Women Of Courage: Daisies Are Forever Part 33

I once was lost, but now am found;

was blind, but now I see.

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,

and grace my fears relieved;

how precious did that grace appear

the hour I first believed.

She joined him, adding her alto harmony.

Through many dangers, toils, and snares,

I have already come;

'tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,

and grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me,

his word my hope secures;

he will my shield and portion be,

as long as life endures.

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,

and mortal life shall cease,

I shall possess, within the veil,

a life of joy and peace.

They had come a long way. A very long way, through many trials and peril. "He has, hasn't He?"

"Do you know this in your head or in your heart?"

She didn't have an answer for that question. "We have no guarantee that we will live to see our liberation. No promise that you will ever see England again, or that I will see America. No a.s.surance that you and Audra will get married."

He scrunched his dark eyebrows. "What? Married?"

She dismissed him with a wave of her hand. "It doesn't matter."

"It matters to me. I don't understand what you just said."

"You do."

"I really don't."

"Listen, we need to let the rest of the people in the cellar know about your discovery. We can finish talking about this later." Much, much later.

Although Mitch continued looking puzzled, they went inside together. He stopped her in the front hall. "Think about what I said. You and I have been so busy trying to make up for past wrongs, but we can't. G.o.d forgives. He protects. He gives life and takes it away."

It sounded so simple, to absolve herself of her guilt that way.

But she couldn't shake the truth that she had abandoned her cousins when they needed her most. And Opa and Ella and Herr Holtzmann. And Mutti. She had failed so many.

The next three days pa.s.sed in a haze. The sh.e.l.ling in the nearby suburbs was constant.

The Soviets had the city surrounded.

The noose tightened.

The battle for Berlin raged.

The bas.e.m.e.nt filled with people grew stuffy and confining. They had moved the couch, the kitchen table and chairs, and another bed downstairs. They lived here, ate here, slept here. Gisela was boxed in. The old women chatted about Paris and London and New York without ceasing. Where in the world they went on holiday changed on any given day. Any given moment.

Audra clung to Mitch. Kurt continued to sidle up to Gisela. With Mitch ensnared in Audra's clutches, perhaps she should turn her attention to the German soldier. He had never been unkind to her and had always been attentive.

Just the thought of Mitch made her heart thrum as if she had run a marathon.

It didn't kick up even a notch around Kurt. In time, could she love him, or would she always think of the British soldier with longing?

She studied Kurt's angular profile, handsome in a very Aryan way. Then she caught a glimpse of Mitch, his dimples creasing his face. Goose b.u.mps broke out over her arms.

Renate crawled on her lap and stroked her cheek in the way children have. "Why sad, Tante Gisela?"

"Oh yes, dearie, you should not be sad when in Copenhagen. This is such a cosmopolitan city." Bettina waved her hands in front of her face. "And the food is the best in the world. Listen to the band striking up a tune. It makes me want to dance."

Mitch caught Bettina's wrist and kept her in her seat. "That's not music. For now, you had better stay here. We can dance later."

"We can dance here." Bettina pulled Annelies to her feet. "This dance hall is nice enough. Let me show you how to do the fox-trot."

The little girl giggled as she made a clumsy attempt to follow Bettina's zigzagging steps. Annelies stepped on her partner's toes more often than not.

Gisela pinched her nose to keep from crying. Mutti and Vater had waltzed like they were gliding across the floor. It was magical to watch them. Oh, that they might come home.

Renate bounced on Audra's lap. "Me too. I want to dance."

Katya rose to oblige the child. "I hope you are a better dancer than that other girl."

Renate nodded, solemn as could be. "I dance good."

"I am glad to hear that."

Gisela couldn't help but laugh as Renate did more hopping than dancing. Her laughter died when she noticed the way Audra stared at Mitch. Without words, she was inviting him to dance.

Katya paused in the middle of humming a tune. "You do dance very well, even though you could be a bit taller."

Across the room, Jorgen slumped in his seat, arms crossed over his chest. She thought that once she rescued him from standing sentry, he would open up and blossom. Instead, he hunkered on the hard bench, face downcast all of the time. He had said not more than two or three words since he arrived.

Gisela slapped her thighs and went to him, holding out her hand. "Will you dance with me?"

He shook his head.

She shifted her weight to her left foot and tapped her right. "Dance with me. A man shouldn't leave a woman sitting alone during a waltz."

Again Jorgen refused.

She lowered herself on the bench beside him and he scooted over. "Why won't you join in the fun?"

The artillery fire picked up in intensity, a brief spurt of machine guns.

"I don't want to."

"That's not a reason. My mutti never accepted that answer from me."

He pivoted to face her, his blue eyes blazing. "You aren't my mutti."

"I know that."

"She will be mad that you took me away. Mutti said I had to protect the Fatherland and Herr Hitler."