Page 72 of The Librarian Spy

James was correct in predicting her difficulty in securing passage for the mother and child. She knew that. But while the idea of helping Lamant all those months ago had shown her everything she’d done wrong, she had even less of a shot now.

“What do you mean you don’t know their names?” Peggy inquired with a frown.

“It was from the article I mentioned before, the one in Combat,” Ava explained.

“I wasn’t aware you didn’t even know their names.” Peggy’s right leg was crossed over her left, and now it swung back and forth as she pursed her lips in thought. “I have no idea how you can even begin the process without that information. You have to swear to their character in a moral affidavit to assure on your honor they are good people. How can you do that when you don’t even know what their names are?”

While it was a good point, it didn’t ease Ava’s rising frustration. “Is there any way I can begin this process before their arrival?”

Peggy’s leg stopped swinging, and she crossed her arms over her chest. “No.”

“They at least need transit visas.”

“To who would they be assigned?” Peggy queried.

Really, she should have said “to whom,” but Ava refrained from pointing that out in the interest of her precarious situation.

“We work for the American Embassy,” Ava protested. “Surely we have some clout.”

Peggy shook her head, sending her sandy curls swinging around her face. “It’s going to take a while, even if you are here pulling for them. You’ll need a support affidavit to show they can afford to live without financial aid once in America plus the moral affidavits I mentioned as well as six copies of Form B of your request.”

“Six?”

“It’s a few pages, front and back.” Peggy’s red lips stretched in a line of sympathy as she nodded. “I can help you fill them out when it’s time.”

Ava gave her a sad, but grateful nod.

“You also may want to try to make friends with the clerks and officers downstairs in legation.” Peggy shrugged. “They’re overworked and on edge. I’m sure a little appreciation will go a long way.”

Though they were all in the same building, Ava scarcely ever saw the other embassy employees. When she did, the men and women were rushing by with clipped steps somewhere between a walk and a run, coated in a sheen of sweat and with a furrowed brow.

“And you can ask the PVDE what you can do to prepare for their arrival.” Peggy got to her feet and put a hand on Ava’s shoulder. “They may be able to at least let you know what to make ready. All refugees have to go through them to remain in Portugal. You’re going to have to go to them regardless. Might as well get some info now.”

It was another good suggestion, and as soon as Ava finished photographing the books and periodicals she and Mike had accumulated the last several days, she made her way to Chiado where the PVDE headquarters were located on Rua António Maria Cardoso.

Ava strode up the incline of the street and entered the large building, feeling as though she were walking into the belly of the beast.

We have not to fear anything, except fear itself. Julius Caesar’s quote resounded in her thoughts, pushing her onward.

Her heels clicked over the polished floor and echoed off the cold walls. A man sitting at the desk in a black business suit looked up, his face blank with disinterest.

He was middle-aged and slightly out of shape, with a glint of silver in his dark hair. Despite the benign appearance, Ava knew better.

Anyone who had spent more than a month in Portugal knew of the secret police and their brutality. It was rumored they had been trained by the Gestapo in their torture techniques. As kind as the Portuguese people were to the refugees, the PVDE could be just as cruel. Merciless with their rules, pedantic with the details, and swift with the execution of punishment. When people entered prison, they did not always come out, and even the ones who did had terrifying tales to tell.

She suppressed a shiver and addressed the officer in Portuguese, asking if there was a way to register the mother and child now and provide their names later or if there was anything she might do to prepare for their arrival. She intentionally omitted the details of how they were coming and how she knew of them. The PVDE was supposed to remain impartial to either side in the war, maintaining Portugal’s claim of neutrality. Not everyone followed rules, however, and it was not uncommon to find some siding with the Allies and still others with the Axis.

The man sighed in irritation at a question he apparently considered idiotic.

“When they come, you make sure they register here.” His expression was stern. “They come every month, or we will go to them.”

Ava smiled sweetly in the face of his bald threat. “I wouldn’t dream of doing otherwise.”

The only other place she could think to probe about for ideas or information she had somehow overlooked was the JDC. As she hopped on the tram, her mind worked through everyone she had ever met in DC and how they might offer some aid. She hadn’t been one for making scores of close friends. She didn’t have many acquaintances as it was. And certainly, none that were in positions to provide backing in a situation like this.

She’d learned that early on when trying to find a way for Lamant to get his transit visa to America.

The tram deposited her at her stop, and she walked the rest of the way toward the familiar white building, enjoying the heat of the sun on that crisp January day. Children chased one another about in a game of tag while their parents held cups of coffee and tea, engaged in their dismal low-toned conversations. The faces changed from time to time, but the situations were always the same. Adults waiting for the little ones to be distracted before whispering their fears to one another.