The Roses Underneath (11 page)

Anna took a deep breath and shot a glance at Oskar, who regarded her with angry mistrust. “All right,” she muttered. She got out of the jeep and approached the woman, her heart pounding.

“Hello. I hope you can help me.” Anna tried on an American smile and extended her hand. She felt stupid but kept going. “I am Anna Klein. And this is...”

The woman recoiled as if Anna were pointing a gun at her. “
Was wollen Sie?
” she asked. Her head turned sideways but her eyes focused on Anna’s.

Anna stopped and waved her hand toward the jeep. “This boy needs to stay here for a while. We just found him.” She looked back at Cooper, who leaned against the jeep watching her.

“Tell her he came from the country,” Cooper offered. “I’ll go and get him registered with one of the nurses.” He marched off to the nearest building.

Anna sat down next to the woman and leaned forward, elbows on knees. She looked at Oskar, who made a heroic effort to not look at her.

“The Captain would like to know if you could help take care of the boy, until we, I mean they, the Americans, or maybe the Red Cross, can decide what to do with him. Could you help us?” Anna smiled. The woman folded her arms across her chest.

Anna tried a different tack. “Look, he has no one at all to help him. His parents are dead.” She paused. “I am a mother, too, and I will try to do what I can, but I can’t keep him. Would you please help me? He is a sweet boy.”

The woman shifted her eyes toward Oskar and chewed on the inside of her cheek. She pointed a skeletal finger toward a slight boy sitting at the base of the tree, scraping a stick through the dirt. “That’s my boy,” she said. “He’s all I have left.”

Anna stared at the little boy under the tree, trying to tune out the chatter of the women complaining about the
Amis
and lamenting the conditions of the shelter and the quality of the food. Somewhere a girl cried out and a woman bolted from the bench in response.

“I have a daughter,” Anna said. She wondered if Amalia was all she had left, too.

“What is the boy’s name?” the woman asked.

“His name is Oskar.”

“He will need to be properly registered with the agency. Yes, I will do what I can, which is not much. But I will make sure he is looked after.”

Anna felt a breeze on her face. “Thank you, Frau…”

“Niemeyer,” said the woman. “Maria.” She offered her hand.

Anna introduced herself and they shook hands. She stood and made a show of excitement as she walked toward Oskar. He stared at her from under defiant eyebrows. Anna held out her hand to help him out of the jeep.

“Come on now, Oskar. This is a nice place. They will take care of you.” Her voice was too enthusiastic. She felt like a salesman on commission, trying to sell him an overpriced suit he didn’t need.

The boy slid onto his feet but made no move toward the playground. “I don’t want to stay here. I want to go with you,” he mumbled, all the bravado gone.

Anna’s heart tightened. She squatted down and squeezed his bony arms. “I promise you, Oskar, I will come back and help you. For now, you go with Frau Niemeyer and get settled. Everything will be all right. I know it will. She tried to hug him, but he pulled away, reapplying his tough veneer. She gave him a little push in the direction of the playground where Maria stood with her arm held out. “Go now, and I will see you soon.”

He started to walk and then turned to look at her. “Tomorrow?” he said. “You’ll come tomorrow?”

Anna nodded. Another lie. She felt as if someone had thrown a heavy blanket on her, blocking out the air and light. She put a hand on the jeep to steady herself.

The boy turned and shuffled away as
Cooper came out of the building.

“All right then, I think we can call it a day.” Cooper handed her some papers. “Here.
The boy’s registration information. You hang on to it. I got the paperwork started but he needs to go in and be interviewed and photographed. There’s a doctor that will check him out too. You find someone to watch out for him?”

Anna nodded and took the papers. Oskar stood next to Maria and her son, hands in pockets, shoulders hunched. Maria rubbed his head and talked to him. When she saw Anna looking, she raised a reassuring hand and nodded. Anna returned the gesture.

“It’s all going to be okay, don’t you worry,” Cooper said, looking at his watch. “Now let’s get going. It’s past your quitting time and I’m not authorized to pay overtime,” he chuckled.

