by L. E. Waters
He replaces the keys on a peg and waves the gun at us. “Get out of here.” Then checks back quickly behind him at the group still standing there, staring at him. I quickly dart behind the thick gate pillar as Ursel distracts him by saying in a pained voice, “We didn’t want to die.”
He sizes Ursel up for crazy and then he turns back to look at me, but I’m no longer there. He sees only Gitta. “Where did she go?”
Gitta only points strangely behind him, where Kathrin now stands among the girls, silent, with the evilest expression.
His face loses all color. “You.” He points his gun at her. “How did you get back through the locked gate?” His eyes dart to the keys still dangling where he left them.
That’s my cue to reappear. I quietly walk back beside Gitta like I never left. Kathrin just stands there, still.
“Let them go home,” I say, and he nearly falls looking back at me, once again outside the gate. He immediately looks back at the group but Kathrin’s already safely behind the tree again.
Sibylle says calmly, “You can’t kill us.”
“We rose from the ovens,” Elfi says.
He gawks at all of their faces.
Minna says sweetly, “Let us go home.”
Gitta screams and the guard jumps, swinging his rifle at her. I now stand next Gitta again, who is starting to seize. We need to hurry.
“You-you’re back? Im-impossible!”
He turns back around again to a stone-faced Kathrin, who says in her most chilling voice, “We’re the ghosts from House C 16.”
I hate leaving Gitta’s side, but I must hide once again. Juliane screams for real and points to Gitta, who’s stuck in her frozen stare, convulsing. The guard lets out a guttural, primal sound at the sight of her.
“Open the gate!” Verena yells, causing the guard to jump, and he takes off toward House C 16. Kathrin quickly grabs the keys hung inside the gatehouse and opens the gate to let everyone dash through. We grab Gitta up, each taking a side, but she stops shaking immediately. We all stare at her and she breaks her frozen stare with a broad and shining smile.
Kathrin swats at her. “Clever girl!”
We don’t have time to even laugh as we help her up and run as fast as we can down the road, with me trying to shake Teresia up as little as possible.
Chapter 24
I check over my shoulder. “He’s going to tell Luther, and they’ll have trucks out after us in minutes. We’ll never make it to the trains.”
“We’re not taking the train. We’ve got a car.” Kathrin turns onto a side road, and we follow. Gleaming there is the most beautiful car I’ve ever seen. Not simply because it’s obviously waiting for us, but it’s sleek and shining and nothing like any I’ve seen even drive through our small village.
Odelia cries, “Gustav!”
And there he is, stepping out of the car, our smiling Captain, waving us into the car.
Odelia runs into his arms and he couldn’t beam brighter. The car is clearly made to seat six people, but the ten of us squash in on laps and on the floor in order to fit. I sit in the front beside Odelia, with the tote safely on my lap, and Gustav gets in to drive.
The car starts with a purr and Gustav says, “Everyone hold on,” before revving the engine and thrusting it into gear. As we fly down the side roads, he yells back to us, “I can’t believe you all made it out. I truly didn’t think it would work, Kathrin.”
“Well, we’re not safe yet. We might run into patrols still,” Kathrin gets out between heavy breaths.
He laughs. “Oh, we won’t be seeing any on this road.”
“Why not?” I ask.
“I just told them I saw a group of female patients boarding the trains.” He chuckles. “I’ve watched them pull every patrol within miles to surround the station and stop all the trains for inspection.”
Even so, we’re quiet, looking in every direction for soldiers.
I just now notice the Nazi flag flying on the front of his car. He sees my focus. “I’m not a fan; it’s necessary not to be singled out as an enemy.”
I open up the tote to give Teresia some air and it calms me to rub her silken ear. I can’t say how long the ride is, since it feels like it’s hours before we turn into the gates of the Steinthal estate, but I’m sure my judgement is skewed due to nerves. As we roll into the circular drive lined with fruit trees that opens up to a stately house, I realize Gustav and Odelia are far richer than I even imagined. The girls are speechless when they get out of the car and gaze up at the mansion.
Gustav opens the door for me and helps Odelia out. “It’s good to have you home again, dear.” He doesn’t let go of her hand and holds it all the way up to the tallest entryway doors I’ve ever seen.
Verena calls out to me, “Wait until you see this.”
I’m the last one into the grand entryway, and the two-story ceiling sparkles with a scattering of small crystal chandeliers surrounding one humongous glittering queen chandelier. Gustav flips the switch to light them all and I’m reminded of looking up at the sun through my kaleidoscope, straining my neck to see the glistening wonder above us.
Odelia takes me to a small powder room. “Let Teresia out in here.”
Odelia leaves us and I open up the tote once again. Teresia pops her big-cheeked chestnut brown head out and I kiss her sweet, twitching nose. “It’s not the garden, but it will be good to stretch your legs.” I lower the bag close to the ground and she gets impatient and kicks her way onto the marble floor. Odelia comes back to us with a handful of carrots, newspapers, and a small dish. She hands me the dish to fill with water as she lays out the newspaper over the floor. We both bend down for her to come to us, but we’re called away.
