“I’ll be at this lake waiting,” he called behind her. “Even if takes all summer. Come on, Magda. What’s one dance?”
Magda licked the strawberry ice cream off her knuckle. She did not turn around. Summer is almost over, anyway, Walter. But yes, what was one dance? That was what her mother would say. And Renata.
Later, when she walked back to the villa, Renata and Aleš were so distant that Magda did not ask them to come to the summerhouse with her. The couple had argued, and Magda thought it was because of the stupid ice cream or maybe the money, but later she figured that hadn’t been it. As they followed behind her, they spoke in hushed tones, Renata hissing more than speaking. Magda ignored them. Getting involved in some sort of catfight with those two was like jumping off a bridge into a fast river. There was no way out.
Renata and Aleš were so involved in their discussions that they did not see what Magda did. A black sedan was parked at the edge of the drive, as if it had not wanted to pull up to the front of the house. She watched Aleš and Renata argue their way through the service entrance, but Magda walked to the corner of the house. As she had feared, it was an SS vehicle. Two flags were stuck on either end of the front end, hanging limply in the sultry summer air. A driver leaned lazily against the front hood, looking toward the fountain or the pool beyond that.
There was the familiar click of the front door. The driver straightened and strode to the passenger side of the car and pulled it open. Magda stepped back but could not prevent herself from peeking around the corner. A black-uniformed Nazi officer stepped out and turned around, and Dr. Tauber followed. They shook hands before the car.
“Herr Obergruppenführer,” Dr. Tauber said. “Thank you very much for coming. I do hope I have been able to reassure you somewhat. Please give my regards to Walter.”
The Obergruppenführer nodded noncommittally. “Thank you, Doctor. I will see you next month then.” He looked up and around the house admiringly. “You’re quite secluded up here in these woods.”
Dr. Tauber opened his arms. “And still, you found me.”
Strained chuckles.
The officer snapped a salute. Dr. Tauber raised his arm. Magda ducked behind the house.
After putting Eliška to bed and after things had quieted down at the house, Magda put on the one good dress she had. She stood in front of the mirror, checking her figure. Jana was right. She was at risk of becoming plump if she was not careful. She’d inherited the lack of height from her father’s side, but also the best of his personality. She had her mother’s lush hair and full lips. If it were not for the huge mark on her face, Magda would not be hideous to look at, and might even try to flirt with the boys more. As it was, she avoided drawing any extra attention to herself.
Piano music was coming from the drawing room. Magda peeked in. Dr. Tauber was reading a book on the chaise lounge. Frau Tauber was at the piano and still had her day dress on. Magda cleared her throat.
Dr. Tauber lowered his book. “Magda. Going out?” He sounded distant.
Frau Tauber paused over the keys. “Are you going to the lake?”
“If I may.”
“Of course,” Frau Tauber said. “You should take the bicycle.” The sheet music whispered as she turned the pages.
Dr. Tauber smiled absently and went back to reading.
Magda hesitated. They had both been spending a lot more time at home than was customary. Dr. Tauber now only went to the hospital on Tuesdays, seeing his patients mostly at the house, and even the number of patients had dwindled. And Frau Tauber had canceled their summer holiday. When Magda had returned from the lake, Jana had told her that the Taubers had declined dinner. It was unusual, but Renata and Aleš were so unapproachable, Magda hadn’t asked them whether they knew who the SS officer might have been, what might be wrong. She had to go to the source. Just ask.
“Is everything all right?” Dr. Tauber’s expression was curious. “Why should it not be?”
It was the tone. It was the way he and Frau Tauber nodded in unison that left Magda uneasy.
From the old carriage house, she wheeled out the bicycle and pedaled to the lake. She heard the music long before she reached the little cabins that dotted the shore of Žernosecké Lake. It was going on nine o’clock, and it was just light enough that she could see the island was full of people. She left the bicycle against a tree trunk near the beach and crossed the bridge. A group of people laughed loudly, and she heard bottles clinking together. At the sight of the dancers on the floor, Magda stopped.
She understood what she had seen in the drawing room that evening. It was no wonder the Taubers had shut themselves in. The villa—she realized—had become a protected refuge from the world’s recent developments. In the few times that she had gone into Litoměřice—something she avoided if she could—Magda had felt the effects, had recognized the impacts of Bohemia’s occupation. The flags, the uniformed soldiers, the rifles, the dwindling supplies in the shops and bakeries, the prisoners. These were, on the surface, easily attributable. What made the air hard to breathe was suspicion, fear, and pure terror.
Here, on the island, the dance floor was packed with soldiers and uniformed police dancing with women in stockings and high heels, skirts and blouses, dresses of every color, and, Magda noted, some not quite for the season but it must have been the best dress the girl had. And they were dancing beneath a beautiful summer sky and a forest of red, white, and black banners. Whereas on the beach everyone had looked the same—sunbathers, swimmers, people
