Read Online Daisies Are Forever by Liz Tolsma - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Liz Tolsma
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Kurt watched as Gisela limped behind her husband. Her foot was bothering her, but she said nothing. And Josep was so busy playing the hero, he didn’t notice.
She should remember he pulled her into the truck. He saved her from the Russians.
And what was an SS officer doing marching westward with this crazy band of misfits?
Kurt slogged on, his eye always on the beautiful woman in front of him. Her long amber hair had escaped its pins and flowed free and loose around her shoulders.
Beautiful. A Mozart concerto began to play in his head. His missing fingers ached. He longed to run them up and down a piano keyboard.
He hadn’t heard the music or desired to play his instrument in months. She made it happen.
Ja, he was smitten with Gisela for sure. And God—if there was one—had dropped her into his lap. Literally.
Too bad she was married. Gisela caught up to Josep and spoke into his ear. He smiled at her but . . .
But what? While the man gazed at his wife with longing, it was the look of longing unfulfilled. Of holding back. Of guarding his heart.
Kurt rubbed his forehead.
“Have you been to Danzig before?” Audra’s voice at his side startled him. The music ended.
She had linked arms with each of the old sisters and the three walked together. Her pale cheeks had pinked in the wind.
“Never. I never had the intention to visit the city either. London, New York, Paris. Those were the places I wanted to see.”
Her green eyes grew large. “Ja, those are grand places. I want to go to Hollywood, like Marlene Dietrich. Be a famous actress. Imagine, your name on a theater poster.”
“Or on the top of a concert program.” The war began and there went his dreams. Shattered. Like his arm.
“Perhaps you will see those cities someday. If you get to America, you can visit me in Hollywood. I will be a movie star by then. I could drive you around the city in my car. Or better yet, my chauffeur can drive us.”
Kurt leaned back. “How will you get to Hollywood?”
“I don’t know yet. But I will. You can count on that.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Gisela pull one of the girls’ hats farther over her ears. Such tenderness in her touch. For a moment, he forgot the woman beside him. Again she startled him when she spoke. “I’m from Schirwindt. On the border with Lithuania. I doubt you ever heard of it.”
“Nein, I never did.”
Gisela stroked the golden curls of the oldest child.
“Is something wrong?”
He forced his attention back to Audra. She did have a beautiful puckered mouth. “Why would you say that?”
“Because you get this faraway look in your eyes. Like you are having a pleasant dream.”
He cleared his throat and attempted to make his expression as blank as possible. It would do no good to let people see how struck he was by a married woman. A woman he could never have. “Pleasant dreams are difficult to come by these days.”
“Ja. I don’t know anything about my family—if they are alive or dead. Nine brothers and sisters.”
“I’m sorry. Those Russians are brutal. Heartless. They all deserve to be dropped in the cold, hard ground forever.”
Josep spoke to Gisela again and she stopped and turned to facethem. Fine lines radiated from her brown eyes. This war took too much from them too soon.
“Do either of you know Danzig?”
Both Audra and Kurt shook their heads at Gisela.
She shifted a sleeping Renate on her hip. “We will have to find accommodations for all of us. Tonight I would like to sleep in a house. No cart. No barns.”
Audra patted Bettina’s hand. “A roof and a floor. No hay.”
Gisela’s smile broke like a crescendo. “Ja, no hay. No horses or cows or pigs.”
Josep nodded. “Perhaps smaller groups. It will be easier to find a place.”
“Nein.” Gisela spat out the word. “We will stay together. If need be, we can sleep on the floor of the same room. Just to be warm and dry, I would do anything. And together we can work
Kurt watched as Gisela limped behind her husband. Her foot was bothering her, but she said nothing. And Josep was so busy playing the hero, he didn’t notice.
She should remember he pulled her into the truck. He saved her from the Russians.
And what was an SS officer doing marching westward with this crazy band of misfits?
Kurt slogged on, his eye always on the beautiful woman in front of him. Her long amber hair had escaped its pins and flowed free and loose around her shoulders.
Beautiful. A Mozart concerto began to play in his head. His missing fingers ached. He longed to run them up and down a piano keyboard.
He hadn’t heard the music or desired to play his instrument in months. She made it happen.
Ja, he was smitten with Gisela for sure. And God—if there was one—had dropped her into his lap. Literally.
Too bad she was married. Gisela caught up to Josep and spoke into his ear. He smiled at her but . . .
But what? While the man gazed at his wife with longing, it was the look of longing unfulfilled. Of holding back. Of guarding his heart.
Kurt rubbed his forehead.
“Have you been to Danzig before?” Audra’s voice at his side startled him. The music ended.
She had linked arms with each of the old sisters and the three walked together. Her pale cheeks had pinked in the wind.
“Never. I never had the intention to visit the city either. London, New York, Paris. Those were the places I wanted to see.”
Her green eyes grew large. “Ja, those are grand places. I want to go to Hollywood, like Marlene Dietrich. Be a famous actress. Imagine, your name on a theater poster.”
“Or on the top of a concert program.” The war began and there went his dreams. Shattered. Like his arm.
“Perhaps you will see those cities someday. If you get to America, you can visit me in Hollywood. I will be a movie star by then. I could drive you around the city in my car. Or better yet, my chauffeur can drive us.”
Kurt leaned back. “How will you get to Hollywood?”
“I don’t know yet. But I will. You can count on that.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Gisela pull one of the girls’ hats farther over her ears. Such tenderness in her touch. For a moment, he forgot the woman beside him. Again she startled him when she spoke. “I’m from Schirwindt. On the border with Lithuania. I doubt you ever heard of it.”
“Nein, I never did.”
Gisela stroked the golden curls of the oldest child.
“Is something wrong?”
He forced his attention back to Audra. She did have a beautiful puckered mouth. “Why would you say that?”
“Because you get this faraway look in your eyes. Like you are having a pleasant dream.”
He cleared his throat and attempted to make his expression as blank as possible. It would do no good to let people see how struck he was by a married woman. A woman he could never have. “Pleasant dreams are difficult to come by these days.”
“Ja. I don’t know anything about my family—if they are alive or dead. Nine brothers and sisters.”
“I’m sorry. Those Russians are brutal. Heartless. They all deserve to be dropped in the cold, hard ground forever.”
Josep spoke to Gisela again and she stopped and turned to facethem. Fine lines radiated from her brown eyes. This war took too much from them too soon.
“Do either of you know Danzig?”
Both Audra and Kurt shook their heads at Gisela.
She shifted a sleeping Renate on her hip. “We will have to find accommodations for all of us. Tonight I would like to sleep in a house. No cart. No barns.”
Audra patted Bettina’s hand. “A roof and a floor. No hay.”
Gisela’s smile broke like a crescendo. “Ja, no hay. No horses or cows or pigs.”
Josep nodded. “Perhaps smaller groups. It will be easier to find a place.”
“Nein.” Gisela spat out the word. “We will stay together. If need be, we can sleep on the floor of the same room. Just to be warm and dry, I would do anything. And together we can work
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