And yes I realise I am two days behind on the wordcount. I shall catch up :D

So I think it's time I gave everyone a preview of what I'm writing. Not a lot, and hopefully not revealing too much about it, but a little extract to give you a flavor of the novel. Please keep in mind that this is completely unedited o.o Here goes.

“We’re lost.”

“No, we are not lost, Freund.”

Lorelie and Kobel were stood on a platform as a train whooshed past them, blowing Lorelie’s hair across her face. She shivered and tucked it behind her ear. Then the underground platform was left empty, save for a man sat halfway down on a seat, bent over a newspaper. Grime and dust carpeted the curvature of the tunnel walls, and the dim lights overhead flickered constantly.

The two friends had left their home only an hour ago, and Lorelie was already deeply regretting the action. It was unlikely that a whole division of the SS would arrive in Berlin just to find her and her mother. And wasn’t secrecy their style? Shouldn’t they have burst in in the middle of the night and took them then?

Berlin’s underground system of trains was nothing less than totally confusing. Lorelie had only travelled on it a few times in her life, and now regretted their decision to travel by train. If only they’d had her mother with them; Madalena had been born in Berlin and lived there all her life, knew the city like the back of her hand.

“Look, we can’t be far from Potsdamer Platz.” Kobel said, frowning and peering closely at the little map he held in his hands.

“Sollen wir einfach jemanden fragen?” Lorelie gritted her teeth as she asked the question for the second time that day. Shouldn’t we just ask someone?

“Nein, Lorelie, können wir nicht.” Kobel replied seriously, not looking up from his map. No, Lorelie, we can’t. “Es ist noch zu großes Risiko.” It is too much of a risk.

He was right. Ask the wrong person and they could end up in the Gestapo’s possession. And that was at the bottom of Lorelie’s to-do list for now. They couldn’t know who to trust; if the rumours were to believed about Himmler’s Secret Police, they had spies everywhere to catch unwanted criminals out.

Suddenly Kobel sighed with frustration. “Where are we going anyway?”

“We need to find a place to sleep for tonight.” Lorelie swallowed, trying to think ahead. She hoisted her pack further up her shoulder as she spoke. “Then go from there.”

“We should go where they won’t expect us to be.” Kobel murmured, looking at the map again.

“Brandenburger Tor?” Lorelie suggested, hardly noticing the words coming out of her mouth.

Kobel looked up from the map again, and stared at her with wide and calculating dark blue eyes. He looked like he was thinking hard.

“That could be an idea.” he said slowly.

“They wouldn’t look there.” Lorelie pointed out. “And anyway, they will be too busy searching our homes tonight.”

She suddenly realised that the Gestapo would be inside her house. Tonight. Shoving her hands deeper into her pockets, she felt the reassuring shape of the diary in her inside pocket.

“Is there anywhere else?” Kobel sighed, scanning the map quickly.

“Underneath the S-line?”

The S-line was Berlin’s overground train transport system.

“Too risky,” Kobel shook his head. “They could look there. And it will be too wet.” he thought for a moment. Then he looked like he had an idea. “How about Arianna’s?”

Lorelie’s heart skipped a beat. If they found their way to Arianna’s house, they could actually be in warm beds tonight...

But as soon as she thought this she dismissed it instantly. “No, we can’t risk her being caught.”

Kobel sighed. “You are right. And anyway, that is too close to our own homes.”

Lorelie hesitated. “We still need to find someone who can read Russian.”

“She can, you said?”

She nodded. “At least, I think she can. Her father was born there.”

Kobel met her gaze. “Should we find her then?”

Lorelie hesitated again. “I don’t know. It could be too dangerous.”

“Let’s focus on finding somewhere to sleep tonight.” Kobel murmured, dropping his voice as another pedestrian strode by.

“Alright. Brandenburger Tor then?” Lorelie muttered, lowering her voice too. Although it was unlikely that anyone could understand them speaking in English. They both knew they were very lucky to be able to speak that language.

Kobel nodded.