The Forgiving Heart (The Heart of Minnesota Book 1) Read Online Free

up the baby before assisting his wife up as she carried the third child. 
    “Thank you,” he mouthed as they all crouched in the spot the captain directed.
    The transfer to the other boat was done quicker than Karlijna could have imagined , and, once again, they were being shooed down into the dark belly of the vessel. Like the other hold, it smelled of fish and sweating bodies. To Karlijna, who had smelled much worse, it smelled like hope.
    “How much longer, Erich?” the wife spoke in the darkness.
    “I do not know, my love.  Much longer still, I think.”
    Karlijna had been holding the eldest child, a boy of about four years or age, since entering the hold. She looked down at his fair hair and thought of her little sister, Veronike. Sadness gripped her young heart, but she would not allow herself to cry.
    Karlijna closed her eyes and forced her mind to Scripture. She began to recite the twenty-third Psalm. Though her lips were moving, she made not a sound for she knew the dangers of being heard.
    “Did you speak, Miss?”
    Apparently, the mother had been watching her and caught the movement of her mouth despite the dimness of their confines.
    Karlijna shook her head, “I’m just reciting something to calm myself.”
    Despite the dire situation, the woman laughed softly, “If you have a way to calm yourself, please share it.”
    “It is the twenty-third Psalm.”
    “A psalm of David?” the woman sounded confused.
    All speaking stopped at this moment because there was shouting heard outside. Certain they had been discovered, the fugitives’ eyes sought each other. The woman began to cry, her husband shushing and trying to reassure her.
    Karlijna did the only thing she knew to do, “Father, in Heaven, I ask, in Jesus name, spare us.  Please bring us safely into port.”
    She continued to pray this, not out loud – for she didn’t know if it would increase their chances of being captured, but with as much fervency.
    The trap opened. The passengers, fearing the worst, looked up in surprise to see the captain’s smiling face. They were further amazed to realize that daylight was already dawning.
    “Welcome to Sweden,” he spoke in German as he reached down, “let me give you a hand out of there.”
    Karlijna looked gratefully at this man who had given her freedom. He was probably in his early forties. His slightly weathered look about him was, no doubt, due to years at sea. He had wrinkles about his eyes as if he were accustomed to smiling. She decided she would have liked him even if he had not been the means of getting her to safety.
    As the husband followed the women and children up the ladder, he questioned the captain, “What were the shouts we heard a while back?  We thought for sure we were captured.”
    The captain laughed, “Those were my cousins shouting at us.  This is my hundredth trip in a row without being caught.”
    Karlijna stood on deck with the others and w ondered if they felt as she did. That this freedom was surreal – that it could not last long.
    She turned to the captain, “ You’ve done this for people one hundred times?  Why?”
    “Ah,” the captain raised his eyebrows at her, “I said one hundred times without being caught.  I’ve made nearly two hundred trips with refugees to Sweden.” 
    He did not seem to catch the shocked looks of those in his company, “As to the why. . .”
    H e shrugged carelessly, but didn’t reply.
    Karlijna was impressed by his willingness to help t hose in need. Especially since most of the people were likely in her situation and unable to pay for the service.
    “How many times were you caught?” the wife wanted to know.
    “Three times,” the captain spoke as he steered the boat to a dock. “Twice I hadn’t picked up my group yet, so the Nazis just sent me back to Swedish waters.  The other time. . .” his voice drifted off.
    There was a moment of silence before the wife asked, “What happened to the passengers?”
    “I