A Light in the Darkness (Madam Mim & Sync)

[Madam Mim]

Gunther offered his sympathies but Esther looked at him sharply, trying to remember where she ought to direct her anger and that it wasn't his fault he'd been conscripted. An angry tear escaped and Miriam put her arm around her, pulling her in for a hug just before the dam broke. The sisters stood with their arms wrapped around each other as Gunther outlined his plan.

"Sssh," Miri cooed, stroking Esther's hair. "It's just a thing. Things can be replaced. I know that doesn't make it hurt any less, but you're still alive and Ri is still alive and nobody got hurt. I think he'll understand that."

"I know," Esther sniffled into her sister's shoulder. "I just...it's...he must have worked so hard to save up for it!" Once Esther had eventually pulled herself together the sisters got back to work, splitting the "priority" work between them. Miri sat on the couch with Gunther, focusing on her work but addressing him.

"We'll have to find a better place to hide you," she informed him. "They're coming back this evening. I don't know if they'll stay for dinner but we ought to find a good place for you in case they do. Or a way to sneak you out so that you can go find what you need for your journey." She couldn't help but glance sideways at him. For their journey. "And I'll have to convince our boss not to take orders for Nazis anymore." Miri pulled her feet up onto the couch, pulling them under herself and leaning slightly toward Gunther. "I'm glad you got away while you could, you know."

 

[Sync]

It was hard watching Ester break down like that. Gunther knew he wasn’t responsible for what had happened – the Nazi oppression of Jews, the Nazi officer effectively confiscating Ester’s engagement ring – but he did feel guilty. He couldn’t help but feel that way. He didn’t say anything, though, because he also knew that if he did, the others would stop him and tell him he was wrong…although maybe not Ester so much, not right away. So he instead stood in silence as Miri gave small comfort to her sister. He also knew that the continued safety of Reinhardt was no longer a given, seeing as Ester had provided the man’s name to the Nazis. If the officers wanted to, they could haul him in on some trumped-up charge of theft, and that would be that. There was nothing anyone in the house could do about it, though.

Ester soon settled and Shoshana retreated to the kitchen, and the two sisters sat down – Miri on the couch, and Ester on an armchair – and started working on the jackets that had been pointed out to them as being more important than the rest…about eight jackets in all. The girls would be busy sewing for a while. Having little else to do – and maybe the distraction might help Miri – he sat on the couch with the younger sister.

“I’ll make sure I’m out of here when they arrive,” he agreed. “I haven’t been to all parts of the house, and maybe it’s best I don’t, but I’ll make sure I haven’t left anything behind that suggests an extra person has been in the house. It would be too hard for you to come up with a lie that explains my presence otherwise. I’ll slip over the fence into my parent’s house as the sun goes down, and I’ll search through there to see if there’s anything we- I can use for when I leave. If I can’t find anything there, I’ll have to…well, I’ll find things elsewhere.” He’d have to loot and steal, they all knew that, but he wasn’t going to say it. And that slip…he couldn’t help it, but it was out, and it might raise questions between the two girls later. He was sure he’d caught Ester looking curiously at Miri for a moment.

“I don’t suggest you convince your boss to refuse Nazi work, though,” he continued, his voice dropping slightly in volume. “The Nazis might not react well to being refused like that. Such a refusal might be seen as the boss becoming openly sympathetic to Jews, or even as him opposing the Nazis…and neither viewing would end well for your boss, I fear.” He sighed softly and let his head drop towards his chest a little. “I’m sorry, I really am. But as much as you might dislike or hate them, agreeing with the Nazis is, for the moment, the best way to give yourself a chance at surviving them.” He paused, then looked directly at Miri.

“I’m glad to have been able to break away, but I haven’t made it yet,” he observed drily. “I’m not really safe until I’m in Switzerland. I expect it will take me two or three weeks to get there on foot – it’s about two hundred miles to the nearest Swiss border, and I’ll be largely moving slowly at night, through unfriendly terrain and avoiding anyone who looks like coming near me. It’ll be a long, slow journey.” It was as much a statement of fact as a warning to Miri – she had to know what she faced, if she was set on travelling with him.

