Daughters of Warsaw by Maria Frances

Author:Maria Frances
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: null
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2023-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

17

Warsaw, December 1942

The next morning, after a restless night haunted by nightmares of the night before, Zofia told her parents she had a migraine and wouldn’t be going to work. She knew her father would be at his workshop, and her mother had planned another day foraging for wild mushrooms, berries and herbs after she had walked Zuzanna to school.

As soon as they had left the house, Zofia got dressed in a hurry and rushed out, cycling as fast as she could to Irena’s flat. The sun was out and the winter air was crisp and fresh, a perfect day for a walk on the riverbank. But Zofia’s mood was dark. She still had the stench of the sewer in her nostrils and the sound of scurrying rats in her ears. And worst of all, she couldn’t shake the image of the whites of Helena’s eyes. It was haunting her, reminding her of the failed mission. She thought back to how invincible she had felt after the first few operations. How arrogant, how foolish she had been to feel that way! All the doubts she had had right at the beginning, when Lina had first told her about the resistance, rushed back into her mind, but this time, those doubts had increased a thousandfold. She pedalled harder, trying to focus on the burning sensation in her thighs to clear her mind, but the lingering doubts refused to be dismissed so easily.

When she arrived at Irena’s building, she leaned her bicycle against the brick wall and rang the doorbell to the flat. A few seconds later, the lock buzzed and she pushed against the heavy door to let herself in. Irena, who lived on the second floor of the tenement building, was standing in the dark stairwell, waiting.

‘Why are you not at work?’ she asked.

Zofia, her legs heavy after the fast cycle, took the stairs as quickly as she could.

‘I told my parents I have a headache,’ she said breathlessly, and added, ‘Have you heard anything?’

Irena looked around as though fearful someone might overhear, and beckoned Zofia inside the flat. She led her into a small kitchen and gestured for Zofia to sit down. It smelled comfortingly of tea and biscuits, and for a moment, Zofia longed to leave all the terror and hopelessness behind. What she wouldn’t give to just sit and chat with her friend!

‘You should have gone to work today,’ Irena said. ‘Everything must appear normal. Especially after last night.’

‘I couldn’t … I can’t think of anything else. My mind is spinning around and around in circles.’ She briefly shut her eyes, but was immediately beset by the haunting image of the terror in Helena’s eyes. ‘I keep thinking of poor Helena. Do you know what’s happened to her?’

‘She was arrested as soon as she emerged from the sewer,’ Irena said in a tight voice. ‘My sources tell me she’s in Pawiak Prison.’

‘The one inside the ghetto? The Gestapo prison?’

Irena nodded. She busied herself filling the kettle. ‘We mustn’t dwell on it,’ she said, placing the kettle on the hob and clicking on the gas.

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