The Serpent's Egg (15 page)

“Of course, Frau Greta. But why are they confined to their apartment?”

“They are Jews. David has an antique shop – or he had. The Brownshirts have targeted him. They burned out his business on Kristallnacht. They attacked him and broke his arm. I’ve made up a parcel of food for them. Take it with you. And perhaps you could pick up a newspaper for them, too.”

She gave Max the Rosens’ address and he left with the parcel.

#

Anna spotted the parcel as soon as he stepped through the apartment door. “What have you got there?”

“It’s a food parcel. Frau Greta asked me to deliver it to a housebound family.”

“Housebound?”

“They are Jews who’ve been attacked by the Brownshirts. I thought we might go round there together after our supper. They live on Alvensleberstrasss. It’s not far.”

Chapter 42

March 1939

Max knocked on the door.

“Who’s there?”

“My name is Max Noack.”

“And I’m Anna Weber. We have a parcel of food for you.” 

“And some newspapers.”

“Go away. Leave us alone.”

Max looked at Anna for ideas to break the impasse.

Anna knocked on the door again. “Frau Greta sent us.”

They heard three bolts being drawn. The door opened slowly. Then it was fully opened. “Come in. Quickly.”

They stepped inside and Matilde closed and bolted the door.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “We can’t be too careful. The Brownshirts are making our lives impossible. Come in to the kitchen. I’m Matilde. You are Anna?”

Anna held out her hand, and Matilde shook it. “This is my fiancé, Max.”

“Welcome to our home.”

Anna handed over the parcel. Matilde was prematurely gray. Her clothes were stained, her hair in need of the attentions of a hairdresser. Her shoes were down at the heel, her stockings laddered. She wore no makeup, not that makeup would have made much of an impression. She might have been able to disguise the wrinkles in her skin, but no amount of face cream could have hidden the bags under her eyes and the downturn of her mouth looked permanent.

She swept a stray gray hair from her face and opened the parcel. There was meat and vegetables and fruit, and under the food a second small parcel containing a children’s reading book. “All this is from Greta, yes?”

Max handed her two newspapers. “Yes. She said to apologize for not visiting last week. She has been sick. She asked us to deliver the parcel.”

Matilde looked alarmed. Anna stepped forward. “It’s not serious. I’d say it’s no more than a heavy cold. I expect she’ll see you again next week.”

A small face appeared at the kitchen door. Matilde waved and a young girl ran to her mother’s side. Anna thought she might be six or seven.

“This is Max and Anna. This is my daughter, Sophie. Sophie, say Hello to Max and Anna.”

Sophie hid behind her mother’s apron. Anna picked up the book. She found a chair and sat down. “Come and take a look at the book we brought for you, Sophie.”

Sophie retreated further behind her mama.

Anna opened the book, holding it up in front of her face. “Oh, no, I think this book is too advanced for someone of your age.”

Sophie ran over, sat up on Anna’s knee and began to read. She was a good reader for her age. It took her about five minutes to reach the end of the book.

Anna gave her a broad smile. “Well, that was amazing, wasn’t it, Max? I would have thought this book was too hard for someone of your age. Either that or you must be older than you look.”

“I’m seven.”

“That’s astonishing, isn’t it Max? Who would have thought a 7-year-old girl could read a book like that?”

“I have more books upstairs. Would you like to see them?”

Matilde intervened. “I’m sure Max and Anna will want to go to their own homes…”

Max smiled at Sophie. “We’d love to see what books you have.”

Sophie ran upstairs to fetch her books and Max said to Matilde, “Frau Greta tells me you’ve had trouble with the Brownshirts.”

A shadow passed over Matilde’s face. “They’ve destroyed my husband’s business. They burned his shop. They beat him and broke his arm.”

“Have you thought about leaving Germany?”

“We have applied for permission to travel to France, but the whole process is taking too long.”

Sophie came bounding down the stairs, a bunch of books in one hand, a large lifelike doll in the other.

Anna reached out and took the doll. “Who’s this?”

