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

down the front of his pants or lined the inside of his felt cap . . .
    “Morty, quick! The Hauptsturmführer’s coming!”
    Morty whipped around to see the familiar officer in black moving in their direction. His aching muscles stiffened. “Hermann,” he growled under his breath.
    “You! Why aren’t you working?” the captain shouted from a distance.
    Morty stood silent, his back to the fence. He snatched off his cap and dropped his gaze.
    “You’re supposed to be here on kitchen detail, Jew. Digging in the dirt for your food.” The captain shoved Yaakov and Leo aside to plow past them through the heavy snow. He came to a halt in front of Morty. “What are you doing this close to the fence?”
    Before Morty could form an answer, the roar of the departing Mercedes rent the air.
    “Spying on Herr Kommandant, eh, Jew?”
    Morty took a fisted clout to the head, making him stagger.
    “Do you know what we do to spies, you filth?” Hermann’s fist came down again, knocking Morty to his knees. “Shall we visit the Kleine Festung and find out?”
    The Little Fortress. Morty’s battered senses rang with the threat. The small garrison outside Theresienstadt was rumored to be a place where the SS practiced various means of torture.
    “Answer me!”
    Morty ground his teeth as he felt his right arm twisted in its socket. He dared not meet Hermann’s gaze—his own anger was too great. “Herr Captain, I saw something . . . near the fence.”
    He opened his other hand to reveal a sharp-edged metal object that gleamed in the dull sun’s rays.
    “A Grand Cross?” Hermann released his arm and snatched up the shiny piece. “Who did you steal this from, Jew?”
    “I found it.”
    “Liar!”
    Another blow knocked Morty backward. Dazed, he struggled to his knees. “Here, in the snow,” he said, masking his pain and fury. “Is it valuable, Herr Captain?” He swallowed bile. Of course he already knew the answer.
    “This Grand Cross is from the First War.” The captain turned the medal in his gloved hand. “Less than twenty of these were ever awarded.” He looked at Morty derisively. “You soldiered in that war, didn’t you? You know that to earn such a decoration, a man must demonstrate remarkable courage in battle.”
    Hermann’s taunt failed to hide his grudging admiration. “Too bad that man will never see this again.” He closed his fist around the Cross. “It will look splendid framed on the wall of my office. Below my picture of der Führer, eh?”
    Morty schooled his expression despite Hermann’s malicious grin. Inside, he fought cold-blooded rage, letting it wash over him, beyond him, taking with it this latest assault on his pride.
    “Now, get back to digging. All of you, or I’ll begin to think you don’t appreciate my generosity.” Hermann’s look promised retribution before he turned and tramped back to the one-man guardhouse at the entrance of the Pflanzengarten.
    “How could you give the Hauptsturmführer your Grand Cross?” Yaakov hissed as soon as the captain was out of earshot. “You’re a fool, Morty.”
    Morty glared at him. “I’m a fool who will live another day! You both heard what he said. I had to think of something—or face the inside of the Little Fortress.” He shivered against more than the bitter cold. “No one leaves there in one piece.”
    He struggled to his feet, dusting the cold white powder fromhis clothes. “Besides,” he said, trying to muster conviction, “what do I need with that medal now, anyway?”
    “But you went to such lengths to keep them from taking it. When you told me where you hid it during the initial strip search . . .” Yaakov’s shoulders bunched. “It still makes me flinch.”
    “This time my hide was at stake. And I believe God would agree it the more worthy cause.”
    Leo leaned against his pick, wheezing. “But it seems such a . . . crime to just hand it over to them now, Morty. Especially to that . . . pig Hermann,