Rescue

Meg walks on for a few kilometers until a man in a wagon rides up to her and offers her a ride. He introduces himself as Pierre, a friend of Pierre’s, who told him she might need help, so Meg gratefully accepts. Soon, as a car approaches in the distance, he urges Meg to jump off his wagon and hide. When the car stops, Lieutenant Becker exits and asks the man about a fugitive girl. The man pretends not to know her, but Becker knows that he has been helping people cross the border and arrests him. Meg watches the scene from her hiding place, terrified and heartbroken at the man’s sacrifice, and only keeps moving when the car has left.

Meg takes Pierre’s wagon and keeps going to the house he instructed her to get to. There, she reunites with Jakob, Liesel, Albert, and the girls who helped them. Liesel has stolen a third pair of skis in addition to the ones Jakob got from Meg’s house. Albert has helped the resistance at the home fix their radio, and they give him some spare parts that may be useful later. Now, in the Forbidden Zone and on their way to Switzerland, the fugitives start walking through the snow under the cover of darkness. A while later, they are almost caught by some Nazi soldiers, who shoot toward Albert in the night.

When the soldiers have left, the others notice that Albert is injured. He was shot in the thigh, and Jakob helps him dress his wound. Jakob, Liesel, and Meg put on the skis, and they put Albert on the sled before continuing. Liesel wants to go North as it is safer but closer to Nazi outposts, while Meg insists they stay off the trail, even though the terrain is more dangerous. Eventually, they decide to follow Meg, who is familiar with the area. Because Albert supports Meg and is protective of her and Jakob, the young girl starts to doubt that he could be a traitor.

The group comes into view of a Nazi bunker and stops to decide what to do next. Meg thinks about her father’s note and realizes that the last line of his letter should not be counted in his code. As a result, he was not warning her against “herr,” but rather against “her,” implying that Liesel is a traitor. She cannot warn Jakob and Albert, but now they are faced with a difficult decision. Because the others trust her, Meg decides to go through a dangerous pass, which could either save them or lead to their deaths. She is emboldened by her father’s words, “JE T’AIME DAISY” (his nickname for her), which she now realizes was his real anagram, rather than “MY IDEA IS A JET.”

Because of the recent snowfalls, the pass is prone to avalanches, so Meg gives her companions instructions on how to avoid setting them off. While they ski through the pass as fast as they can, Albert works on his broken radio transmitter. At the end of the pass, they stop when they notice a Nazi post just ahead of them.

Meg has an idea to distract the guards while they ski away in the other direction. She and Jakob throw some of Captain Stewart’s explosives near the post, prompting the soldiers to run toward the disturbance. Meg and her companions run the other way as fast as they can and eventually leave the soldiers behind. When they stop for a break, Albert tells them that he has successfully repaired the transmitter. They can now contact their allies so they can send help, but doing so would alert the Nazis at the same time. He asks everyone to think about it and then make a decision together.

While waiting for everyone to vote, Albert lies down for a nap, and Liesel suggests that Jakob and Meg have a look around. Meg walks away but doubles down and catches Liesel using Albert’s transmitter. She interrupts her, accusing Liesel of treachery. Albert, who was only pretending to sleep because he had his own suspicions, heard part of Liesel’s message telling Lieutenant Becker about their position. Meg, Jakob, and Albert get ready to leave, but Liesel escapes to try and warn the Nazis. Meg goes after her and catches up with Liesel at the top of a cliff.

Meg confronts Liesel, who admits to betraying her companions. She has been working with Lieutenant Becker to try and map out escape routes to Spain through the Pyrenees (their original plan) so that the Nazis could trap fugitives there. She is only working with the Nazis because they have her daughter, which the young girl sympathizes with. However, when Liesel shows her that she stole Harper’s note, Meg tries to get it back and, in the ensuing struggle, falls off the cliff. Liesel catches her, but the slope is icy, and she cannot hold on very well.

Albert and Jakob catch up with them just as Liesel is about to call out to the Nazi soldiers for help. They help both of them up to safety, and Liesel appears defeated. She asks them to tie her up to a tree so she can tell Lieutenant Becker that they overpowered her and escaped. She promises that she will stall the soldiers as much as possible.

Meg, Jakob, and Albert continue on their own. With about 20 Nazis on their tracks, they decide to split up. Jakob will pull Albert ahead while Meg delays the soldiers with more of Captain Stewart’s explosives. The explosion sets off an avalanche, which stops most of the soldiers, but Meg and a few Nazis are able to pass through.

Meg catches up to Jakob and Albert and watches as Jakob’s fishing line, which he has tied between some trees, slows down their remaining pursuers. Eventually, they see a bunker in front of them and start to despair, certain that they are stuck between their enemies. However, a man steps out of the bunker and tells them that they have successfully crossed into Switzerland and are now safe within its borders.

The group takes refuge in a house where other escapees are welcomed and fed. Albert finds a telephone to tell London that he is safe and fulfills his end of the bargain by telling them that Harper is in Frankfurt. He also brings back news of Meg’s mother and grandmother, who are safe in London after Captain Stewart helped them escape. Once Harper is safe, the Captain will bring them all back to London, too. Meanwhile, Meg pours over her father’s note again to try and figure out where he is planning to meet her in Switzerland. She determines that he wants her to go to a village near Mont Tendre.

Meg waits for her father with Jakob and Albert in the village indicated in Harper’s note. She wonders what will happen to Jakob, who seems unsure about his future as well. A car finally arrives for them. In it are Jakob’s parents, released after Albert bribed the Nazi authorities, and Meg’s father. They all reunite happily, and Meg concludes that her mission is now complete.