Just then Shoshana appeared and offered coffee, which Gunther thankfully accepted. He didn’t want to take from the mouths of the family, but he wasn’t going to be ungracious to his hosts. And outside, the daylight was slowly starting to fade…

 

[Madam Mim]

At Gunther's slip Miri had to focus on not looking over at Esther, but out of the corner of her eye she caught her sister glancing at her anyway. When he moved on though, she nodded to try and take Esther's attention off of it. The less suspicious they both acted the better. She sighed at the idea of Gunther having to loot and steal, but there was nothing for it. If he was to get out of Germany safely--if they were to get out safely--they would have to, if not now than at some point in the future, probably nearer than either of them would like.

"You can check their house, but the Nazis looted it a little bit after they left," she sighed. "There may be supplies at Fleischmann's. He boarded up his shop, but he's like papa and runs it out of the back. Even if he isn't there you may still be able to find something." But then he discouraged her from asking her boss not to take jobs from Nazis. She opened her mouth, outraged, but he made a good point. She didn't want to admit it, but he was right: going along with it was what would keep them safe. She opened her mouth and closed it again two or three times, then shot him a sulky look and turned back to her work, lips pursed. She wasn't angry with him, exactly...but she didn't like that he was right. Not in this case.

Miri's irritation was deepened when he tried to warn her again that the journey would be long, slow, and dangerous. She knew that, but they had a better chance at survival together than alone, and she was going with or without him. "The cover of night should help with your journey," she argued, keeping her tone casual, "and if you stick to the woods when you can, go around towns, that should help even more. And it's better than staying in one place like a sitting duck, stuck waiting for the Nazis to come for you." Esther was watching them openly, but didn't say anything and Miri avoided her gaze.

She avoided her mother's gaze as well when she brought coffee. Shoshana smiled and set milk on the coffee table for the four of them and sat in a rocking chair, taking up a jacket as well. When there was a particularly large or high priority order sometimes she would help the girls, if nothing else then to ensure they didn't have more officers showing up at their door. "So where to now, Gunther?" she asked conversationally, aware that he was much more likely to tell her daughters the truth. But it would be awkward if she just sat there, not saying anything, when they had clearly been talking before she'd walked in. "Portugal, perhaps? I hear that's where your parents chose to...vacation this year."

 

[Sync]

Miri wasn’t happy with him – probably rightly so, although it wasn’t for anything he’d done wrong. He completely understood her position on not wanting to do work for the Nazis, but in these times to openly refuse them would be only one step away from committing suicide. Likewise he wasn’t trying to deter her from joining him, but she had to know what she faced if she set out with him. He’d be quite happy to have her company, really – and if he could help her escape that Nazi yoke, then all the better. He had no doubt that words would be exchanged between the two sisters later, but he’d likely never hear them. Still, her suggestion about how and when to travel was sound, and Gunther knew she was talking for the pair of them, and not just for him.

“Initially I’ll go to Switzerland, Frau Heinz,” Gunther replied calmly as he sipped from the coffee. It wasn’t great coffee, but they all knew why: the Nazis were hoarding the Good Stuff for themselves; the people could have what was left. “I’ll be safe enough one I get there. After that…I don’t know. I suspect that a German ex-soldier, even one such as myself, might have difficulty finding opportunities to be useful, given the war. I’d be viewed with suspicion at best by those who oppose Germany.” He paused for a moment and sipped from his cup thoughtfully.


“No…I think my best chance is in Switzerland, for the moment,” he added, his voice lowering slightly. “Italy is a German ally; they’d be more likely to turn me over. France is out of the question. Spain or Portugal are possibilities, yes, but I’d have to be careful. England would probably imprison me, at least for a while. Anything to the east…Germany-controlled.” He paused to sip from his cup again. He didn’t like that the girls were all working while he just sat there, but there was little he could do to help.

