White Rose Black Forest(9)

A cough from the bed jarred her from her concentration, and the hammer fell out of her hand into the hole she’d created. She stood up as the man’s eyes flew open. He sat up in the bed, his face contorted into a horrible grimace. He clamped his eyes shut before opening them again and turned to where she, stunned silent, was standing. Pain and confusion clouded his eyes.

“Who are you? Why are you keeping me here?” he said in perfect German.





Chapter 4

His accent was hard to place. She’d known Berliners before, had heard their slender, harsh accents. He had some of the hallmarks of that, but it seemed there was something missing. It was hard to explain, almost like trying to describe a dance to a blind person. He was sitting up on the bed, his eyes imploring. It had been several seconds since he’d asked her, and his words were still hanging like smoke in the air. A thousand thoughts flashed through her mind, but she wasn’t quite able to catch hold of any of them. She stepped forward, her arms outstretched, her hands turned upward as if in a gesture of defense.

“I am a friend,” she said.

He didn’t reply, seemingly wanting more.

“I found you in the snow. You were unconscious. The pain you feel is the fractures you sustained in both of your legs.”

The man ran his hands along the splints she’d fashioned from the kitchen chair, and the grimace came again.

“My name is Franka Gerber. I brought you back here. It’s just the two of us. The nearest village is several miles away.”

“Where are we?”

“We’re about ten miles east of Freiburg, in the mountains of the Black Forest.”

The man brought a hand to his forehead. He seemed to recover from his confused state and spoke with some clarity now.

“You are with the police?” he asked.

“No, I’m not.”

“Do you have any affiliation with the Gestapo, or the security forces?”

“No, I don’t. I have no phone. I found you and brought you back here.” The words tumbled out of her mouth. Her hands were shaking by her side. She brought them behind her back.

The man narrowed his eyes before speaking again. “My name is Hauptman Werner Graf of the Luftwaffe.”

“I saw your uniform.”

“Why did you take me back here?”

“I found you last night. We were too far from anywhere that could have offered us any medical help. I didn’t have any other choice.”

“Thank you for saving my life, Fr?ulein Gerber. Are you associated with the armed forces?”

“No, I’m a nurse. Well, I was a nurse.”

The man tried to move his legs. His face twisted in agony, and she stepped forward again, right by his bedside now.

“Lie back down, Herr Graf.” It felt ridiculous to be using a name she knew wasn’t real. “I know you’re in great discomfort.” She looked around for the aspirin pills. They weren’t going to do anything more than temper his pain, but any kind of relief would help him sleep again. They were on the bedside table, which she’d shoved out of the way to reveal the floorboards, and now his eyes went down to the gaping hole she’d created.

“What is going on here? What are you planning on doing?”

“Just some repairs,” Franka said. “Nothing to concern yourself with.” She took out three pills and offered them to him. He looked at them and then back into her eyes.

“They’re just aspirin. They’re not much, but they’ll help until I can get something stronger.” She could see the pain in his eyes, and also the fear and confusion that he was working so hard to hide. He held out his hand, and she dropped the pills into his palm. She gave him water, and he swallowed the aspirin, gulping down the entire glass in seconds.

“Do you want more water?”

“Please.”

She hurried into the kitchen, glancing over at his rucksack on the floor of the living room as she passed. The guns were still inside. Her father’s gun was in the drawer of the dresser table by the front door. When she returned, he was trying to get out of the bed, his face sweating and distorted in suffering.

“No, please,” she said. “Lie back down. You have nothing to worry about. I am a friend.” She handed him the water. It was gone in seconds, as before. She took the glass back. He was still upright on the bed. He folded his arms across his chest as she began to speak. He looked as if he was concentrating on each individual word she was saying. “Lie down. We’ve no way of moving you. The roads are closed, and both your legs are broken. We’re stuck here together. We’re going to have to trust one another.”

“Who are you?” he said, rubbing the nape of his neck.

“I’m from this area. I grew up in Freiburg. This was my family’s summer home.”

“Are you here alone?”

“Apart from you. What were you doing out there in the snow? I have your parachute.”

“I can’t talk about it. That’s classified information. If I were to fall into Allied hands, it could be damaging to the war effort.”

“Well, you’re still in the fatherland. You’re safe. The Allies are hundreds of miles away.”

The man nodded, his eyes dropping to the floor.

“You must be famished. I’ll fetch you some food.”