

"Uncle Poul." I said as I hugged him.

"Aase! My it is good to see you." He said and eyed Dreng suspiciously.

"Uncle Poul, this is my husband Dreng Larsson. We were married three
days ago at the refugee camp south of here. Uncle Poul, mommy is dead
and so is Tryygve. Daddy is in Trondheim and the Germans are searching
for him. They arrested me but I was let go. We have no place else to
go." I explained to him.

My Aunt Sonja was my mother's elder sister. They had three children,
all girls who had already married and long since started their own
family. Uncle Poul let us inside and called his wife.

My aunt came out of the kitchen to greet us. Some coffee was made and
we sat at the table talking about current news.

Sonja cried when she heard that my mother and brother were gone, but
was overjoyed to hear that I was now married.

Poul turned to Dreng, "Now what do you plan to do, young man? You now
have a wife and a family can't be too far ahead" He asked.

"I will find a job and live in peace until the time comes to strike
back." Dreng replied.

My uncle nodded. "I was I was twenty years younger. I would join you.
What sot of experience do you have?" He asked.

"I am the son of a farmer. That and my short time in the army are all
the experience I have."

"You were in the King's army?" My uncle asked, now proud of the young
man who sat across the table from him.

"Ja. I was with the Kristiansand Brigade, the Sixth as a rifleman and
a medic. Aase and I went to Gymnasium together. I am a year older then
her, but I have known her all of my life." Dreng explained.

"I own a small mechanic shop. If you know about farming, then you know
about the things I repair. If you wish, you can work for me and I will
pay you something in addition to board and room. You and Aase can
start out here. If you wish." My uncle offered.


"I will be forever in your debt, Herre Engstrom." Dreng said. I
squeezed his hand. We now had a home to live in. It was a prosperous
home, like the one I had lived in before the war.

Dreng and I settled into our new lives. My aunt and uncle had a large
house. We lived in the upstairs portion where we could have our
privacy. Dreng worked hard for my uncle and my uncle rewarded him for
his hard work. We were registered in the town of Ryukan as residents
and our food rations were sufficient for our needs.

To get away, Dreng and I would hike into the country for unrestrained
sex. This was trully the best time of my life.

As summer waned and the fall brought with it the cool air, I found out
that I would bear my first child. By September I knew for certain that
I was pregnant.

I had returned from the doctor's office and Dreng was already home.

"Dreng! Why are you home now?" I asked.

He smiled and held me.

"Aase! I have made contact with some of our freedom fighters! I will
meet them tonight." He said.

My emotions were mixed. Perhaps because of the task that lay ahead for
me. Motherhood.

"Dreng...you are going to be a father." I said softly to him.

He paused and looked at me. A huge smile burst across his lips.

"It is wonderful!" He shouted and picked me up and twirled me around.

I laughed at his enthusiasm and held him tightly. I was getting dizzy
from him turning around and around.

"Dreng!" I laughed.

"Aase...oh Aase! I am so very happy." He said.

"Dreng if you are happy, then why do you talk of fighting?" I asked
him point blank. "This is not our war. Not any more." I added.

"Aase you are wrong. Right now hostages are being shot by the Germans.
Why? Because the refuse to betray their neighbors! It is our fight
Aase! It is everyone's fight." He said.

"Then what will become of me?" I asked. I hoped that this question
would stop him cold in his tracks. I was wrong.

"You will remain here. I will send for you when I am ready." He said.

"You expect me to have a child by myself while you are gone?" I asked
him.

"I will return before you have the child. In three days I will
return." He kissed me and picked up his rucksack. He had been packing
it when I came home.

"Dreng!" I cried out his name. He couldn't leave me alone. We had only
been married for three months and one week.

"Aase. I will return. I am needed." He assured me and left.

True to his word, Dreng returned three days later. It was the dead of
night when he woke me, his hand covering my mouth.

"Aase. Shhh!" He said and removed his hand.

"Dreng?" I said, still trying to wake up.

"Ja. Aase we must leave here. Two of our group were captured. It is
only a matter of time before the Nazis catch up with us. We must go. I
have written a note for your uncle and aunt. I told them that I have
found employment in Oslo. We must go quietly and now." He spoke in a
whisper but his voice had an edge of urgency.

I got out of bed and dressed quickly into the warmest clothes I
possessed. I took nothing else as we fled the house in the middle of
the night.