“If I may make a suggestion, Frau Heinz?” he continued after a few seconds of silence. “When the officers are here, don’t prepare or put aside a meal for me. I’m not supposed to be here, and anything out of the ordinary would be noticed and questioned. You might be able to explain it away as being tomorrow’s lunch for Herr Heinz, but that, too, might be questioned or even watched. You must act as if I’m not here, or going to be here.” He gave a small, rueful smile. “After tomorrow night I won’t be here anyway, and that will make it easier for this family. I do appreciate your hospitality, very much, but my presence is making things difficult for you. The sooner I am on my way, the easier it will be for you.”

 

[Madam Mim]

"Maybe you could make a deal with the Swiss government," Esther suggested, turning back to her work. "Tell the Nazis you were captured, but really you'd be spying on them for the Allies."

"Switzerland never gets involved in these things," Miri said dismissively.

"Well then some other country, and the Swiss can help them get there," Esther said testily. "Either way, I'm sure they could find a use for you other than prison or something."

"It would be walking right back into enemy hands," Frau Heinz disagreed, not looking up from her work but not expounding further. Their mother seldom openly expressed disagreement in such a straightforward way, so Miri and Esther exchanged glances then fell silent. Clearly it was a topic Shoshana didn't think was appropriate. Finally she looked up when Gunther offered a suggestion, and she nodded. "We keep leftovers in the pot until after supper anyway," she said with a smile, "and leftovers are often lunch for us. Makes a meal stretch farther." She didn't address his insistence that it would be easier for them the sooner he was gone; it was a fact, but one she knew the girls didn't like. For her part it made her anxious to have him in the house, but she certainly wasn't going to turn him away.

"Hopefully you'll find kind strangers on your way to Switzerland," Miri said after a long pause. "They can give you food and shelter for a night or two at a time, like we have."

 

[Sync]

He nodded in response to Shoshana’s comment about the frequency of leftovers, but didn’t offer any reply to it; there would be no need, and he didn’t want to risk dragging the family mood deeper than it already might have been. The family must surely already know they were on borrowed time; the self-invitation of the Nazi officers surely showed that the family was keeping its meagre “freedom” at the whim of its oppressors, who would only allow as much as they felt was necessary and might remove such freedom at its own pleasure. Saying such things, though, would be highly counter-productive, though, so he kept those thoughts to himself.

“I only need make it to the Schwarzwald,” he observed quietly, as if speaking aloud might draw the attention of those same oppressors. “Once there I can make my way to the middle of the forest and then turn south to Switzerland. The army doesn’t heavily patrol the German side of the forest, but their presence is a bit heavier on the French side; the forest is too thick for tanks and armoured vehicles to enter, so foot patrols are slim at best and often don’t venture too deep, although they are well-supported. The forest itself will be safe enough.”

He sipped from his cup thoughtfully. “As for helpful strangers…” he mused thoughtfully, “There may be some who will offer help along the way, although I expect that any such help will be tempered according the amount of Nazi or army presence. If there is only a light presence, I may be afforded some food and shelter; if the presence is strong, though…” There was no need to finish that thought. They all knew where it went.

He sipped from his cup again, then took another swallow. The light was rapidly fading outside, now. “In any event, I should be heading out shortly. I need to be away from here when your guests arrive. I’ll go to my parent’s house and see what I can scavenge there first; after that, when darkness has fallen, I’ll see what else I can gather to help in my journey.” He took another swallow from his cup then set it on the table. “First, I need to make it so that I was never here. I’ll leave through your back door and return the same way; when I return I’ll knock three times, pause, then two more knocks – so you know it’s me. Will that be all right?”

