A Light in the Window by Kummerow Marion

Author:Kummerow, Marion [Kummerow, Marion]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Historical Fiction, WW2
ISBN: 9781800192935
Publisher: Bookouture
Published: 2021-07-19T14:00:00+00:00

19

Horst Richter had been right. Due to the overcrowded trains and priority given to Wehrmacht soldiers, it had taken Margarete an entire week to arrive in Paris with more stops, deviations and changes of trains than she cared to remember.

Completely exhausted from queuing up for tickets, standing for hours on slow regional trains, sleeping on benches in waiting areas, she wished for nothing more than to freshen up, sleep and feel like a human again. But she hesitated to spend her precious money on a hotel and decided to continue her journey to Toulouse. Once there she could relax all she wanted.

Stepping off the train, she felt completely and utterly lost. Gare de l’Est had to be the biggest train station she’d seen, since in Germany it was forbidden for Jews to use public transport and this journey had been her first one on a train, except for the journey to Leipzig as Annegret.

Thankfully the German administration had put up signs in German everywhere, so she didn’t have to fall back on her rusty French. Still, the sheer amount of people going to and fro left her completely disoriented. Like on all the train stations she had passed through, plenty of men in different German uniforms were standing around, some obviously passengers waiting for their respective trains while smoking and chatting, whereas others occupied an official function, checking papers and tickets of the travelers. Between them she spotted the odd French policeman in dark blue uniform and that peculiar hard-brimmed hat.

She pondered asking one of them for the way to an affordable, yet safe, hotel for young women. But just as she set out toward him, she stopped again. Annegret would never ask a Frenchman for anything. Why should she?

Margarete took a deep breath, steeled her spine and adopted an air of confidence as she walked up to the pair of SS men checking papers. “Excuse me, meine Herren,” she said with her most convincing smile. “I’m headed for Toulouse, could you tell me where to find the train?”

They stared at her as if they’d seen an apparition. After an endless time during which she fought the urge to take to her heels, the younger one finally said, “Your papers, please.”

She handed him Annegret’s identification, her nerves tingling as he took his sweet time to scrutinize it. “Annegret Huber. A comrade of mine has a sister called Annegret, and his name is Wilhelm Huber. You aren’t his sister, by any chance?”

The blood in her veins froze and her heart missed a beat as she answered in the most nonchalant way she could. “I’m afraid not. Huber is quite a common name.”

“You’re right,” he said, giving her a friendly smile. “Tough travels?”

Despite having used the train toilet to make herself halfway presentable, she still must have looked exhausted. “Yes. Due to the holidays I’ve been on the road for a week.”

“Poor girl.” He cast her a flirtatious smile. “Your travel permit, please?”

A heavy burden fell from her shoulders as he returned

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