War Girls Complete Collection Chapter 326

Chapter 45: Richard

Kleindorf, April 1946

H

is son was already two months old. They had named him Jarek after Katrina’s brother who’d died at the hand of the Nazis. Little Jarek had inherited his mother’s soft brown eyes and his father’s light blond hair.

After such a short time on earth, he’d already won over the hearts of the extended family and he was the only person who could make Rachel smile. After her return to the farm, she’d been sinking deeper and deeper into depression, the memory of the awful experiences preventing her from finding joy in her life. Richard was more than a little worried about her.

She needs some time to adapt

, Aunt Lydia liked to say. Katrina reassured him,

Wait until spring comes with more sunshine.

This weather is tearing down everyone

. But spring had come and with it sunshine, blossoming flowers and longer days. Everyone in Kleindorf had lost the grayish tone of their skin and looked more alive, better fed, and healthier.

Except for Rachel. She sulked in misery, unable to fight her way out. As soon as the first leaves of rose of Sharon had sprouted in Aunt Lydia’s herb garden, Katrina had made a potion for Rachel. But even this had only shown negligible effects.

Richard was at his wit’s end. He walked over to Aunt Lydia, hoping to get some wisdom from her, but she only shrugged, saying, “Some can forget and others can’t. We don’t really know why or how. The only thing we can do is wait and hope. But since you’re here, let’s go to the shed. I have a few things that you can take to the Epstein farm. They’ll come in handy now that sowing and planting season has started.”

He nodded, relegating worries about Rachel to the back of his mind as he focused on the task at hand. When he looked up much later, he saw a ragged looking old man stumbling up the driveway toward the house. The stranger stepped into the yard, aiming for the back door.

“There’s a man walking through the yard. Should I have a look?” he said to Aunt Lydia, who was still in the shed, setting aside tools she could give to Richard.

“Probably a refugee looking for food or work.”

Richard put the wrench on the ground and walked over to see what the man could want, but Sandra, his six-year-old cousin, beat him to it. She sprinted to the yard, put her hands on her hips the way she’d seen her mother do countless times and accosted the stranger. “What do you want here?”

Richard couldn’t hear his answer, but whatever it was, it must have impressed Sandra, because moments later she came dashing toward the shed. The stranger looked oddly familiar, though not enough to trigger Richard’s brain to come up with the name. His eyes were drawn to the man, because of the peculiar grayness. Not only the hair and stubble were gray, but also the hollow eyes, the skin and even his clothes. He seemed to have walked straight out of a cloud of gray dust.

“Mama, Mama, there’s a man who says he’s my father,” Sandra shouted even as she ran toward them. “But I told him to leave, since my father is a soldier.”

Lydia dropped the saw she was holding and clasped her hands together, before she gathered her skirt and ran off to meet the man in the yard.

Sandra looked at Richard with a foolhardy expression on her little face. “I don’t need no father; we’re fine as we are.”

Richard’s heart broke for the little girl who’d seen her father only a few times in her life. Obviously she didn’t have any idea what to make out of his existence. Lydia, though, beamed with delight as she hugged and kissed the man.

“Good lord, Peter. Where have you been? I never received notice. I’m just so glad you’re here…” Emotions overwhelmed Lydia and her voice broke.

Richard took Sandra’s hand and approached the couple. “Uncle Peter, I’m Richard.”

“The last time I saw you, you were but a boy.” Uncle Peter’s voice was coarse and he seemed to have difficulties standing upright.

Since his aunt had stopped thinking clearly and did nothing but fuss over her husband, Richard took the initiative and said, “Let’s go inside. You must be hungry.”

“Oh, how could I forget?” Lydia rushed away, no doubt with the intent of heating up soup.

“I’m sorry,” Richard said. “She is quite overwhelmed by your return. It has been tough on her, too.”

Uncle Peter nodded, his eyes telling stories about the atrocities of war – the same things Richard had seen during his time in the Wehrmacht.

“So they let you go?”

Richard shook his head, suddenly ashamed. “I evaded capture in Poland and walked all the way here.”

“Better choice,” Uncle Peter said with a voice as hollow as his eyes and Richard couldn’t decipher whether this was meant as a compliment or mockery. They reached the house and Richard helped his uncle get out of his greatcoat and boots – both torn and mended many times.

Seeing Aunt Lydia’s emotion laden face, Richard decided to give them some privacy and turned around, bumping into Sandra, who held an almost belligerent stance. “Does he stay here?”

“Yes, since this is his home.”

“This is my home! And we don’t need him here.”

“Look, sweetie, he’s your father. And while he’s been away for many years, now he has returned to live with your mother. To have a father is a happy thing,” Richard answered, not sure how to explain matters of life to a six-year-old.

She didn’t seem convinced. “Does this mean I have to do what he says now?”

“Well yes, that is what your mother expects of you.”

“Then I want him gone.” She glared at Richard and ran away. Following an impulse he went after her, but stopped the pursuit a few steps later. Sandra, and the other children, would need some time to adapt to the new reality of their lives.

Later, during supper, which should have been a happy celebration of reunion, a tense atmosphere hovered over the table. Sandra barely cast a glance at her father, and the younger children didn’t understand what was happening. Only the three oldest seemed to be glad that their father had returned from the war alive.

Lydia was too absorbed in her husband to notice anything. But, as always, Katrina picked up on the mood of those surrounding her and offered to put the children to bed.

Aunt Lydia thanked her with a glowing smile and quickly disappeared with her husband into their bedroom.

“I have no doubt that the two of them will be making the next baby tonight,” Richard said and added with an appreciative glance at Katrina with little Jarek strapped to her front, “Which I think is a great idea, and we should be doing the same once we return to our farm and Jarek’s asleep.”

Katrina blushed furiously and slapped his chest. “Hush, the children might hear you.”

He bent over to kiss her and whispered into her ear, “You’d better put those children to bed fast, because I’m starving for you.”