Chapter 23 #2
Clara smiled at Anna. ‘Sometimes it helps if you move around. I know you probably don’t feel like it but even just walking around this room might help. And you need to keep hydrated. Drink plenty of water.’
‘The other pregnant woman laughed again but without humour. ‘This isn’t exactly The Ritz with fresh water available whenever we want it.’
‘Miriam, that’s enough,’ came the voice of one of the men. Clara presumed it was the woman’s husband.
Clara looked at the other women. ‘How are you both? Would you like me to check everything is all right?’
After a slight hesitation, both women took Clara up on her offer. It was the least she could do to offer some reassurance for the women as well as giving herself peace of mind. The conditions these families were living in were awful.
‘Are they all right?’ asked Max.
‘They are both fine from what I can tell from my limited observations.’
‘And Anna?’
‘She should be all right. Gentle exercise and plenty of water.’
Max shook his head. ‘I can get the water, but we need to move from here. I’m not sure the exercise will be that gentle.’
‘How far are they going?’
‘Ten kilometres out of the city,’ replied Max. ‘We have a safe house there.’
‘Transport?’ asked Clara?
‘On foot.’
Clara turned away from the women, lowering her voice. ‘I don’t like them having to walk that far. It’s too dangerous.’
‘And it’s too dangerous to do otherwise,’ snapped Max. ‘What do you expect me to do? They can’t stay here.’
‘I can help,’ said Clara. ‘I can arrange the transport for you and documentation you need if you are stopped.’
Max looked at her for a long moment. ‘You can definitely do that?’
Clara looked around at the others in the room, who weren’t even pretending they weren’t listening, and then turned to Max. ‘You know I can. Or at least, I know someone who can.’ Clara continued, ‘I’ll arrange for false names so they can’t be connected back to the list of those to be relocated.’
Max nodded. ‘Good.’
‘I will be back here tomorrow morning with a plan and everything in place. Be ready to move at a moment’s notice.’
‘We have a new leader, it seems,’ said one of the men.
Clara wasn’t sure she actually wanted that accolade. ‘I am just a cog in the wheel. Now, I must leave, I am meeting my husband soon.’
With a final check on Anna and words of reassurance, Clara left the cellar and the apartment building.
She paused on the pavement, taking in several large lungfuls of cold but fresh air.
She checked around her to make sure no one was watching.
It had become an automatic action in recent weeks, that often she didn’t even realise she was doing it.
If she hurried she would be on time to meet Friedrich. He had booked a table at the Café Kranzler. It was the café that he had taken her to on their first date and a place they frequented on special occasions such as birthdays and wedding anniversaries.
Café Kranzler stood like a jewel on the Unter den Linden, its tall windows gleaming beneath ornate cornices that spoke of Berlin’s grander past.
Friedrich was already waiting outside when she arrived. His expression looked unconcerned, but she could see the tension in his shoulders and the way he was scanning the pavement. His gaze found her and there was a palpable relief on his face. He smiled and her heart gave an extra beat.
‘Liebling,’ he said softly, kissing her cheek.
‘Sorry, have you been waiting long?’ She was only a few minutes late, but she realised that even that short time was enough to cause anxiety.
‘Not really, but, well, you’re here now. Let’s go in.’
As they were shown to their table, Clara noticed the subtle changes to the café.
There were fewer patrons, hushed conversations and a faint undercurrent of tension that had never been there before.
Crystal chandeliers still illuminated the elegant marble tables and white-aproned waiters moved with practised precision between the tables.
It wasn’t until Friedrich took her coat from her that she realised she had a dirty mark on the bottom of her skirt. As the waiter seated them and left menus, Friedrich’s trained eye had already found it.
‘What happened to your skirt?’ he asked quietly.
Damn. She should have known nothing escaped her husband’s notice. ‘I had to carry out an emergency visit. Must have been when I was kneeling.’
Friedrich’s frown deepened as he studied her face. ‘Was the visit successful?’
‘Only temporarily.’ Clara chose her words carefully as the waiter returned with wine. ‘The patient will need some further help tomorrow but at a different medical facility.’
‘Not in Berlin?’
Clara waited for the young man to leave them alone again before answering. ‘Outside Berlin. I will need to accompany my patient tomorrow. Once the necessary paperwork has been approved.’ She looked pointedly at her husband.
Friedrich’s jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. When he spoke, his voice was steady, but she caught the flicker of fear in his eyes. ‘I’m sure you’ll have all the necessary paperwork by tomorrow.’
Clara nodded, her throat suddenly dry. ‘Yes. I hope so.’
The elegant café continued its gentle hum around them, crystal and conversation creating a facade of normalcy that felt fragile and brittle.