“We don’t have much time,” Gustav says. “Lee is waiting in the sitting room.”
“Who’s Lee?” I ask, but Gustav leads the way to open the door to the closest room. Another massive, impressive room is revealed, with floor-to-ceiling paneling and gigantic raw silk curtains with frothy silk tassels hanging beside equally tall French doors.
A handsome man stands up quickly upon our entrance and Kathrin marches in and shakes his hand. Who would they trust during this crisis? Kathrin remembers me. “Lee, this is Annelie.” I must have a bewildered look, since Kathrin adds, “This is Gordon’s contact. The person who answered the number you gave me. He’s British.”
“Oh,” I say, but still I wonder what he will do for us. I step forward to shake his steady hand. Mine’s a bit jittery still, and he grants me a dimpled smile to ease my nerves.
Lucrian. Can he be trusted?
“Pleased to meet you,” he says with no British accent. Lee steps away, slightly awkward, but still staring at me.
“You sound very German to me,” I say.
“My mother was German and she spoke very little English in the house.” He smiles again. “It comes in handy in my current line of work.”
Elfi chimes in, “Why is he here? He looks like a spider to me.”
“Shh, Elfi.” Verena sugars up. “Can’t you see this tall, handsome man is here to help us? Isn’t that right, Lee?”
Kathrin answers for him, “Lee is going to give us new identities and we’re leaving for England.”
I notice a glass case on delicate gilded legs holding an ancient-looking red-jeweled cross. The Captain’s cross.
I spin from Lee to Kathrin. “All of us?”
Gustav nods and Odelia panics. “We can’t leave our house. We can’t leave all our memories behind.”
Gustav holds her flailing arms. “We will take our memories with us. It’s the material things we’ll leave behind. I need to protect you, and this country is on fire.”
I think of the fire dream I had with Dr. Evert and Georg being left behind.
Kathrin holds my hands. “Mother and Father will visit us in England later, once we let them know where we went.” She checks to Lee, who nods.
Gitta fret
s, “But I don’t have anyone in England. I don’t even have anyone to help me outside of the hospital.”
Minna wraps her arms around Gitta. “I don’t have anyone either, Gitta. But we have each other.”
“You all will always have a home with Odelia and me,” Gustav says, and Odelia looks at him in amazement. “It will be good to have some joy in our house again, wherever it may be.”
Lee says, flapping a large file at us, “We don’t have much time. I’m sure they’ll head here soon enough. Everyone must hand me any old identification and I will hand you your new names.”
“We’ll have a different name for the rest of our lives?” Juliane asks.
“Only until you get to England. Then you can be whoever you want.”
I remove my ID necklace and hand it in with the others.
He hands me mine, which has the photo taken at the hospital but the name Gretchen Schwartz on it. The other girls start laughing at our chosen names as one of Gustav’s servants comes and whispers in his ear. Gustav says, “Lee, you have a phone call.”
Lee hands Kathrin Carsten’s ID before he leaves the room.
“Look at what a terrible picture this is.” Kathrin walks over to me to show me Carsten half blinking, with his neck stiff. “Carsten would have gotten my letter by now. He should be here.” She stares out at the entry doors, willing them to open. “I’m not leaving without Carsten. You’ll have to go ahead while I go find him.”
I shake my head. “I’m not going anywhere without you. I’ll go with you to get him.”
“Fine. How do you think Lee will take it if I make demands?” She laughs a little, but I can tell she’s nervous. “I didn’t know this would come together so quickly. I probably should have sent my letter earlier.” Lee comes back into the room and Kathrin goes right up to him. “Carsten’s not here yet. How much time do we have until we must leave?”
Even though I haven’t known Lee long, I can tell he’s holding something back. “We can always leave and make sure that he meets us at the border.”
“No, I won’t go without him.” She crosses her arms.
“But we have to get you girls to safety first. That is critical.”
“If we can just wait another hour, I’m sure he’ll come.” Kathrin notices Lee flinch. “What are you not telling us?”
“We don’t have time right now to talk, but we can discuss more in the car. We have hours of driving ahead us.” He starts to walk away to round the other girls up, but Kathrin stops him.
“No, what would we need to talk about in the car? Why are you trying to get me to leave without Carsten?” She looks back out the room in the direction he left to take the call. “Who was that on the phone?”
Lee braces her arm. “Is it enough to tell you that we should leave without Carsten and find out where he is after?”
Grey washes over her face. “What did they tell you on that call?”
The rest of the room is silent now. All the excitement of escape and new names has dampened.
Lee begins quietly, “I didn’t want to tell you because it would upset you and make it difficult for you to make the rest of this important journey. Can you just trust me that I will tell you when we cross the border to safety?”
She falls to the ground, covering her face. I try to catch her, but she sinks so fast. “It’s Carsten, something has happened to him. I know it. I can see it in your face,” she cries.
I wrap myself around her and Lee bends over us. “It seems that he left work early, before your letter got to him, and he went to your house. Your mother told him that you went to visit Annelie by yourself and he rushed out to the hospital.”
“Where is he, then?” She stands back up like she’s getting ready to go. “Someone has to go get him.”