“Aschenputtel.”

“Well, Hello, Aschenputtel,” said Anna. “My name is Anna.” She put the doll to her ear. “Aschenputtel says Hello, Anna.”

Sophie chuckled.

Anna admired Aschenputtel’s clothes, her hair, and her neat, flat shoes. Then Sophie jumped up on Anna’s knee, and they went through Sophie’s books, one by one.

“Can you really read all these?” said Anna.

“Yes, I can,” said Sophie. And she read them all.

#

Anna was bubbling after the time she’d spent with young Sophie. “Wasn’t she gorgeous! I hope we have a child like that. What do you think, Max? Will we have a little girl like Sophie some day?”

“I’m sure we will, Anna. With your looks and my brains, how could we fail?”

#

The wedding preparations accelerated. Anna sent out invitations to her friends at work and asked one of them – Ebba – to be her witness. Max included Libertas and Harro Schulze-Boysen on his guest list. He explained to Anna that Libertas was the ‘L’ on the note who had made it all possible. And Libertas had agreed to host their wedding reception in her house in Pankow in the north of Berlin.

Anna was familiar with the affluent area. “What sort of house is it?”

“It’s a mansion. Wait ’til you see it!”

Anna checked both lists. “Who else are you inviting?”

“Frau Greta and Ule?”

“They’re on my list. What about the Rosens and Madam Krauss?”

“Send them invitations. Madam Krauss might come, but I doubt that the Rosens will venture out.”

Max sent an invitation to his mother.

Chapter 43

March 1939

Two days before the wedding, Max called in to Greta Kuckhoff’s apartment to meet with Adam. Max thanked him for agreeing to be his witness. Kuckhoff gave him his most charming smile and said he was honored to be asked.

They discussed a few details about the ceremony. Max handed over his two mismatched rings.

Adam slipped them into his waistcoat pocket. “Who have you invited to the ceremony?”

“Just you and Greta and Ule, of course. Anna’s parents will be there. Anna’s witness is someone from her work. I’ve invited my mother, but I’m not sure she will attend. She’s a bit … odd.”

“What about Libertas and her husband, Harro?”

“They’ve been invited, and so has Delma.”

Bouncing the massive Ule on her knee, Greta said, “That’s quite a crowd, isn’t it, Ule?”

Ule slid to the floor and crawled about on the carpet, and then stood against the furniture. He looked about ready to take his first steps.

“Speaking of Delma,” said Adam, “we have an important piece of intelligence that must be delivered to the Soviets tomorrow. I’ve asked Delma to drop it in to our contact at the Embassy. I’d like you to pass it to Delma. Do you think you could do that?”

Suddenly there was a lump in Max’s sternum. “Isn’t there someone else you could ask?”

“It’s a simple procedure. You take a cigarette pack to a café, sit beside Delma and let her pick up the pack. That’s all you have to do.”

“I can’t see the need. Why not give the packet to Delma? Why involve a second person?”

“Trust me, there are good reasons for doing it this way. Will you do it?”

“Do I have a choice?”

#

When Max woke and got dressed in the morning, he searched his pockets for the cigarette pack.

“Anna, I had something in my pocket. Did you see it?”

“Something? You mean this?” She placed the cigarette pack on the kitchen table.

Max reached for it, but she picked it up and stepped away. “When did you start smoking?”

“I didn’t. I don’t. The pack contains a message I have to deliver this afternoon. Give it to me.”

“A message from your Communist friends? Who’s the message for?”

“You don’t need to know that, Anna. Now give it to me.” He strode across, grabbed her wrist and took the pack.

#

The café was in a crowded area close to a Friday fish market. Max took a seat at an outside table and ordered coffee. Ten minutes later, Delma came over and sat at his table. She ordered tea.

“Hello Delma.” She looked even paler than the last time he’d seen her and she had a nasty raking cough.

“Hello Max. I’m hoping to make it to your wedding tomorrow.”

“My last day as a single man, and here I am having a secret liaison with another woman. I don’t know what Anna would say if she knew.”

