Chapter 3

Nurse Hilde was strongly suspicious of where her shy young friend had hidden himself until the time of his capture, but she was unable to prove her suspected knowledge. She was called into the office of the Direktor and demoted on the spot for having been in a forbidden area. She was also assigned another undesirable task: she was to accompany a group of the girls to the border of Hungary and there to oversee the "Hygienic Recreation" of the returning troops. She made sure that Ruth's and Elizabeth's names were on the order list. She had vengeful plans of her own for those two.

Ruth looked at herself in the mirror in the cottage and then called Elizabeth's attention to the fact that she was looking years older than her sixteen years would indicate, then turned in startled surprise and informed the crying girl that she was to be seventeen the following day. That cheered Elizabeth somewhat until she remembered where she was and that a party of any type was out of the question. As a matter of fact, not only Ruth looked much older than her years would indicate but fair Elizabeth seemed to be aging at a rapid pace. Her heretofore smooth and wide brow was becoming somewhat furrowed with the beginning of worry lines.

Ruth looked closely at the crying girl and said, "Elizabeth, we have to survive this mess. If you cry all the time - my mother told me there was nothing worse for the face - you're going to look thirty next year."

Elizabeth howled in indignant anger and sadness and Ruth went to her and put her soft white hands on the girl's large breasts and spoke gently to her. She leaned over and kissed her softly on her fine pink lips and ran her hands over the girl's smooth skin. She pressed her lips more firmly into Elizabeth's and started to move them apart with her tongue when a noise split the air and caused both girls to freeze in position. It was the general call to formation on the compound.

They dressed hurriedly and washed their faces and ran for their assigned positions. It was colder than imaginable to both of the girls but they stood straight and tall and answered to the calling of the roll and the checking of names and the cross checking of dates of arrival. Ruth watched. The Nurse Hilde standing in front of the whole formation with a sheaf of papers in her hand looking important and sad at the same time. It came as no surprise to Ruth when the Direktor announced over the loud speaker that several "of the luckier girls" were to leave within the hour for a rest area. He also said, in a cold and formal way, that Nurse Hilde was to be in charge and that she would read a list of the girls selected to go.

Nurse Hilde stepped forward and read from her list, her voice filled with remorse and hate. Ruth's and Elizabeth's names were fourth and fifth on the list. Ruth took the girl's hand into her own, another forbidden show of affection, and tried to calm the poor girl's shaking. They were dismissed shortly and then returned to their cottage where they packed their meager belongings.

Ruth looked around the small room and knew that she was not the "lucky girl" that the Direktor had indicated. She felt reasonably sure that she would never see the place again. Yet there was a part of her mind that told her that she should be glad to be leaving. She reasoned that wherever she went she would be better off than where she was, that a journey - even into the unknown - was, after all a journey and she had always liked travel. Her young mind could give her warnings about many things but her experience, limited as it was, could never fill in any of the details.

Ruth cast one last glance around the cottage then took Elizabeth's hand and led her out the door. Ruth noticed that the girl seemed to be sleep walking. Ruth was troubled that she should have to be near mother to a girl who was her own age. But she sighed and accepted her task and spoke cheerfully to Elizabeth. "Come on, Liz. Cheer up. You like to travel. At least we'll be away from this place for awhile. Let's run."

Ruth did not wait for an answer from her but jogged ahead and Elizabeth fell in alongside her. By the time they reached the canvas covered truck that was waiting for them, they were both in a much better mood. Nurse Hilde stood alongside the truck with her sheaf of papers. She tightened up as soon as she saw the two of them and barked harshly at Ruth. "Get over here!" She commanded.

Ruth tightened her grip on Elizabeth's hand and dragged her over to where Nurse Hilde was standing. The big woman looked about her urgently, then, since she saw no one else within ear shot, said in a hissing voice, "I want you two Jewish bitches to know that I know where Kurt was the other night. You'll pay for that."

Ruth could have killed Elizabeth because she howled immediately, confirming the worst suspicions of Nurse Hilde. Ruth returned the woman's cold stare, dug her fingernails into Elizabeth's palm and spoke as calmly as possible. "I don't know what you're talking about, but I've heard something about that episode and we know nothing about any Kurt. Nothing."

Nurse Hilde smiled crookedly at Ruth and replied, "Oh no? That's a stupid thing to say, little bitch, since he was the one to fuck the hell out of you in the operating room,"

Ruth's face reddened at the crude language of the harsh looking woman, but she had to partly convince her that there was a possibility of her being mistaken. Ruth wanted to lighten her own punishment that she was well aware that the woman was capable of dishing out. She tried to steady her trembling legs and her voice and looked directly into the woman's eyes and said, "I heard no names mentioned. I hardly think that I would have, under the circumstances, remembered them if I had. The same can be said of Elizabeth."

"Get your ass in the truck and I better not hear one word from you again," Nurse Hilde screamed, seeming to loose all control.

Ruth turned from her with all the dignity she could muster, her head held high, and climbed into the truck, pulling Elizabeth after her. She sat forward on the wooden bench, as close to the cab as possible, because she realized with a start that it was to be a cold journey. She was cold already and the truck wasn't even moving. She directed Elizabeth to sit alongside her and put her arm around the quaking girl. "Get hold of yourself, Elizabeth. She can't do anything to hurt us," she said defiantly, wanting to believe the lie she was uttering to Elizabeth.

The journey was a bone jarring experience. Nurse Hilde sat in the front with the driver and Ruth could have sworn that every time she chanced to peek through the glass at the back of the cab, Nurse Hilde was playing with the driver's prick. Something certainly was causing him to drive like a lunatic. The truck swayed from one side to the other and seemed to hit every bump in the road. And it was cold. The icy wind whipped up Ruth's skirt at a furious pace and froze her thighs. She huddled close to Elizabeth throughout the first six hours of the exhausting journey, hugging the girl to her for warmth.

When the truck finally stopped to permit the girls to relieve themselves, Ruth could hardly stand up, her legs ached all the way to her groin. She was struck by the apparent loss of energy of the other twenty-three girls. They moved dejectedly out of the truck close by the head of Nurse Hilde, who shouted obscenities and jests at them as they disembarked. Ruth was the last one off the truck. The nurse took her arm and pulled her aside, then twisted her arm brutally until Ruth turned to face her. "How was the ride, Bitch?" she asked with a wicked smile on her ugly face.

Ruth felt like screaming. Her exhaustion was complete and her bladder hurt terribly. The continuous pounding that she had taken from the ride had irritated her kidneys and the coldness had deadened her nerves. She tried ineffectually to pull away from the horrid woman but it was no use. She stood as she was, Nurse Hilde's fingers biting into her flesh. "Screw you, Nurse," Ruth told her, hardly raising her voice.

Nurse Hilde had a fit. She flew at the defenseless Ruth with all her pent up fury and her voice broke forth in a cry of hate that filled the entire countryside. Ruth fell to the ground with the heavy woman on top of her, her hands over her face to prevent the beastly woman from ruining her looks with her nails; but she made not one sound. She saw a movement from Elizabeth and one from the driver of the truck. There was a wild scuffle and then the Nurse was abruptly pulled off her. The driver of the track held the nurse without effort and laughed through his broken teeth. He spoke in what Ruth immediately recognized as a north German accent. "Got myself a load of vixen, I have," he said and his eyes narrowed and zeroed in on Ruth's body.