“Hermann.”
Friedrich withdrew his and Audrey’s real German documents and Ilse’s false one from his inner vest pocket. Aldous had made a variety of fake identification papers including a second set for all three of them, as Dutch citizens. “Here you are, Officer Hermann. This is my wife and son, and our nanny in the back.”
The officer skimmed the papers before returning them. He didn’t even look at Audrey or Ilse. “Where are you travelling to this evening?” he asked.
“My business is my own,” Friedrich said, curt but without heat.
“Very good, Obersturmbannführer Müller. Have a pleasant journey.”
The officer saluted again as Friedrich pulled away from the checkpoint.
“Was that it?” Audrey muttered. “Will that be the only one?”
“I don’t know,” Friedrich said. “I would anticipate another at the Dutch border, at the very least, but perhaps we will get lucky.”
As they left Berlin behind and drove through the dark countryside, Audrey felt some of the tension in her shoulders loosen, like a slackened line that had been pulled too tight to begin with. She grew sleepy, lulled by the car’s movements, and nodded off.
A couple of hours later, she awoke to Daniel crying. It made Audrey’s ears ring, such loud shrieking in a small space, but Ilse calmly retrieved a bottle from the bag she’d packed, and soon Daniel quieted. She never appeared flustered or perturbed by him. Her patience with Daniel was admirable, and far exceeded Audrey’s own.
“Where are we now?” Audrey asked, moving her head to release the stiffness in her neck.
“About halfway there,” Friedrich said. “We got past Hanover without a checkpoint.”
As they drove through Lower Saxony, the sky began to lighten. Audrey had never been this far west. The pastoral sight of the rolling hills untouched by traces of the Third Reich was somehow simultaneously disquieting and reassuring. Just two hundred miles away, Berlin was infected by the malignancy of Nazism. Its tentacles had grasped Bohemia and Austria. But here, it was as though life were carrying on mostly as normal. As they sped past the fields, she could almost imagine it was all nothing but a bad dream.
Almost.
They passed through small town after small town. Just outside the town limits of Osnabruck, Friedrich pulled over beneath a large oak tree. Without a word, he retrieved a bundle from the trunk strapped to the back of the car, then disappeared behind the tree. Audrey glimpsed a bare arm and shoulder and turned away. He was changing into his civilian clothes, she realized.
She leaned forward. Daniel was asleep again in Ilse’s lap, head resting against her chest. “How are you doing?” Audrey asked.
“I’m all right. A bit nervous to be alone there, actually. I’ll manage though. I hope it will give Daniel some stability at least. He’s had such upheaval for a child so young. It’s dreadful. But maybe Friedrich will be right. With our false papers, and outside of Germany, this madness might not touch us. We can go outside. Live our lives a little more fully. Perhaps, well… maybe it’s a blessing in disguise.”
“That’s exactly what you deserve, Ilse,” Audrey said. She imagined Ilse at liberty, playing and laughing with Daniel in the Von Albrechts’ garden a few months from now, a warm summer breeze lifting her dark hair.
“But you’ll still be right in the middle of that madness, Audrey. Please be careful. Promise me you will.” Her voice broke.
Audrey nodded, but in her heart, she knew she couldn’t keep that oath.
Friedrich emerged from behind the tree wearing slacks and a plain brown jacket, a newsie cap on his head.
“He’s a good man, Audrey,” Ilse said softly.
“He is,” Audrey admitted.
“Please take care of each other.”
“I will,” Audrey said, but she couldn’t suppress her relief that Ilse would be parting ways with Friedrich. Good as he was, selfishly she’d preferred it when Ilse was disdainful of him.
Friedrich opened the door.
“What about your uniform?” Audrey asked, noticing his empty hands.
“I left it behind the tree. My real papers too. Can’t risk anyone finding it if they search the trunk. We will stop off here again on our way back. It will be fine.”
He had a habit of saying that, Audrey noticed, and she wondered how much he believed it, and how much was solely for her and Ilse’s benefit.
Twenty minutes later they slowed down, approaching the border.
“Here’s the checkpoint,” Friedrich said.
As if on cue, Daniel stirred. Ilse bounced him and took a deep breath.
“Remember your roles,” Friedrich said. “Say nothing unless called upon. They will expect me to do the talking anyway.”
The sun had risen fully, and Audrey watched as the border check came into view. There wasn’t much to denote it aside from a couple of lean-to booths and a rather sad-looking fence running in both directions. The night before, she had asked Friedrich whether they could make an attempt on foot and avoid this road into the Netherlands entirely.
“Aldous’s work is impeccable. Flawless,” he’d assured her. “If we cross with those papers, no one will challenge us. If they see us creeping through the woods in darkness, there is a very good chance they will simply shoot before requesting our identification. And I need to cross as a civilian. An officer travelling outside of Berlin is one thing, but they would have serious questions about my business in the Netherlands. This is easier. Safer.”
Audrey still had reservations about this plan, but she had to trust that Friedrich knew the state, knew what to expect from its police services. Their experience at the checkpoint outside Berlin had proven him right so far.
The car slowed to a stop beside the guard and once more, Friedrich rolled down the window. The guard was young, but he had dark circles beneath his eyes; Audrey wondered if he had been on shift all night.
“Guten Morgen,” Friedrich said, and he slung his elbow over the window ledge again. This time Audrey wondered whether it was a deliberate attempt to appear relaxed, or if Friedrich had developed a habit of exhibiting his rank whenever the need to manipulate others presented itself.
“Guten Morgen,” the guard replied. He ducked his head briefly to glance at Audrey, Ilse, and Daniel. “Papers.”
Friedrich withdrew his civilian one, along with the others, from his jacket pocket. As the guard flipped through the documents, Friedrich drummed his fingers on the outside of the car door, smiling politely, but the guard ignored him. He looked over at Audrey and motioned for her to bring her face closer to the window, which she did. He glanced at the photo on her papers and back again, then repeated the process with Ilse. When he reached Friedrich’s papers, his brow knitted.