 

[Madam Mim]

It was, indeed, alright, and in the short winter days Shoshana needed to get supper started while the girls worked on the jackets. While Gunther was gone the rest of the family returned home and the girls finished the priority sewing before turning their attention to the rest of the jackets. The boys were instructed not to mention Gunther or that anyone had recently been to visit, and the jury-rigged bayonet's hiding place was moved from beneath the couch to a floorboard under a stair step which didn't creak. At least, it creaked no more than the others did, and they would have to pray that that would be enough to disguise the hiding place. Other valuables--Shoshana's grandmother's earrings, a pearl necklace which was another family heirloom, along with most of the cash they had saved, were placed with the bayonet in case the house was searched.

Almost precisely at eight, just as Shoshana was setting dinner on the table, came the same sharp knock as earlier in the day. Kreutzer, Ebner, and a new officer stepped in. He was introduced as Obergruppenfuhrer Heidl, and he had a keen interest in how exactly Reinhardt had come across that ring. Esther shrugged, keeping her eyes downcast and unable to supply a better answer.

"It's just as I told Obersturmbahnfuhrer Kreutzer," she said timidly. "I think he bought it, but it may be just an heirloom."

"Surely you wouldn't mind us taking a look around?" Heidl said kindly, though the entrance of lower-ranking SS officers unannounced made it clear that he was not asking permission. "Just to make sure that everything is alright, that you may not have received gifts from friends and neighbors which turn out to be stolen goods?"

Even Abner was forced to suffer quiet indignity as the house was turned upside-down and torn apart in search of contraband. The valuables had been hidden, and any tools of his trade had been left at the shop, also hidden. The searchers did notice that the stairs and other floorboards squeaked, but although they tried the first few at the top and bottom the loose floorboard was on a middle step and they gave up when they realized that nothing was loose at the top or bottom. They tried prying up several other squeaky floorboards both upstairs and down, but found nothing. All the while the Nazis sat in their parlor, drinking the terrible coffee, chatting about their work and ignoring the family as though this were a perfectly ordinary occurrence. Once again only Ebner seemed sympathetic...but still he sat there, drinking coffee.

"Thank you for your patience," Heidle said with a kind smile, straightening his uniform as he stood. "We shall expect the uniforms at the tailor first thing in the morning. Have a good evening." He doffed his hat before leaving, and the family stood there in shocked silence in the wreckage of their home.

"We ought to eat," Abner said at length once one of the boys had started sniffling, trying very hard not to cry at this invasion. "Supper is getting cold. We can put things to rights after." And so they sat and ate with their possessions strewn about the house as though a whirlwind had come through, ignoring the mess as best they could. Miriam channeled the feeling of being violated into her quietly simmering anger toward the Nazis, using it to galvanize her against any doubt that leaving with Gunther was the right thing. She could find a way out for all of them and come back and none of them would have to suffer this humiliation ever again.

 

[Sync]

After he’d departed the Heinz house – via the back door – Gunther first carefully slipped over the fence to his parent’s house. It was strange, he realised, being here again after so long. The house felt…strange, deserted, alien – and he hadn’t tried to enter it, yet. He had no right to be here, yet it was his parent’s home – even if they had abandoned it several months earlier. The house certainly looked abandoned – windows dirty, some of them cracked, lawn untouched, flowerbed in need of maintenance. Very carefully, as quietly as he could, he broke the window in the back door and let himself into the house. The house was empty, but still a mess, as if the decision to leave had been rushed. There was enough light from the moon and stars and streetlamps that he could see, and he pulled his diary open to write another entry in it:

Thursday, February 1, 1940

It’s difficult for me to not feel guilty about how the Jewish people are treated. I know I’m not responsible, and I treat them with the same respect I would treat Germans, but most Jews will not see it that way. Herr Heinz has been good in giving me shelter, if only for a couple of days, but I can see the tensions in his family. I was once a good friend of the family, but their resentment of what I now represent to them is clear. They are good people and will not say anything…but it’s there.

Miriam wants to come with me when I start my journey to Switzerland. She’s crazy, but I cannot talk her out of it. Her company will be quite welcome, at least; it would be harder making the journey alone. Will she find it too rough…? In a way, I hope not. If it’s too hard for her she’ll go back to her family…but then I’ll be alone. And these days I don’t know if she’ll be safer with me or with her family.

