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✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲
I unfolded the clothes Merilu had given me. They consisted of a light cream-colored short-sleeved blouse and a dark green skirt that fell loosely to my knees. After dressing in the clean clothes and slipping into the shoes, I stood once more before the mirror and gently ran the brush through my hair.
I brushed it until every tangle was gone.
Although my body was still covered in bruises, burns, mosquito bites, and scrapes, my skin remained pale, my cheeks hollow, the dark violet circles beneath my eyes unchanged, and my lips still cracked, the rest of my appearance was no longer quite so dreadful. In truth, clean, freshly scented hair did wonders to restore the illusion of health.
When I entered the dining room, which opened into a small kitchen, I took in the people gathered there.
Seated at the large wooden table was a broad-shouldered, though not particularly tall, man with a pipe clenched between his teeth. A newspaper rested in one hand while the other stroked his thick, graying beard. A pair of spectacles perched upon his nose.
Standing beside the stove was the mistress of the house. She still wore the same sour expression, as though she had bitten into a lemon. Near the window stood Merilu, gazing quietly into the distance.
"Thank you once again," I said in German, breaking the silence, though I wasn't sure to whom my gratitude should be directed.
Three pairs of eyes turned toward me.
The man's gaze was unreadable but peaceful. Merilu still wore her gentle smile. Her mother, however, remained openly hostile.
"Thank you for taking me in. And for allowing me to wash."
"You slept for three whole days," Merilu's mother replied reproachfully as she switched off the stove and finally stepped away from it. "I had no idea what to do with you. You collapsed on my doorstep, but when you mentioned Tobias, I wanted to know why his name had crossed your lips."
She came to stand directly before me.
Now her expression was not merely stern—it was threatening.
"So you won't be getting anything to eat until you tell me the truth."
"He saved my life," I answered plainly, my eyes drifting from Merilu to the bearded man, who continued calmly smoking his pipe and reading his newspaper.
"Saved you from what? You're no German. Anyone can hear that from your accent," the woman spat.
"Well, for your information, German soldiers were attempting to drug the Allied troops with some kind of white powder. I believe it was a psychotropic substance," I began with a weary sigh.
"I saw it happen. Tobias kidnapped me to make sure I couldn't warn my own people. But when Hitler ordered him to kill me, he refused. Instead, he saved me. He helped me escape and told me you would give me shelter if I spoke his name."
