Live for Tomorrow

Hann Skroko Nancy

Description

Karina Winkler loves her job at a mens haberdashery in Aachen, Germany. When she assists a handsome WWI German soldier with a purchase, she never dreams that her brief encounter would lead to a date and spellbinding romance. When they fall head over heels in love, Karina discovers that Derek von Kampler is a baron and heir to Castle Royale. On leave, recovering from an injury, Derek invites Karina to the castle to meet his father, Baron von Kampler, and his aristocratic family. Despite feeling intimidated by the obvious disapproval of the Baroness and Fredericka, Dereks tempestuous sister, Karina accepts Dereks marriage proposal.Sadly, their time together is brief due to Dereks orders to report back to his regiment. Karina suddenly finds herself a newlywed and left alone to face the hatred of her husbands family. When tragedy strikes, Karina finds an ally in Nana, Dereks long-ago governess. Grief-stricken, Karina agonizes over revealing a shocking secret, but she never realizes how this revelation will put her life and those she loves in mortal danger. When threats are made on her life, Karina desperately prays for Gods protection as she searches for an answer to her dilemma. Trapped in postwar occupied Germany, Karina prays for a miracle that will allow her to survive and protect those entrusted to her loving care.

Sujets

• Historical romance

Informations

• Publié par: Inspiring Voices
• Date de parution: 24 avril 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781462405367
• Langue: English

Extrait

Live for Tomorrow
Nancy Hann Skroko


 
 
 
Copyright © 1996, 2013 Nancy Hann Skroko.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
Inspiring Voices books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:
 
Inspiring Voices
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.inspiringvoices.com
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Cover Art © 2013 Howard David Johnson
 
ISBN: 978-1-4624-0535-0 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-4624-0536-7 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control: 2013902803
 
Inspiring Voices rev. date: 04/22/2013
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Bibliography
 
 
 
This novel is dedicated to God, our Heavenly Father, who makes all things possible and from whom all blessings flow, and to Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
 
I am so thankful for my grandmother, Nana, (Ella Conterweitis Winkler Klauka), whose fascinating recollections of her life gave me the inspiration to write this book.
 
I am so blessed that my wonderful husband, David, and son, Mark, gave me their love and encouragement. Their faith kept me going.
 
I give thanks for the devotion of my beloved golden retrievers, Brandy,Sarah, and Holly; and our kitty, Miss Libby. They faithfully kept me company whenever I sat down to write.
 
I also thank Ruth Harley, my instructor at the Institute of Children’s Literature, who in 1986-88 guided me through the completion of the first draft of this novel.
 
Finally, many thanks to Andrew Laverghetta and Lifetouch Photography for my portrait on the back cover of this book; to Jim Seeman for his invaluable knowledge of trains and transportation; and to Howard David Johnson, the gifted cover artist who designed the stunningly beautiful cover of my book. The cover is perfect!
 
Inspiring Voices Publishers, thank you for your expertise in putting this book together. You did a wonderful job!
 