Right now, though…I need to see what I can find that will make the journey easier…for both of us. My parents’ house feels so wrong without them in it. If I must steal, I will do so only from those homes and shops that have already abandoned and looted.

He closed and secured the diary, then proceeded to look carefully though his parents’ home. So empty, yet so many things left behind…Gunther supposed that a lot of smaller things might have been sold for extra money to aid in their leaving. As he made his way through the house, he was relieved to find that his old bedroom was largely untouched. He’d found a sturdy backpack in his parents’ room to carry things. In his room he found a lot of clothes, clean clothes – he’d love to wash, but that would draw attention he didn’t want to draw. He slipped his diary into the pack, then quickly discarded his soldier’s uniform, tucking it under his bed to hide it, then dressed himself in casual clothes – a light brown hemp shirt, dark brown woollen pants, a dark brown jacket, singlet and underwear and a black beanie to keep his head warm – from his closet and drawers. He grabbed a spare set of clothes and tucked it neatly into the pack. He might hate them, but his soldier’s boots were sturdier than any boots he had in his closet…so he kept the army boots for practicality. His long heavy coat he grabbed from the back of the door and slipped into it. He felt almost clean again.

He found a second pack in his brother’s room and grabbed that; Miri might need it, but it would also be handy for carrying extra things in. A steel flask was grabbed, filled with water, and stuffed into his own pack – it would be of use later, he knew. By the time he’d finished in his parents’ house he knew he had enough for the journey…for now, anyway. Later was a different matter. He paused near the back door of the house so he could listen…there were still sounds coming from the Heinz house that he didn’t associate with the family, so he waited. It didn’t sound positive, although he couldn’t hear a lot of what was happening. It was only when he knew for certain that the Nazi “guests” had departed that he dared to venture outside. Again he carefully slipped over to the fence, gave the signal knock to let them know it was him…and he paused a couple of steps into the house. Ester’s annoyance was focussed on him, he knew, and he was certain that the boys were less comfortable around him than they had been previously.

The house was a mess. Clearly the Nazi officers had searched the house for some trivial whim of theirs, in what was certainly nothing more than a show of power. Gunther’s heart sank in sympathy, the colour draining slightly from his cheeks as he saw what had been done in his absence. Not that his presence would have made anything better; indeed, had he been there, he’d have been found, and that likely would have made things much, much worse…for himself and the entire family with him.

“Herr Heinz…I’m so sorry,” he finally offered, somewhat lamely, before he hefted the packs. “I…I managed to find enough from my parents’ house to let me start my journey.” It was weak, he knew, but maybe hearing of his impending departure might make the family less…tense, perhaps? “I ask nothing save for a place to sleep for the night. I’ll help with the tidy-up tomorrow, then I’ll be on my way after nightfall.”

In truth, he could probably be on his way right now; he hadn’t eaten, but he could steal if he had to. He didn’t feel right taking food from the family, not now, not after seeing what had been done to the house. They might offer anyway, but…that wouldn’t make him feel good about it.

Sometimes there was a difference between honouring an agreement and doing the right thing.

 

[Madam Mim]

There was a feeble attempt at picking up after supper. Furniture was righted, papers were gathered and stacked tidily but not re-organized, clothes were gathered but were heaped in piles rather than being folded and put away. That would be tomorrow's problem. The Heinz family was silent as they mournfully put their things back together, at least in some sort of order if not the way everything had been before. An heirloom figurine had been smashed beyond repair and Shoshana bit her lip as she swept up the remains and threw them in the trash. It had belonged to her mother, dead for a number of years. They were just things, she knew, and things could be replaced...but reminders of her mother could not. She felt her husband's hand on her shoulder, his gentle squeeze, and she put her hand over his briefly before straightening and returning to tidying. She could mourn later, when the children were in bed.

