A girl and her camera

Chapter sixteen

Hey! Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Currently in the Gold Coast for my sister's wedding. Anyway, the picture above is Judy Garland, whom I've pictured for Martha. P.S: Mature content, you have been warned! Happy reading.

Luckily enough for Martha, she did manage to ask Samuel about his relatives in Holland. It took a little while, after fierce kissing and sweet nothings whispered in her ear. But eventually, the two lovers had managed to pull themselves down from the cloud-nine they were stuck on, which gave Martha the perfect chance to approach the subject. Thank goodness she did too! For if they ended up kissing the whole time, that would've escelated into something else. Something that Martha wasn't ready to, until she was asolutely certain of her feelings for Samuel.

It turned out that the information that came from Samuel's relatives proved very useful. His aunt Elsbeth from his father's side resided in Amsterdam, with her husband Victor and Samuel's cousins; Frieda and Herbert. According to their last letter, dated '1940', the Germans drove trucks around during the day and night, picking up people at complete random, and deporting them to Westerbork; the Dutch transit camp. After that place, the fate of any Jew there was unpredictable. They could be sent to Aucshwitz, Bergen-Belson, or even Mauthausen. Any death camp in Europe; the possibilities seemed endless.

As for Samuel, Martha could tell that he didn't really like to talk about them. He felt lucky enough, stuck in this Ghetto, when there were far worser places him and his family could've ended up in. But his aunt...they hadn't heard from her since the last letter she sent. And that was two years ago. He didn't even know if they were alive! How could Martha probe him on that subject?

So instead, she took the information she could get, allowed him to kiss her silly a little more, then left. Thank goodness! She thought. Now all there was to do was go home, sleep, and get her information to Hanna as soon as she was at school. This, she felt, ought to keep her reasonably busy until she could see Samuel again. And when there was Samuel, there was more, delicious kissing, and a promise for the sweet, sweet tingles being in his arms gave her.

That night, when Martha returned home, she was thoroughly tired. Her legs felt like jelly, her head nodded, and she was yawning every few seconds. And once her bedroom door was closed, she was tempted just to throw herself, clothes still on, onto the soft, soft bed and curl up as she dozed off. But before she could make it to the bedroom door, Vera had stopped her.

"Martha?" She held Martha's forearm, with a slight, gentle grip. "Can we talk?"

"Mama, I'm tired." Martha sighed, "Can't it wait until the morning?"

"No Martha, I don't want to put it off any longer." She replied, firmly. "I wanted to...I just...oh Martha, I'm sorry!"

Even though Martha had been hoping, so badly for an apology, it still took her by surprise. Often enough, Vera could be just as stubborn as Samuel. Only once in a blue moon, had Vera took it upon herself to apologise for something. Michael's departure, being one of them. And now she was saying sorry to Martha. It just felt so...random.

"Mama, I-"

"No Martha, just hear me out." She pleaded, "Whatever is happening between you and Sam...I know it's not your fault. It's not anybodies fault, really. It's like this war; it's just something that happened. I just...you're a beautiful girl Martha, you really are. And I just worry that your beauty could get you into trouble. Like it'd done for me, when I was your age."

Again, Vera was talking about Jakob. And the 'trouble' she refered to was the unexpected surprise, in Michael's conception.

"I just forget sometimes, about what Samuel can be like. At heart, he is a very good boy. But his stubbornness comes as no surprise to any of us. And if he really wants you...it frightens me sometimes, thinking of the lengths he may go to have you."