The Voyage by Roberta Kagan Read Free Book Online Page B

Alex stayed with the other three and watched carefully. Tonight’s incident had only served to increase his distrust. He sat on deck with Anna and Manny as Manny smoked Cuban cigars and told stories of his escapades traveling around Europe. “Better times,” Manny called them. “Before the New Germany.”
    Elke walked over to where they were sitting. Her platinum blonde hair took on a silver hue in the moonlight, and it did not go unnoticed by Manny. He found her to be ravishing. With her curvaceous figure, high heels and blue eyes, he knew he would have enjoyed a night sharing her bed. But so unlike his usual self, Manny decided against the seduction because of his feelings for Anna. In the past, he would have already been pursuing this magnificent creature, and because he wasn’t, once again he wondered if he had fallen in love.
    It was over an hour before Viktor came up on deck.
    “I thought I might find you here,” he said to Elke. “Again, please, all of you, accept my apologies for tonight.”
    Manny and Anna nodded. Elke did not meet Viktor’s gaze. Instead she looked out across the ocean.
    “Elke, will you take a walk with me?” Viktor asked.
    She nodded.
    They got up and walked as the moon began to rise in the sky.
    “That should never have happened.  The man responsible will be punished.”
    She nodded.
    “Elke, what are you thinking?’
    “The truth?”
    “Of course.”
    “I’m wondering what it is that you want from me Viktor. And…I am afraid of you, of your power to cause me trouble.”
    “I would never cause you trouble.”
    “Even if I told you to go away and let me be with my friends, and to stop trying to act as if we were living in normal times? I am a Jew and you are a Gentile, a Nazi too. This could turn out very badly.”
    “Do you really want me to leave you alone? I will if you tell me to.”
    “And then what will happen to me? To my friends?”
    “Nothing. The only thing that will happen is my heart will be broken.”
    “I am sorry for your feelings, but yes, Viktor, please leave me alone. This is not a good thing for either of us. Why begin something that can only cause us pain and suffering? You are going back to Germany. I am going to America. I can never return to Germany. We have only a few days left together before the ship docks in Havana. It’s best if we don’t even start a romance.”
    “Fine, I wouldn’t want you to feel pushed into anything.” He turned and walked away without looking back.
    That night, as Elke lay in her bed trying to sleep, she remembered everything that she’d been forced to do with the men from the Gestapo .  She was just a child when it began, only twelve. They were so taken with her Aryan appearance that they’d avoided arresting her or her mother in order to continue the “evening dates” with Elke. That was how they referred to the nights they would bring sausages and bread, or sugar and flour. There were four of them, all friends, all in agreement as to how much they enjoyed their time with her. Often they came one at a time, but once in a while they all come together. Sometimes they would bring dinner, but she could never eat. Because she knew what was to come next, and she dreaded the physical union. When the men were ready, they would take her to the small bedroom where she still kept her dolls and stuffed bear on the shelf over her bed. It had only been a few years since she’d stopped playing with them. And then it began. The first few times the pain had been terrible, lasting well into the following day. But as time went by, the pain ceased, and she learned that she could use her beauty to manipulate men. And so she did. That was how she’d gotten on to this ship. She’d promised them all something very special in exchange for her freedom. She’d delivered, and surprisingly they’d kept their promise. Once she‘d set sail, she assumed that her mother had probably been arrested. It saddened her, but in some ways, the