“What are you grinning about?” he asked her, kissing her smile.
“I was remembering how hard we worked to sort out the cottage. Do you remember all the spiders?”
“I remember Enid screaming her head off. I never knew such a small woman could make such a racket. No wonder her husband Sam was the first to join up.”
The war again. Sally pushed that thought aside.
“Enid wasn’t very nice to Maggie earlier. Told her she knew nothing about the Germans.”
“Maggie knows nothing? I thought she lost her husband in the first war.”
“She did. Maggie’s lived here all her life, but Enid insists on calling her Irish.”
“She does have an Irish accent, especially when she calls everyone love.” Derek kissed Sally again. “I don’t think Maggie needs any help in keeping Enid in her place. I’d back Maggie any day of the week.”
“You love Maggie’s cooking, so you’re biased,” Sally teased.
“Anyone can cook better than Enid Brown. Do you remember that day you organized a picnic for all the workers? Even after a hard day pulling up rose bushes and whatnot, nobody was hungry enough to eat her hotpot. I can certainly understand Sam being so thin.”
“Derek! That’s unkind. Enid worked hard getting our home fixed up.”
“She did, that’s true. We should build on an extension out the back, shouldn’t we?”
“Don’t you think it’s big enough as it is?”
“We only have four bedrooms and one of those is tiny. You should use it as a dressing-room, as Mother suggested.”
Sally didn’t want to think about his mother. The woman intimidated her. Thankfully she didn’t visit Abbeydale very often, preferring London.
Derek nibbled the side of her ear making it difficult to focus on what he was saying.
“We need more room for a family. I fancy having a boy and a girl, but only if she looks like you.”
She hit him with the cushion. “You can’t say that. You’re supposed to say you don’t care what sex they are, so long as they are healthy.”
“Who said? I don’t see any rule book.”
She took his hand and massaged it between hers. “I’d like four or five children. I hated being an only child.”
“Why don’t you just go all out and have yourself your own football team?” he teased, distracting her by kissing her neck and behind her ear.
“I love children, don’t you?”
“Yes, but I don’t want to bring up my family without being able to provide for them. Dad’s money is going to Roland, so we have to survive on my Army pay. None of my family is ever going to go hungry or appear at school with their backside hanging out of their britches.”
“Derek!” but her protests at his language died, as he tickled her. He carried her upstairs to their bedroom. She couldn’t get over how happy she was. A chill ran through her.
“What? Something startled you. Was it a spider?”
“Yes, it crawled over there.”
She let him laugh and tease her. She wasn’t going to admit she was scared they were too happy and it wouldn’t last. Derek didn’t like it when she got all doom and gloomy, as he called it.
9
Berlin August 1939
Heinz stood opposite his stepmother, holding his hands by his side, his palms clenched into fists, trying to keep his temper under control.
“I’m not going on some kid’s train. I’m the man of this house now.”
“You’re a child, Heinz Beck, at least in the eyes of the Nazis and we should thank God for that.”
Heinz swallowed, trying not to raise his voice. He’d wake Tomas and Liesl. Tomas found it hard to fall asleep, terrified of his nightmares. He clung to Heinz during the day and whimpered like a beat-up puppy if Heinz went out of the apartment. Heinz found it claustrophobic, despite Trudi and Rachel telling him his younger brother was reacting not just to the loss of his father but to the loss of his childhood. It wasn’t safe for Jewish children to be on the streets anymore.
“I’m not running away, Trudi. I’m joining Gavriel’s group. I promised him I wouldn’t leave him to rot in Dachau.”
“Gavriel will be fine. I have friends working on getting him and Izsak out. You have to go to Britain, Heinz. Tomas won’t go unless you do. He can’t protect himself, he’s too small.”
Heinz turned his back on her. She was right. Tomas was scared of his own shadow.
“Tomas likes Ruth and Rachel Bernstein. Ruth mothers him, despite only being six-months older. He can go with them.”
“No, I won’t go. I’m not going anywhere without you. You’re my brother,” Tomas yelled, surprising both of them.
“Tomas, go back to bed. You’ll do as you’re told,” Heinz admonished him.
“You’re not Papa and you’re not my mother. I don’t have to do anything you tell me. I won’t go. You can’t make me. I’ll just run away. So there!” Tomas stamped his foot on the ground, waving Brown-Bear in the air as if the toy was a weapon.
Heinz took a step toward him, his arm raised. Not that he would hit his brother but he hoped Tomas would take the hint. The child didn’t move. He kept eye contact too, his determination to prove he meant what he said was obvious.
“You will both go. I’m not your mother but I am your guardian and responsible for the pair of you. I won’t stand by and let the Nazis get you. You will get on that train on Saturday and you will take Liesl with you.”
“You aren’t offloading your brat on me.”
His cheek stung from the slap she gave him.
“Don’t you call your sister ugly names. Isn’t it bad enough that everywhere we go, others do just that? I’m glad your Papa is dead. He’d die of shame if he heard you now.”
Trudi turned and ran in the direction of Liesl’s room, her sobs audible to both children, left staring after her.
“She loves that baby. Why is she giving her away, too?” Tomas asked.
Heinz couldn’t answer, as the truth would terrify Tomas