They all jumped and stared when the knock came at the back door, but then Miri remembered the secret knock. Gunther had returned. He froze after a few steps, looking around, and Miriam avoided eye contact. She didn't blame him personally, of course, and it was just as likely this would have happened even if he had never showed up here. But it was undeniable that among her family, at least, there was a definite us-versus-them sentiment...and he was one of Them. Gunther's voice sounded small when he apologized, making Miri cringe a little, but the only response from her father was a heavy sigh.

"It isn't your fault, my boy," Abner answered wearily. "And this isn't the first time our people have suffered prejudices. Please, have some supper before bed. It's cold, but it'll fill your belly." He gestured to the table where they had set out a bowl for him and Miri took the mention of bed as her cue to start making up Gunther's bed while Esther ushered the boys upstairs for baths and bed. It would be poor form indeed to throw him out after inviting him in and sharing his home...but Abner would have been lying if he had claimed he wouldn't be grateful once the boy was gone.

"Still going with him?" There was a note of bitterness in Esther's voice as she and Miriam dressed for bed.

"Who said I was going with him?" Miri tried to sound as casual about it as possible, but she knew there was no use in hiding anything from Esther. Her sister's blessing and curse was a preternaural sort of insightfulness; she often picked up on the most minute of body language, the subtlest changes of voice. It was impossible to lie to her.

"The way you two looked at each other before he left before supper. He was getting supplies for you, too, wasn't he?" Her sister's silence told her all she needed to know. "You'll die out there, you know."

"Well I'll die here too," she argued stubbornly. "Better to die at least trying to do something instead of waiting for death to come to me."

"After everything that's happened today you still think he can protect you?"

"I'm not looking for him to protect me! Just because you lost your ring today doesn't give you a right to be such a bitch about it." A long, terse silence followed as they braided up their hair and got into their beds. "I'm sorry, Esther," she sighed. "I shouldn't have said that. I know you're angry and hurt, and I'm sorry." There wasn't a response as Esther turned out the light.

 

[Sync]

Dinner – such as it was, although he’d never criticise it, not even jokingly, not under these circumstances – came and went. Gunther spent most of his time trying to remain out-of-the-way, with only a moderate degree of success. He gave Miri what he hoped was a nod of thanks as she made up the couch for him to sleep on, and he knew that he’d never sleep in this house again – one way or the other, this night would be his last in this house. He’d either be in Switzerland, or he’d be captured, or he’d be dead (which would be preferable to capture), or – and he hoped this last never came to pass – the family would be taken and it would not be their house for him to sleep in. Only one of those prospects held any warmth for him.

Abner’s almost-reluctant acceptance of his apology didn’t sit well, either. It seemed to highlight the tension in the family about his presence. Gunther would now only ever be a necessary evil to this family, and that would be only for as long as the family could tolerate their situation…he was at a loss to fathom how they did it, but he knew Lack Of Choice was a very large part of that tolerance. It made the ex-soldier rather ill-at-ease.

The conversation of the previous night was all but gone, now, as he watched the boys and girls head upstairs to bed. Shoshana was inclined to giving him cool acknowledgement when she had to, and Abner was only marginally better. Gunther helped tidy up the living room a little, if for no other reason than to clear some space around the couch for when he slept and woke up. When he settled on the couch he felt the weight of his situation – and that of the Heinz family – settle on him, and it was a burden he didn’t care to carry, although he knew he must. Sleep was a long time coming.

* * * * *

Sleep was also…restless. Gunther’s eyes opened as the first rays of sunlight came in through the heavy curtains, but he didn’t feel rested. He knew his sleep had been broken and disturbed. He didn’t remember any dreams he might have had, but he did take the time to pen a quick note in his diary:

Friday, February 02, 1940

The German (Nazi) Officers who visited the Heinz home list night…they were not kind of subtle. They took the house apart. I don’t know what they might have been looking for, but I doubt it was anything more than something trivial, and I’m not going to ask the family for details. They dislike me enough as it is, now. I’m only barely a family friend, I can feel it when they look at me. To the family, I’m one of Them. Will Miri still come with me when I depart for Switzerland tonight? She may do. I have a few things for her as well, a change of clothes and a water bottle, gathered when I went through my parent’s place last night. Time will tell how this venture works out.

