The Room on Rue Amélie(62)

“How will my parents find us when they get out?” Charlotte asked as they waited for the men Aubert had promised to send.

“I will stop back a few times a week,” Ruby promised, “and Aubert will have people checking too. Don’t worry, Charlotte. We’ll know when they return.”

“I can go back to check on the apartment too.”

“No. We can’t risk anyone seeing you.”

Charlotte hung her head. “So that’s it? I have to just disappear and become someone else?”

“In order to survive, yes.”

Charlotte sighed. “We can’t even go to my apartment now to get some of my things?”

Ruby was about to say no, but she hesitated. Charlotte couldn’t be seen entering or leaving the apartment. But what if Ruby went in? If anyone tried to stop her, it would be easy to explain; she could just sheepishly say she was checking for valuables; she would look like someone trying to take advantage of the poor Dachers’ misfortune. She knew such things had happened across Paris, though she hadn’t heard anyone entering the Dachers’ apartment. “I’ll try, Charlotte. What would you want, if I can only retrieve a few things?”

Charlotte brightened. “My blue dress, please. The one with the yellow ribbon. It’s hanging in my wardrobe. One of my father’s sweaters, please, and my mother’s silk gloves, which she always keeps in the third drawer of their dresser, tucked toward the back. And my mother’s anniversary ring too; it’s gold with a few small diamonds. It should be on the dressing table, in a small blue box.” Charlotte paused, and Ruby’s heart ached at the realization that the poor girl had been thinking about this for days. “And one or two of the framed photographs from the living room, if it’s not too much to ask.”

“I’ll do my best.” Ruby slipped out into the hallway, said a cheerful hello to Madame Colin from the second floor, who was just leaving the building, and then used Charlotte’s key to unlock the Dachers’ door. She was so intent on making it into the apartment undiscovered that it took her several seconds to register what she was seeing once she was inside.

“Oh no.” She gazed around in dismay. The place had been torn apart from top to bottom. The beautiful velvet sofa and chairs were slashed open. Pale spaces on the wall loomed ugly and empty. Books had been pulled from the shelves and destroyed, and all of Madame Dacher’s china was missing from the ornate cabinet in the corner.

Ruby’s eyes filled with tears. She and Charlotte hadn’t heard anyone breaking into the apartment, and the door was intact, so the thieves must have had access to a key—most likely from the landlord or the concierge. It made Ruby nauseated to think of neighbors lying in wait to take advantage of the family. Had one of them reported the Dachers to the police in the first place? Was there someone in this building who was directly responsible for their deportation?

Pulse pounding, Ruby slipped into the kitchen, which was equally destroyed, and then into the bedroom of Madame and Monsieur Dacher. The bed was stripped bare, and all that remained on the dresser top were rings of dust. Still, there were some clothes dangling from hangers in the closet, so she quickly rifled through until she found a scratchy wool sweater that had belonged to Monsieur Dacher. She couldn’t imagine why someone would have left it when winter clothes were at a premium, but perhaps their hands had already been full of other valuables.

Madame Dacher’s silk gloves and anniversary ring were gone, of course, though Ruby dutifully searched for them. In the end, she settled for a silk blouse that had been hidden between two plain cotton dresses. In Charlotte’s small room, she found more destruction, and it appeared that the blue dress the girl had asked for was missing as well. Ruby hastily chose two cotton dresses instead; she suspected they’d been hand-sewn by Madame Dacher, and she could make the argument to Charlotte that they had more sentimental value. There were no family pictures anywhere; they’d surely been taken for the value of the silver frames that held them.

She grabbed a couple of Charlotte’s books and then headed back to her own apartment, closing the door forever to a sad piece of the past.

“Did you get the things I asked for?” Charlotte asked.

“You know,” Ruby said carefully, “I think your mother must have taken her anniversary ring and gloves with her. And that blue dress you mentioned? The more I thought about it, the more I realized how impractical it would be. You’ll need everyday dresses. I got one of your papa’s sweaters, though!” She handed the armful of belongings to Charlotte, who looked disappointed. “I also brought a few of your books.”

“And a family photo?” Charlotte asked quietly.

“Oh, I thought perhaps that wasn’t a good idea,” Ruby replied. “What if someone searches our new apartment and finds it? Besides, I feel sure that your parents will be back in no time. You won’t need a photo to remember them by.”

Charlotte bit her lip. “The apartment was looted, wasn’t it?”

Ruby hesitated. “Yes. I’m so sorry.”

“There are truly terrible people in this world.”

Ruby pulled Charlotte into a hug. “But there are good people too. And I like to think that in the end, the good ones outnumber the bad.”

Charlotte let herself be held for a moment before pulling away. She moved to the window and looked out for a long time without saying a word. Ruby didn’t interrupt her; she knew that the girl needed to say good-bye in her own way.