Page 79 of The Storyteller of Krakow

I reached over and placed my hand on his forehead; he was running a fever.

‘That feels nice, Lena,’ he said. ‘Nice and cool.’

‘You have an infection.’ I leaned back on my haunches, thinking of how I could get him medicine – there was no way. I could not steal it, it was locked away, rationed even, but there was someone who could help – Anka. And she had to – she simply had to, because Matthias’s story could not end here. It could not end just yet.

22

1944, MONTE CASSINO, ITALY

Outside, Wojtek walked close enough that his shoulder brushed my thigh, steady and heavy. I found myself speaking under my breath to him the way a child speaks to a doll, the way you speak when you cannot bear your own thoughts rattling around your head.

I walked fast. ‘You saw him,’ I told Wojtek. ‘You saw how he looked. I have no choice, do I?’

Wojtek grunted, and I took that for a no.

I reached camp at dawn and went to find Anka but she wasn’t where she should have been. Not by the tent, not by the cook line, not near the medic station where women sometimes helped when the blood got too much for the men. I asked two soldiers and got shrugged answers. ‘Gone.’ ‘On a detail.’ ‘Who knows?’

‘Without me?’ I asked.

One of them looked at me with annoyance scratched on his face. ‘Do I look like I give the orders out here?’

‘I never said you did.’ I stood my ground. ‘But it isn’t normal⁠—’

The other one cut me off. ‘What the fuck is normal? We’re at war or hadn’t you noticed?’

I was about to argue back, about to yell and swear, but then I spied someone – Zosia.

She was carrying folded sheets, and unfortunately, Janek hobbled beside her with a cane in his hand.

I had to risk it. I could not wait for Anka to return. I had to see if Zosia still remembered somewhere deep down that we were friends.

I walked towards them and when he saw me, his mouth curled into a nasty smile.

‘Look who it is,’ Janek said.

I didn’t answer him. I looked at Zosia. ‘I need you,’ I said. ‘Not later. Now.’

Zosia’s eyes flicked past me. ‘For what?’ she asked.

‘Just come with me for a moment, please.’ I nodded quickly at Janek.

‘If she needs something, she can ask in front of me,’ Janek said.

‘It’s personal,’ I said, thinking quickly. ‘Women’s things.’

He looked a little shocked, embarrassed even, and I found I liked it.

‘You know, Janek, women’s problems?’ I laboured the words.

‘I’ll just be a minute.’ Zosia looked at Janek then back at me and I knew she was waiting for him to give his approval.

‘Just a minute,’ he said, not looking at me now but at some point over my head. God, it was so funny. Men see blood, death and more but the moment you mention or even hint at your monthlies, they crumbled into dust. Funny how they were meant to be the strong ones.

I managed to get Zosia far enough away so that he could not hear, then leaned in. ‘I need your help.’

‘It’s not women’s things, is it?’ Zosia said, and I saw a hint of a smile that gave me some hope.

‘It isn’t. It’s something urgent though. Someone needs your help. They’re dying.’