Page 45 of The Pianist's Wife
What am I supposed to do now?
Should she go to the authorities and ask questions, or was the risk too great? Other than demanding that he be sent home, she had no idea what to do. But as she brushed her teeth and stared at her reflection in the mirror, barely recognising the dark-rimmedeyes looking back at her, she knew who she had to ask. She’d wrestled with the thought all night, but the longer she had to think about it, the clearer it became to her.
Never once had she asked him for a favour before, but Hans was the only person who might be able to help her, and as much as she didn’t want to ask him, it might be the only way she could keep Fred safe. Previously, she might have asked Gisele for help and crossed her fingers that Hans would oblige if the request came from his wife, but this was Fred. Fred, who’d held her as she cried after Maxi, who’d cared for her when she’d been too weak to rise, who’d promised her that life would be worth living again.
Fred had lifted her up during her darkest moments, and she wasn’t going to let him down now.
Amira was too nervous to leave little Otto alone at home in case of a daytime bombing or the awful SS men coming back looking for her. At best, she could imagine them letting him out the door, and at worst... she didn’t even want to think of the cruelty they could show an animal given their brutality against their own kind. So, she decided to take him with her.
It was a brisk twenty-minute walk to Gisele’s house, and despite the early hour there were already people lined up at the bakery and butcher’s, waiting for a fresh loaf of bread and the best cuts of meat for the day. She glanced down at her wedding ring, remembering how safe she’d felt when they’d first married, and how genuinely she’d believed that they would both be able to avoid detection.How wrong we were.
She could only imagine that someone from his past had leveraged information on Fred in return for something, although shestill thought that their marriage should have stopped deportation, or at least made them question the validity of such information.
Amira stood outside Gisele’s house to catch her breath, looking down at Otto, who was already wagging his tail, clearly excited about playing with the children. But she watched the house carefully before approaching, not certain if Gisele’s mother would be there.
‘Come on then, let’s get this over with,’ she muttered to the dog, hesitantly taking a step forward.
‘Get what over with?’
She almost jumped out of her skin when Hans spoke behind her, his deep voice taking her by surprise.
‘Hans! You frightened the life out of me.’
‘I was out early for a meeting before I leave for the week,’ he said, moving past her to open the door. ‘Please, come in. Is Gisele expecting you?’
Amira cleared her throat. ‘Actually, I was hoping for a moment of your time,’ she said. ‘If it’s convenient.’
He looked surprised, but he was quick to point her down the hallway. ‘Of course. I’ll ask Gisele to make us coffee.’
‘Hans, I don’t suppose Gisele’s mother is home? I’d hate to disturb her if they’re spending time together.’
‘No, we have a blissful few days before she arrives again. She returned home to organise her affairs before moving here permanently. You won’t be interrupting at all.’
Amira tried not to show her relief and bent to let Otto off his leash, watching as he ran down the hallway, with excited squeals soon following. She smiled, the feeling unfamiliar to her after two such traumatic days, her eyes burning from lack of sleep and all the tears they’d shed. First Maxi and then Fred: as if she were destined to have her heart broken at every turn.
It wasn’t long before Hans returned, and she followed him into his study, which was panelled in dark timber, with endless books lining the shelves. His copy ofMein Kampfwas sitting on a side table beside a lamp, and she turned her back slightly so that she wasn’t facing it. Just the sight of the book made her feel ill.
‘So, what brings you here today? I don’t think you’ve ever called in before and asked to see me.’
‘Well, I was very much hoping that you might be able to help me, Hans,’ she said, nervously toying with the hem of her coat. ‘Something dreadful has happened, and I, I—’
He looked past her and she turned to see Gisele entering the room with a tray. She was carrying a pot of coffee and three cups.
‘Amira, what’s the matter? Your eyes are as red as can be.’
She quickly wiped away fresh tears as Gisele set the tray down and turned to her. They’d seen little of each other since the news of Maxi’s passing, although Gisele had come by daily in the first week to check in on her.
‘Hans, what’s all this about?’
Amira looked up at Hans, holding his gaze and suddenly wondering if he had any knowledge of what had happened. She hadn’t considered it before, but looking at him now, in his uniform... She swallowed, hoping she was wrong.
‘Fred was taken yesterday afternoon by the SS,’ she said, looking between them. ‘I was so worried about him, and then when I got home, they... they...’ She shut her eyes tight and tried to purge the image from the day before from her mind.
‘Taken?’ Gisele asked, her voice a higher pitch than Amira had ever heard. ‘Taken? Fred was taken?’
‘He hadn’t been home in three days, and when I arrived back to our apartment yesterday he was being dragged down the street. I was told he was being deported.’
‘He’s been missing and you didn’t come to me? Amira! You should have come straight here and told us! There’s clearly been some mistake!’
