Chapter 6
Odette
MUNICH IS WET AND SLICK with the mulch of fallen leaves, piling in the gutters and turning the cobbles as slippery as ice.
Even here, it has been a warm winter, and in places, browned and curled leaves still cling to the branches.
They have arrived early in the morning, around eight, and the city is alive with people going to work or returning from the factory night shift.
There are Christmas decorations in the shop windows, and a great tree set in the square.
It makes no sense to Odette that her world and this one can occupy the same time and place.
Things continue, normal lives are lived. How alien it all is.
She cannot look at Miss Rosebury. They are about of a size, though Miss Rosebury is slim at the bust where Odette is thick.
Walking side by side from Bahnhofplatz, down Schützenstra?e towards the Hotel Deutscher Hof, they match each other’s pace, Odette’s fitted coat flashier than Miss Rosebury’s cape.
Every time Miss Rosebury’s bag knocks against Odette’s hip, a shiver of anticipation snaps through her.
At the hotel, they are shown into a private sitting room that has been reserved for the meeting. Frau Sterne will take Odette from here to the spa town, Miss Rosebury has explained.
Odette remains dumb. Nodding. Looking at anything but a face. Eyes. Her mother moves with her now, at her back, as though they are connected by string, Lydia a puppet animated by her own movements, or—
Frau Sterne is tall and broad and does not look unkind so much as disinterested.
The sitting room is small but comfortably furnished, with a ceramic stove in the corner, as is the continental custom, throwing out heat enough to make Odette sweat.
There is coffee set on the table and a plate of biscuits, and two men, smartly dressed, standing with their backs against the wall – to take her bags, Odette is assured, but from the thickness of their arms, she understands their real purpose, if she were to cause any trouble.
Odette sits in the chair indicated and watches as Miss Rosebury takes the letter from her bag and hands it to Frau Sterne.
They make some small talk, but Odette can barely hear it.
Frau Sterne opens the letter causally, skims the contents.
There is only the slightest flicker of hesitation.
She glances first at Odette, then at Miss Rosebury. Odette cannot breathe. This is it.
Frau Sterne folds the letter and slips it into her pocket, then turns to Miss Rosebury. ‘You must have had such a terribly long journey,’ she says, pouring the coffee. ‘I hope our hospitality will be restorative.’
Miss Rosebury demurs. ‘It is the nature of my work, and I am well accustomed to it.’
‘I am sure you have taken exemplary care of your charge.’ Here Frau Sterne flashes Odette a quick look, so brief it is almost unnoticeable.
Miss Rosebury seems reluctant to engage in the attention paid to her, rewarding it with only a tight smile.
‘Will you take some refreshment?’ Frau Sterne indicates the coffee.
‘Thank you, no,’ says Miss Rosebury. ‘I trust all the necessary documents are in order?’
‘Indeed, they are.’
Frau Sterne makes a little more conversation, all directed at Miss Rosebury, who, if she finds the situation at all disturbing, gives no indication. Odette is not acknowledged at all.
Frau Sterne replaces her coffee cup on the table with a finality. ‘There is a carriage waiting outside, if we are ready to depart?’
There is a moment where nobody moves. Frau Sterne looks at Miss Rosebury expectantly, who in turn looks at Odette.
Palms clammy, Odette rises. ‘Yes. It is time.’
The three women leave the private sitting room, repinning their hats, while the two men follow behind.
The carriage is waiting around the back of the hotel, hidden from the busy streets.
It is a plain thing, unmarked and sturdy.
Here, the lie of the rest cure becomes untenable.
Miss Rosebury appears unmoved. Odette admires her sang-froid.
Hopefully it will serve her well in what is to come.
One of the men opens the carriage door.
Odette does not move.
‘Come. We will travel together,’ says Frau Sterne reassuringly. She looks meaningfully at Miss Rosebury, who, without hesitation, steps into the carriage.
The door is shut after her and fastened.
It is done.