“I know. I am concerned as well. But the best thing to do is to make sure you tell her to speak as little as possible.”
“All right, I will do my best.”
Gunther gathered Sarah, Solomon, and Ewa together, then he turned to Sarah and asked, “Sarah, what is your name?”
“Sarah.”
“No! Your name. Your new name: do you remember?”
“Oh yes, that name. I used to be Maria, but now I’m Heidi. Did you know that when Solomon and I first left our mother, my name was Maria for a while? It’s hard to remember all of these different names.”
“I know, but you must. It’s very important!” Gunther said firmly. He was trying to be patient, but he was nervous and on edge. He took a deep breath and then he said, “You must forget the name Maria and the name Sarah. For now only remember the name Heidi. Do you understand? You are Heidi,” he said as gently as he could.
“Yes, Gunther,” Sarah said, “my name is Heidi.”
“That’s good,” he said. “Now, what’s your surname?"
“I don’t remember.”
“Fleischer, dummy,” Solomon said to Sarah, his voice filled with irritation.
“That’s not necessary. You don’t need to call her names. This is hard for her, Solomon,” Ewa scoffed at him.
“Yes, Fleischer. That’s right,” Sarah said. “I’ll remember from now on. I promise.”
“Why don’t you just let Ewa or Solomon do the talking. All right, dear one?” Gunther said as gently as possible, crouching down to be at eye level with Sarah.
She nodded. “All right.”
“Where are we from?” Gunther asked Solomon.
“Frankfurt. You are a cobbler. We are traveling to France to see your brother who is in the army there. And . . . my name is Hans.”
“Good, very good, Solomon.”
“Do either of you remember my name or Ewa’s?” Solomon nodded, but Sarah shook her head. “It’s all right, Sarah. Now listen and try to remember,” Gunther said. “I’m Albert and Ewa is Helga.”
“What do you remember, Sarah?” Solomon asked.
“Our last name is Fleischer. We come from Frankfurt. And Solomon, you are Hans; I am Heidi, and Ewa is Helga, and Gunther is Albert. But what’s a cobbler?”
Even though everyone was tense with worry, Gunther had to smile. “I make and repair shoes,” he said.
“Oh!”
“But you are doing very well,” he told Sarah, breathing a sigh of relief that she remembered.
“Now, who remembers my brother’s name?”
The two children stared at him openmouthed.
“Leo. Remember now? My brother’s name is Leo. He is in the army. That’s why we are going to see him where he is stationed in France. We are making the trip because our mother, who would be your grandmother, passed away.”
Solomon nodded.
“I don’t know if I can remember all of this,” Sarah said.
“Like I told you. Just don’t talk,” Gunther said. “Now, Solomon, do you remember your grandmother’s name?”
Solomon shook his head in defeat. “I’m sorry.”
“Mia, her name was Mia. My father’s name was Adolf. He was your grandfather. He died two years ago. You must commit all of this to memory. It’s very important that you don’t forget anything. Now, we have three days until we leave. Make sure you go over these facts until you have burned them into your minds. Do you understand?” Gunther said, but he looked at Ewa who looked worried.
Both children nodded.
“Good, and remember, where do you go to school?”
“At the day school in Frankfurt,” Solomon answered.
“And you are very excited and looking forward to next year when you can join the Hitler Youth,” Gunther reminded him.
“Yes, yes, that's right. I’ll remember,” Solomon said.
Chapter 39
The night before they were to leave, Cereck presented Gunther with two suitcases and fresh clothes. “You won’t look like proper travelers without these. If you don’t have any luggage, you will look like what you are: partisans. I’m sorry, I know the last thing you want is more to carry, but there are blankets and clothing inside . . .”
“I understand, and I agree it’s necessary,” Gunther said.
On the day they were to leave to begin their mission, Ewa woke the children and helped Sarah get dressed. Then they made their way out of the camp in the wee hours before the sun came up. There was an eerie darkness as a soft wind blew the leaves on the trees surrounding them. An owl hooted and some animal cried out. Sarah looked up at Ewa who nodded at her and whispered, “Everything is fine.”
