‘Speak up, speak up, please,’ the woman shouted, leaning closer to him, cupping a hand around her ear.
The waiter immediately bent down and began to explain about the dish carefully, and in a much louder voice.
It was obvious to Ursula and Teddy that the woman was stone deaf. Teddy rolled her eyes heavenwards, and then looked across at Ursula pointedly.
Ursula exhaled quietly. She was relieved the woman hadn’t heard Maxim’s reference to the shabbat candles. Many Germans were anti-semitic and had been brainwashed by the Nazis into believing the Jews were responsible for all of their troubles. The woman was obviously just another passenger, with no special powers, as far as they were aware. On the other hand, if she knew they were Jews she might conceivably make a fuss, insist on changing tables, and so draw unwanted attention to them. If she were prejudiced that is—not every German was. Still, thank God she was deaf. Now they had a chance to relax if only for a short time over dinner. Ursula was not particularly hungry, but Maxim and Teddy needed their nourishment, and she wanted them to eat in peace.
Another thought struck Ursula all of a sudden and she frowned to herself. What if the woman weren’t deaf at all, merely pretending to be? But why would she do that? There was no reason. She was a stranger on the train who did not know them. And so Ursula dismissed the idea at once, refusing to become paranoid.
She began to talk to Teddy and Maxim about Paris, an innocuous subject, one that was perfectly safe.
They listened to her most attentively.
***
Ursula led Maxim down the platform, holding him tightly with one hand. In the other she carried her suitcase.
Teddy walked along next to her, carrying her own case and Maxim’s. They stepped forward quickly, since it was cold on this early morning, following the other passengers who were making for the German customs and immigration shed at the far end of the platform. They had reached the railway station at the border town of Aachen about ten minutes ago, and the conductor had gone down the corridor of the train, opening carriage doors, telling the remaining passengers to take all of their belongings when they alighted. And to have their papers ready. The crowd ahead of them was not very large, and it was apparent to Ursula that many people had left the train during the night, when it had stopped at different towns.
She paused abruptly and Teddy immediately followed suit and threw her a questioning look.
‘Give me your ticket and passport, Teddy dear,’ Ursula said, putting her case down, holding out her hand. ‘I think it will be easier if I deal with our papers. You can look after Maxim.’
‘Yes, Frau Westheim,’ Teddy said, placing the two cases on the platform, opening her bag and taking out her passport and ticket. She gave them to Ursula, who thanked her and put them inside her own purse. Ursula held Teddy’s eyes and mouthed silently, above Maxim’s head, ‘Stay calm.’
Teddy nodded.
As the two women and the child started walking again, the SS officer who had occupied their carriage dashed past them at breakneck speed, veered to the left, and went barrelling out through the exit door. Ursula was glad to see the back of him. Although he had paid no attention to them, he had somehow been a sinister presence on the entire journey.
Upon entering the customs and immigration shed, Ursula saw that there were three tables. Behind each one sat a member of the border police, all of them identifiable because of their uniforms. But hovering in the background, under the windows set high on the wall, were several men in civilian clothes. She was quite certain they were Gestapo.
Sigi had told her the secret police were everywhere, and that she should not worry, so she took a deep breath and marched forward determinedly. Her face was calm, her expression neutral, but her light-blue eyes were wary, missing nothing as she drew to a standstill behind a young couple. She glanced over her shoulder and gave Teddy a warm smile, one that she hoped was reassuring.
When it was finally her turn, Ursula stepped up to the table, looked steadily at the uniformed policeman, opened her bag and gave him their three sets of papers.
The policeman spread them out before him on the table and examined them for a moment or two, then he lifted his head, eyed her coldly. ‘What is the purpose of your journey to France, Frau Westheim?’
‘I am taking my child, and his nurse, Fraulein Stein, on a holiday.’
‘You have return tickets for Berlin. When do you plan to return to Germany?’
‘In several weeks. About four weeks, to be precise.’
He said nothing as he cast his eyes over the three of them, scrutinising them fixedly for the longest minute. Eventually he asked, ‘Are you taking any valuables out of Germany?’
