My Name Is Naomi

Chapter Eleven

Wolfgang settled down near the small fire he had created on a spot of dirt where he had cleaned away the inches of snow from the ground. Naomi was buried down in her coat, trying to keep warm. He tossed a couple more twigs onto the fire to keep it alive, but no more than that. He didn't want the fire so large that the Germans would find them. Naomi sneezed, pulling the collar of her coat up more. She looked up at him with pleading eyes, "Are you sure that we can't have a bigger fire?"

"Not unless you want to get caught." Wolfgang replied. He tossed her a couple of stones he found on the ground. "If you're cold, heat these up near the fire and tuck them in your clothing."

Naomi did as he suggested, waiting anxiously for the stones to heat up by the fire, as if they were her only lifeline. Wolfgang kept his pistol close to his side, keeping an eye out towards the edge of the forest for any intruders. He hadn't mentioned to Naomi that he had the pistol. He could tell she didn't completely trust him and didn't want to frighten her any further.

"Where are we right now?" Naomi asked, pulling the stones away from he fire, being careful not to burn her fingers as she tucked them into her coat.

"I think we must be close to Nuremberg. If not, then a days walk from it at least." He said.

Naomi yawned, "So we aren't near my family at all?"

Wolfgang studied her with sharp eyes, unwilling to give her an answer. He didn't need her running off to find them. Besides, they were probably dead by now. Wolfgang pulled his eyes away and focused on the fire, "We need to find you papers."

"Like indenrification papers? I have mine." she pulled them from her boot. "I always keep them in my shoes for safe keeping.

"Burn them." Wolfgang said.

"What? But-"

He snatched the papers from her hands and tossed them into a fire, ignoring the look of astonishment and hurt on her face. "You are Jewish. You think they are going to let a Jewish girl board a German ship? We will find someone else's."

"We can't steal someone's papers!" Naomi insisted.

"If they're dead we can." He said, curling up in the ground. "It's probably best if you get some shut eye for awhile. We'll discuss this in the morning."

Naomi opened her mouth to object but he shot her a glare from the other side of the fire. Naomi watched the last pieces of paper turn into smoke before she finally obliged and lied down on the soft, cold snow. She immediately fell asleep. Wolfgang couldn't imagine how exhausted she had to have been. He wished he could fall asleep so easily.  With the threat of getting caught at any moment hanging over their heads, he would never be able to sleep until he safely got her to Hamburg.

Copyright © 2017 by Rosanna Parker

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