He secured his diary and put it away, then stood and dressed himself. He resumed his self-appointed task of tidying the living room, and had managed to make a good effort of righting things – as much as he could – when first Shoshana, then Abner, came down the stairs. Yesterday morning he’d greeted the pair with warmth and gratitude; this morning he was far more sombre in his greeting, especially given the coolness with which the matron looked at him, although her distance softened a little when she saw how productive he’d been in trying to help clean up after the disaster of the previous night.

He declined to eat breakfast with the rest of the family, preferring instead to remain away from the family as much as he could to lessen their hostility towards him.

It seemed to work.

 

[Madam Mim]

The day passed far more slowly than any day had a right to pass, particularly a winter day. Kreutzer showed up at the tailor as promised and though his men didn't turn the shop upside-down--it was a good, German shop after all--he had shorted Miri's boss on the cost so that she was forced not to pay the Jewish girls for their work. It had only barely covered costs as it was. Both she and Kreutzer's ever-faithful shadow Ebner had given Esther and Miriam apologetic looks, but said nothing. Silence and sad eyes didn't put food on the table, Miri reflected bitterly to herself as she had bent back to her work. The rest of the day she felt as though she was moving through syrup, as though for each tick forward the second hand on the clock took, it took three ticks backwards. The lethargy made her arms itch.

It didn't stop at work, either. The walk home was slow, and although she and Esther wanted to talk about what was happening, about her plan, they were always being watched and so moved quickly with their heads down, saying nothing. Supper, with Gunther at the table with them, was equally slow and when he walked out the door to leave them and wait for Miri the door seemed to take centuries to finally latch behind him. The trudge up the stairs felt as though she were fighting bricks strapped to her feet, and although it couldn't have been more than ten minutes it was an eternity before she heard her parents coming up behind to go to bed as well.

"Please don't go?" Esther's eyes brimmed with tears in the dim light. They sat on the edges of their beds, looking at each other, and Miriam's heart sank. Could she really leave her family like this?

"I must," she said, answering both Esther and herself before moving into her sister's bed. "If I don't...we don't stand any sort of chance at all. Papa won't leave Munich without a way out, and we can't stay here. Once I find a way out, a way to safety, I'll come back for you. I promise." She grabbed her sister's hand and kissed her fingers, tears sliding down her cheeks onto the pale knuckles held to her lips. "I promise." Her voice cracked as she pulled Esther into a tight hug, and again time seemed to slow as they embraced each other for what was surely hours. "I have to go," she whispered eventually.

There were more whispered protests from Esther as Miriam changed into a suit she had stolen from the shop--a tatty old thing, really, whose owner could do with a new suit anyway--and wrote her note. She left it on the pillow, her bed still neatly made. Her big sister embraced her again at the doorway, begging her one last time not to go.

And then she was gone.

As soon as Miri stepped out of the back door time seemed to catch up and be compensating for its slowness. Everything seemed to pass double-time. She was barely aware of the snow crunching beneath her feet, of her breath clouding in front of her face as she moved from dark space to dark space, avoiding street lights and SS. It seemed now as though she had just set her foot down in her own back garden when she came crunching across the field to meet Gunther, being careful to step in footprints somebody else had already made. It would be a long night, but she told herself once she was used to traveling at night it wouldn't be a problem, and really because she had been up all day this would be the hardest one. All downhill from here.

"So where to first?" she asked Gunther, determination glinting in her eyes even in the darkness.

