Read Online For Such a Time by Kate Breslin - Free Book Online

convinced him the city would be a better venue.
    Aric didn’t fool himself over his motives; he meant to protect her. His wounded dove . . .
    His jaded humor left him as he watched her eat. Last night she’d asked to leave. He’d all but refused her, telling her that he needed a secretary. Aric knew that wasn’t the whole truth of why he’d saved her. Still, whatever his real motives, he felt compelled to finish the task, to feed her until the hollows disappeared from her cheeks, dress her in fine clothes—blue to match the shade of her eyes—and pearls to encase her slender neck. She would smell of fragrant cloves and fine cigarettes, not body odor and fear.
    He willed her to heal quickly. For the sooner she looked like one of his staff and less like a prisoner, the better. Until her hairgrew out and the bruises on her face and hands faded, she was in constant danger.
    She emptied her bowl and then patted her mouth with her linen napkin. He noted a marked improvement in the healthy pink color of her lips. So full of promise . . .
    “I’m finished, Herr Kommandant.”
    A note of pride touched her voice. Aric let his report slide to the table. She sat perfectly straight in the chair with her hands in her lap, looking secretly pleased with herself.
    Her fear of him had disappeared . . . or at least abated. A promising start. “Soon you’ll grow so fat you’ll be wearing my clothes,” he teased.
    Roses bloomed in her cheeks, and her mouth curved upward. “I would need a lot more oatmeal, Herr Kommandant.”
    Stunned by her first shy smile, he quickly recovered. “Then I’ll have a convoy of trucks deliver the paste each week, and two cows and a beehive for the backyard!”
    Her smile blossomed at his words. So lovely . . . even with red hair. He rose from his chair. “Come, time to rest.” He held his hand toward her. She hesitated, but then took it.
    Despite her frailness, she looked smart and sleek in the houndstooth. She would be lovelier still, given time.
    Aric repressed the hope as swiftly as it began. Time was no longer a luxury he could afford. Nor was sentiment; it meant having to be human, to feel . He was a soldier, a machine, lacking the substance to change what he’d become, or the will to change what he must do.
    Stella would get her wish; the phone call with Eichmann had ensured it. Yes, his stray dove must heal swiftly, for in a matter of weeks he would become the monster of her dreams.
    Before that happened, he would set her free.

 5 
    And Mordecai walked every day before the court . . . to know how Esther did. . . .
    Esther 2:11
    T UESDAY , F EBRUARY 15, 1944
    N eedle-sharp barbs cut into Morty’s flesh as he grasped the Pflanzengarten fence. He immediately let go and cursed his impulsiveness. Sparing a glance at his fingers, he was relieved to see no blood leaking from the wounds. God knew there wasn’t enough of the red stuff greasing his frozen limbs to squander in the snow.
    The vegetable garden took up an acre of land just outside Theresienstadt and was surrounded by perimeter fencing and a dozen searchlights. Only the lucky residents of the ghetto—those who tilled the soil and collected food for the Nazis’ plates—were allowed a glimpse of the world outside the fortressed walls.
    Nothing grew now. Instead, only cold white drifts stretched across the earth that once gave birth to squash, carrots, and those precious red-tipped heads of lettuce. Nothing flourished except the hope that a few potatoes had escaped earlier notice and still lay hidden within their frozen womb.
    The biting wind made Morty’s eyes water as he stared backat the Mercedes pumping dirty white smoke into a leaden afternoon sky.
    The new commandant closed the latticed gate and strode toward the waiting car. Where was she? Morty squinted, as if his gaze might penetrate the ochre and chalk walls of the brick house. He’d heard it from Saul Goldmeier, who’d heard it from little Joseph Witte