‘No. No, I’m not,’ Ursula said in a clear, strong voice. ‘We are not. No, no.’
‘Put the suitcases up here on the table. I want to see inside them,’ the policeman ordered.
Ursula did as he bid, lifting her own onto the table first. He made a thorough search, rummaging through her clothes, feeling the sides and bottom. He then went through the other two cases, before asking for their handbags. The contents were tipped out of her bag and it was carefully checked, as was Teddy’s, before everything was put back.
Once again, the border policeman studied their passports, finally stamped each one with a sharp thud, and handed them back to her with a curt nod of dismissal.
‘Danke schon,’ Ursula murmured, picked up her own suitcase and the one belonging to Teddy. Turning to her, she said, ‘Let’s go. Attend to Maxim, and I’ll handle these.’
‘Yes, Frau Westheim.’ Teddy took Maxim’s hand in hers, lifted his suitcase, and together they followed his mother, although it was a trifle difficult to keep up with her. Ursula was hurrying so fast she was almost running out of the customs and immigration shed.
Thank God, thank God, it was easier than I imagined it was going to be, Ursula thought. Her heart soared. They were free. Well, almost. Nevertheless, she could not keep the happy smile from invading her face.
As she came out of the shed and turned right, about to walk along the platform and back to their carriage, Ursula found herself face to face with the army colonel who had been seated opposite Maxim all the way from Berlin.
He was blocking her path.
She moved slightly to one side, attempting to walk around him, but he moved also, and so blocked her path once more. The smile on her face congealed. Swiftly, she glanced back, checking on Teddy and Maxim.
They were only a few steps behind her, but Teddy was now standing perfectly still, watching her uncertainly, and grasping Maxim’s hand more tightly than ever. Her expression was frightened, her eyes stark in her white face.
Swinging back to the officer, Ursula gasped, ‘Please. We must get on the train. We have been through customs. And immigration. Please. Let me pass.’ She was terrified that this man was going to prevent them from leaving Germany.
‘Frau Westheim,’ the colonel said.
Aghast, Ursula could only stare at him. My God, he knew her name! Who was he? What did he want? She opened her mouth. No words came out.
Pitching his voice to a lower key, he said, ‘Don’t be alarmed. My name is Oster. Colonel Oster of the Abwehr. I am a friend of Kurt’s.’
For a split second Ursula did not comprehend what the colonel was saying, and she continued to gape at him blankly.
‘You’ll be crossing the border into Belgium in a short while, and within the hour you’ll be in France,’ he went on softly. ‘You are safe, Frau Westheim. Good luck.’ He half smiled, and then clicking his heels together and lifting his arm he said in his normal voice, ‘Heil Hitler!’
‘Heil Hitler!’ Ursula responded automatically, suddenly understanding everything. She swung her head, motioned to Teddy to join her and then turned back to look at the colonel. To her astonishment he was not there. Her eyes searched for him on the platform, but he had disappeared. Literally into thin air.
‘Is everything all right, Frau Westheim?’ T
eddy asked, hurrying up to her with Maxim in tow.
‘Yes,’ Ursula said. ‘Very. Now, let’s go and get on that train that’s taking us to Liege, and from there to Paris.’
‘What did that man want, Mutti?’ Maxim asked.
‘I’ll tell you later,’ she said.
It was not until they were settled in the carriage and rolling slowly out of the railway station that Ursula realised something. The army colonel called Oster, who had wished her luck, had done so in English.
EIGHTEEN
The Berlin-Paris train thundered into the Gare du Nord, and came to a shuddering stop with a screeching of wheels on the iron tracks when the engine driver braked.
Ursula glanced at her watch. It was six-thirty A.M. With typical German efficiency the train had arrived exactly on time. She rose, and as she did she realised that the tension which had built up inside her on the journey was now beginning to evaporate.
Maxim was safe. Teddy was safe. She was safe. Soon the entire family would be safe. The rest of them would come to Paris by the end of the month and they would all go south for a holiday in warmer climes. And then they would embark for England afterwards and the start of a new life there. The future looked very bright to her, and she felt happier and more optimistic than she had for several years.
