War Girls Complete Collection Chapter 182

Chapter 37

L

otte returned to the larger groups of men being loaded onto the trains, trying to rid herself of her tears before anyone else saw them. She couldn’t wipe them away without drawing attention to herself, so she kept her head down and blinked them away.

She’d volunteered for this work, but she’d never once thought it would be so gut-wrenching and heart-rending. Thousands upon thousands of defeated and disillusioned soldiers walking into captivity. One look into their dreary faces was enough to make her stomach clench.

Marking down their names on her list, she struggled to ignore that each check represented another human fate. Lotte did what she could to bring those prisoners a tiny bit of comfort. The water bucket at her station was always full, and she reminded every prisoner to drink his fill before stepping onto the train.

Although she believed, hoped and prayed that they’d be treated better than she had been on her journey in a cattle wagon, she was almost sure there wouldn’t be enough water to keep their thirst quenched throughout the trip.

The temperature had cooled down considerably in the last days, bringing October rains and heralding the forthcoming winter. With a shiver she remembered her last winter – standing hours and hours in the freezing cold with nothing to wear but her prisoner dress.

Her skin suddenly crawled from the certainty of someone staring at her back and she cautiously turned to see who it was.

Johann met her eyes and approached her, taking her clipboard without a word and running his finger down it until he came to Piotr’s name. He glanced to where she had written

wounded

beside it and then met her gaze. “Who was that man? He didn’t look injured to me.”

Lotte glanced over her shoulder, making sure nobody was within earshot, before she squared her shoulders and whispered, “He is my brother-in-law.”

Johann took a few moments to process the information and rolled his eyes before asking, “Any more surprises in your family I should know about?”

“Maybe…” she hedged, not wanting to tell him that her sister, Ursula, had just given birth to a baby whose father was a British bomber pilot. Nor that her nephew Jan had escaped from the Lodz Ghetto…Jan! She needed to find him immediately.

Johann handed the clipboard back to her with a sigh and she followed his strong back with her eyes as he walked away. He might be a Nazi, but he was a good man. Black and white truly didn’t exist within the confines of this senseless war.

Her shift dragged on, but at least she had a chance to talk to Gerlinde and find out where the civilians were held. She devised a plan on how to find Peter’s son and sister-in-law and then…she had no idea what to do with them, but somehow she’d get them out of Warsaw and to a place of safety.

Johann waited for her after work and together they ate dinner in the mess. It didn’t take much coaxing on his part to convince her to follow him to his room. They always tried to be discreet, but nobody really cared. With close to a million people to evacuate, the Red Army still camping nearby, and German soldiers relocated to places of higher priority, everyone was too occupied or too indifferent to enforce morals.

Oberführerin Kaiser would be shocked

. Lotte giggled at the thought and opened the door to Johann’s quarters. He was already waiting inside for her. He pulled her down onto his bed, showering kisses on her face and tugging at her uniform.

Later, she lay in his arms, in the warm afterglow of making love, and she decided there wasn’t a better time to ask him for a favor. She leaned upon his chest and smiled down into his handsome face. “Johann?”

He raised a brow and then sighed. “What do you want?”

“I need a favor,” she began, tracing his ear with a fingertip.

“A favor?”

“Just a small one.” She put her fingers together in a gesture to show how small. “I have a nephew living here in Warsaw…I would like to take him to Berlin and leave him with Anna and Mutter.”

“A nephew? How come I haven’t heard about him before?”

“You hadn’t heard about my brother-in-law before either,” Lotte said, putting little kisses on his chest.

“So, this nephew, does he have a name?”

“He does.” She traced her tongue across his skin. “But he cannot use it.”

“Because…” He pushed to his elbows, shooting her a stare. By now Lotte knew that when he had this inquisitive look on his face, she’d better tell the truth or come up with a real good explanation.

“…because it’s a Polish name.”

“I figured as much. But if you want me to help you, you need to trust me with the truth.”

Lotte sighed and cast him a pleading look. “I do trust you, believe me I do, but sometimes I think it’s for the best if you don’t know every detail. Just in case.”

“The name,” he insisted.

“Janusz Zdanek. His mother died years ago, and his father is headed for a POW camp. He won’t survive on his own. You know that.” She shed a few tears for good measure.

“You know that your tears don’t work with me, don’t you?” Johann teased her. The man knew her too well already.

“Alrighty then. But I do love him a lot and want to bring him somewhere safe. He’s just a child.”

“How old is this nephew of yours?”

“Twelve. Not old enough to be treated as a combatant, and without his parents…” She decided not to chance her luck by mentioning Jan’s aunt.

“So you thought you’d bring him to Berlin?”

“Yes. I just need a permit for my cousin Jan Wagner to travel with me and Gerlinde,” Lotte said, holding Johann’s gaze.

“You need a lot more than a travel permit. He needs papers too,” Johann said.

“We could say they got lost in the uprising. Everyone will believe it.”

“Too dangerous,” Johann said, giving her another of his stern looks and her heart sank – until she noticed the smug grin on his face. “But since I have become resigned to the fact that I won’t be able to keep you out of danger, I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thank you so much! I love you.” Lotte pressed a passionate kiss on his lips, showing her gratitude in the age-old way. Within minutes, their bodies slid against one another, repeating what they’d done earlier, celebrating life and their love for one another.