The Room on Rue Amélie(55)

Ruby waited until the policemen were long gone before she slipped into the hall outside the apartment. She said a silent prayer of thanks that the pilot hadn’t been discovered, and then she moved to the front windows of the building and looked out. The street outside was deserted again. If she hadn’t witnessed it herself, she never would have known anything had happened here at all.

She took a deep breath. She had to get ahold of herself before going back inside and facing Charlotte. She’d do that before tending to the pilot, because the girl was probably beside herself by now.

A few minutes later, she opened the door to the wardrobe to find Charlotte staring at her. “What happened?” the girl asked, her voice flat.

“The police took them away.” Ruby was trying to sound as unconcerned as possible, although her insides were screaming.

“Well, we have to go after them.”

“Honey, we can’t. They had you on their list too. There’s no way I’d risk anything happening to you. Your parents told them you were in Aubergenville, and they must have believed it.”

“But . . . we have to do something.”

“I’m certain things will be sorted out in a few days,” Ruby said, trying to project a confidence she didn’t feel. “Surely there’s been a mistake. In the meantime, let’s get you out of this wardrobe, shall we?”

Charlotte’s hand was ice-cold as she slipped it into Ruby’s. Ruby could feel the girl shaking as she led her to the sofa in the living room.

“Papa is so sure that being French will save him,” Charlotte said softly once she sat down.

“Yes.”

“But there is no French anymore, Ruby. There are just Jews, those who hate us, and people who are too scared for their own lives to fight back.”

“But there are also people like you and me, Charlotte, people who are doing what they can to help. We’ll win in the end.”

“It will be too late for my parents by then.”

“No,” Ruby said firmly. “When morning comes, I’ll see what I can find out, all right? I don’t know what these raids were about, but your parents must have been included by mistake. I’ll fix this.”

Charlotte shook her head. “But what if you can’t, Ruby? What if you can’t?”





CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR


July 1942

It took Ruby more than an hour to get Charlotte settled down, but finally the girl fell asleep on the couch. Just before dawn, Ruby slipped into the hallway and rapped lightly on the door to the hidden closet. “It’s Fleur,” she whispered. “You can come out.” She slid the panel back to find Samuel crouched in the crawl space, clutching a knife.

“What in God’s name was that?” he demanded. “Those voices in the hall . . . I was right, wasn’t I? Something terrible has happened.”

Ruby put a hand on his arm. “It was a raid,” she said calmly. “To take Jews away.” And then, somehow, she was crying, and she couldn’t stop. The pilot quietly climbed out and wrapped his arms around her.

“It’s okay,” he murmured. “It’s all going to be okay.”

His words of comfort just made her cry harder, because he didn’t really understand. He only knew the war from the sky.

“We need to get into my apartment before someone sees you,” Ruby said, drying her tears and suddenly realizing how stupid it was to be embracing a fugitive in plain sight. She suspected that the building’s residents were still battened down for the night, but she couldn’t take that chance. “We need to be quiet, because Charlotte is finally asleep,” she added in a whisper as she opened her front door.

“Charlotte?”

“The daughter of the couple next door who were taken away.”

“Dear God,” Samuel murmured, glancing at the girl asleep on the couch as Ruby ushered him inside, shut the door quietly, and locked it behind them.

Ruby gestured for him to follow her to the bedroom, and once they were inside, she left the door ajar and sat down on the edge of the bed, indicating that he should join her.

“What happened?” Samuel asked. “To the girl’s parents?”

Ruby recounted the events of the past several hours, explaining that Madame Dacher had asked her to keep Charlotte safe. “Charlotte’s father is convinced that they’ll be returning soon. But I fear he’s wrong.”

“But what could the police possibly be doing with the Jews?”

Ruby shook her head. “I only know the rumors of what’s happening in eastern Europe. They’re putting Jews in camps. There are rumors that they’re putting some to death.”

“Jesus Christ.” Samuel crossed himself and looked heavenward. “So what are you going to do about the girl?”

Ruby was silent for a moment. She’d been thinking about it all night. “I don’t think she’s safe here. What if the police come for her again?”

Samuel nodded slowly. “What if I take her with me? To the Pyrenees? I could help her get out of the country.”

Ruby could feel her eyes filling with tears. “Samuel, that’s a very kind offer. But that’s not what the line is designed for, and I’m afraid it would put all of you, especially Charlotte, in danger. It’s perilous enough for grown men. She’s just a girl.”