Moving swiftly, Ursula pulled their suitcases off the rack and then bundled Teddy and Maxim down onto the platform, handed out the suitcases one by one to Teddy, and alighted herself.
A porter was quickly found, and trundling their luggage ahead of them on a rickety barrow he led them out of the immense and cavernous old railway station to a taxi stand.
Within minutes the three of them were squashed together in the back seat of an ancient taxi cab and rumbling their way across Paris to the Plaza-Athenee Hotel on the Avenue Montaigne.
Paris, Ursula thought. Paris. I can hardly believe I’m actually here. She glanced out of the window, just to reassure herself that she was. Even in the cold, wintry light of early morning the city had a unique kind of beauty—muted, gentle, misty, a mingling of pale greys and darker anthracites and smudged blacks. Like a painting in grisaille, she thought.
Maxim rested his head against her arm and snuggled into her body. She glanced down at him. My poor little boy, she thought, he must be exhausted after the long, overnight journey. She was worn out herself, and grubby, and she suspected that Teddy felt exactly the same way.
Ursula turned her head and caught Teddy stifling a yawn. ‘I know how you feel,’ she said, ‘but we’ll soon be arriving at the hotel. I think we should have a light breakfast and then go to bed for a few hours. We need to rest after sitting up all night on the train.’
‘Yes,’ Teddy agreed, and peered at Maxim. She saw that his eyes were closed, and added softly, confidingly, ‘It was the strain that was the worst, Frau Westheim. We were both so worried something would go wrong, weren’t we?’
‘Yes.’
Teddy continued in the same soft voice, ‘The army colonel who spoke to you at the border station gave me a fright. For a minute I thought something awful was going to happen, that in some way he would prevent us from leaving Germany.’
‘So did I.’
‘I was afraid to speak about it on the train,’ Teddy now admitted, ‘even after we crossed the border into Belgium. But I couldn’t help wondering about him, Frau Westheim. I mean, it was so peculiar, wasn’t it? He never spoke to you once during the entire journey, and then suddenly he approaches you at the station in Aachen.’
‘But only after we had passed customs and immigration, Teddy, don’t forget that. Perhaps he didn’t dare reveal himself to me before then, certainly not on the train in front of the SS officer and that strange young woman. He is a friend of a friend, and I’m positive he was on the train to keep an eye on us.’
‘Oh!’ Teddy exclaimed, looking surprised. ‘Do you mean he was there to intervene, if we ran into… trouble?’
‘I’m not sure. Perhaps he couldn’t have done that exactly. But who knows, maybe he could. He told me his name was Oster, and that he was with the Abwehr.’
Teddy looked at her quickly. ‘He was our guardian angel.’
‘Perhaps he was.’
The two women fell silent, and not long after this conversation the taxi pulled up outside the Plaza-Athenee. It took Ursula only a few seconds to pay the driver and organise their luggage, and then she ushered Maxim and Teddy into the lobby. Here Ursula was immediately greeted by the head concierge, who knew her from her previous visits over the years, and by the manager, who hurried forward to meet her. He chatted amiably as he escorted her over to the reception desk, and once she had registered he showed them to their rooms on the sixth floor.
As they entered the elevator he told her she would be occupying her usual suite, but that an adjoining second bedroom had been opened up to accommodate the three of them. Having their old suite pleased Ursula, brought a smile to her face, albeit fleetingly.
***
‘Yes, yes, Sigi, everything is fine!’ Ursula cried, her voice rising slightly to compensate for the static on the line, the poor connection to Berlin. ‘The journey was quite uneventful.’
‘And you’re comfortably settled in?’ Sigi shouted back.
‘Yes, we are,’ Ursula responded, watching her words, knowing she must be absolutely circumspect in what she said, in case the line at the house in the Tiergartenstrasse was tapped. ‘I’m in our old suite,’ she added, thinking that at least there was no harm in saying this to him.
She heard the pleasure enter his voice as he said, ‘I’m glad you are. Familiar surroundings are important. Now you must relax, have a pleasant holiday.’