At first Sarah was cooperative, even enthusiastic. She recited all she’d memorized. But by the middle of the afternoon, she began to complain that her feet hurt and she was hungry. Then Sarah and Solomon began to bicker, about everything. Ewa gently reprimanded them and demanded that they keep their voices down. Finally, Sarah refused to walk anymore. She sat down and began to cry. There was a time deadline that had to be met, so there was no time for rest. Solomon was tired, and he knew Gunther was tired too, but he did not let on. He could see that Gunther was not only walking beside them, but he was on constant alert, and every part of him was watching and aware like a prey animal. Solomon knew this was Gunther’s way because he’d been hunting with Gunther, and Gunther had told him that in order to find prey you have to think like a prey animal. Now they were prey animals.
Sarah didn’t understand anything and that grated on Solomon’s nerves. He was surprised that Gunther had not slapped her yet. That was what their father would have done. Solomon had been the victim of many of their father’s rages. But instead of lashing out at Sarah for her constant complaining, Gunther forced a smile and a gentle encouraging word. Then when he knew Sarah could not walk anymore, he lifted her and put her on his shoulders.
“Can you manage?” Ewa said, her voice filled with concern.
“I’ll manage,” Gunther said.
They continued to walk.
It was not until well into the night that they finally bedded down for a few quick hours of sleep. By then Solomon could feel a dampness inside his shoe, and he knew his feet were bleeding.
He slept hard that night in spite of the fear of bedding down in the middle of the forest. When he awoke, he found that Gunther had been keeping watch.
And, again, before sunrise, Solomon and Gunther woke everyone up. They ate a bit of the bread that they packed, and then they continued their journey.
When they arrived in Germany, they abandoned their sleeping blankets behind a thick bunch of bushes. Now their suitcases contained only clothing. Only things that a family on a trip would carry. And anyone who saw them would have no trouble believing that they were the Fleischers, just an ordinary German family on their way to see their father’s brother. But before they left the safety of the forest, Gunther hesitated for a moment as he questioned the children again as to their assumed names and their family background. They’d spent so much time rehearsing their answers that even Sarah got everything right. Satisfied, Gunther smiled at Ewa, who raised her eyebrow and bit her lower lip but nodded her head.
“Here we go,” he said. “May God be with us.”
“Yes, may God be with us,” she repeated.
And they walked out of the protection of the forest and onto the open road.
Chapter 40
Where are they headed? Ludwig watched from behind the trees. He’d been following them since they left the camp. He saw them abandon the blankets and wondered what else was in those suitcases. He was certain that these two children were the two Jewish children who had escaped from the ghetto and robbed the baker. And with them was Ewa, the woman who’d become the main attraction of his shameful dreams. Also was the man, called Gunther, who Ludwig had heard announce to the others in the partisan camp that he was a deserter from the German army. He hated Gunther most of all, for a deserter was nothing but a filthy
coward. And every time he looked at Ludwig he wanted to spit. That man should be ashamed of himself, Ludwig thought as he watched the four of them walk out onto the road. He followed them along the edge of the forest for as long as he could. Then he waited until he was sure he would not be seen, and he emerged like a demon rising from the depths of hell and continued to follow them.
Ludwig was so obsessed with their plight and with Ewa that he could not return home that night. He tingled with the knowledge of his secret power over this little group. And although he knew he should turn them in and get back to work, he just didn’t want to lose the feeling of being omnipresent. So he did not return to Lodz the next day and he missed work. It won’t matter anyway that I didn’t show up for work once I turn them all in. My superiors will thank me for following them. I may find an entire group of Resistance fighters. That would be quite the accomplishment. And no one could fault me then, he decided. Unfortunately, soon I will have to end it. And I must admit I will miss this bit of spy work. But for now, I know that they are certainly up to something. And before I bring my superiors in on it and lose any glory that might be had for discovering these traitors and their secrets, I have to find out what it is they are up to.
