Originally another man said he would join them if they could escape. But he never did make it. The two from Prague had managed to break through the floor of the cattle car but the other passengers in the carriage panicked. They complained that the rest of them would be executed as soon as the doors were opened and the Nazis discovered the hole. So they had tried to prevent them from jumping through. The passengers dragged the third jumper back up, and the carpenters did not know whether he had broken free, had fallen to his death, or had been killed by the other passengers in the struggle, or reached the concentration camp. They however managed to find a seminary, the same seminary where Father Gabriel had studied. He was the one who later brought the men to join Aleš and Renata.
“These men said a doctor has been trying to negotiate for medicines for the camp. Their description matches Dr. Tauber’s.” Renata bit her lip. “Magda, they say there is so much disease and malnutrition. The conditions are worse than we can imagine. We suspect Frau Tauber was in this film too. Karol—he’s one of the escapees—told us about a scene filmed with a woman playing the piano. It sounds very much like it could be Ruth.”
Magda could not fathom it. “And Eliška?”
Renata briefly closed her eyes. “The children are separated from the families. We have no information about her. But she’s blonde and blue-eyed. Maybe…?”
Magda swallowed and gazed at the revolver’s handle facing her. “These camps, these trains that take the people out of the ghetto and send them eastward, how do the Nazis choose who must go?”
Davide shook his head. “They don’t. There’s a Jewish council of elders in charge of the lists. Like we said, so far the more prominent figures have been left alone. They’re a kind of currency.”
Renata rose. “The Taubers need to be indispensable. And they will need currency when the time comes.”
Aleš scoffed and raised his hands. “If you know what we can do—”
“I do,” Magda said.
Aleš’s eyebrows shot up.
Magda held his gaze. “Medicine.”
“What?” Renata stepped between them.
But Aleš knew what Magda meant—she could see it in his expression, that slow recognition.
“If these men could get out,” Magda said, “then someone can get in, right?”
“Do you two mind telling me what’s going on here?” Renata said.
“Where are they?” Magda asked Aleš. “In St. Stephen’s?”
“Who?” Renata asked. “The escapees?”
“Not who,” Magda said. “What.”
Aleš’s face fell. “I only took what I thought might be of real value, what the Taubers might need to start a new life.”
“So the medicine is still beneath the floorboards?”
Renata groaned. “What are you two going on about?”
Magda turned to her. “Villa Liška. Aleš knows where the medicine is. He could go get them for Dr. Tauber. You said parcels are allowed now.”
“No.” Aleš picked up the revolver and strode over to her, the gun in his palm. “We’re all at risk, Magda. You put yourself in this position when you decided to exact some sort of vengeance—”
“It wasn’t an act of vengeance.”
“Enough!” Aleš offered her the gun again.
She took it gingerly, feeling its weight in her hand.
His gaze softened. “Magda, you’ve proven that you’re not happy hiding out forever. You know you can do this. We’ll wait until it’s safe enough for you, but it’s time. Join us.”
Renata stepped behind Magda and grasped her upper arms, squeezing. It was meant to reassure her. “It will be your first mission, and we’ll make sure there’s as little risk as possible. We’re your family.”
Magda’s heart raced.
Behind her, Aleš said, “When it’s time, be ready to go.”
11
November 1942
Koenig had left for a trip to Berlin, his wife with him. Villa Liška was in Jana’s hands. It was time for Magda to return.
Renata smuggled her out of the safe house and into the trunk of a car. Sometime after, they abandoned the vehicle on a road in the middle of the woods and covered it with branches and brush. Renata handed Magda a rucksack, and they hiked on foot out of the woods and across stubbled fields. Mountains were pressed up against the night sky like paper cutouts. Once, patrol vehicles drove along the fields, the rotating searchlights just missing them as it scathed the grounds.
An owl screeched on the hill above them as they picked their way up the path by moonlight. All Magda knew was that they were on a mountain, but she could not tell where. Renata veered off into the forest, and Magda followed, trying to make as little noise as possible. It was always like that: the moment Magda wanted to be quiet, she felt like a giant wading through a glass display. Renata, meanwhile, had the stealth of a native Amazonian.
A shadow materialized before them, and Magda clapped a hand over her mouth.
“Password,” a man’s voice demanded.
“The mouse is in the talons,” Renata whispered. “How are you, Jakob?”
“Fucking cold.”
The man stepped forward, blew into his hands, and rubbed them. Magda could barely make out his features, but the voice was gruff, and she pictured a beard—someone older, at any rate.
Renata clapped the partisan on the back. “Got long yet?”
“Half hour.”
“Good. I’ll see you inside. Cup of tea will be waiting for you.”
“If you mean your kind of cup of tea, it can’t
