Scent of Triumph Read Online Free PDF

pair of intricately carved entry doors. She hesitated on the stone steps.
    Across the lane from their home stood the Von Hoffman Glass and Crystal Factory. The complex was quiet. The shutters were closed. Her heart ached for their employees, and for Max, who had put so many years of effort into rebuilding the business.
    Her history was here in Klukowski, in the village named after her ancestors. She remembered Carl, so full of life and so proud of Max and Heinrich. Several generations of her family had lived on this land, descendents of a valiant Polish knight and his striking wife, a Silesian countess. Her great-great-grandfather had built the magnificent home. She swallowed hard, her throat tightening at the memories.
    Her shoulders slumped for a moment before she lifted her chin. Her family had survived much; they would survive this. She gazed up at the great house and hoped it, too, would survive. For her son Max, for Danielle, and for Nikolov, the next generation.
    She reached out with a quivering hand to stroke the worn entryway. The faded grey stones were smooth with time and cool beneath her touch. Closing her eyes, she leaned in and kissed the wall of her home. In her heart, she knew it was good-bye.
    Jacob appeared at her side and placed his hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry,” he said, his tone soft and respectful. “It’s time to go.”
    “I’m ready.”
    Jacob offered her his arm, and Sofia rested her hand in the crook of his elbow, grateful for his support. She walked to the car, her head held high, and slid into the front seat. She took Nicky in her arms.
    As they drove away, she turned to watch her grand home disappear behind the hill. Silent tears slipped from her eyes, splashing onto Nicky’s fine hair.
    Nicky sat in her arms and clutched his stuffed monkey, clearly mindful of her mournful retreat.
    Suddenly, a high thin whistle sounded overhead.
    Sofia clutched Jacob’s arm. “What’s that?” Before he could answer, a deafening roar shook the car.
    Sofia craned her neck to see. Black smoke billowed behind them. A silvery glint in the sky caught her eye, then another, and another. “Aeroplanes. Good Lord, they’re dropping bombs!”
    Jacob pressed the accelerator to the floor.

3
    Hours after the sinking of the
Newell-Grey Explorer
, Danielle sat shivering on the quiet darkened deck of the British destroyer that had come to their rescue. She drew a damp woolen blanket, heavy with its animalic aroma, around her shoulders, but it offered little warmth and less comfort.
    Danielle owed her life to the Irish woman in the lifeboat whose strong arms had lifted her to the surface. Thankfully, everyone in her lifeboat had survived, including the little boy she’d promised to look after. Danielle was unharmed, except for a few bruises and a throbbing welt on the back of her head. But other passengers weren’t as fortunate. She shuddered at the memory of stiff, discolored bodies adrift in the sea, and tried to push the scent of death from her mind.
    One thought revolved endlessly through Danielle’s mind.
Where are they, where are they?
She had seen neither Max nor Jon since she’d boarded the lifeboat. She could only pray they were aboard the ship that trailed them, a Norwegian vessel that had aided in the rescue. Both ships were observing radio silence, so survivors on the Norwegian ship could not be confirmed.
    First Nicky, now Max.
I can’t bear it
, she thought, her head reeling.
Have I lost them both
? She drew her hands into fists and crushed Nicky’s woolen cap to her cheek, inhaling his memory. After the lifeboat had capsized, her sturdy purse had bobbed to the surface with Nicky’s cap inside.
    She recalled the last moments she’d been with Max, and inevitably, the vision of the U-Boat appeared in her mind. Anger grew within her, tightening around her heart.
    What right do these Nazis have?
How had Hitler seized power, and why did people blindly follow him like so many mindless lemmings?