The Orphan List: Utterly heartbreaking and twisty historical fiction (The World War Two Orphanage Book 1) by Ann Bennett

Author:Ann Bennett [Bennett, Ann]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bookouture
Published: 2024-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

SIXTEEN

HEDDA

Bavaria, 1943

The train was making its way south from Munich, rattling through dense evergreen forests, past picture-book Bavarian villages, through rolling, fertile farmland. Up ahead, in the distance, Hedda could just about make out the shape of some jagged mountains on the horizon. They must be nearly there.

Nervously, she fingered Sebastian’s letter in her lap. How many times had she read it now? It didn’t matter, it gave her comfort.

She hadn’t wanted to write to him at first, but Aunt Ursula had insisted. Having no one else to turn to, she’d been forced to tell her aunt of her predicament, once she was quite sure that she was expecting. It would have been impossible to speak to Beate or Elsa. They were so jealous of her relationship with Sebastian, she just couldn’t imagine how they might react. But when she did pluck up the courage to broach the subject with Ursula, her aunt was less than sympathetic.

‘I know a woman…’ Ursula had said once she’d got over her initial shock at the news. ‘She lives not too far away from here. We can go to her,and she will sort you out. She doesn’t come cheap though so you must go to lover boy and ask him for the money.’

‘He doesn’t even know about it,’ Hedda had said miserably. ‘He’s away now, in the Wehrmacht. Fighting in Russia.’

‘Well, I’m sure you can write to him there. I’ve seen those letters arrive that you whisk away to your bedroom. They’re from him, aren’t they?’

‘Yes,’ Hedda had whispered, thinking about the stash of letters from Sebastian hidden in her underwear drawer. She’d been quite disconcerted by the letters though. They were full of tales of bravado on the Eastern Front and Sebastian seemed to revel in the triumphal acts of violence and warfare he was engaged in. She was surprised at their tone, but she was so in love, she was prepared to forgive him anything. It must be the shock of being in combat that had caused him to react like that.

She’d dreaded telling Sebastian about her condition and she’d dreaded even more asking him for money to get rid of their baby. How could she even think about getting rid of that tiny, innocent being growing inside her, the living embodiment of their love?

‘Well, if he won’t pay, we can go to his parents and ask them for the money,’ Aunt Ursula had said, interrupting her thoughts.

Hedda had looked up sharply. ‘No! I would never do that. And I’m not even sure if I want to… to go to your woman.’

‘As I see it, you haven’t much choice,’ Ursula had replied. ‘Babies born out of wedlock are shunned in the Third Reich. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the Führer is very keen on the idea of children being brought into the world and nurtured in a caring, traditional family. You won’t get very far without a husband nowadays, Hedda Jenner. Now, write to your fancy man this evening and let’s have done with it.

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