Walter had his hand on Magda’s thigh. He leaned in and whispered something into her ear. She could not understand him. He looked over her shoulder and grinned. Magda whirled around. Dr. Tauber stepped out of the shadows, watching, disapproval etched into his brow and around his mouth. He looked very old and gaunt.
Walter turned her face back to his, his gaze still over her shoulder. She thought he would kiss her, but he was whispering again.
Magda jerked away. “What did you say?”
Walter’s mouth moved, and finally the words came, but it was not Walter’s voice. It was Eliška’s. “Wake up! Wake up!”
Magda shot up in bed. In the dark, she put a hand over her thudding heart and strained to see something. Jana stirred in the bed across from her, and Magda took a deep, shaky breath, grateful she was not alone.
After Magda had returned from the woods, Jana had sent her upstairs to rest with a bowl of soup and had told her she’d had nothing to apologize for. She’d waited a while, hoping to see the Taubers, who were talking with Aleš behind closed doors in Dr. Tauber’s office. But nobody came out. Exhausted, Magda had gone upstairs to her room and crawled beneath the covers, but did not remember falling asleep.
Shivering, she now pulled the blankets up around her and stared out the window. The night sky was moonless and pitch black. It was quiet save for Jana’s soft snoring.
What had awoken Magda? She moved the blankets off and searched for her slippers before rising and going to the window. Walter’s image in her dream still lingered. She folded her arms over her chest and peered into the garden below her, three floors down. Still, she saw nothing that would have startled her from sleep.
She was about to turn away from the window and go back to bed, when a faint orange light flickered on the lawn below. She leaned on the windowsill. The light was coming from Eliška’s window, just below Magda’s. She watched the light move, flicker, grow stronger, illuminating the hedge now. Like candlelight.
Magda gasped. She shook Jana’s shoulders, who spluttered awake.
“It’s a fire!” Magda lurched out of the room and pounded on Renata’s door. “Wake up! Get up! Fire!”
Magda nearly slipped on the stairs on her way to the second floor and used the banister to propel herself to Eliška’s bedroom door. Thin, sinister wisps of smoke curled from beneath the crack. Magda stopped herself from yelling Eliška’s name. Above her and at the opposite end of the landing, she heard voices, the slamming of doors, questions, but she was feeling the door with her open palms. The handle was cool. She stepped aside, hand turning the knob already. Frau Tauber’s stricken face appeared down the corridor. Magda could hear her trying to turn on the light switch.
Magda took in a deep breath and pushed inside.
There was a hissing sound and crackling. Smoke. Flames. Eliška’s body was in the bed. Asleep or unconscious? The fire was crawling up the drapes, licking at the ceiling. Broken glass lay on the bedside table. The lamp. Next to it, Eliška’s china doll’s face was blackened. Scorch marks surrounded the socket.
Voices were calling her and Eliška’s names, as if they were one. Magdališka! Eliškamagda!
Magda scooped the child into her arms, blankets and all. She nearly fell over into the bed, losing her balance under the sudden weight, but Magda heaved the child to her and nearly barreled past the Taubers. Aleš flew by her in a white undershirt. Renata, her mane like that of a dark lion, was behind him.
“It’s electrical,” Magda shouted at them. “By God, don’t throw water on it. It’s electrical!”
In the next moment, she was down the stairs and at the front entrance. Eliška was heavy in her arms. She propped the child up against her and opened the door with one twist, then stumbled out onto the gravel drive, Frau Tauber right behind her. Magda lay the girl onto the grass, relieved to see Dr. Tauber coming out.
He dropped down next to Eliška and checked her pulse. “Come now, my darling finch. Papa’s here.” He turned her onto her side and clapped her back.
Eliška jerked and coughed. Crying followed, and Magda backed away as Frau Tauber helped her daughter sit up. The parents murmured around her, encouraging her. She spluttered, then wailed again.
Aleš, Renata, and Jana came out at the same time. Aleš held a flashlight, and he was covered in soot.
“She’s going to be all right,” Dr. Tauber said. “She’s going to be all right.”
“We’ve put it out,” Aleš said. “I’ll ring the fire brigade.”
“No,” Dr. Tauber said.
“Why in God’s name not?” Frau Tauber cried.
Aleš looked resigned. “I understand, Dr. Tauber.”
Magda did as well. They were not going to call attention to themselves. Not now. And hopefully, not ever.
“Aleš, can you manage?” Dr. Tauber asked. “Can you check the electricity?”
Aleš nodded. “I have a friend, someone I trust. I’ll get him here first thing in the morning.”
“Good.” Dr. Tauber rose with Eliška in his arms. “Go get everyone some blankets. All of you, go get your valuables out, and quickly. Just in case another fire breaks out. We’ll sleep in the old carriage house tonight.”
Frau Tauber draped one of the covers over Eliška. “We have to keep you warm, darling.”
Aleš volunteered to keep watch first. Renata said she would join him. Magda said she had no valuables and went to the carriage house with the Taubers. Jana returned with water and refreshments, and Magda helped her set up places for them to sleep.
“Magda,” Frau Tauber called, “Eliška’s asking for you.”
Magda went over and bent down to the child. “What is it, little finch?”
“I asked you to come.” Eliška’s voice was hoarse, sleepy. “And you did. I knew you would.”
Magda felt a hand on her shoulder, and she twisted around to see Frau Tauber.
“We owe you. You saved our daughter’s life. Thank you.” She took
