The Orphan's Tale(75)

“This is all his fault!” Astrid flares, hurling all of her anger and sorrow at Luc. I want to tell her that Peter, not Luc, is to blame for doing the routine after Herr Neuhoff had forbidden it. But now is not the time. It would only make things worse.

Luc raises his hands in surrender, unwilling to quarrel. He steps off the train and into the shadows. I sit down beside Astrid and wrap my arms around her. Even if Luc is innocent, it is because I was off with him that I had not been here when Astrid needed me. She shudders violently. Then she closes her eyes, so still I check to make sure she is still breathing. Her losses slam down upon me then: Herr Neuhoff, her child and Peter, all taken from her in a single night.

Or perhaps not. I look toward the door of the railcar. “Hold him,” I tell Astrid, pressing Theo firmly into her arms.

I walk to the door of the railcar and step down, but don’t see Luc. Maybe he has gone. A moment later, he steps from the shadows. “Is she all right?” he asks.

“I don’t know,” I say, fighting back tears. “She’s lost everything.”

“I’m so sorry,” Luc says. “I feel as if this is all my fault.”

“What do you mean?” A rock of dread forms in the pit of my stomach. Had Astrid been right about him after all?

“My father was complaining about the circus a week or so ago,” Luc begins slowly. “He said the show coming here would only cause trouble. I told him how I had warned Peter about the routine, told him not to do it again. I thought it would help. But that only seemed to make him angrier.”

“Peter chose to do the act,” I reply. “That wasn’t your fault.”

Luc shakes his head. “There’s more. Papa warned me to stay away from you or there would be consequences. I thought I’d been careful going back and forth. But if he had one of his men watching me, and he followed me here tonight and saw the wedding... I’m so sorry,” he says again, grabbing my hand. His face watches mine, eyes pleading.

“You didn’t mean to do anything,” I say. But I pull away. Even though he hadn’t meant to, Luc had brought ruin to the circus, just as Astrid had warned. I am suddenly angry, not just at Luc, but at myself.

“If you want me to go now, I understand,” Luc says. “You must hate me for what I’ve done.”

“No,” I reply firmly. “I know it wasn’t your fault. But we need to fix this.”

“How?” he asks.

“We must do something to find Peter.” Doubt clouds Luc’s eyes. He has seen people taken by the police too many times and knows how impossible this is.

I square my shoulders. I had failed Astrid once before. I cannot let that happen again. “Your father,” I say. “This was a police action. Surely he knows something about it.”

Pain crosses Luc’s face at the notion that his father was somehow involved. “I will talk to him first thing in the morning and see if he knows anything.”

“Morning could be too late,” I reply. “We have to go see him now.”

“We?” Luc repeats with disbelief.

“I’m coming with you,” I say firmly.

He puts a hand on my shoulder. “Noa, you can’t.”

“You don’t want your father to see you with me,” I say, stung.

“It’s not that. But everything is so dangerous right now. Why can’t you just wait here?”

“Because I have to do this for Astrid. I’m going to see your father now, with or without you.” I look him squarely in the eyes. “With would be better.”

He opens his mouth to argue further. “Fine,” he says, seeming to think better of it.

“Just give me a minute.” I look down the outside of the train where a few of the circus woman stand huddled, talking. “Elsie!” I call, gesturing her over. The girl breaks free from the group and comes to me. “I need you to watch Theo for a bit.” Though I still don’t like or trust her after what she had done with Theo, I have no choice. Astrid is in no shape to watch him alone.

Astrid. I look back through the doorway of the carriage at Astrid, who lies doubled over on the berth, clutching Theo. I should stay and comfort her, but I need to know what Luc learns from his father. “Watch Astrid, too,” I instruct Elsie. “Both of them. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” I should tell Astrid myself that I am going, but I don’t want her to ask questions.

“I’m ready now,” I tell Luc, putting my hand in his as he starts in the direction of the trees.

Luc leads me through the forest down a path where I have not been before. A chilling breeze, colder than I have felt in weeks, causes the trees to dance wildly above us, casting ghostly shadows on the moonlit ground.

Several minutes later, the woods break to a sloping pasture that ends at a villa. I am not sure what I expected the mayor’s residence to look like. Something more grand or ominous, or at least a bit larger. But it is a traditional French country house, a long sloping gray slate roof broken by three windows. There is a flagstone path ending at a rounded door, ivy climbing the wall on each side. A bicycle leans against the adjacent fence.

It is the middle of the night and I’d expected the house to be quiet. But behind the curtain the lights are still on. I stop in my tracks, suddenly losing my nerve. “Maybe this was a mistake.”