“I have some doubts about his story.”
“He’d never lie,” she said, raising her voice.
Nia stood and nuzzled Anna.
“Everything is all right, girl,” Anna said, stroking the dog’s side.
“It sickens me to be talking about this,” Max said. “I understand how soldiers feel when they are forced to kill by our military. They have no choice, and neither did I when I was on the front. But the ramifications for someone assigned to a chemical warfare unit would be far worse than an ordinary soldier. They’d be horrified and ashamed of their actions, which might be a war crime considering poison gas violates the Hague Convention treaty. And if one refused to follow a command, he’d suffer dire consequences, including the possibility of being shot. But I fear that Bruno’s involvement might be deeper than obeying orders.”
“This is ludicrous,” Anna said.
“I hope it is.” Max paused, taking a few deep breaths. “Do you know how ink and dye is made?”
“Nein.”
“Neither do I,” he said. “But I do know that chemicals are needed to make them. And it takes chemicals to make poison gas.”
Images of gassed hospital patients—their eyes bandaged and lungs wheezing—flashed in her head. Her mouth turned dry.
“Did Bruno attend a university?”
“Ja.”
“What did he study?”
“Chemistry.” Her body trembled. “But science is needed for dye manufacturing. Bruno would never willingly be involved with chemical weapons, and he would have told me if his family manufactured poison gas.”
“Based on my experience at the front,” Max said, “I have misgivings about his stories. I’m afraid that there might be more to Bruno and his family.”
Her head felt dizzy. “I—I can’t listen to any more of this.”
He extended his hand, as if he were attempting to console her.
She stood and backed away from him. “This is mad!”
“I’m so sorry,” Max said. “I pray that my questions are groundless.”
“Please stop!” Tears welled in her eyes.
He nodded, and then placed a hand on Nia. “I’ll understand if you don’t want to be here with me. You can go, if you like. Nia and I can find our way home.”
A fusion of panic and denial surged through her. She turned, slipped on a patch of ice, and fell. A sharp pain shot through her hands and knees.
Max sprang from the bench.
“Leave me!” Anna cried.
Max stopped, but Nia padded to her and whimpered.
“I’m all right, girl,” Anna said, hugging Nia. Her tears fell onto the dog’s coat. She stood and then left—refusing to look back.
* * *
For much of the afternoon, Anna walked along the Hunte, a river that flowed northward from Oldenburg, where she thought that she wouldn’t encounter Fleck or any of the other training groups. Eventually, her legs grew tired and she sat on the frozen shoreline with her head to her knees.This can’t be happening! There must be a good explanation for everything; Bruno would never lie, and he would have told me if he, or his family, were involved with chemical warfare.She prayed that Max’s concerns about Bruno would turn out to be untrue. But she’d grown to trust Max, and his words had shaken her core.
She desperately wanted to go home and confide in Norbie. But Bruno was likely at the house, given the time of day, and she didn’t want to subject hervaterto accusations, even if unfounded, that could taint his feelings about her future husband. Instead, she decided that she would talk with Bruno alone at their planned rendezvous. She removed her gloves, unbuttoned the top of her coat, and clasped hermutter’s heart-shaped locket.Harbor your heart. She repeated hervater’s affirmation over and over in her head, but it did little to diminish the wretched ache beneath her breastbone.
Shortly before sunset, she arrived at a three-story brick boardinghouse located a few streets away from the hospital where she’d worked as a nurse. Her heartbeat thumped against her rib cage. She buried her trepidation and entered the front door, where she was met a by a matron, a gaunt woman with gray hair sprouting from under her headscarf.
