Kirstin held Steiner’s arm as they entered church the next morning. She hadn’t slept the entire night, overwhelmed by the traumatic escape, her mind foggy. Initially, she was awake anticipating the escape. Then she was terrified, eluding border guards and barely returning in time to fool her husband – if she had really fooled him. She couldn’t understand what went wrong. She was inches from freedom, a minute or less away, and it was unbearable to think she had been so close to the new life that still remained beyond her grasp.
She was thankful she didn’t get caught, and she was amazed that she managed to elude the border guards. Soldiers came from all directions, preventing escape from the cemetery, but somehow, she weaved between them, like threading the eye of a needle, to return home s