Blessings to you all!
Chapter 1
I t was two days before Weihnachten , 1917, and the ancient, narrow brick alleys of the imperial medieval city where the emperor Charlemagne had once ruled in Aachen, Germany, were crowded with last-minute shoppers, horse-drawn carriages, and an occasional auto. The stalwart citizens of Aachen seemed determined to enjoy the Christmas festivities despite the war, twenty-one-year-old Karina Winkler decided as she returned yet another cheerful holiday greeting from a warmly dressed passerby. She glanced at the bronze-cast figure of Charlemagne that dominated a large fountain in the middle of the cobblestone-paved market square, around which were clustered the beautifully decorated shops. Goods were displayed invitingly in the festively decorated shop windows. Karina paused momentarily in front of a tempting konditorei window where delectable pastries and bars of marzipan beckoned invitingly. Delicacies such as these were rare indeed due to food shortages, but the shopkeepers had saved their best for this holiest of holidays. She stared longingly at the chocolate-covered pieces of marzipan, which would taste exquisite and help ease the sting of the bitter cold, but the cost was equal to almost one week’s wages. Fighting temptation, Karina reached into her satchel for some pennies, but then, reminding herself of her sacrifice to the soldiers, she turned resolutely away. She could not in good conscience enjoy such a sinfully delicious piece of confectionery while young men were starving and living in frigid foxholes while fighting to protect her country. Hunching her slender shoulders against the biting cold, she looked up in trepidation at the heavy, lead-colored clouds. She could smell the promise of snow in the air and thought that if she did not enjoy walking so much, she would be sorely tempted to take the streetcar to escape the subzero temperatures. But Karina had dressed warmly in her stylish black wool, ankle-length coat with matching fox fur hat and mitt so she could enjoy watching the crowds of shoppers, especially the young and handsome soldiers who smiled and winked as she walked by. She loved the attention and realized without the slightest bit of conceit that she was attractive enough to turn heads with her thick, long, golden-blonde waves and delicately pink cheeks contrasting strikingly with her large dark-brown eyes and long, sooty lashes.
“Karina, wait for me!” She turned to see Maria, her dearest friend and coworker at Braun’s Haberdashery, running to catch up to her. Puffing from the exertion and sweating profusely despite the cold, Maria paused briefly to catch her breath. Looking somewhat disheveled from her run, Maria reached up to adjust her hat, which had slid to one side of her head despite the long hat pins that were entwined carefully through her long, dark mane. Pulling a daintily embroidered handkerchief from her satchel, she wiped her sweating brow with a plump, slightly shaking hand and, nodding at the contents within her purse, said, “Did you bring your gifts today?”
Karina smiled warmly and nodded as she opened her own satchel, her dark eyes sparkling impishly. “Yes, Maria, I did, and look, I have even wrapped them in festive paper!” Both girls admired their handiwork for a few moments until they heard a clock chime in the distance. It was time to leave, or they would be late for work. They made their way to an ancient stone overpass that looked down onto a street where soldiers had to pass on their way to the battlefields. Reaching quickly into their satchels, Karina and Maria dropped their gifts to the soldiers marching on the street below. Several of the men looked up and waved their thanks.
Nodding with satisfaction to Maria, Karina said, “Now we have made someone happy.” Both girls had been saving up their salaries for months to purchase the supplies needed to make their gifts, and they had been working feverishly to complete their gifts in time for Weihnachten . Their gifts were hand-knit crosses, which hung from a narrow braided rope to be worn around a soldier’s neck. Karina knew that Jesus was definitely needed in the trenches, and their gifts were a reminder of His constant presence. They had managed to knit over two hundred crosses, which was a small amount considering the total number of soldiers. It was a small gesture but from the heart, and Karina and Maria knew their gifts would help ease the loneliness the soldiers were feeling during this normally festive time of year. Separated from their loved ones and forced to exist in horrid conditions, the crosses would comfort and provide protection to their brave soldiers. The historical city of Aachen was the last German town before the converging borders of Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands, so their beloved city was the final glimpse of home for the departing troops.
Sometimes Karina wondered if the war would ever end, along with the endless rationing and unrelenting thud of artillery. The front line running through Belgium was about 240 kilometers away, but the tremendous noise caused by the artillery and mines exploding was so intense that the faint but unmistakable thuds could be heard in Aachen. The sound was forever etched into Karina’s subconscious mind even though she shut her eyes and tried to pretend that the forceful thuds were rumblings of thunder signaling a refreshing summer storm, and the war was a bad dream. But the illusion faded as soon as she opened her eyes. There was also no respite from the war at Braun’s Haberdashery. Her employer, Herr Braun, had requested that his employees sew hospital gowns for the wounded whenever business was slow in the store. Herr Braun would deliver their gowns to the hospital weekly, and he always returned with the somber request to bring as many more gowns as they could possibly provide. Despite the fact that the haberdashery store’s clientele consisted primarily of wealthy upper-class gentlemen and the nobility who still had operas to attend and social obligations to fulfill, where proper attire was mandatory, the sad truth was that the majority of the men were away at war. A soldier would occasionally venture into the haberdashery, but this was a rare occurrence. Herr Braun always insisted that the soldier accompany him upstairs to his flat to enjoy a glass of wine with a pastry. Karina dreaded these visits, for she could see the look of pain and anguish on her employer’s kind face, and she knew that he was grieving for his only son, who had been killed in the war just months before. But today, despite numerous holiday shoppers, Karina found her mind wandering back to yesterday and a somewhat disturbing conversation she had with her mother regarding love and marriage.
“If you continue to work at Herr Braun’s Haberdashery, Karina, someday you will find a wealthy husband,” her lovely mother had said with conviction.
“Oh, Mother, he need not be wealthy,” Karina had protested heatedly. “When I marry it will be for love, not wealth!”
“You are a beautiful girl, Karina, and any man would be lucky to have you for his wife,” Frau Winkler had admonished gently, “but I understand why you feel as you do.”
Karina had nodded miserably, acutely aware of the awkward situation in which she and her siblings found themselves. Their father, Rolf Winkler, was a handsome, wealthy man who appeared years younger than his actual age. He was the owner of a prospero