The Roses Underneath (46 page)

“It’s hardly like returning a Rembrandt to its owner.” Anna tapped her foot and looked at the door to Farmer’s office.

“I’ll bet it is to Oskar.” A grin spread over his face. “Look, Farmer will be a while. Since you’re all here, why don’t you come with me for a minute? It won’t take long.”

The three of them followed Cooper into the small hallways at the back of the museum. He pulled a set of keys from his pocket, unlocked one door, and then, after they had gone through several rooms filled with crates, he stopped at a metal door and produced another set of keys. He winked and put his finger to his lips. The door gave way under the push of his shoulder and revealed a darkened room. He waved them inside and closed the door. A damp cool wrapped itself around them. Cooper turned on the light, which revealed a labyrinth of dirty wooden crates. Amalia sneezed into her hand.

“Hurry,” Cooper said and disappeared around a corner. They followed him between the crates until they hit a dead end. A large rectangular crate sat alone against the back wall. They stood around it and Anna let Cooper indulge in the theatrics he had planned for so long. Cooper knelt in front of the crate and pulled on the front panel.

“The brass is coming from Frankfurt tonight to see this, so they’ve rigged the crate for easy viewing. Now, you can’t tell anyone I did this. Are you ready? She’s been buried underground for a long time, but now she’s ready to see you.”

Anna nodded and pulled Amalia and Oskar close, sharing in their anticipation.

Cooper pulled the panel off and placed it to the side. Anna bent down to get a better look.

“What is it, Mama?” Amalia whispered.

Inside the shadows of its cocoon, she saw the famous silhouette, the long neck and the flare of the headpiece. The eyes gazed out at them, unperturbed and unaltered by the centuries. It seemed so unlikely, so heroic in a way, that inside this box this statue would exist completely untouched and unmarred. For her, the horrors of the past ten years were only a blip. Anna blinked to clear her eyes.

“She is so beautiful!” Amalia exclaimed.

“That is Nefertiti. The painted queen—the most beautiful woman who ever lived. She’s more than 2,000 years old,” Cooper said triumphantly. “You like her?”

“I’ve seen her in a book.” Oskar’s eyes were wide. “In one of my Mama’s books.” He was finally impressed.

Anna smiled at Cooper. She still admired his unwavering optimism. In spite of everything, he really believed everything would be all right in the end.

They looked at the face for a long time, the four of them paying their respects to the ancient bust. It would be around long after they were all gone and Anna considered the effort that it had taken to keep her safe for just the last handful of years. She wondered once more how humans could be so barbaric and so magnificent at the same moment in history. Was it possible one trait needed the other to exist?

Amalia slipped a hand into Anna’s and squeezed it tight. “She is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen,” she said.

“We had better go,” Cooper said, pulling the crate closed. He ushered them out of the room and turned off the light before closing and locking the door.

“Thank you, Captain,” Anna said, as they walked back to the office. “They will never forget this.”

“I thought they’d like that.” He took her arm and waited until the children had run ahead into the open foyer. Anna stiffened.

“You okay? You seem distracted. You’ll get your job back, you know that right? There’s a place for you here. If you want it.”

Anna stepped back and adjusted the strap of her bag on her shoulder. “I’m just a little tired after all that’s happened.”

“And? There’s something else, I can tell. I know you better than you think. Is it something to do with your husband?”

“No, it’s not that. Well, yes it is actually. I am worried about what the tribunal brought up about him. What they know...”

“You mean about him being a Red?”

“Yes. That hasn’t changed. What am I to do about that?”

“Don’t worry about that now. We will get that sorted out. You never know, maybe he’s come to his senses. Times are changing.” He softened. “You’re not convinced. What is it that’s really bothering you?”

“It’s nothing. Just feeling a bit out of sorts that’s all.” Anna smiled. “I am so happy you got your job back. They are lucky to have you.” She repeated the words Farmer had said to her earlier. “I know you will do a lot of good.” She shifted her bag again. It felt heavier than ever. “If you’ll excuse me, I just need to step outside and get a bit of air.”

Cooper looked concerned, but relented. “Okay. Take your time. I’ll wait here with the kiddos.”

Anna sat on the loading dock, which was quiet for the moment. A few GIs milled around, but there was very little activity outside now that the full shipment from the Merkers mine had been secured inside the building. There were more guards at the fence, and things seemed more formal than they had when she had first started working there— when there had been no running water and no desks or even electricity. All the windows were repaired but tiny glass shards still remained here and there. They still crunched under foot like pebbles, even inside the building, as they were slowly ground into dust with every step.

Anna took a deep breath and reached into her bag for the envelope that Frau Hermann had pushed under her door early that morning. She had not had the nerve to open it, even though the handwriting was as familiar as her own. Instead she had put it in her bag. She wanted to find the right moment to read it, but the letter’s weight on her shoulder had become too much and she could not wait any longer. She held the little envelope up to her nose and took a deep breath, then ran a finger over the return address, the familiar name conjuring a picture of her old house, in her old town, in her old life. The sun shining in an unknowing sky, the trees blowing in the oblivious wind. She saw her little garden and remembered how, in the morning, the sun would make the leaves of her marigolds glow like little golden nuggets. Amalia took her first wobbly steps there next to the lilac bush, and Anna thought it would be her home forever because, maybe, if she was lucky and very quiet, the world would pass her by. She pressed her lips together and peeled the edge of the flap upward, then stuck her finger into the hole and split open the top of the envelope. The paper inside was thin and mismatched, taken from different writing pads. She steadied her hands.

My darling Anna,

I hope and pray that this letter finds you and Amalia and that you are safe. Since you did not arrive in Landstuhl as planned, I am hoping you made contact with Madeleine and that perhaps your messages have been delayed. I could not wait any longer to hear from you so I am sending this to her address on blind faith.