“When he got there, Luther had just returned from searching for you. Luther enjoyed telling him that you were with him this morning and he hadn’t seen you since you left his bedroom. Carsten was enraged and threatened to attack him.”
“How do you know all of this?” Kathrin needs a handkerchief and all I can give her is a napkin.
“We have eyes in the hospital.”
“They must be wrong. He’s probably still at work.”
Lee puts his hands up to stave off her questions and get her to allow him to finish. “Luther took out a pair of women’s undergarments”—he clears his throat uncomfortably—”and taunted him that he had you first.”
I can tell that registers with her.
“Carsten shook himself free of the soldiers and punched the Police Leader in the face.”
A glimmer of pride washes over her shocked face. “Did Luther arrest him? Can you help him?”
Lee’s look foretells bad news to come. “Luther brought out his pistol and shot him in the head.”
Kathrin crumbles. We’ll never get her out of here now. The dangerous battle between Carsten and Luther has met its end yet again.
“Kathrin,” I try to whisper in her ear. “Carsten would want you to get to safety. You have to find strength for now and then fall apart later.”
She starts rocking while holding her knees. Lee motions for me to help get her to her feet, but she wails and lashes out in every direction like a cornered alley cat. We give up and she curls back into a ball.
Verena searches the pockets of her uniform and pulls out a filled syringe. She shows it to me. I whisper, even though Kathrin can’t hear any of us in her state. “We can’t give that to her.”
Verena looks to Lee and he says, “Are you certain it’s a tranquilizer?”
“I’ve been stuck with them more times than I can count, and this is what the nurses have ready in their pockets.”
Lee checks with me. “We need to get her across the border. Maybe she will calm down enough in the car.”
“No one knows how to give it.” But no sooner do I say these words than Verena removes the cap on the needle and plunges it into Kathrin’s arm.
Chapter 25
Kathrin doesn’t even register it. In minutes, she’s sleeping. Odelia gets a blanket to wrap her up in and Lee carries her out to his car. I walk out with everyone else but remember Teresia. I turn in time to catch Gustav opening up the glass case and slipping his treasured cross into his coat pocket. I’m happy to see Teresia sprawled out comfortably in a nest she gathered of newspapers. She jumps as soon as she sees me. I lay the tote open beside her and say as I place her back inside, “I promise to get you another hutch as soon as we’re settled.” I make sure to stick the remaining three carrots into the tote with her and rush back outside to the others. Gustav fills his car up with their prized possessions and squeezes in Minna, Gitta, Odelia, Ursel, Sibylle, and Juliane among them. Verena, Elfi, a sedated Kathrin, and I go with Lee. The car’s quiet as Verena and Elfi fall asleep, but I sit up front with Teresia and Lee. It’s hard to imagine him as Lucrian. I keep stealing glances before the sun disappears, and I’m surprised by his handsome profile. Once we sit next to each other in the darkness, his confident presence steels me into believing we just might actually make it out.
I pull Teresia out and calm her down by flipping her on her back upon my lap and rubbing her. She falls asleep quickly.
His voice startles me out of the shadows. “Gordon was very impressed that you made it out, and with all your companions.”
“Without any help from him.”
Lee laughs. “He did send me to help you. What do you call that?”
“I don’t think it’s out of compassion, since I don’t think he’s capable of it.”
“You might be right about that, but I was about to help you escape myself.”
I guffaw. “Are you joking?”
He turns to me with a half-smile. “Had everything in place, but then you girls decided to break out all on your own. You know, it was because of my efforts that they didn’t walk you all down to C 16 immediately after that outburst with the good Dr. Wurst.”
“But how did you manage that?”
“Gordon has friends in certain positions who help him out in such delicate situations.”
“But Gordon told me he couldn’t help us escape.”
“That was before Hitler started rounding up and interrogating everyone Georg sneezed on, let alone those who knew him intimately.”
For some reason, I resented his use of the word ‘intimately’. What was he implying? “So Gordon only cared about me once I posed a threat to him.”
Lee granted me a cock of his head. “Maybe so, but you didn’t need him after all.”
“I wish he’d told me a week earlier, then Dr. Evert would have never tried his last attempt to get us out.”
“About that.” Lee shifted in his seat. “Gustav had me search for the whereabouts of your Dr. Evert, and normally I would wait to tell you until after we safely crossed the border, since we’ve used up our last tranquilizer.” He nervously laughs, but I don’t find it funny. “But if something goes wrong at the border, then I think you must know this. I sense you will be strong.”
My stomach rises, knowing what will follow.
“Dr. Evert threatened to expose to the families and general public the measures that were being carried out in the hospital. He said he would keep quiet if all his remaining patients were released.”
I knew it was going to be something I’d feel guilty about.
Lee continues, “Luther had him arrested immediately, but Evert fought them and started screaming that they were all murderers. There was a family at the gates and Luther commanded him to be quiet, but he kept yelling out that the Nazis were gassing his patients. They shoved him inside the van and shot him.”
I must have been so close when this was all happening. Why didn’t I hear it? Could I have done anything if I did? He died so close to me and I didn’t even feel a thing. “Are you sure it was him?”