Reyna Feldman, a twenty year old Jewish girl from the tiniest of villages in France, is on the run. Captured by German soldiers while trying to escape over the border, she's taken to an internment camp in Freiburg, Germany, where she meets SS Philli...
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Hello!!! Long time no see guys! I'm so glad to finally have a chapter to give you guys!! It's a little on the shorter side, but I'm wanting to get back into the swing of writing consistently! Let me know what y'all think!!
"Reyna?" A familiar voice called from the doorway of the foyer. "What are you doing down here?"
Reyna looked up from the page she'd been staring at, her eyes falling on Luca, who was carrying a large wooden crate in both arms. Closing her book, she sat up properly in the cushy, velvet armchair she'd stationed herself in a half hour earlier.
"The Stubaf had a lot of work so we cut our meeting short tonight," She replied awkwardly, unsure of what exactly she should say. "He said I could wait down here until you came back to fetch me."
"Well, you know what they say about idle hands," He smirked, nodding his head for her to get up. "Come on."
"Where are we going?" She asked. Standing to her feet, she trailed behind him as he continued farther into the house.
"You're going to help me stock the kitchens," He called over his shoulder, not missing a beat.
She followed him in silence into the kitchen, watching as he heaved the crate he'd been carrying, onto the countertop. Luca went to work unloading the crate, placing bags of flour and sugar on the counter.
"Top shelf to the left," He said, handing her one of the bags. She nodded and went to work placing the bags on the shelf as Luca unloaded them.
They worked like this for several minutes, Luca unloading the various crates of supplies he'd brought in, and Reyna putting each item in its respective place.
"Can I ask you a question?" She said, finally breaking the silence.
"Shoot," He replied, putting the last of the now empty crates at the top of the stack he'd made.
"There's a photograph on the piano in the Stubaf's study," She began slowly, "A picture of a woman ... Who is she?"
"What makes you think I would know?" He asked casually.
"Well you seem to know everything," She replied, cracking the subtlest of smiles.
"That's Kat," He said, bracing his elbows on the counter. "Katerina," He corrected himself. "The Stubaf's wife."
"Stubaf Shultz is married?" She crossed her arms over her chest, leaning back against the kitchen island.
"Was," He replied simply.
"Was?"
"She died."
"How did she die?" The words tumbled out before she could stop herself. She didn't know why she was so interested in the life Phillip had led before she met him, but she was.
"Cancer," He explained. "By the time they found it, it was too late ... Her entire body was eaten up with it. They gave her a year."
"That's awful," She shook her head, breaking eye contact with Luca.
"The Stubaf was reassigned here," He pressed on, the faintest hint of sadness in his voice now. "Somewhere Kat could go with him ... Somewhere she could live out the rest of her days in relative peace and quiet. She died six months after they arrived."
She glanced at Luca. His usual relaxed expression replaced with the smallest of frowns. They stood in silence for a while, the weight of what she'd been told settling in.
"How long were they married?" She asked, finally breaking the silence.
"I believe five years," He replied. "I half expected him to take another assignment after it happened ... Lord knows I wouldn't want to live in the same place I'd watched my wife waste away in..."
"What was she like?"
"She was kind," He began, after thinking the question over for a moment. "She hated the labor camps ... The whole idea of them disgusted her," He paused, smirking to himself at the memory. "She played piano ... I remember the whole house used to be filled with the sound of her playing."
Piano. That's what it had been. That's why Phillip had reacted the way he had to her playing it.
"Why are you so interested?" He asked, cocking an eyebrow at her.
"I accidentally knocked over her picture, and it broke," She explained, leaning against her elbows on the counter beside Luca.
"Ah," He nodded, his smirk widening." So that's why you were banished to the sitting room."
"He seemed pretty upset," She said, knitting her brows together.
"I wouldn't take it too personally," Luca shrugged, giving her a reassuring smile. "This time of year is always hard. It was two years this month."
She nodded. Maybe Luca was right. Maybe she was taking all of this to heart. She shook the thoughts away, returning Luca's smile. Tomorrow she would apologize... Tomorrow, things would be better.
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