Chapter 10

"Are you hungry?" Donny asked Gretel as they drove to the camp.

"Yeah," she said smiling up at him

"Go to the back. You'll find something back there," he said gesturing towards the back.

So Gretel climbed to the back to find an object wrapped up on the floor. She unwrapped it and found bagels inside with a note.

Hey darling,

Since you come help us out all the time, and since Donny picks you up so early, this is the least I can do.

Aldo.

"Aww," she said after reading the note.

When Donny heard her "aww," a smile spread across his face.

She ate about 3/4 of the bagel and already she was full. After she was done eating the bagel, she climbed back to her seat.

"You're done?" Donny asked surprisingly.

"Yeah. I'm full."

"How many did you eat?"

"Almost a whole bagel."

"What?"

"Yeah. Got a problem with that?" she said trying to sound intimidating in a goofy way.

"No its just amazing that someone could get so full with such a small proportion of food."

"Hey, I'm little ya know."

"I've noticed." A smile spread across his face.

She looked away and blushed.

After a couple hours, they arrived at the camp. Gretel got out of the truck looking up to see Aldo walking towards her.

"Hey there, Gretel." he said before giving her a hug.

"Hello, Aldo," she said, a huge smile on her face.

"Nice to have ya back, darlin," he said putting an arm around her shoulder.

"Its nice being back." She said looking up at him.

For the past few days, she helped them track down Nazis. She loved doing this. It made her feel useful and like she was contributing to ending the war. It also made her feel that out there, wherever Rachel and Shoshanna were, the more Nazis that died, the safer they were. One night, she was sleeping in Donny's tent and Donny slept outside the tent as usual. She always insisted that she would be perfectly fine in the truck but of course his insistence was more powerful and she could never win.

Rachel was sitting on her living room floor when all of a sudden, a figure appeared in the doorway. Rachel looked up and saw that it was indeed a Nazi. She screamed and called for her mommy until the screaming stopped. She fell to the floor blood streaming down her neck. The Nazi stepped into the light to reveal that he was Gretel's father.

"No...no...NO!" Screamed Gretel balling into her pillow.

Donny heard her sounds of alarm. He quickly brushed the curtains aside to find Gretel lying in his sleeping bag wailing. "Sh sh sh sh sh." He whispered picking her up into a sitting position and holding her in his arms.

She woke-up and stopped crying. Now she was only breathing really hard with tear stains on her cheeks.

"Hey, whats wrong?"

She drew herself in closer to him and closed her eyes wishing this moment would never end. "He killed her. He killed her, Donny. That monster killed my friend and she was only 6 years-old."

"Whose the monster and who was only 6 year-old?" He asked while wiping the stains from her cheeks.

"My father is the monster and Rachel is my friend. She was only a defenseless little girl and he killed her." She said pressing her face into his shoulder crying.

He sat there holding her close, stroking her soft blonde hair, and whispering "Sh" in her ear. He felt anger at the thought of Nazis killing his own kind but he felt even more anger at them for killing defensless little children. "Those monsters." He thought to himself.

"Can I go see her to make sure that shes okay?" Gretel asked softly.

"Of course you can." He whispered while kissing the top of her head. "We can leave first thing in the morning."

She looked up at him. "Really?"

"Yeah." He said smiling."

"But what if Aldo doesn't like that idea?" She asked worry being in her voice.

"Don't worry. He told me that he'd do anything to keep our most prized posession happy." He said wiping the tear stains from her eyes and gently moving a lock of hair to the back of her ear.

"I'm your most prized posession?" She said shyly.

He moved his face really close to hers. "Of course you are." He whispered. "If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have caught all the Nazis we've caught". He said with a smile on his smiled.

"That makes me feel special." She said with a quick smile on her face before it disappeared because she dropped her head.

Donny raised her face by raising her chin with his index finger. "I'm glad." He whispered. He then kissed her on the cheek. "Now if you want to go see your friend first thing in the morning you gotta get some sleep." He said moving himself away from her.

"Okay." She said getting back into Donny's sleeping bag.

He was almost in a lying down position with her when he whispered in her ear "Goodnight, Gretel." and then kissed her on her cheek again.

"Good night, Donny." She said as he left the tent. Gretel felt this warm fuzzy feeling on the inside of her chest from Donny's affectionate side that she saw only seconds ago. But then it all went away as she remembered where she was going tomorrow and why. She didn't think she ever get to sleep from all the anxiety she felt at this very moment.