While Lee gave the man his information, I moved to the large front window and stared at the scene out front. Not that there was much of one. A woman and her young child, bundled against the cold, hurried into a shop across the street, while a handful of soldiers meandered, chatting as they went, their eyes taking in everything.
“Is there a post office?” I asked, turning back to the concierge.
His lips settled into a straight line.
“There is,” he said. “But it’s been closed the past three years. The man who ran it was...” He took in a breath and looked away, composing himself before turning back to me. “Well, he’s no longer here. I’m not sure if it will ever reopen. We’ve been driving two towns over to send mail, but no one’s received much. The Germans made communication nearly impossible in these parts. If you have something you need to send though, I can see about getting it out for you.”
“Thank you,” I said, resting my hand on my purse, where a letter I’d written to William four days ago sat safe inside. “Perhaps I’ll just wait and check the next town we stop in.”
I wondered if he’d written to me. If so, I hoped my aunt would find a way to forward his letters to me. But with the postal system not even existing in some cities, I was starting to have my doubts. What would he think if I wasn’t able to get a letter to him? If he wrote to me and his letters went unanswered?
My eyes filled at the thought.
“You alright?”
I jumped, not realizing Lee had finished checking us in and was standing before me, holding out the key to my room.
I sniffed and took the key. “Just tired,” I said, and followed him up the stairs to our second-floor rooms.
25
We were twoweeks into the trip, staying in rooms at the house of one of Lee’s contacts, when I came down for breakfast and found the two men talking quietly. They stopped as I entered, and I pointed to the coffeepot.
“Help yourself,” our host, a tall, all-American-looking gentleman said. “There are pancakes in the oven.”
I raised my eyebrows and opened the oven door, hardly believing what he said was true. But there they were. Real American pancakes. There wasn’t any syrup, but I made do with a sprinkling of sugar.
“Shall I...” I pointed to the door that led to the dining room.
“No,” Lee said. “Please. Join us. You’re going to find out anyways. Might as well hear it from the source.”
My stomach turned over. Something it was doing a lot these days, lack of sleep and fear making me feel sick almost daily.
“Hear what?” I asked, sinking into one of the four kitchen chairs.
It was then that I noticed my surroundings.
We’d gotten in late the night before, Lee pushing to get us to this checkpoint to keep us on the schedule he’d created.
“What happens if we don’t get there today?” I’d asked when we were still hours away.
“We might miss our contact,” he said. “Like me, he moves around a lot. Even now as the Allies are taking back territory, we still have jobs to do, information to gather and share. I’m not just getting you to Germany. My presence here serves a great number of purposes. We’ll have to press on into the night and hope we make it by curfew so no one shoots us.”
He’d winked and I’d given a faint smile in return.
We arrived at our destination within minutes of curfew, the sky a steel gray that was darkening by the minute. Our host, a man called Mr. Jones, answered the door with a candle in hand and motioned for us to hurry inside. There were introductions, a small meal by candlelight, and then I was shown to my room where I hadn’t been able to make out much, just that there was a bed, an attached bathroom, and a glass of water on the bedside table for me. But now...
In the hutch behind Mr. Jones was a menorah. Beside it was a saying, framed, the words on it in Hebrew, which I recognized from seeing a similar item in Ruthie’s home so long ago.
Lee tapped my hand with his forefinger and I jumped. The two men exchanged a look, and Mr. Jones turned to see what I was looking at.
“Ah,” he said, his voice soft. “Yes. This home apparently belonged to a Jewish family. Something I didn’t realize at first, but figured out when I moved in and did a little investigating. One never knows if the home belonged to someone who escaped the war, or was taken from their home against their will. Of course, the family could have escaped and have plans to come back. As such, when I found the box of items hidden in the basement, I brought them up here where they belong.”
I nodded, but my throat was tight, my stomach threatening again. It was all a bit too much. I’d seen a lot of things. Injuries that were enough to make one hate their own race for the destruction they were capable of, but sitting at the table of a Jewish family that may never return reminded me of Ruthie, and a wave of grief washed over me.
“Are you alright?” Lee asked.
I took in a long breath and nodded.
