Page 38 of Library of Forbidden Books

She spent hours reading during the day, and Anna and Alice came by every afternoon to visit. Helene also had long conversations with Ruth.

“Helene, I have a surprise for you,” Ruth said one day, placing a letter on the bedsheet.

Helene snatched it up hungrily and looked at the sender. It was from Derek.

“I’ll leave you alone with your husband,” Ruth said, backing out of the room.

“Thank you so much. I owe you my life,” Helene said, swallowing back tears.

As soon as she was alone, Helene nervously opened the envelope and pulled out the letter. Some parts were blacked out, but most could be read easily enough.

My darling,

When I got your letter, it felt like life was worth living again. I’ve tried everything to get you free, but they haven’t even told me where you’re being held or even if you’re alive.

I love you with all my soul and I’ll keep fighting [blacked out]. Being separated from you has taught me what it means to have my heart split in two. I have no energy at work, I cry myself to sleep, and I wake up reaching for your side of the bed, but it’s empty. I’m going to hug you like never before when I finally see you. God will take care of us and bring us back together.

Your family is doing fine, but your grandmother is sick. She’s in the hospital. Pray for her, sweetie. I’m sorry to tell you that bad news, but I thought you’d want to know. Everyone else is fine, and at the library [blacked out].

I hope you write back very soon.

The love of your life,

Derek

Tears streamed down Helene’s cheeks. Since she could not embrace Derek, she hugged the letter to her chest in desperation. She read and reread it several times and ached to see him. Then she took out pen and paper and started writing. Her dear husband needed to know that she was carrying his child and that soon he would become the best father in the world.

Derek lost all hope of freeing Helene when the last person he knew to ask for help turned out to be one more door slammed in his face.

The weight of the past few months bowed his shoulders. He walked aimlessly through the streets of Berlin until he somehow found himself near the house that had belonged to an old friend of his parents, the man who had helped Derek get situated when he first moved from Königsberg to Berlin. The Mollins’ house was in one of the fanciest neighborhoods in the city. They were from Dirschau but had relocated to Berlin several years before. Bernard Joseph Mollin was a good man, but his charming wife, Franzisca Paulina Malotka-Trzebiatowski, had loved Derek like the son she never had.

Without even knowing why, Derek knocked at the door. A few moments later, Franzisca herself opened it, as her maid had gone out to do the shopping.

“My goodness, Derek!” she exclaimed. She embraced him, then ushered him in and up the stairs. She made tea for him and begged to hear about life since the wedding, which her husband’s illness had kept the couple from attending. When Derek shared about Helene’s detention and his fruitless search for her, Franzisca wept for him. He handed her a handkerchief, and she blew her nose, then looked around.

Since she and her husband had moved from Dirschau, beauty was one of the few things that comforted Franzisca. They had brought a good bit of the furniture from their former home, and their new house was like a little Versailles. She did her best to keep it sparkling clean. They had moved to be close to their daughter, Lucia Maria. “Lucie,” as they called her, had only one son, but her husband, Erwin Rommel, was an instructor at the German War Academy at Potsdam. He was often away, and it was a great help to Lucie to have Bernard and Franzisca close by. Erwin had just been promoted to lieutenant colonel, and changes were in the air for the family.

“You know, I could speak with my son-in-law. He has contacts in the government. He’s not a member of the Party, but Hitler thinks highly of his ideas. He even showed the Führer the manuscript of his upcoming book. He hasn’t finished it yet, but it’s to be called something like Infantry Attacks,” Franzisca explained.

Derek nodded but did not want to get his hopes up. Up to that point, every attempt he had made on Helene’s behalf had failed. “In her last letter, Helene let me know she’s pregnant. I can’t let our child be born in a concentration camp.”

“No, no, that won’t happen. I’ll see to it,” Franzisca assured him.

They continued talking, and when he left to walk back home an hour later, Derek was no longer so downcast. His step was much lighter than on his aimless wandering to the Mollins’ house.

Looking around, Derek concluded that Berlin had definitely become subdued. The revolts and street fights had come to a stop, but so had the frivolity and vivacity of one of the world’s most cosmopolitan capitals.

When he opened the door, Kaiser bounded up to see who it was. The cat, who had lost several pounds since Helene’s disappearance, always waited anxiously to see if his mistress would return. Deflated, he slumped back to his basket.

Helene’s recovery was slow but steady. When Ruth could no longer postpone her patient’s discharge, she told Helene it was time to leave.

That morning it seemed that spring had come in full bloom. The snow on the mountains had melted, and carpets of flowers spread out on all sides. Persephone had once again escaped the underworld and coaxed nature awake from its lethargy.

“Thank you so much for everything, Doctor,” Helene said to her savior.

Ruth touched Helene’s belly, smiled, and handed her a small bottle of vitamins.

“Come by every week for a checkup, and take one pill a day. Each time you come I’ll try to have a basket with extra food for you.”