“I’m looking forward to meeting your lovely Anna. How long have you known her?”

“We’ve been together for two years. I knew her for a couple of years before that. How about you? Are you married or do you have a boyfriend?”

“Nothing like that, I’m afraid. I have a nasty disease in my lungs that forbids close intimate contact.” Max gave her a quizzical look and she added, “It’s called Tuberculosis.”

She reached under the table. He did the same and handed the cigarette packet to her. She finished her coffee and left.

The whole process was surreal.

He watched her disappear into the crowd. But as he watched, he noticed three men, all dressed alike in beige coats, maneuvering around her.

Gestapo!

He jumped from the table and ran after her to warn her. If he got to her in time, she could get rid of the evidence.

He was too late. The three men closed in and grabbed her. A black car drove up. They bundled Delma in and drove away.

Chapter 44

March 1939

Taking a tortuous route to throw off any possible followers, Max hurried back to Greta and Adam’s apartment. Adam opened the door.

Max was out of breath. “Delma was taken by the Gestapo.”

“You saw this? Did she have time to deliver the packet?”

“Not unless the drop was in the square in front of the café.”

“It was in the fish market.”

“She never made it that far. There were three of them. They seemed to know who she was.”

Adam swore. He bit his lip hard enough to draw a drop of blood.

“You could send the message again. Let me deliver it.”

“I’m not worried about the message, Max. To hell with the message. Delma is too fragile to withstand interrogation.”

“You think she might talk?”

“I’m afraid she might die in their hands. The only names she knows in Berlin are yours and Vigo’s.”

Max remembered how close Delma and Vigo had been on the train. “I can tell you she won’t give them Vigo’s name.”

Greta came in to the room wiping her hands on a towel. “Is everything all right?”

Adam said, “Delma’s been picked up by the Gestapo.”

“The message was encrypted. Without the code, there’s no way they can read it. Delma doesn’t know the code, and she can’t identify any of us.”

“Apart from Max here and Father Vigo.”

“She won’t give them Vigo,” said Greta. “Have you seen the two of them together?”

“So Max is the only one at risk.”

Max stood. “Delma’s at risk. You said so yourself, Adam. We’ll have to cancel the wedding. We can’t have all those members of the Orchestra together in one place. It’s too risky.”

Greta smiled grimly. “What makes you think Anna will let you cancel?”

Adam stood up. “We mustn’t cancel. To do so would cast suspicion on us all. No, we must carry on as if nothing has happened and hope that Delma holds her nerve. I’ll ring Libertas and Harro and let them know what’s happened.”

Three minutes later, Adam replaced the telephone. “Harro says they’ll come.”

Greta said, “How does Libertas feel about the reception?”

“She’s happy for that to go ahead.”

#

Max woke in the morning after about two hours sleep and with a searing headache.

Anna laughed at him. “I can see you had a bad night. I didn’t sleep too well myself. But never mind, you’ll be able to catch up on your sleep tonight.” She winked at him.

She really had no idea. He’d lain awake long into the night worrying about Delma and about what was to come the next day. Would the marriage be legal if it was based on a forged signature? If not then all their children would be illegitimate – if they ever managed to have any. The Gestapo might even prevent the wedding from taking place. The reading of the banns would have alerted them. They must surely know what he’d done. He was facing the prospect of a disastrous wedding ceremony. Anna would be horrified if the Gestapo broke it up and prevented the marriage.

Dressed in his best suit, Max made his way on foot to the Kuckhoffs’ apartment. Greta and Adam had agreed that he could use their apartment as his bachelor base prior to the ceremony.

Adam was dressed in a neat 3-piece suit, the wedding rings safely tucked away in his waistcoat pocket. Dressed in a housecoat, Greta was attending to her large offspring. “How are you feeling, Max?” The outfit she’d selected for the ceremony – a light knee-length dress with a red floral pattern – hung on a hook behind the bathroom door where Ule couldn’t put his grubby hands on it.

“Just a bit nervous.”