‘Yes. Is everything all right with you, Sigi?’
‘Things are just the same as they were yesterday, when you left. Give Maxim my love, kiss him for me, and say hello to Teddy.’
‘I will.’
‘Goodbye for now. We’ll speak in a few days.’
‘Goodbye, Sigi. Take care.’
Ursula replaced the receiver slowly. She stood for a moment by the bed, her hand resting on the phone. Before she had left they had agreed that their calls must, out of necessity, be brief and to the point, but how unsatisfactory this was, she had now just discovered. She had wanted to tell him about Colonel Oster being on the train, their guardian angel, as Teddy had called him, and talk about a few other things as well. Never mind, she thought, I will be able to tell him everything when I see him.
Ursula hurried through into the sitting room, crossed it, and entered the second bedroom of the large suite. Teddy had Maxim’s suitcase open on one of the twin beds that stood side by side, with a small night-table between them, and she was unpacking his clothes; Maxim hovered near the washbasin in the adjoining bathroom, drying his hands on a towel.
‘I just spoke to Herr Westheim, Teddy. He says hello to you.’
Teddy smiled and nodded and went on taking out the child’s underclothes and jumpers, placing them on the bed in a neat pile.
Maxim ran to his mother, and she bent down and kissed his cheek, and gave him a big hug. ‘That’s from Papa. And he sends his love to you,’ she said.
‘Is he coming soon?’ Maxim asked, looking up at her.
‘Yes, Mein Schatz.’
‘I’m hungry, Mutti.’
‘We shall have breakfast immediately. Soft boiled eggs and bread and butter and jam and hot chocolate. Would you like that?’
‘Yes please, Mutti.’
‘And you, Teddy dear? What will you have?’
‘The same, thank you, Frau Westheim.’
‘Once I’ve ordered breakfast, perhaps you should put a call through to Willy Herzog in Berlin,’ Ursula went on, looking at her. ‘To let him know that you are here in Paris.’
‘He had to go to Frankfurt on Thursday with his father and sister,’ Teddy explained. ‘They’ll be away for a week. I thought I’d write to him today, or tomorrow, and post it immediately, so that it’ll be there wai
ting for him when he gets back.’
‘All right. But remember, the rest of our family are still in Berlin, so do be most careful what you say.’
‘Oh I will!’ Teddy cried. ‘I was just going to tell him that I was on my way to see my aunt. He’ll understand exactly what I mean at once. He knows I only have one aunt, and that she lives in London. Yes, he’ll understand that I’ve left Germany for good, that I’m safe, Frau Westheim.’
‘I’m sure he will. He’s very intelligent.’ Ursula picked up the phone and called room service; once she had ordered breakfast, she took Maxim by the hand and led him into the sitting room.
‘Papa and I have always stayed in this suite when we’ve been in Paris, and there’s something I want to show you,’ she said, going over to the tall window. She let go of his hand to open this, and stepped out onto a small terrace which overlooked the trees on the Avenue Montaigne and where she and Sigi had so frequently breakfasted in summers past. ‘Come along,’ she said, beckoning to Maxim.
The child clambered out onto the terrace and she picked him up in her arms and then turned around, so that the two of them were facing the River Seine. ‘Look, Maxim, over there! Do you see it? The Eiffel Tower.’
That most extraordinary edifice made of interlocking steel girders soared up into the sky, dominating it, and glittering brightly in the clear morning sunlight that now streamed out from behind the banked-up grey clouds.
Maxim caught his breath in surprise. ‘It’s so tall, Mutti, the tallest building I’ve ever seen!’
‘We can go to the very top of it, if you wish.’
‘To the very top!’ he cried, turning his head to look at her, his dark, soulful eyes huge in his little face.
‘Yes, and you can see the whole of Paris from there. I once went up to the top with your papa, and it was a most wonderful sight.’
‘When can we go?’ he asked, his excitement growing.
‘Tomorrow, Maxim, I promise.’
She put him down on the terrace and gave him a gentle push forward. ‘Go along inside, darling. It’s chilly out here, and I don’t want you to catch cold.’