Prisoner of Night and Fog by Blankman Anne

Author:Blankman, Anne
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Balzer + Bray

UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE

HarperCollins Publishers

..................................................................

24

AUGUST SLIPPED INTO SEPTEMBER, A MERE TEN days as the green rains of summer hardened into the red-gold of autumn. In the mornings, Gretchen helped her mother prepare breakfast for the boarders, and in the afternoons she stayed in her room, poring over Mein Kampf and the books on psychoanalysis Herr Doktor Whitestone had lent her. Geli rang to invite her on a trip to Hitler’s mountain home in two weeks’ time, and twice Daniel called her on the common telephone in the downstairs hallway—and twice she whispered he mustn’t contact her at the boardinghouse, in case her brother answered. But she couldn’t stop the burst of warmth she felt when Daniel replied he was worried about her and had needed to know she was all right.

The second night she was back, Eva had burst into her room, sobbing, her voice wobbly when she declared her father had no right to keep her from the friend she cherished most in the world and what on earth has happened to you, Gretchen, turn on the light and let me see your face!

When Gretchen clicked on the lamp, Eva stared for a moment, then wrapped her arms about Gretchen and cried. Eva didn’t ask again what had happened; it was obvious from her expression that she knew, and she promised they would always be friends, always, and someday she, Eva, would have some real power and she would send that beast far away from Munich.

As Eva cried on the bed, Gretchen stared at her reflection. Bruises circled her now-open left eye. Her still-swollen mouth had started to lose its puffy, misshapen appearance, and the cracks in her lips had begun to knit themselves together. The red imprint of Reinhard’s hand on her cheek had faded to pale pink. Bandages still covered her hands and knees. Except for the long blond braid shining down her back, she looked so little like Uncle Dolf’s golden pet.

She wouldn’t be that girl, not ever again.

She seized her sewing kit from the armoire’s top shelf. And even as Eva gasped “What are you doing, Gretl?” she grabbed the scissors and cut through the braid with one hard thwack.

She shook her head, enjoying the sudden lightness. Her hair barely reached her jawline. Freed from the heavy length, the strands had already started to curl. She looked like the flappers she saw sometimes on the streets, or in the American film magazines she and Eva liked to read: modern and daring and completely different.

Nothing like a proper National Socialist girl.

She barely heard as Eva started exclaiming over how sophisticated she looked, and insisting she sit down and let her trim and polish up the haircut. Dazed, she sat while Eva fussed and played with her hair, but she couldn’t rip her gaze from the glass. Different and new and completely herself—for the first time.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.