When We Were Brave by Karla M Jay

Author:Karla M Jay [Jay, Karla M]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780578477077
Published: 2019-04-13T22:00:00+00:00

The evening’s final count complete, the men washed up and headed to supper. In the dining barracks, Heichel stood in a knot of the most devout Nazis who then—all at once—turned and looked Falk’s way. He felt it in his gut. They planned to attack him tonight. Dying here after coming this far would not happen. He had a new scheme, but whether he could pull it off or not remained to be seen.

Dinner this night was traditional roasted pork, fried potatoes, and applesauce cake. Pork for dinner meant fatback lard sandwiches in the men’s lunches tomorrow, a favorite of the POWs and guards alike. Falk had difficulty eating, though, knowing he might be dead within the next few hours.

He returned for another portion of potatoes and ate them while standing and set down his plate. He moved to the table with the coffeepots and cold-water dispensers. With a glance over his shoulder, he noticed the men and guards were all facedown over their meals, or busy talking. Except for beady-eyed Heichel, who glanced his way with a knowing sneer on his face. Falk leaned closer to the water dispenser and pulled a small bottle from his jacket pocket. Pretending to check the amount of water inside the container, he lifted the lid and poured the liquid from the bottle into the container. He then closed the lid and put away the bottle.

A POW nudged him from behind. “You getting water or what?”

Falk cleared his throat. “Think I’ll go with coffee, after all.”

Then he moved over to fill a coffee mug as the man took his place at the water dispenser. There was no turning back now. He headed to his seat and engineered a convincing stumble. Scalding coffee splashed onto his bare neck and inside his shirt. He gasped, dropping his cup and shouted curses to draw the guards’ attention. Two approached him as he ripped away his shirt from the burned skin, gulping big breaths. His chest burned like hell and real tears welled in his eyes. The guards escorted him out of the mess hall to the camp hospital on the guards’ side of the compound.

Dr. Birk Lauterbach sat outside the clinic, smoking in the darkness, the glowing tip of his cigarette the only giveaway he was there. Overhead, a few stars began to show, eternal lights that would remain long after he was dead, which Falk hoped he would not be within the next hour. The guards quickly explained what happened, and the doctor waved them inside.

Falk followed Lauterbach down a brightly lit hallway.

Once inside the exam room, Lauterbach pointed to his table. “Get your shirt off and let’s take a look.” He spoke to the guards. “Thanks, men. We’re okay here.” They left the room. Through the frosted glass window, Falk saw their silhouettes just outside door.

Falk gingerly climbed onto the table and took off his coffee-stained shirt. The doctor opened metal drawers, pulled out a roll of bandaging wrap, small scissors, and white adhesive tape, and set them on the counter.

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