Page 13 of The Berlin Sisters
All Eliana could think was that, somehow, her desire to help her family might have risked their entire existence.
Four days later, there was a knock at the door. They were all sitting in the living room, trying to pass the time by playing cards, so when the noise sounded out, they all froze.
‘Should we hide?’ Eliana whispered, jumping to her feet and holding out her hand to her mother.
They all looked at one another, and her father quickly nodded, so she and her mother ran to a bedroom, hiding among coats and dresses in the wardrobe, their backs pressed to the wall just as another knock rapped against the timber.
‘Would they knock if they were coming for us?’ Eliana whispered. ‘Wouldn’t they just kick the door down?’ They had pushed a large piece of furniture across the door, to try to stop any intruders, but they all knew that would only hold an angry mob for so long. Their plan had always been for her and her mother to hide, for her father and David to confront whoever came through the door, and she hated that they were prepared to sacrifice themselves.
Her mother didn’t answer, she only clutched her hand tighter, her breath raspy as they stood in silence.
They were close enough to hear muffled words, and Eliana knew that her father had opened the door to whomever it was. They must have only been hiding for minutes before David came looking for them.
‘Who was it?’ Eliana asked, pushing past a heavy fur coat to emerge into the room. ‘What happened?’
‘It was Herr Müller,’ he said, his eyes shining with a light that Eliana hadn’t seen for months now. ‘Eliana, Herr Müller came to see us.’
‘Is he asking for us to turn ourselves in to the authorities?’ her mother whispered.
‘No,’ her father said, coming in behind David. ‘He’s going to help us.’
‘But he closed the door on me the other night. He didn’t even say a word when I begged for his help.’
Her father looked perplexed, shaking his head as he seemed to think through what had just taken place.
‘He wants Eliana to go to their apartment tomorrow afternoon. His eldest daughter will dress her in her clothes, and they will leave the apartment block together. Herr Müller will be driving his own car tomorrow, and will take Eliana to their country house.’
‘In Bogensee?’ her mother asked.
‘Yes.’
‘How long will she be there for?’
‘He said they will keep her safe. I didn’t ask him questions.’
‘What of the rest of you?’ Eliana asked, fear rising in her throat as she thought of being safe in the countryside while her family stayed hidden in the apartment, of them being parted.
‘He said he will do what he can for all of us, but that it will take time.’
‘I can’t go,’ she said. ‘I won’t leave you all.’
‘Eliana, you have to go,’ David said, staring at her from across the room. ‘We’ll be fine, but if you have a chance to leave, to be safe...’
‘He’s right, you will go,’ her father said. ‘You must.’
She blinked away her tears and wrapped her arms around her mother, squeezing her eyes shut as she tried her hardest not to cry.
‘Father, Karl Müller is rising in the party ranks. Are you certain this isn’t a way to lure us out into the open?’ said David.
‘Son, if he wanted to arrest us, he’d have sent men to storm our apartment. We have no choice but to trust him.’
Eliana knew he was right; there was no one else they could turn to, and if the Müller family could help them, then they had to believe the offer was genuine.
‘He said he’ll try to get the rest of you out, too?’ she asked.
Her father nodded. ‘He did.’
Then she would be ready tomorrow. If he managed to get her to safety without any trouble, then she had to believe he’d find a way to return for the rest of them.