Anna turned away from the playground with a heavy heart. “What time is it now?

“It’s almost six. I mean 1800. I still can’t get the hang of that.”

Anna gasped. “Oh dear God. I was supposed to be at the Collecting Point at five o’clock to meet Amalia.” Her voice
rose an octave.

Cooper rolled his eyes. “Take it easy. We’ll go right now. I am sure she’s fine. I mean you did leave her there by herself all day before, right?”

Anna ignored the low blow. “Let’s just go now, please? Captain?”

Cooper grinned and jumped into the jeep. “Yes, yes, here we go. Hop in.”

As they drove Anna conjured all possible scenarios of what had happened to Amalia. None was reassuring—at best the girl was scared and worried. She didn’t want to think about the worst. She cursed under her breath. Cooper looked at her and offered a sympathetic smile. He reached over and made to pat her leg but then thought better of it and touched her arm instead.

“It’s okay, Frau Klein. We’ll be there in no time. You’ll see.”

Cooper accelerated and sped through the city streets, avoiding people on bicycles and clumps of pedestrians. He swerved around a milk truck parked at the curb, barely avoiding the line of women that had formed behind it. “Can I ask you something?” he said, as he righted the jeep and slowed down.

“Yes?” Anna said, but she meant, “No.”

“I know you Germans like to be formal and all but if we are going to be working together I feel awful silly calling you Frau Klein all the time. Would it be okay if I call you Anna?”

Anna wondered why Americans were always so set on being informal. She liked formality. It made things clear. “Actually, I am Austrian. Or I was. But yes, I suppose we like to be proper in our dealings with others.
It’s just good manners. But you may call me Anna if it makes you happy.” She did not like where this was going. “And what shall I call you?”

“Oh well, if you want you can call me Coop. That’s what everyone calls me. But I guess probably you don’t want to do that.”

“But what is your first name?” asked Anna.

“Henry.”

He did not seem like a Henry at all. “I shall call you Captain,” she said.

Cooper snorted. “I figured. Look, the duchess is just fine, you’ll see, Anna.” He shifted gears.

When they arrived at the Collecting Point, Amalia and Frieda were nowhere to be seen. They had agreed to meet at the rear sentry gate, but no one was there. Cooper stopped the jeep and jumped out to speak to the MP. Anna looked around but saw only the workers and soldiers going about the business of preparing the museum for the coming shipment.
They must have added a second shift
, she thought.

“He says they were here but they left a while ago. Says they went up that way.” Cooper pointed up into the hills.

“They must have gone back to the Schilling house,” said Anna gathering her things together. She started to get out of the jeep, but Cooper stopped her.

“Hey, don’t worry. I’ll give you a lift. It’ll be faster. Just sit tight.” Before Anna could object, the jeep lurched forward. She gave Cooper directions to the Gustav-Freytag-Strasse and barely five minutes later they pulled up outside the Schilling house.

“Thank you,” Anna said. “I am sure she’s here. You don’t need to wait. Do I report back to the typing pool tomorrow?”

“No, ma’am. You’re mine now. We may have to go back and secure the villa if we can’t get the stuff out of there. You’re the only person who knows about it so let’s keep it just between us for now, okay?”

Anna squinted at him. “Why? Isn’t that breaking the rules?”

“Only a little bit. Trust me on this. I just want to be sure everything stays safe before we can get it back to the Collecting Point. It will be a day, two days tops.”

Anna felt uneasy. “I don’t like to break any rules,” she said, staring straight ahead. She knew what Cooper would say next.

“Yeah, I know. That’s a German thing right? Just follow orders? You need to loosen up a little. Relax. It will be just fine.”

Anna smiled at her prescience. “Two days,” she said. “Then I will have to report you.” She turned toward him and raised an eyebrow to show she was joking. “And we’ll check on Oskar? At the camp?”

“If that makes you feel better, sure.”

Anna rang the bell at the gate and attempted a wave goodbye. “Thank you, Captain. See you tomorrow.”

