Page 105 - The Book Thief

They came from the son. Just two of them.

You coward. He upturned them into Papas face, and he promptly left the kitchen,
and the house.

Ignoring futility, Papa walked to the doorway and called out to his son. Coward?
Im the coward?! He then rushed to the gate and ran pleadingly after him. Mama
hurried to the window, ripped away the flag, and opened up. She, Trudy, and
Liesel all crowded together, watching a father catch up to his son and grab hold
of him, begging him to stop. They could hear nothing, but the manner in which
Hans Junior shrugged loose was loud enough. The sight of Papa watching him
walk away roared at them from up the street.

Hansi! Mama finally cried out. Both Trudy and Liesel flinched from her voice.
Come back!

The boy was gone.

Yes, the boy was gone, and I wish I could tell you that everything worked out for
the younger Hans Hubermann, but it didnt.

When he vanished from Himmel Street that day in the name of the Fhrer, he
would hurtle through the events of another story, each step leading tragically to
Russia.

To Stalingrad.

SOME FACTS ABOUT STALINGRAD

In 1942 and early 43, in that city, the sky was bleached bedsheet-white each
morning.

All day long, as I carried the souls across it, that sheet was splashed with

blood, until it was full and bulging to the earth.