War Girls Complete Collection Chapter 144

Chapter 28

M

anhandled into the flatbed truck, Richard crouched in a corner, his eyes watering at the sight of black smoke hovering in the sky over the farm. After a while, the truck passed through a tiny village.

“Stop!” someone shouted. “I’m hungry.” The other men joined in a raucous laugh. “And thirsty,” another one yelled. Cigarettes were lit and a solicitous man pushed one between Richard’s lips after he tied him to the truck saying, “Wait here. Be right back.”

All men jumped from the truck and swarmed out to the houses of the villagers, pillaging for food and booze. Their commanding officer made no attempt to stop them, but leaned back in the driver’s cabin and stuffed a pipe.

Richard tried to free his hands, but to no avail. The SS trooper had clearly immobilized a prisoner before. Knocking his head against the rear wall of the driver’s cabin in despair, Richard drew on his cigarette. He’d stopped smoking since living with Katrina, but now he was grateful for the raspy feeling in his throat. The cig would soon numb the hunger starting to rumble in his belly.

An hour or two later, the SS men returned with sated expressions on their faces. A few of them held booty in their hands in the form of bottles of vodka. They filled the truck, pushing and shoving for the best place.

“Hey you, Polacke, get out of my way,” someone said.

“I would, if you’d loosen the rope around my hands,” Richard answered.

The other one glanced at him and nodded. “Know what? Try to run and we make it a competition of how many bullets you can take before you die.”

“Understood.”

The truck started up again and with the rumbling and jolting on the dirt road, Richard was glad he could use his hands to soften the blows. Suddenly the truck came to a screeching halt, the driver cursing. Everyone jumped out, oblivious to their prisoner, appraising the damage. A huge trunk lay across the street, effectively blocking the passage.

Richard low-crawled to the edge of the bed when a sooty face with dark brown eyes stared at him.

He’d never been happier to see his nemesis.

“Get out,” Stan hissed.

Richard didn’t need to be asked twice. He slipped off the flatbed and followed Stan a few dozen yards into the woods, where a horse grazed. Richard’s eyes went wide as Stan mounted the horse, extended his hand, and said, “Hop on.”

Seconds later he came to sit behind Stan – how, he had no idea – and clung to Katrina’s brother for dear life as the horse galloped into the woods. After an endless ride, when Richard’s legs and behind went numb, the crazy horse finally stopped and Richard all but dropped down onto safe non-moving ground.

“Wasn’t that bad, was it, green-face?” Stan grinned at him and dismounted too.

Richard flopped against a trunk, turning his focus to regaining equilibrium. Who’d have thought that riding a horse was akin to mounting a roller coaster? A few minutes later he finally found his voice again. “Thanks for saving my life, Stan.”

“Nothing to speak of.” Stan made a dismissive gesture, although both of them knew it was indeed something to speak of.

“How’d you know?”

“Wasn’t hard to guess. The smoke column stood high in the sky and I rushed to the farm, but too late. The roof’s destroyed and flames licking at the wooden beams. Will all be gone by now.” Stan grimaced. The farmhouse had withstood wind and weather for over a hundred years – until looting SS bastards came to call.

“Katrina?” Richard’s breath caught in his throat as he waited for the answer. Relief spread through his veins as a grin spread across Stan’s face.

“Fine. You still much in love with her, Fritz?” Stan uttered the insult with appreciation rather than spite.

“Always will be. She’s a fine woman and I can’t imagine ever having to live without her.”

Stan gave an exaggerated sigh, saying, “I guess there’s nothing I can do then. Here she comes.”

The sound of clattering horse’s hooves became louder and then stopped. A horse-drawn cart stood several yards away on a beaten track Richard hadn’t noticed before. Katrina jumped out and flew into his arms, almost knocking him over.

“Darling, sweetheart, you’re here. You’re alive.” She showered him with kisses, before she let him go and turned to her brother, who held up his hands to keep her from doing the same to him. “Stan. I’ll never forget what you did.” Tears started rolling down her face and both men fought with their own emotions.

“Come on, I don’t have all day,” someone called from the coach box.

“That’s Bartosz. He’ll give us a ride to his farm,” Katrina said and used a moment of Stan’s abstraction to sling her arms around her brother’s neck. “Thank you so much, Stan. I know how you hated Richard, therefore I’m all the more grateful that you rescued him.”

“Get on the cart,” Stan ordered and wriggled out of her embrace, visibly embarrassed at her outburst of emotions. Then he turned to Richard. “Take good care of her, hear me?”

“You know I’d protect her with my own life.”

Stan nodded. “Better do that. If you ever hurt her, I’ll have to come and finish what your compatriots started.”

“No need,” Richard said with a chuckle. “Take care of yourself. I hope this war ends soon and we can all get back to our lives.” He knew it wouldn’t be that easy, and he also knew that nobody could just go on with their lives as if nothing had happened. But he hoped for a fresh start – with Katrina. Without glancing backwards, he climbed on the horse-drawn cart where Katrina already waited for him amidst the things she’d managed to salvage from the farmhouse before it had burnt to the ground.

The journey took several hours and Richard stretched out on his back, holding the woman he loved so much in his arms, the rocking and swaying cart making it almost a romantic ride, if it hadn’t been for the cackling hens and squeaking rabbits.

“I hope we survive this wretched war. I look forward to seeing my family,” Richard said, looking up into the sky. “And, I look forward to being together with you in peaceful times.”

“Well, I’ll have to give that a lot of thought,” she teased him even as she snuggled up against his side.

Warmth spread from his heart throughout his entire body and he couldn’t wait one second longer. He turned to look at her and asked, “Katrina Zdanek, will you marry me?”

She giggled with delight and pressed a kiss on his lips before she replied, “Yes. Yes. Yes. I would marry you this very moment if I could, Richard Klausen.”

“We have to wait until all of this is over,” he cautioned her, but she already started daydreaming.

“I imagine my family and yours being together, getting to know each other. I want to meet your sisters, your parents, even the aunt you told me about. Everyone. When there’s peace we can travel to visit them in Berlin or they could come here and spend their vacation with us. I want to restore the cottage and farm one day, become a healer like my parents were. Do you think you can live there, my darling?”

“I will live wherever you live, my love. I kind of grew fond of the country life. It’s hard work, but I have big plans for our future, too. Perhaps I could open a school and teach the children literature. Finer education has been neglected much too long in both of our countries,” Richard said.

“As long as both of us have time for our home and family.” Katrina sighed. “I want to have lots of little Klausens running about the place. What do you think of that?”

“I think you sometimes have great ideas, my beloved darling,” Richard replied and wrapped his arms tighter around her shoulders.

Thank

you for taking the time to read TROUBLE BREWING. If you enjoyed this book and are feeling generous, please leave me a review.

You’ll meet some of the characters again in the next book, FATAL ENCOUNTER.

Lotte Klausen and her Polish brother-in-law Piotr Zdanek are both in Warsaw on the eve of the Uprising – on opposing sides.

When they meet during the heat of the battle will they be able to spare each other’s lives or does the war between their countries tear the family apart?