Page 68 of The Berlin Sisters
Eliana appeared in the kitchen first, her arms wrapped around her body, which was covered in a bulky coat that looked too thick for her slender frame. David and Hanna followed, and Ava paled at the sight of David, who grimaced with each step. She had no idea how he was going to walk far with his injury.
‘Here are your papers,’ Ava said, passing a document to each of them. ‘Memorise your new name and birth date until they’re your own.’
She thought of the final set of papers inside the safe, the ones that had clearly been intended for her father to use. Part of her had wanted to take them, but she knew she had to leave them behind, in case her mother had been wrong and he came back. She wasn’t going to give up hope until she knew for certain that he’d been taken from them.
The back door opened and suddenly everyone was in the room. The Goldmans were all hugging one another, happy to be reunited, and her mother came to stand beside her.
‘Every minute we’re here, we risk being discovered,’ she said. ‘You need to go now.’
‘Yes, we need to go. I have food packed and—’
‘No,youneed to go, Ava,’ her mother said, reaching up a hand to stroke her face, her eyes filled with an expression that Ava didn’t want to see. ‘I’m staying here.’
‘Mama,no,’ Ava said, shaking her head. ‘I can’t go without you! I can’t, I—’
‘We are also staying,’ Frau Goldman said. ‘We will stay hidden and let the four of you go.’
‘But we have papers for everyone,’ Ava said. ‘We can all go, we can’t leave you here.Ican’t leave you here.’
‘We will only slow you down,’ Herr Goldman said, ‘and it will be much harder for us to pass as non-Jews. If we go, we’ll all be caught.’
‘Papa,’ Eliana said, her eyes filling with tears as she clung to her mother.
‘We have decided,’ he said. ‘But now it’s time for you to go, while you still can. All this time hidden, it can’t be for nothing.’
Ava knew there was no point in arguing; her mother’s chin was raised, her shoulders were squared, and the Goldmans looked equally as resolute.
‘I will stay also,’ Hanna said.
‘Hanna, no! I won’t leave you, there is no reason for you to stay,’ Ava said.
Hanna smiled, leaving David to lean on his father and coming to hug Ava. ‘Yes, you will,’ she said. ‘I’ll find you, I promise, we can meet in Cologne. Eliana has told me that’s where Ethan told youto go. But you must get Eliana and David to safety, you have to do this for them, to finish what Papa started.’
‘Hanna,’ Ava mumbled, burying her face in her sister’s hair, hugging her so fiercely she wondered how she’d ever let go.
‘You can do this, I know you can. Please, do it for me, and for Mama and Papa, too.’
‘You promise you’ll find us?’ Ava asked, wiping her cheeks; Hanna stood beside their mother. ‘You promise you’ll follow when you can?’
She didn’t miss the hesitation in her sister’s voice before she finally spoke. ‘I promise. Now go. Make Papa proud.’
Ava looked from her mother to her sister, before finally nodding and collecting the small sacks of food. For the first time in her life, it appeared that she was in charge – the destiny of others rested squarely on her shoulders.
‘We shall head directly for Cologne,’ she said. ‘We will stay hidden there for a day with Ethan’s family, maybe two, while we form a plan to leave Germany. We might even be able to get to the Netherlands with these papers.’
Her sister nodded, and her mother took her hands in hers, lifting them to press a kiss to her skin.
‘Stay safe, my love.’
Ava looked to David and then Eliana, knowing that she had to be brave, for them. ‘I will. I’ll see you both soon.’
Even as she said the words, she wondered if she would ever see her darling, sweet mother or her impossibly brave sister again.
Chapter Twenty-Six
HANNA
Hanna returned to the house, having secured a very tearful Frau and Herr Goldman in the bunker. She didn’t know what might happen to them, but she’d left them with oil lamps, warm blankets and food, and all she could do now was wait and see who came for them.