Things here are not the same without you. Life is slowly getting better and back to normal. The new Russian Kommandant was in touch with me two weeks ago and has given me a position running the hospital. I am able to help a lot of people, mostly from the area but also those who are just passing through. Now that there is more medicine, things are easier. The communists are setting up the town leadership and I hope to earn a position of some kind. Surely a doctor can contribute something?

I wonder what you are hearing about the Russian sector? I can tell you it’s not nearly as bad here as maybe other places, Berlin and such. Things here are very calm and the soldiers can be quite friendly. Just yesterday one came to the house with fresh horsemeat for the patients at the hospital. Once you understand the Russian temperament, you will get along well. I want you both to come home. You can help me with the hospital and Amalia can start school. Everything is getting organized. There is nothing to be afraid of anymore. I am sending some money to help you on your way.

Please come back to me. I am waiting for my beautiful girls.

With all my love,

Thomas

Anna fingered the money he had put inside the folded paper and re-read the letter. The realization was slow to wash over her, but when it did she felt like she had sunk to the bottom of the ocean. He wasn’t coming. There would be no new life here, no future for them, no happy ending. She thought of Amalia and her heart ached. She could not sentence her daughter to a life that would kill everything unique and vibrant about her. She knew their only future was on this side of the border. Why couldn’t Thomas see it, too? She wanted to scream at him to come to his senses, that the Russians had nothing for him, that he was stepping out of one oppression into another. That it was no longer enough for her to simply survive on someone else’s terms. She looked up at the sky, clear, with only a few smudges of clouds high in the east beyond the hills. She loved her husband more than ever, she needed him, and their daughter deserved to have her family together. But they were here now. They had made it this far. Amalia was safe. They were free.

Anna sat for a long time, letting her thoughts steep, and feeling caught between moments, as if time had stopped as it waited for her. There would be a before and there would be an after. This was the dividing line. She had to decide.

She had not moved when a jeep pulled up to the Collecting Point’s rear entrance and two MPs jumped out and ran inside, their guns in hand. She put the letter back in the bag and followed them into the foyer. They had disappeared into the offices in the side wing where the restorers had set up their workshop.

“What is going on?” she asked when she found Cooper sitting on the bench with Oskar and Amalia. “What are they doing?”

Cooper shrugged. “I guess we’ll find out. Have a seat. You feeling better?”

“Not really,” Anna said as she pulled Amalia into her lap.

They heard shouting and then the shuffle of a physical struggle from the workshop. American voices yelled and a woman shrieked. Amalia’s body tensed, and she buried her head into Anna’s shoulder.People stopped what they were doing and looked in the direction of the noise, which was now coming toward them. Captain Farmer came out of his office just as the white helmets of the MPs appeared at the far end of the foyer, surrounded by other GIs and a handful of workers. The clump of people approached the main entry and Farmer stepped in to hold the door open as officiously as the bellman at the Hansa Hotel. As they descended the stairs, Anna stood up on tiptoe to see the sweating head of Ludwig Schneider in between the shoulders of the two MPs. The door slammed shut with finality, and the people who had gathered to watch the show now hurried to look busy again. Farmer motioned to Cooper to follow him, and the two of them squeaked into his office and closed the door.

“What happened, Mama?” Amalia asked.

“I guess they’ve arrested Herr Schneider,” Anna replied.

“That was because of you, Frau Klein,” Oskar said. “Because you told the
Amis
the truth. And they believed you. Because you figured it out.” He nodded to himself.

“That was so smart, Mama,” Amalia chimed in.

Anna chuckled. “That’s all very good. Now, why don’t you two run along and go check on Auntie? I don’t think you need to wait anymore. I’ll come home when I am finished here.” She put Amalia down and gave her a little push. “Oskar, you are in charge. You go straight home, no monkeying around.”

“Yes, Frau Klein.” Oskar took Amalia’s hand and pulled her toward the door. Amalia was happy to go along and they both stopped to wave before leaving the building. Amalia stood, framed in the doorway, looking over her shoulder at Anna,
then turning to step into the bright world. The light from the open door raked across the stone floor at Annas’s feet, catching the fragments of crystal embedded in it. They sparkled against the dull gray like stars in the sky—tiny mirror fragments in the darknes—until the door closed and they disappeared.

“Hey, I’ve got great news.” Cooper startled her. “Oh, are you okay?”

Anna wiped her eye with the back of her hand and straightened her back. “Yes, I’m all right. Just thinking.” She pulled her bag onto her lap. “What’s your good news?”

He grinned like a boy with a secret and sat down next to her. “Not only did you get your job back, but Farmer got you reclassified. You, Anna Klein, are now a level-two employee of the United States Military Government. That means you get housing assistance and a little bit more money. How about that?”

Anna was taken aback. “But don’t they know about my husband? What about my ‘status,’ or whatever the men on the tribunal called it? Am I even allowed to stay?”

Cooper waved her off. “Don’t worry about that. Farmer was impressed with your report and your dedication; he wants to make sure you stick around. We need good people like you. And not just in the typing pool either. I know the little old Monuments Fine Arts and Archives unit may not be as glamorous as working for some brass in Frankfurt, but I like to think it has its perks. And there’s a lot of work to be done. Things are about to get even more interesting around here.” He leaned forward and rested his forearms on his knees. He looked at her over his shoulder, his gaze direct. “So, what do you say?”

Anna flushed. “I don’t know what to say, Captain. That is too kind. Really.” The blood rising in her cheeks warmed her scalp. She touched her hair, embarrassed.

Cooper looked disappointed. “Well, that’s not very enthusiastic. I am going to need a little bit more than that.” He sat up, palms on his knees. “So tell me you won’t leave us, even after all this mess. You’re here to stay, right?”