A Flicker of Light Read Online Free

window with the thought that somewhere he saw the same stars she did. Hans saw nothing. To grasp this horrible truth seemed impossible.
    She could not imagine a l ife without him .  She knew she was somehow going to have to find the strength within herself to go on, for the baby ’s sake, if not her own , but at that moment Petra couldn’t imagine how or where she would find that strength. She had no money and she could no longer turn to her family. I must think of something!  I must! Desperation set in. What to do? What to do?
    She would not fail her baby; she could not. Her tears fell onto the letter, smearing the ink. Without Hans, the Lebensborn would surely take the infant. And God help her, if the baby came into the world somehow imperfect, the Nazis would surely destroy it. She ’ d heard rumors whispered among the girls of the fate that awaited unsuitable children. What had she done? What devil’s contract had she entered into? She must escape from this place, she realized, and she must do it tonight.
    If she could just get far enough away from the Institute, she could try to find a ride back to Norway . She could not be sure how she would be received by her family, if she did in fact manage to find her way home, but she must try. If only she’d asked Hans where to find his parents’ farm, she could have gone there. But since she did not know where it was, she could not find it. Although the plan had no depth, nothing concrete to it at all, she knew she had to try. Petra bit her lower lip and called upon the stubborn nature of her ancestors. After all, had her father not told her she had the blood of the Vikings running through her veins? She had to do this; she simply had no other option. The child whose tiny heart beat steadily within her womb depended upon her.
    “It's all right. We're going to be all right,” she whispered to the baby.
    Once Ursula was asleep, she would wait a while for everyone else to get settled, and then get out before the guards changed their shift at midnight. An amusing and well-known fact among the girls had to do with Frau Klingerman’s “watch” over the house. Her tour of duty began at lunch time and continued until midnight, when she retired to her bedroom upstairs. Once the evening meal ended and night fell , Frau Klingerman , instead of patrolling the rooms, could be found sound asleep in her overstuffed easy chair, her round face resting on a full set of hairy chins. The old woman snored and grunted in her dreams. Fatigued from over indulgence in rich food, this “guar d” would be unlikely to hear Petra as she departed.
    Feeling like a hunted deer, Petra des cended the wooden staircase. She wanted to run, yet she could barely walk as her unsteady legs threatened to give out beneath her. The wood creaked and groaned under her weight. But as predicted, Frau Klingerman sat with her legs splayed apart, lost in sweet slumber, a line of drool running from her mouth onto the bosom of her green dress. Beside her on the table sat an almost empty cup of schnapps and a plate of half-eaten pastries, with yellow custard oozing and forming a small pool on one side. A loud honking noise sprang from Frau Klingerman's lips, freezing Petra in her tracks. She gripped the banister with white knuckles as she watched the woman, paralyzed with fright. Petra could not take a deep breath, and she panted like a startled animal. Finally, when Frau Klingerman did not awaken after a few minutes of observation, Petra continued on until she reached the end of the corridor.
    Turning the door knob with unsteady hands, she pulled her black wool coat tightly around her protruding belly. Then, without looking back, Petra stepped out into the harsh German winter. Late February brought a frigid north wind as she clutched a small handbag in her left hand; in her right she held her suitcase. Without a plan, Petra left the Institute forever.
    Her eyes glanced up at the tower; the men on guard there continued