Chapter tenJuly 1945
Inner-city Fiume
Lena learned of the death of her father and brother by way of a letter, delivered by courier—a young, shabbily clad boy no older than twelve. He had arrived by bicycle and climbed the stairs to the third-floor, inner-city apartment and knocked on the door. Nursing her six-month-old baby, Lena had answered and simply stared at the boy without comprehension. She was surprised when he placed a letter in her hand and became alarmed when she saw her mother’s scrawled handwriting on the single sheet of paper. She was so overcome with dread that she had to sit down before her eyes could focus on the words.
Her eldest brother Marco and her Papa were dead—shot by Communist soldiers at the farmhouse. It didn’t hold much detail. It was short and shocking and s
