Mrs. Tuesday's Departure: A Historical Novel of World War Two by Suzanne Elizabeth Anderson Read Free Book Online

me with you,” I begged.
    Swallowed in a yellow filmy haze, Max’s face faded from my view. “No, not yet, my darling. Not yet.”
    “Come back!” I cried, coughed, and reached into the emptiness but found nothing.
     
    Blinking back th e throbbing in my skull, I slowly raised myself and slid up the wall. The sun had set below the buildings casting long grey shadows down the street. A man leaned over, helped me to my feet, and then scurried away before I could thank him.
    “Max?”
    My head swam with pain. I stumbled forward and then saw the old woman sprawled on the sidewalk. I knelt and touched her face. It was cold and lifeless. I looked up as people walked by, avoiding my stare. Raising my head I whispered, “Dear God, have mercy on her soul and on ours for our sins.”
    Pushing myself up I managed to cross the street to the alley. There I found my basket of food untouched.
     

Chapter Twenty-Two
    Somehow, I foun d my way home. Mila and Anna met me at the door. The worry on their faces turned to anger when they saw the wound on my head.
    Anna touched my cheek. “What happened?”
    I handed Mila the basket of food as Anna took off my coat. “An accident,” I replied.
    “Who did this to you?” Mila demanded. “Were you robbed?”
    “No, it was the soldiers.”
    “I heard their bull horn, they were announcing another curfew,” she said. “I was coming to look for you.”
    The thought of Mila alone on the streets, confronted by the Arrow Cross...meeting the same fate as the old woman. Suddenly the full assault of the day’s events caught up with me.
    My eyes filled with tears and I reached out for Mila’s arm. “I need to sit down.”
    “You need dinner.” Mila grabbed my arm and I leaned against her, resting my face on her head. Her hair was smooth against my cheek, so soft, I turned and kissed the top of her head.
    Anna came to my right, placed her arm around my waist. She guided me to a chair and gently pushed me down into it. “Sit and I’ll be right back.” She hurried down the hall to the bathroom and I could hear her rummaging through the cabinet.
    “Mila, it’s not safe for you to leave the apartment,” I said. “We have to make arrangements to hide you. To get you to safety.”
    Mila placed the basket on the counter and began to take the food out. “I want to stay here with you.”
    I rubbed my head wearily. “Max said I should find someone to help us.”
    “Uncle Max?” Mila turned and looked at me, she furrowed her brow in concern.
    I saw the fear in her eyes and immediately recanted. “No, I’m confused. It was just a thought that occurred to me.”
    She shook her head, not ready to believe me. “We should call a doctor.”
    Anna came in and knelt by my side. With tender concern, she dabbed the wound on my forehead with a cotton swab and antiseptic. I flinched at the burning sensation.
    “I’m sorry, Natalie,” Anna said. “Mila’s right, we should call a doctor.”
    “No, I’ll be fine. We can’t invite anyone to come here it’s too dangerous. Just bandage it, Anna.”
    Anna’s eyes met mine as she placed the bandage on the wound. “Tell us how this happened.”
    “I was stupid,” I said. “Coming home from Mr. Nyugati’s store, I saw an old woman assaulted by the Arrow Cross. No one would help her.”
    “So you did.”
    “I tried,” I sighed.
    “And you got this for your efforts?”
    “Yes,” I said.
    “What happened to the old woman?” Mila asked.
    I remained silent; Anna looked at me and shook her head.
    Mila persisted. “What happened to her?”
    “It was too late to help her.”
    “They took her away?”
    I shut my eyes, seeing the old woman’s battered face before me. “When I woke up she was dead. They killed her. For what? Because her papers weren’t in order. Because she was a Jew.”
    Mila turned back to the stove, but her body shuddered. I pushed myself up from the table and embraced her. “I’ll just go to bed. We’ll sort this out