Chapter 41
In Germany, Gunther and Ewa took the children to a small restaurant where they ate a meager meal of bread and soup. The entire time Gunther was on high alert. He did not speak. His eyes darted about the room. He ate, but he was watching, constantly aware. However, all went well. No one questioned them or seemed to even pay them much attention. By tomorrow they would be at the station where they would board a train that would carry them into France. Here they would be forced to present their papers, and Gunther knew that this was the point in the journey where things could go awry. If Sarah made a questionable remark, everything could go sour in an instant.
At the train station, Gunther presented their papers to a guard, and then they were directed to the correct train. Ewa and Gunther exchanged a quick glance of relief as they all climbed on board.
After three days of walking, the children were tired. And the rocking motion of the train put the children into a sleepy trance. Even Ewa drifted off, but Gunther did not close his eyes for a second. His mind was racing at a thousand miles an hour. He considered all the possible scenarios of things that might go wrong and it made him shiver. If the Nazi bastards were to catch them, they would kill him and Ewa first, but they'd think nothing of killing the children too. He knew firsthand just how cruel they could be and the very idea left him terrified. He glanced at the three innocent faces that depended upon him and he wanted to cry. I am a man; men don’t cry, he thought. But if I fail them. If I fail . . . Forcing these thoughts out of his mind, he tried to stay positive. He looked out the train window at the countryside and reminded himself that if all went as planned, the following night they would be on their way back to Germany and then back to Poland to join the rest of their group in the forest. Breathe, he told himself. Don’t look around at the other people on this train. You must not make eye contact with anyone. You don’t want them to see the fear in your eyes. Just keep your focus on the job at hand.
When two Gestapo officers came through the train demanding that everyone have their papers ready, Gunther felt bile rise in his throat.
“They are searching for someone,” Gunther heard one of the women passengers say. “This happens all the time.”
Gunther looked at Ewa. Her dark eyes looked massive in her white pale face. Gunther forced himself to swallow hard and to push the bile back down, but his throat burned. “Don’t say a word,” he warned the children in a whisper.
Solomon nodded, but Sarah stared at him with wide, frightened eyes.
“Don’t say a word, Sarah. Do you understand me?”
She nodded and climbed into Ewa’s arms, putting her thumb in her mouth.
Ewa unbuttoned the top two buttons on her blouse so that a substantial amount of cleavage was now visible.
Two Gestapo agents, one who was taller and clearly in charge, and another who was short and heavyset with a mustache in the fashion of the führer’s, were moving through the train, and within minutes they were standing in front of Ewa and Gunther. “Papers,” one of them said in a harsh growl.
“Of course.” Gunther reached into his back pocket where he felt the security of the cold metal of the gun. He took the papers out and handed them to the officer.
“Hello, sweetheart,” the tall Gestapo officer said to Sarah, “and what is your name?”
Gunther held his breath.
Sarah turned her head away from the Gestapo officer and put her other thumb in her mouth.
“Excuse her, Officer.” Ewa managed her prettiest smile. “She is shy. Her name is Heidi.”
“Heidi, my niece's name is Heidi. Aren’t you an adorable child.” The officer was talking to Sarah, but his eyes were glued to Ewa’s cleavage.
“She’d be prettier if she were blonde.” The mustached Gestapo agent chuckled.
“Oh, come now. Don’t be so mean. I’m not blonde, and I’m quite attractive,” the agent in charge said in a joking tone of voice.
“Yes, well, she is a girl, and girls are more attractive if they’re blonde.”
“She’s just a child,” the tall one said.
“That’s true. Anyway, come on, we have a Jew to find. Can’t waste any more time here looking at the child’s mother’s tits, can we?”
“Excuse me, but mind your rank. I am your superior. How dare you tell me what we should and should not be doing!” The tall agent’s face was red with anger and embarrassment.