Cooper folded his arms across his chest and sat back, head tilted. Anna rang the bell again and waited a few moments. She looked up at the house but could see no signs of life. Cooper’s stare poked at her back and she wished he would go away now, as if he was crossing some imaginary line into her life. She shook the metal gate but it would not budge.

“Here, let me get that.” Cooper was beside her. He reached through the slats and pulled on the lock mechanism. The gate unlocked and he pushed it open. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s see what we can find.”

Anna followed him through the garden and stood back as he knocked on the door. She did not think the Schillings would appreciate her bringing an
Ami
to their doorstep. But no one answered. For the second time that day Anna followed him as he pushed open a door and entered a German house.

“Hello?” he called.

“Frieda? Amalia?” Anna echoed. She started up the stairs to Frieda’s apartment but noticed the door on the pied-a-terre ajar. “That’s Emil’s apartment,” she said.

“Who is Emil?”

“Emil Schilling. He works at the Collecting Point. He’s how I found this place for Amalia.”

“Ah. Your friend that you were talking to the other day, the sapper.” He pushed the door open and stuck his head in. “Hello? Herr Schilling?”

Anna wanted to tell him that he was not her friend, that she had no friends, but Cooper was already halfway down the hallway.

“
Ja?
Hallo?
” Emil emerged, wiping his hands on a towel.

“Emil, we are looking for Amalia. Is she with you?” Anna said more amiably than she felt. Emil stared at Cooper. “You remember Captain Cooper, from the Collecting Point? We’ve been on a field visit today and were late in returning. Amalia was not where I expected to meet her, so I wanted to see if she’s here.”

Cooper returned Emil’s stare with equal intensity. Anna looked at the two men sizing each other up.

“Of course, she’s here with me,” said Emil and gestured to a door at the end of the hall. “Please come in. She’s in the sitting room.”

Anna pushed past Cooper and hurried down the hall. She found Amalia sitting on a small green sofa, the
Snow Queen
book on her lap, a plate of bread on the table in front of her.

“Mama!” She jumped up and flung her body at Anna so hard that Anna lost her footing.

“Maus, I am so sorry,” Anna whispered into her daughter’s neck.

“I thought you weren’t coming. I thought something happened to you.” She squeezed her mother tight.

“It couldn’t be helped. But everything is all right now.” She released her grip and held Amalia in front of her. Red splotches around the girl’s mouth told that she had been crying.

“Duchess, there you are.” Cooper stepped into the room and Anna tensed. Amalia smiled and gave him a shy wave. Anna started to tell him that they were fine now and he could go, but Amalia held up her book for him to see and tugged at Anna’s pants. “I am looking at his book. Mama, tell him.” Anna relayed the message and Cooper gave a thumbs-up in response. Amalia giggled and dug her head into Anna’s thigh.

Emil appeared in the doorway. “Anna, would you like to stay for dinner? It is late and you must be hungry. I have soup.” He smiled a small, nervous smile.

“Oh, no thank you. That’s very kind but we must get back and see to our auntie, right Maus?” To Cooper she said, “Thank you Captain, for your help. I’ll see you tomorrow. We must be off now.” She tried to make her way past him, but he blocked the space between the sofa and the door. There were suddenly too many people in the small room and Anna started to feel claustrophobic. No one moved one way or the other as Emil and Cooper each held their staked-out ground.

Anna looked around the room for the first time. Arranged around the sofa were a matching chair and a wooden coffee table. Under the window that faced the street was a small bookshelf, and along the far wall stood a small square table with two straight-backed chairs. There seemed to be no feminine influence on the space at all; even the paintings on the wall seemed haphazard and random with no regard to placement, as if Emil had hung them from nails already in the walls. She spotted the ubiquitous copy of
Mein Kampf
on the shelf.
Means nothing
, she thought. Everyone in Germany had been obliged to own a copy, although she had never read hers. That copy had gone into her oven sometime during the past winter and she had been glad to get rid of it. She wondered why anyone would still have a copy on his shelf when it made such excellent fuel for the fire.