War Girls Complete Collection Chapter 206

Chapter 20: Anna

Christmas 1944

C

hristmas Eve had arrived but it was a somber affair. Despite the uplifting rallying cries coming from the

Goebbels Schnauze

, as they called the small radio, nobody in their right mind still believed in a German victory. Anna secretly hoped for a quick end to the war.

Mutter always favored the old German proverb:

Lieber ein Ende mit Schrecken als ein Schrecken ohne Ende

. Better a terrible end than unending terror. Anna sighed, because she’d never voice it publicly. But despite the police state, people still expressed their mindsets in the subtlest of ways.

If only those god-awful nightly air raids would stop. Didn’t the English and Americans get bored with dropping their bombs and shells on a city that already lay in ruins? Every morning Anna had to climb across fresh heaps of rubble on her way to work.

Ursula had insisted they attend church. Because of the curfew, the Holy Mass was held in the afternoon instead of the traditional hour of midnight.

“Are you ready?” Ursula called out to her.

“Almost.” Anna draped a knitted shawl around her shoulders, her thoughts with Peter, who didn’t have the luxury of warm winter clothing. With a last glance at the mirror she put on her hat and a pair of gloves.

Jan rushed into the hallway, sliding across the polished linoleum, and skidded to a halt right in front of her. “Can we build a snowman on the way?”

“No, we cannot. We’re already late. But we can on the way back.” She smiled at the young boy who’d whirled into her life and her heart two months ago. She observed him a few moments and shook her head. “Your trousers are too short again. And your shoes!”

“It’s not my fault, because my toes are too big for them.” Jan wiggled his big toe through the hole in his shoes. Buying new shoes was as impossible as buying real coffee nowadays.

“I’ll ask at church if someone has a half-decent pair in your size.” She sighed.

“Let me see tomorrow if I can cut down one of Richard’s pairs of trousers for you,” Mutter said. Anna shared a look with her sister Ursula.

Their mother had defended the few remaining things of their brother Richard with teeth and claws, saving them for when he returned. Her willingness to mend them for Jan showed just how much she loved her step-grandson.

“I’m sure Richard’s fine,” Anna said.

Last time they heard from him he’d requested a transfer to the Eastern front. She knew Mutter still resented his decision, but Anna suspected that he’d had reasons for such a drastic measure. Since then they hadn’t heard from him. She stuck to the thinking that no news was good news.

Ursula put on her coat, gloves and hat and then went to retrieve Eveline. The six-month-old baby made gurgling sounds and scrunched her cute face into a smile. Anna smiled back, tickling the baby’s tummy with her fingers. Little Evie was the one thing sure to bring a smile to Anna’s face, no matter how bad her day at work had been or how morose her thoughts.

“Here, hold her for a minute.” Ursula handed the baby to Anna, while she fetched a blanket to swaddle her.

Finally, they walked down the stairs into a sunny but cold winter day. Anna remembered winters years ago when the freshly fallen white snow would transform into a greyish muddy mass beneath the wheels of the automobiles. Since a motorized vehicle rarely passed this place anymore, the snow still covered the asphalt, mercifully hiding rubble, potholes and other signs of destruction beneath a glimmering blanket.

If only all the hardships of war could be swept under the carpet as easily. Anna gave a loud sigh and Jan squeezed his small hand into hers.

“I’m sure he’s fine,” said Ursula, who had guessed her sister’s thoughts.

“I’m sure he is,” Anna repeated, although her heart broke at the memory of Peter’s rawboned figure in the patched-up uniform. Tears threatened to spill as she tried to imagine the Christmas celebration – or lack thereof – he would have.

After the mass they returned home to prepare their meager Christmas feast.

“You go and play with Jan outside,” Mutter said as they reached the front door of their building, which miraculously stood tall and erect despite the devastation surrounding it.

“We’ll be back in half an hour,” Anna answered with a smile to show she’d understood. Jan was too old to believe in the

Christkind,

the little angel Christ Child anymore, but they’d give her mother the satisfaction of setting out the presents and pretending someone else had done it.

She wrapped the shawl tighter around her shoulders and took off to engage in a snowball fight with Jan. Minutes later she was puffing and blowing, heat from the exercise making the shawl unnecessary.

A cold mass hit her square in the neck and she turned to see Jan raising his fist into the air. “Got you!”

She giggled, all the worries and sorrow falling away for a few minutes of blissful childish play. When she heard the tolling of the bells, she glanced at her wristwatch. Half an hour had passed and then some. ”Let’s go upstairs. We’d better not keep your grandma waiting.”

Jan nodded with a serious face, asking, “Does she really think I still believe in the

Christkind

?”

“Probably not. But we shouldn’t deny her the pleasure. What do you think?” She wrapped her arm around Jan’s shoulders and he leaned into her.

“I wish my dad was here.”

“Me too.” To spare the poor boy the disappointment, she hadn’t told him about her failed attempt to rescue Peter from the camp. “But I may have a surprise for you.”

“What is it?” His eyes lit up with joy and curiosity.

“A surprise. So I can’t tell you, but it’s something really good.” She grinned, enjoying the anticipation on his face. She hadn’t told him about Stan either, because the boy’s uncle had been in such a delicate condition. Now he seemed to be over the worst and would surely appreciate a visit from his nephew.