The Maid's Secret: Totally heartbreaking and completely addictive World War Two historical fiction by Shari J. Ryan

Author:Shari J. Ryan [Ryan, Shari J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781803147512
Publisher: Bookouture
Published: 2022-09-28T16:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-FIVE

MYTHS OF TRUTH

MILA, APRIL 1939

Ben is slipping on his coat and securing his boots. “I wish you didn’t have to go,” I say.

He takes my hand and guides me to the laundry room, a place we can often buy a minute of solitude. “I must go with Father. If Tobias is joining him, there’s no telling what will happen when we arrive at the Becker residence.”

These uphill battles seem never-ending, but I remember Mama always telling me that before we can win a fight, we must experience the hardship first. I can only hope her words stay true throughout my life.

“Why is it we allow people to decide whether we stay or leave?” I ask Mama as she weaves a tight braid into my hair.

She tugs on the braid. “Keep your head straight, dear,” she says, taking a moment to answer my question. “We prefer to stay only where we are not an annoyance to society.”

“We keep to ourselves, though. Why would anyone consider us to be a bother?”

Mama takes a deep breath, sounding frustrated by my question. “Mila, I think it’s time you know the truth. I’ve done my best to keep the darkness of this world out of the lives of you and your siblings, but you’re almost fourteen and it’s time you know the truth.” Despite the braid she’s working on, I twist my head to look at her. Mama’s hands travel with my braid. “Mila!”

“Tell me, Mama. Many thoughts have crossed my mind over the years, but I thought much of what I’ve witnessed was part of my imagination. It’s hard to accept a world that seems to be so cold and cruel to people.”

Mama sighs. “Well, as you know our family originated in India, but many, many years ago.”

“Why would our family leave India if that’s where we are from?”

“No one quite knows for certain. It seems there is a debate as to whether we were forced out by the military of Ghanzi or if the skills of our people were needed elsewhere. We as a race have become who we were ultimately intended to be: skillful, peacemakers, unified, and strong. We don’t need what others believe they must have to survive, but rather use the God-given land for why it was created.”

Mama makes us sound like innocent bystanders to a cruel society that has developed around us, but it’s hard to understand that so many would feel the need to hate when so few choose to show love. “Why do people who are different from us dislike our kind as much as they do?”

I straighten my head again so Mama can finish the braid. “Our roots are not from Europe, and many believe we are here to steal from their land.”

“But why?”

“It was less acceptable then to inhabit land where people did not originate. Therefore, when Romani first arrived in Europe, we were enslaved since it was all we could offer the country. Unfortunately, the view of our kind didn’t change and only grew worse.

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