 

[Sync]

Time seemed to move quickly for Gunther, once the house had all-but emptied. With breakfast done, the boys walked to their informal school, Abner went to his undercover store, and the girls headed off to their tailoring work…it left just himself and Shoshana in the house. They said little to each other, instead putting their energies into tidying up the house following the gentle rampage of the previous night. Gunther had made a fair start, and Shoshana gave quiet approval, but there was a lot still to be done. They took a small break for lunch, but spoke little. She was still cool towards him for the actions of his countrymen last night; Gunther could feel it, but he said nothing. Speaking up wouldn’t achieve a lot, not now.

The pair had made good progress on trying to right the house when everyone returned. It was by far not the neat, welcoming home Gunther had arrived to only three days ago, but it was a long way from the disaster that had greeted him on his return last night. It was becoming passable. The boys returned first, then the girls, and finally Abner. There was some muted appreciation and thanks for the work done by Shoshana and Gunther, and the young man felt guilty about accepting it. He ate dinner with them at Abner’s insistence, then he set to packing his bag with what he’d need for when he set out after dark had fallen. There wasn’t a lot to pack, in truth, but he checked anyway – both packs. He’d be taking both with him, even though one was, supposedly, for Miri. Would she still come with him? There had been nothing said by either of them since that first night when she declared she would. How long to give her? How long should he wait for her before deciding she wasn’t going to join him? He had no answers for these questions, and he couldn’t ask her.

He said his farewells to the boys as they went to bed, waited until an hour after darkness had fallen before making his move to leave. The rest of the family were cool towards him as he gave his farewells: Ester because she still partly held him responsible for what had happened, Miri because she couldn’t give anything away (he hoped); Shoshana and Abner just because, he supposed. Maybe Abner was a little warmer than everyone else, but there was no hiding the small sense of relief that he was leaving.

He made his way, carefully as he could, back along the street he’d come up when he’d arrived in the neighbourhood a few nights ago. It was one of the main streets that led out of Munich, a south-bound road that was bordered by trees and woods once the city itself was ended. Streetlamps dotted the roads, but stopped at the city boundaries. He wouldn’t travel that far to arrive at the place where he’d wait for Miri. He still didn’t know how long he should wait. Hiding in the shadows was almost second nature to him, now, after weeks of sneaking around trying to avoid the SS and Brown Shirts and regular army; at the first glimpse of a very-infrequent headlamp of a car the ex-soldier moved deeper into the shadows, taking to a garden fence to hide behind, or a small clump of trees, or something similar. When he arrived at the place Miri was to join him, he against stayed in the shadows and waited.

Waiting for how long? He didn’t know, not really. Long enough to have the cold seep through his heavy overcoat, long enough for the tips of his toes to feel a chill. He saw her before she saw him, of course, and he took care to be certain that she wasn’t being followed. So far as he could determine, she was alone…which meant they were alone, just the two of them, about to embark on what would surely be an insane journey through potentially-hostile territory. But…it was either that or die, both inside and outside. At least her eyes were showing the determination to start the journey. Whether that determination would remain…well, time would tell.

“We’ll keep heading south, for the moment,” he replied softly to her query. Not even any kind of greeting, he noted, but as time was an enemy of theirs such brevities could be forgiven. “Head out of the city and into the scrub and woods. There’s plenty of countryside we can use to hide in and sleep as we need to. The war hasn’t destroyed these lands, yet. Once we’re clear of the city and built-up areas we’ll turn west and head for the Schwarzwald and use the cover of the forest to make our way to Switzerland.” He turned to start walking in the direction he’d noted, saw and felt Miri fall into step beside him. He wanted to hurry, but he was sure she’d not be able to manage the same pace he could, so he moved at a pace he felt she’d be comfortable with.

“It’ll be a difficult journey, Miri,” he added as their footfalls took them ever-so-slowly away from Munich. “Over two hundred miles of land to cross. A two to three weeks on foot if all goes well, and we can’t assume it will.” He turned to regard her lovely features for a moment. “I am glad you’re with me, though. It would be harder making the journey on my own.” He returned his focus to the road in front of them.

“I’m sorry for what happened to your family last night, Miri.”