Chapter 4

After forty-four hours on the road, the truck finally entered the wire enclosure of the Army camp and continued on through to another enclosure inside the first one, then stopped, throwing the sore and aching girls against each other. Not one of them made a sound. They were bone weary and their talking had been nil since they had watched the horrible scene of mayhem and rape performed on Elizabeth.

Ruth had never seen a person in a state of shock, but she was certain that Elizabeth was. She had not spoken since the incident. Her eyes would not focus and she had had to be forced to take even a drink of water. Ruth raged inside at the cruel world that would treat a child in such a manner. She had completely forgotten that she was herself a child, such had been her abrupt aging process. She stood wearily and pulled the non- responsive Elizabeth to her feet, then moved her toward the back of the truck. Ruth clambered down first, then helped the poor girl down. Elizabeth stood exactly as she was planted, her jaws slack, her eyes vacant and her hair disarrayed.

Ruth did what little she could to straighten Elizabeth. She ran a comb through her hair, tugged at her torn clothing, and then patted her softly on the buttocks by way of encouragement. Ruth tidied herself then looked around at the other nubile girls who had made the trip with her. She was certain that they all looked more or less alike and that their features were somehow distinct from the average girl. She swore at herself for having such a thought, because she remembered that that was what she had been told in her classes at her first place of detention in Vienna.

She looked about her at the frost heavy grass and the rising dust that was caused from the movement of many military vehicles, and wondered if there might be some way of escape. She laughed shortly to herself, then asked herself bitingly just where she would escape to. Suddenly she felt terribly alone, so cut off from any part of the world that she had known and loved so much just four short weeks ago. She would have wept but she lacked the energy. She wondered where Nurse Hilde had taken herself to, then told herself that she didn't really give a damn.

Suddenly the door of the nearest hut opened and Nurse Hilde strode out, followed by a Kapitan. The two of them approached the group of girls and stopped about ten paces from them. The Kapitan nodded to Hilde, then addressed the group of tired girls.

"All of you know what you are here for. I shall not remind you of your chosen tasks again, but I must inform you of the rules we have here. You must work to eat. Each soldier will give you a coupon for your services and that you will use to purchase food in the base store. You will not form any emotional ties with any one man here. Never. Most of them will be returning to duty very shortly - to the Eastern Front - and they do not need to be burdened by memories of your petty problems. You listen to them and try not to talk and you'll get along much better. I will not tolerate bickering or disorder of any kind. You are the first to occupy your quarters. So you will be given a twenty-four hour period to get them in order. And, he added, looking sideways at the Nurse Hilde who stood stoutly beside him, "even though your medical records are complete, I want you to come in one at a time for an interview before you are assigned your quarters."

"I hardly think that is necessary, Herr Kapitan," Nurse Hilde began before she was abruptly stopped.

"I did not, nor shall I do so in the future, ask you for your opinion, Nurse. You may proceed to your quarters now. Immediately!" The Kapitan barked at her.

Nurse Hilde looked as though she had suddenly lost her direction. She stepped away from the Kapitan after a slight courtesy in his direction, then went directly to the driver of the truck.

Ruth helped Elizabeth up the steps to the Kapitan's quarters and managed to be the first in line. She was still supporting the catatonic Elizabeth so that actually the other girls more or less fell back and permitted her to push her burden up the four steps. None of them, however, offered to help, a fact that Ruth stored away in her mind for later use.

Ruth stood holding the limp girl for about fifteen minutes. She thought she would collapse with her burden. She was on the verge of giving up and letting the girl slide to the floor if necessary, when a fat sergeant stepped through the door and bellowed in a voice that was used to addressing ranks of men instead of a single girl, "FIRST JEW IN!"

Ruth moved Elizabeth forward. The sergeant put a hand firmly on the silent girl's chest and said, "The Herr Kapitan said one at a time. Only one."

"She is unable to walk," Ruth said to the general direction of the sergeant and pushed her burden past him.