Ewa tried to appear shy and reserved as she cast her eyes down at the ground.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. I did not mean to be seen as if I were trying to usurp your authority, sir,” the mustached officer said.
“Yes, well . . . you’re quite right. We don’t have time for tits. But . . . they are a nice pair, aren’t they?”
Both of the Nazis laughed, and then they went on to the next row of seats.
“Papers?” the one commanded.
Ewa and Gunther caught each other's gaze for just a moment. Ewa buttoned her shirt.
The Nazis made their way up to the front of the train car and then out the door. We’ve survived another close call, Gunther thought.
When the train reached its destination in Paris, Gunther helped the children and Ewa off the train and on to the platform. Then they began walking.
The timing was working out perfectly. The train had arrived in Paris on time leaving them an hour to get to the café where they were to meet their contact, which was located on the Left Bank. As they walked through the streets, Ewa pretended to window shop. Then they stopped at the hotel which was owned by a member of the French Resistance where Cereck had arranged for them to leave their luggage.
Gunther went up to the reservation desk. “I need to see Pierre,” he said in broken French.
A pretty young woman smiled at him fetchingly. “Wait here,” she said.
Gunther stood at the desk while Ewa and the children sat on a bench in the lobby. Then a tall, slender man with thinning gray hair walked up to Gunther. “I am Pierre. What can I do for you?” he said.
“Do you have the books for Cereck?”
“Ah yes, of course,” Pierre said. He reached under the desk, took out a book, and then handed it to Gunther along with a room key. “Cereck has arranged a room for you,” he said. The number on the key was 205. “You can take the stairs up. They are right down the hall.”
“Thank you,” Gunther said.
Then he motioned to Ewa and the children who followed him upstairs. They put their luggage in the room. Gunther opened the book. As he expected, the inside of the book had been carved out. In the hole lay a small pile of bills. Gunther shoved the money into his pocket.
“Let’s go,” he said to the others.
It was not difficult to find the café, which was located in the middle of a
crowded street. Gunther ordered food and wine for Ewa and himself and bread and soup for the children. Then he waited. They were all hungry, but Gunther was not able to eat. If only this mission were over already. At least we are on time. The contact should arrive in about a half hour. The minutes seemed never ending. I feel as if the clock has been struck by lightning and is now moving in slow motion, but not my heart; my heart is going full speed. I must remain calm. I must smile at the passersby who send smiles to the children. Their acknowledgment of the children is a good indication that we don’t look suspicious. And as nervous as I am, I must not show any trace of suspicion. Now, Cereck said to look for the man with a red rose in his lapel. Then I must ask him how far I am from the Eiffel Tower. If he answers “I’m sorry, but I am not very good at determining distance,” then I can be certain it’s him.
“Why don’t you eat something?” Ewa said, “You look very anxious. Eat.”
He nodded and picked up a hunk of bread, then absentmindedly, he dipped it into the soup and forced himself to take a bite. It stuck in his throat, and he found that even though he’d wet the bread with soup, it was difficult to swallow. He couldn’t taste the food. His thoughts were focused on the danger all around him and on making sure that he had made the correct contact before sharing the secret information.
Gunther put the hunk of bread down beside his soup bowl and took a sip of wine, and as he did someone came up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. “Gunther Kuhn? Is that you? What are you doing in France, you old devil?”
The last thing Gunther wanted to hear was his real name. He was traveling under an alias. And the only people who knew him as Gunther Kuhn also knew that he’d been in the army. Gunther felt his heart sink as he turned to see a man close to his own age who had grown up in the same neighborhood he had. He knew this man; his name was Otto Shultz. Gunther felt panic rise through his entire body. He didn’t know what to do. He dare not try to say that Otto was mistaken and he was not Gunther. It was clear Otto recognized him. His mind raced. If only he could think of a way to get Otto alone in an alley somewhere far away from all these people who would shoot him. Not that he wanted to kill anyone, but Otto was very close to blowing the entire mission and endangering Ewa and the children.
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