Page 56 of The Secret Librarian
Chapter Seventeen
Camille
Camille had never worked alongside anyone in the bookshop before. When she’d started there, she’d had a few days of being shown what to do, but the previous owner had been very elderly and unwell, and had soon left her in sole charge. She found that the shop felt different on the days that Avery was there, with just the noise of having someone else present making her feel a sense of comradeship that had been missing since she lost Hugo, and for the first time she truly realised how alone she’d been since she’d left France. She only wished that they could continue in their happy little bubble together, without her having to break Avery’s heart. They’d only known each other a few months, but it already felt like they’d be friends for a lifetime.
As the last customer left, Camille wandered through the shop and locked the door, turning the sign around to ‘Closed’ and going back slowly so she could right any fallen books and check all her displays.
‘How are you doing back there?’ Camille asked, knowing there was only so long until she had to share her news with Avery. ‘I feel like you’ve been clicking away for hours without a break.’
Avery set her camera down. ‘I’m going as quickly as I can, but it’s taking forever.’
‘I should have asked you to come here sooner,’ Camille said. ‘Then you wouldn’t have so much catching up to do.’
She went over to the two maps on Avery’s left. ‘You’ve photographed these already?’
She had the camera raised again. ‘I have. Anything that you need to bind tonight has already been photographed, and this film will be winging its way back to Washington in the morning, all things going to plan.’
Camille glanced over the newest batch of maps that Kiefer had entrusted her with. She didn’t know how helpful they’d be to Avery, but if they were important to him, then there had to be a reason. Her only worry was that he’d arrive at the shop and find Avery there, but he knew they were friends and she would find a way of explaining it. The PVDE, on the other hand ... that would be harder to explain away. And every day that passed made her even more convinced they were going to come back and raid her store again. But next time, she doubted they were just going to turn over a few rows of books. Next time she feared they might trash everything she’d worked so hard for, turn the entire place over top to bottom, and make it impossible for her to pick up the pieces.
‘Avery, I know we’ve gone over this before, but just in case,’ Camille said, picking up the maps and taking them over to the workstation she’d set up. ‘If the PVDE do another surprise raid ...’
‘I’m here as your friend visiting. I put the film in my bag beneath the books and I carry my camera and say I’m off sightseeing,’ she said. ‘I was fine the first time, and I’ll be fine the next time, if there is a next time.’
Camille nodded. ‘And most importantly, you don’t say anything else. You don’t ask any questions, you just quietly leave the shop,’ she said. ‘I don’t want you tangled up in anything with them, it’sjust not worth it, and I don’t want you coming back to help me. I knew the risks when I chose to do what I’m doing.’
‘It must be awful worrying about them doing another raid, but if their sympathies are with the Nazis, surely the fact that you’re doing work for Kiefer must help the situation? It must offer you a degree of protection?’
‘I certainly hope so.’ She sighed. ‘He assured me that he put in a good word for me, but there’s no guarantee they’ll listen to him, and he won’t be here much longer to help me anyway.’
‘When does Kiefer leave?’
‘In a few days. He’s ended up staying on so much longer than expected,’ she said. ‘The funny thing is, I can’t work out if I’m relieved or worried that I’ll never see him again.’
‘I’m going to be worried not to have his material to photograph, but if I’m honest, he’s always set my nerves on edge.’
Camille grimaced. ‘Mine too. Trust me, I know how you feel, and if he ever found out that I’d shown you these ...’
They exchanged a glance – no words were needed. They knew what they were risking.
They both went back to work then, focusing quietly together for the next hour, until Camille was finished with her binding. She’d had two maps and some documents to bind for Kiefer, as well as finishing off visas for a newly arrived French couple that she and Avery had been working on, and when Camille was done she set the water to boil to make a drink and placed his things in a paper bag for him, ready to collect in the morning. The forged documents went directly into her undergarments now; she’d decided not to keep anything contraband in her office anymore, for fear of what might happen if she was caught. There were too many people relying on her for her to be arrested, especially when another raid felt imminent.
When she heard Avery stretch and yawn, Camille knew her friend was probably ready for a break.
‘There’s something I’d like to show you, before you go,’ Camille said, indicating to Avery that she needed to take a step back. She dropped to her haunches and pulled up the two loose floorboards, wiggling them out and reaching down into the cavity. She had more than a few things down there, but nothing was more important to her than the three items she’d originally hidden when she’d first begun to work at the shop. Back then, she’d taken a huge risk in keeping anything on the premises, but something had told her that it was the safest place for the things that were most precious. Things that meant something to her, but not to anyone else. Not even the PVDE would be interested in what she was about to show her friend.
Camille felt for the items she wanted and stood, holding them out to Avery.
‘I’ve never shown these things to anyone else, but I want you to see them,’ she said. ‘I thought it might help you to understand who I am, and why I’m doing what I’m doing.’
‘What am I looking at?’ Avery asked, as she glanced from Camille and down to what she was holding and back again.
‘This is my wedding ring,’ Camille told her, indicating the slender gold band tied to a piece of ribbon. ‘I took it off when I fled France, and I originally had it on a necklace, but when I arrived in Lisbon I took it off completely. It just didn’t feel right to be wearing it for some reason.’
It was a slight stretch of the truth. She’d actually kept it around her neck when she’d first arrived, but when she’d decided to seduce Kiefer, she’d felt sick at the thought of having something from her marriage with her. Which is how she’d ended up hiding it, in an attempt to ease her conscience.
‘You have a photo as well?’
‘This is the only photo I have of the four of us. My father, my brother, Hugo and me.’
