War Girls Complete Collection Chapter 149

Chapter 4

P

eter glanced at Ursula, slightly shaking his head at the stubborn woman.

“No. And this is my last word,” Ursula said.

“Ursula, but why on earth won’t you stay here?” Lydia asked, a pleading tone in her voice. Peter knew why but couldn’t very well confront her with her work for the underground network; at least, not where Lydia or the children could hear.

“Because I’m needed in Berlin.” Ursula pushed out her lip and put a hand on her hip, before she flinched with pain and smoothed her hand across her huge belly. By the looks of it, the baby could come anytime now, although it wasn’t due for another two weeks.

“Ursula, that is not what is best for you or the baby,” her mother commented. “Why must you be so stubborn?”

“It’s not stubbornness,” Ursula defended herself.

“Of course it is,” her mother said. “Here, there are no bombs going off at all hours of the night. There is plenty of food, and you couldn’t have a better person to help you through the delivery and the first few weeks in handling a newborn than Lydia.”

“I know what you say is true, but I still…”

“What? You will be all alone once you return to Berlin,” Frau Klausen said.

“I will still have you and Anna…”

“But we won’t be there all the time. I’m not even living in the apartment anymore, and Mutter has to go to work. What if you need help in the middle of the night?” Anna looked to Peter for help.

So far, he’d stayed out of the conversations, leaving the arguing to the women, but since they would leave the next day, it was about time to take a stand. He asked, “Ursula, you want to have a healthy baby, yes?”

“Of course I do.” Ursula cast him an angry stare, which didn’t faze him in the least. He’d stood up to worse opponents than a stubborn woman.

“Then, do what’s best not only for the baby, but also the mother. Your baby could come at any time. On the train ride home. In the middle of a bombing attack. Then what? Can you deliver your own baby?”

He watched Ursula’s face fall and saw the supportive nod Anna gave him. He was finally getting through to her common sense. “We’re not suggesting you stay in Kleindorf indefinitely, just until after the baby is born and strong enough to make the train ride back to Berlin. A couple of months at most.”

Ursula looked around the table and stopped at her aunt. “Are you sure I wouldn’t be a burden?

Lydia smiled and shook her head. “You will be an added part of our lives. Stay. Please.”

“Fine. For the good of my baby, I will stay here, but for no more than a few months. I wish to be back in Berlin before summer is over.”

Lydia patted her niece’s arm, “You’re making the right decision. And you’re not a burden. On the contrary, you can keep an eye on baby Rosa, which gives me more time to work on the fields. Now that summer and harvest is coming, I need all the help I can get.”

The next day they said tearful goodbyes before Jörg took them to the train station in Mindelheim with the ox-driven cart.

Ursula whispered just loud enough for Anna and Peter to hear, “If Tom somehow shows up in Berlin looking for me, will you let him know where I am?” Tom was a British RAF pilot whom Ursula had helped escape from Germany – and the father of her baby.

“Off course I will, although I doubt he’ll drop from the skies a second time,” Anna said. The two sisters exchanged hugs and kisses as if they’d never see each other again. Peter took a step back and raised his hands, fearful Ursula would do the same to him.

“Don’t be afraid, Peter,” Anna teased him.

“Write every week,” Frau Klausen said. “And give us a telephone call when the baby arrives.”

“We will,” Lydia assured her sister. “Don’t worry. Ursula is in good hands with me.” For a moment a shadow passed over her face and Peter wondered whether she was thinking about Lotte. The youngest, rebellious Klausen sister had stayed with Lydia for almost two years, before one well-meaning but rash decision had almost cost the young woman her life.

The first part of their journey was uneventful, but when they had to change trains in Munich, the wagons were even more congested than on their outward journey. Peter pushed and shoved inside the train, finding only standing room in one of the compartments. Anna and her mother followed him, sitting down on their suitcases for the next several hours.

He was relieved that he didn’t have to worry about keeping another woman safe on this return leg of their trip. Truth be told, he’d been horrified by the possibility that Ursula might deliver during the journey. Birthing was women’s domain, one that no man should be forced to witness.

Three times the train had to stop because of an impending air raid, and everyone disembarked, seeking cover in the nearby bushes. When they finally arrived in Berlin Peter was exhausted, hungry and in a bad mood.

The next day he returned to his work as driver for Professor Scherer, a renowned scientist in the fields of medicine and genetics. The British SOE had arranged for him to work for the professor, who entertained contacts with the who’s who in Germany. Professor Scherer’s house provided a constant meeting place for important politicians, scientists and artists. Being the Professor’s right hand had given Peter a firsthand view of things discussed off the record – which he dutifully transmitted to London.

He’d always considered his spying activities important, but recently he felt a strange restlessness. He should

fight

, instead of sitting around transmitting messages.

For so many years, he’d been hiding out with a false identity, telling himself he was of better use to Poland as a British spy than in a German POW camp. But many of his friends had chosen a different path and stayed in Poland, going underground to join the Home Army and fighting the Nazis every day with partisan activities.

Their efforts had been but a drop in the ocean against the overwhelming German military power suppressing the country. But now, change crackled in the air. In January, Home Army units had joined forces with the Red Army to defeat the Germans, and town after town was being freed from the occupation. Unfortunately, the friendship between the life-long enemies hadn’t lasted long and soon after every victory, the Home Army forces were disarmed and sent to Russian labor camps or forced to join the Red Army.

Nevertheless, since Stalin was an ally of the British, a country who’d guaranteed – but not kept their promise – to stand by Poland in case of an invasion by Hitler, Russia was the lesser evil compared to Germany.

Peter maintained contact not only with the British SOE, but also the Polish government in exile in London, and former friends now in the Home Army, so he had a pretty clear picture what was going on in his fatherland. While he pondered his next steps, something happened that changed everything.

On June 6th, the Allies launched a massive attack by landing over twenty thousand troops on the shores of Normandy, France. Goebbels’ propaganda ministry downplayed the events, talking about “minor fighting” in the radio broadcasts to the populace. But Peter had learned to read between the lines. If Goebbels even admitted to the fighting, it must be huge. As the days and weeks passed it became clear that the Allies were on track to liberate France and the Low Countries.

Peter decided to take matters into his own hands and transmitted a message to London, expressing his desire to go to Poland and fight in liberating his country.

The next day he received the answer:

Do not leave your position.

He uttered a few curses, crumpled the piece of paper and tossed it against the wall. His head sunk onto the desk in despair, and that was how Anna found him much later.

“Darling, what happened?” When he didn’t answer, she scanned the room, walked over to the wall, flattened the paper and read it. “What does this mean?” she asked, fear evident in her voice.

“It means that I’m staying in Berlin.”

“You never told me you were supposed to leave,” Anna said.

“I wasn’t.”

“And you’re not going to give me any further explanation, right?”

He looked at her, suddenly feeling the burden of the entire world on his shoulders. “I…I have this feeling that I need to do something more important than transmitting messages to London. I feel like a coward hiding out here in Berlin while my comrades are sacrificing their lives for our country.” Anna’s nose turned pale and he hated himself for telling her. She shouldn’t have to worry about him. Especially not since London had just told him to stay in his position.

“You’re not a coward staying here…” she said.

“No. Let’s forget about it.” He stood and wrapped his arms around her, placing a kiss on her lips. “How about I take you out to the motion pictures tonight?”

She tried a small smile. “That sounds fine.”