She-Wolf

Part One

A mortuary service is being held as Theresa passes the church: another man come home dead from the war. But just one more turn, and another couple houses and they are home. Theresa is glad; her feet are hurting from so much walking. Their home is on the eastern side of the village of Weide—and the meadow in which they trained is across the stream to the west.

"I quite enjoyed today's training." Her younger sister Kristina has had quite the puppy-like spring in her step ever since they crossed the bridge into their village. Her smile and little giggles make her seem younger than she actually is.

"I'm sure," Theresa says with a smile. Though, when Theresa thinks about it she feels some kind of weight in her heart, an anxious feeling as if a terrible storm is closing in on them, like the war is no longer some far-off thing you only hear about in the news, but here, real.

Her eyes are still hot and watery from the smoke of the Panzerfaust she fired, the stuttering of the machine gun they trained with still echoes like a kettledrum in her ears. The MG 34, they called it. It leapt into her shoulder with such a powerful force that she thought she would lose control of it with each trigger pull. The week before they had been instructed with the shooting and handling of rifles: the Volkskarabiner, as they were called. But one might have mistaken them for a hunting rifle upon first glance, and looking closer Theresa wasn't sure what exactly to make of it. The rifle felt so rough when she held it, and the dull force of the plateless wooden stock bruised her shoulder when she fired it. But they fired all the same, even if they looked laughably poor in comparison to the rifles the army uses.

They are outside the door to their flat, and after going up the stairs to the second floor they are home. Upon opening their door she is hit with the smell of dinner: cold cut ham with boiled potatoes that Mother always makes on Sundays. Though because of the war and the rationing it has brought there is no cheese and Mother has only what's left of the week's limit of ham and potatoes to make do with.

Father has been watching them from the window, and has been waiting for them at the door. "Finally, they've done us a favour and let you come back to us."

"Evening to you too, Father," Theresa responds wryly, giving him a hug and a kiss. She knows full well how stubborn he has been in his resistance to Theresa and Kristina in joining with the village garrison, to the point where he once protested to Bürgermeister Braun and Kreisleiter Junker, with inevitably disappointing results. He's not alone, either; dozens of other townsfolk had other grievances, many of them being parents themselves. But both the Bürgermeister and the Kreisleiter have turned all of them away, for it is the Führer's orders...or maybe because they haven't a care about their grievances; Theresa can't tell which it is.

Kristina runs up to Mother and hugs her with a joyous cry. Theresa is next to hug her. Noting her still somewhat watery eyes, Mother asks, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Theresa says, wiping her eyes. "It's just all the smoke from the rifles."

She feels bad lying to her like this, but she too has had the same objections as Father, if but less forceful. She doesn't need to add fuel to the fire that has at least burned down to a hot simmer.

"I am hungry," Kristina says.

"When are you ever not?" Theresa asks with a playful slap on her shoulder. Though to tell the truth, everyone, even Theresa, have had their moments of hunger, when food supplies have become inadequate, especially when the Kreisleiter imposed rationing orders with various restrictions. It is then they had to be careful with what they could store and when they could eat. Mother has gotten some things from the black market, but that is dangerous work, with the Kreisleiter cracking down on that sort of thing. Swindlers and crooks, Father derisively calls them, though he has remained mostly silent on the matter, as have both Theresa and Kristina. Though for the girls it took quite a bit of swearing into silence, especially with Kristina, but Theresa can hardly say she approves of what ill depths Mother has gone to, even if it is for the family's own good.