Chapter 8
1374 Words
At this time of year so far up North, days dragged on and on – much longer even than back home in Berlin. When Lotte stepped out of the canteen and into the garrison’s yard, the clear blue sky dazzled overhead. After the grueling winter months, when the sun graced the Norwegian coast for a few short hours a day, she marveled at the endless hours of light in late spring.
According to other Blitzmädel who’d worked here last summer the sun would never dip beneath the horizon during June and July. Even during the wee hours of the night the world was cast into a dim twilight. Lotte had believed their accounts greatly exaggerated, but alas, it seemed to be true.
BlitzmädelShe pulled her light coat tightly around her to subdue the shivers running through her body. Fear was shredding her being and she ordered herself to stop being such a coward. You knew what you were getting into, she admonished herself. A hundred plausible reasons could be the answer to Lina’s mysterious absence from the garrison kitchen.
You knew what you were getting intoBut one reason lingered.
Attacked Lotte’s brain.
Froze the blood in her veins to icicles.
One reason.
Try as she might, she couldn’t shake off the foreboding that something had gone wrong. Awfully wrong. The anguish drained her physically and she dragged her feet across the earthen surface in the yard. Suddenly she stopped in her tracks. Her legs felt leaden, her face turned to stone.
“Oh, no! No, no!” She yelled the words but no sound was uttered.
A young woman that looked oddly familiar was being hauled across the yard by military police. Lotte caught a glance of her face. Lina!
Lina!Run, Lina, run! she silently urged the captive who struggled against the might of three armed men.
Run, Lina, run!Horrified, she watched the uniformed soldiers manhandle the apprehended woman and shove her roughly into a waiting van. Just before one of the men rammed the door closed, Lotte caught Lina’s tortured gaze. It was but a split-second, but that expression held eternal sorrow.
An expression that would haunt Lotte for years.
Both women knew what would happen to Lina.
A dizzy spell weakened Lotte’s knees, but she couldn’t let the panic creeping up her bones gain the upper hand. As much as seeing Lina arrested aroused terror in her, even made her feel physically sick, she simply must keep her cool.
Lotte ducked her head between her shoulders, pulling the collar of her coat up around her ears in a desperate attempt to remain inconspicuous. Her ears burnt with the certainty that any passerby would see the guilt written all over her face. Would at one glance know her true identity. Spy. A traitor to Führer and Fatherland.
One thing was certain. Lina would talk.
Everyone talked. Everyone broke. Eventually.
These men had a range of heinous methods to extract confessions. It was only a matter of time before she spilled the beans about the identity of her contact in the Wehrmacht. Although Lina knew Lotte only by the name of Karla, the Gestapo agents weren’t a bunch of stupid old men and would soon connect the dots.
In a reflex, Lotte’s legs pushed forward to run, but she caught herself in time and willed her body to remain still – to walk like an innocent woman who had nothing to fear, because she’d done nothing wrong. Somehow Lotte managed to return to her barracks and crawl up the flight of stairs to her room.
Gerlinde was home, singing a popular tune by Zara Leander as she got dressed to go out for a drink, and hopefully, a good time.
“Where have you been?” Gerlinde asked, brushing her hair vigorously.
“Sorry, I got chatted up on the way.”
A girlish giggle escaped Gerlinde’s lips. “Was he handsome?”
“Why do you always assume it’s a man?” Lotte said, half laughing.
“Because of the odds. There are close to a thousand men in the garrison and only two dozen women,” Gerlinde responded, and then, bubbly as ever, laid out the evening’s plan for Lotte. “Since we don’t have to work tomorrow until after noon, I persuaded the old witch to extend our curfew until eleven p.m. Better hurry up and not make us lose precious time.”
“I’m not really in the mood to go out tonight.” Lotte’s entire body still trembled from the impact of what she’d witnessed only minutes ago – and what might follow once Lina talked.
“Come on, it’s our only night off this week. We need to have fun once in a while,” Gerlinde begged with a pouting mouth. God only knew where she’d procured the red lipstick that she now used to carefully trace her lips. “There’s a handsome officer waiting for me.”
“Thanks, but no. I’ve had a terrible day and just want to curl up in bed and sleep for a hundred years.” In reality, Lotte was wracking her brain trying to decide whether it was best to make a run for it, or wait for the military police to arrive and take her captive.
“Come on, let’s make a night of it. A drink or two will relax you and cheer you up. You’re alive! Who knows what tomorrow will bring?” Gerlinde tugged at Lotte’s arm. “You can sleep all you want once you’re dead.”
The exuberant behavior made Lotte giggle and she considered the truth of her friend’s words. If she was condemned to die in the near future, she could at least enjoy the little time she had left.
“Well, if that isn’t the truth, I don’t know what is,” Lotte exclaimed as vivid pictures of her last moments on earth whirled menacingly around her mind.
She quickly changed into civilian clothes and added a couple of curls to her forehead. This hairstyle was all the rage these days and it suited her. Unfortunately, she’d run out of makeup and lipstick months ago, but Gerlinde generously loaned her hers.
“Ready to brave the night,” she finally said, giving a silly twirl.
“You look gorgeous, sweetheart. And I’m sure my officer will have a dozen of his comrades l*****g their fingers over you.”
“You know that I’m in love with Johann,” Lotte objected, tender thoughts about the man who owned her heart sweeping her with nostalgia.
“He’s far away, and I can assure you, he’ll find relief in the arms of some willing girl, wherever he is now. It’s war and the traditional rules about relations have ceased to be valid.”
“Not for me. And not for him,” Lotte said with a stubborn tone. “We will be faithful to each other.”
Gerlinde snorted. “Not even a little kiss?”
“Not even a little kiss.” Lotte stood firm. Others might think a kiss was nothing to worry about, but she disagreed.
“Not even if it takes years until you see him again?” Gerlinde teased.
“Not even if it takes my entire life. I will not betray him for as long as he’s still alive.”
“Oh, girl. But that doesn’t forbid a harmless dance with a dashing young officer, right?” Gerlinde grabbed her arm, never one to be serious for too long. They stepped outside, a soft sea breeze rustling the leaves.
“It’s so lovely outside,” Lotte said, breathing in the sharp fresh air, even as she braced herself for the wrath of her persecutors, who would surely be waiting for her.
“Yes, it is,” Gerlinde agreed. “Wouldn’t it have been a shame to stay home?”
“As always, you’re right, Fräulein Weiler.”
“Just listen to me, Fräulein Wagner, and you’ll never go wrong.” Gerlinde giggled, executing a perfect twirl. “I promise, we’ll have a grand time. Anything’s possible.”
Lotte shuddered at the possibilities of the coming hours and hoped her friend’s words didn’t prove prophetic.
- Writer
