War Girls Complete Collection Chapter 134

Chapter 18

T

he rain came pelting down and Richard dashed into the house. He took off his muddy boots at the entrance door and then turned around to see Stan and Katrina watching him.

“Um...Stan wants to ask you something.”

“I need your uniform. Now,” Stan demanded.

“Why on earth would you need my uniform?” Richard replied, taken aback at the peculiar request.

“None of your business, Fritz.”

“Stan wants to walk into the Ghetto posing as a German soldier, and escort Agnieska out with him,” Katrina explained hesitantly.

“That’s your plan? Flimsy is an understatement. In fact, it’s beyond ridiculous. Anyone can see you’re not German from a mile away, and your picture on the wanted posters doesn’t help either.”

Stan sneered. “So you have a better plan?”

“I don’t, but as much as you hate me, I can’t let you rush headlong into disaster.” Richard didn’t so much worry about Stan as he did about Katrina, who had just lost her other brother.

“We have to do something,” Katrina insisted. “We have it on good authority that the deportations will start by the end of the month. If we don’t act swiftly, Agnieska is dead.“

“Even if he manages to get inside, he can’t just escort her out of the Ghetto. There are rules, even for Germans. Haven’t you read about that Wehrmacht officer who was caught red-handed with a Jewish girl in a hotel room? I believe both of them were executed for committing the capital crime of

Rassenschande

.” Racial defilement – sexual relations between Aryans and non-Aryans – had been forbidden since the Nuremberg laws of 1935.

“So what would we need to get her out?”

Richard furrowed his brows. “A work permit? If you could get her a work permit in one of the ammo factories…”

“And where do we get this, know-it-all?”

Katrina thought aloud. “There’s this man, he regularly buys our rabbits. He’s

Volksdeutsch

and has a high-up position in the administration. We could ask him, but we still have the problem with the uniform and Stan.”

A long silence ensued, where each one of them pondered their options.

“I will do it,” Richard finally said.

“You?” Katrina and Stan said at once.

“At least nobody will mistake me for a Pole.” Richard grinned, his heart beating frantically in his throat, fueled by both fear and excitement.

“But someone might recognize you,” Katrina said, her voice quivering with worry.

“It’s a risk I’m willing to take.” The more Richard thought about the plan, the more confident he grew. He’d been in hiding for much too long; it was about time he returned to the action. Saving a life to make up for all the lives he’d extinguished.

“Agnieska doesn’t know him. I should go. She’ll trust me,” Stan said. He was right. They couldn’t risk Agnieska making a scene or alerting someone. If she didn’t know about the plan she might inadvertently expose Richard and herself.

Katrina shook her head. “No. You won’t even get near the Ghetto before you’re captured. There’s a reason why you’ve been hiding in the woods.”

“You could send a message to Agnieska…” Richard proposed.

“By mail? Or how exactly should we do this?” Stan couldn’t stop bickering, but Richard had decided to ignore his attacks.

“Oh! I know!” Katrina hopped up and down. “Magda Lenska!”

“That might work.” Stan’s eyes brightened. “Yes, we will ask her to carry a message.”

“Who exactly is this Magda Lenska?” Richard asked and a slightly mollified Stan deigned to favor him with an explanation. “She’s the midwife around here. Has been for thirty years. She has a special permit to access the Ghetto.”

“Do you trust her?” Richard didn’t like the idea of having more confidants. The fewer people involved, the better. For everyone.

Both nodded enthusiastically.

“Stan, you will contact Magda and ask her to give Agnieska our message. I’ll try to organize a work permit meanwhile, and then Richard will take it from there.” Everyone nodded at Katrina’s words.

The next morning

Stan left on his mission to contact the midwife.

“You will be careful, won’t you?” Katrina embraced her brother and made him promise to come back alive. “I couldn’t bear to lose you, too.”

“Good luck, Stan,” Richard said, extending his hand.

“Count on that.” Stan half-grinned, ignored the outstretched hand, and stomped off.

As soon as Stan left, Richard kissed Katrina and held her tight. As always, the flame of desire kindled and he deepened the kiss. She opened her lips for him and the passion seeped in, blocking out all fear and anxiety, until she suddenly broke the kiss.

“Let’s get to work,” she said, her cheeks flushed in the sweetest pink. Richard’s heart always squeezed tight when he observed her. That girl – woman actually – had endeared herself to him so much that just the thought of ever being separated again pained his soul. Throughout the day Richard kept his hands busy with the never-ending chores of a farmer, but as the night settled, an awkward shyness evolved between them. Both knew this wasn’t just another adventure. The planned mission could well mean the death of everyone involved.

“I’m so worried about Stan,” Katrina admitted over dinner.

“He’ll do just fine. You’ll see.” Richard injected a confidence into his words he didn’t feel. So many things could go wrong, had already gone wrong. He helped her wash the dishes and then they settled into the armchairs, Katrina mending socks, Richard mending fishing nets.

“Today one of the neighbors came by and inquired about you,” she said.

“About me?”

“She’s seen you working in the field. I told her you’re a distant cousin from up North who has lost his home in the conflict. Your name is Ryszard Blach, by the way, because Richard Klausen won’t go over very well.” She smiled and his heart filled with love. “Up North they speak a dialect that sounds similar to the way your accent does.” Richard’s Polish had improved considerably over the past months, and he was fluent now. Even Tadzio had acknowledged his proficiency.

“Have you always lived around here?” he asked to dispel all worrisome thoughts.

“My great-grandparents came here from the Mazury. Back then this farm was at least ten times the size it is now. My parents both were healers with no interest in farm work, so they sold most of the land. We used to be well off…”

Richard put his fishing net away and touched her arm before asking, “How was it to live here during better days? It must have been a wonderful place.”

“Yes, Lodz was a delightful town before the war. I had a wonderful childhood with my parents and brothers. We were all so happy back then. I want to be happy again,” she said and raised her wonderful brown eyes to look at him.

“I want you to be happy, too,” he said, standing up and walking the two steps to her armchair and kneeling beside her.

“Meeting you was…life-changing. And I mean this in more than one way. You saved my honor in Baluty, but you did so much more. Your act of grace restored my belief in man’s inherent goodness.”

“Anyone would have done the same,” Richard said, his cheeks flaming with the praise.

“Nobody else did, and I can’t even blame them,” she said with a sigh. “Last summer, Jarek and Stan still lived here, but since they went into hiding…I honestly had no idea how to run the farm on my own after the winter. And then you came along,” a heart-warming smile lit up her face as she continued, “like a knight in shining armor.”

“More like a crippled beggar,” Richard said with a sarcastic chuckle. “If I remember right, I had to be carried all the way to your house.”

“True. When I saw you there, chained to your friends, I couldn’t let them hang you.” Tears welled in her eyes and he pressed a quick kiss on her hair. “Anyhow, I’m grateful you’re here, cousin Ryszard Blach. It’s good to have a man in the house.”

Oh, how he would love to be the man of the house. Her man.

He took her hands into his. “One might argue about this, but I consider myself the luckiest man on earth. Because I have found you, Katrina Zdanek.” Then he showered her with kisses. Needy, frantic, desperate. He longed to feel her close to him, to show her how much he loved her.

She clung to him, knowing that neither of them might survive the upcoming adventure. But in this very moment nothing mattered beyond their embrace. Tonight they needed to give in to their love for each other.

Richard scooped her up into his arms and carried her upstairs into her room with the big bed that had no doubt belonged to her parents and grandparents before. With the innocence of the first time, they discovered joy and passion in each other’s arms.