Page 56 of The Berlin Sisters
She needed to get home and warn her mother that something was happening.
‘Mama!’ Hanna called as she leapt out of the ambulance, leaving the door flung open as she ran up to the house. ‘Mama! Where are you?’ she called.
Hanna almost fell into Zelda’s arms as she opened the door.
‘Hanna, we weren’t expecting you,’ Zelda said, steadying herself by catching hold of Hanna’s arms. ‘What’s the matter?’
‘I need to know where Mama is,’ she panted. ‘Please, is she here?’
‘Your mother is—’
‘Hanna?’ Her mother stood at the top of the stairs, rushing down when she saw how flustered her daughter was. ‘Come with me, into your father’s study.’
Hanna took her hand and dragged her mother with her, closing the door behind them. She knew that Zelda was probably listening, so she kept her voice low and walked her mother all the way over to the window on the other side of the room.
‘Mama, something has happened,’ she whispered. ‘There are SS everywhere, I was stopped by a patrol and—’
Her mother kept hold of her hand, their eyes locked on each other’s.
‘My contacts were stopped on the side of the road, and I don’t think they fared as well as I did.’
She watched as her mother looked out of the window. ‘You are alone? There’s no one in the ambulance with you?’
Hanna nodded. ‘I’m alone. I couldn’t pick up my patient, there was no way I could get to him.’That child will never leave Germany now. There won’t be another way for him to escape.
‘Your father warned me that something was happening today,’ her mother finally whispered in reply. ‘It must not have been a success.’
‘What was being planned? What success are you speaking of?’ Had Ava been right about it being an assassination attempt?
She studied her mother’s face, saw the way it fell, the way her lip quivered and her hands began to tremble.
‘Mama?’
She watched as her mother crossed the room, turning on the gramophone and pouring herself some brandy, swirling it around before drinking it in two quick gulps, her shoulders slumped forward.
‘There was a plot to assassinate the Führer,’ she eventually said, turning back to look at Hanna, her eyes filled with sorrow. ‘At the Wolf’s Lair in East Prussia. Today was the day that Hitler was supposed to take his last breath.’
Hanna gasped, her hand flying to cover her mouth. ‘What should we do? Where should I go?’ She began to tremble. ‘Do I need to go to Ava? What if someone discovers her involvement?’
Her mother poured herself another drink as Hanna watched.
‘We return to our normal lives, we act as if we know nothing, as if nothing about our lives has changed,’ she eventually said. ‘The only reason we’ll be suspected of wrongdoing is if we appear guilty, and your father is already worried that he’s under suspicion.’
‘So I should return to the city, then? To the hospital?’
Her mother passed her the drink, clearly thinking her daughter needed it more than she did, as Hanna stood beside her and downed the brandy.
But all she could think was that perhaps her mother had it wrong. Perhaps the Führer had been killed. Perhaps ithadbeen a success, and the news simply hadn’t reached them yet?
Or perhaps that was just wishful thinking.
Chapter Twenty
AVA
‘Ava.’ Her father placed a hand on her shoulder and leaned down, his breath whispering against her cheek he was so close. ‘I need you to listen without showing any emotion.’
She looked up, heart hammering as she felt the weight of his palm against her skin. He didn’t remove his hand, and that told her everything she needed to know. Something had gone wrong.
