The Book Thief(105)

Where are we going?



Isnt it obvious?



She struggled to keep up. Well, to tell you the truthnot really.



Im going to find him.



Your papa?



Yes. He thought about it. Actually, no. I think Ill find the Fhrer instead.



Faster footsteps. Why?



Rudy stopped. Because I want to kill him. He even turned on the spot, to the rest of the world. Did you hear that, you bastards? he shouted. I want to kill the Fhrer!



They resumed walking and made it another few miles or so. That was when Liesel felt the urge to turn around. Itll be dark soon, Rudy.



He walked on. So what?



Im going back.



Rudy stopped and watched her now as if she were betraying him. Thats right, book thief. Leave me now. I bet if there was a lousy book at the end of this road, youd keep walking. Wouldnt you?



For a while, neither of them spoke, but Liesel soon found the will. You think youre the only one, Saukerl? She turned away. And you only lost your father. . . .



What does that mean?



Liesel took a moment to count.



Her mother. Her brother. Max Vandenburg. Hans Hubermann. All of them gone. And shed never even had a real father.



It means, she said, Im going home.



For fifteen minutes she walked alone, and even when Rudy arrived at her side with jogging breath and sweaty cheeks, not another word was said for more than an hour. They only walked home together with aching feet and tired hearts.



There was a chapter called Tired Hearts in A Song in the Dark. A romantic girl had promised herself to a young man, but it appeared that he had run away with her best friend. Liesel was sure it was chapter thirteen. My heart is so tired, the girl had said. She was sitting in a chapel, writing in her diary.



No, thought Liesel as she walked. Its my heart that is tired. A thirteen-year-old heart shouldnt feel like this.



When they reached the perimeter of Molching, Liesel threw some words across. She could see Hubert Oval. Remember when we raced there, Rudy?



Of course. I was just thinking about that myselfhow we both fell.



You said you were covered in shit.



It was only mud. He couldnt hold his amusement now. I was covered in shit at Hitler Youth. Youre getting mixed up, Saumensch.



Im not mixed up at all. Im only telling you what you said. What someone says and what happened are usually two different things, Rudy, especially when it comes to you.



This was better.



When they walked down Munich Street again, Rudy stopped and looked into the window of his fathers shop. Before Alex left, he and Barbara had discussed whether she should keep it running in his absence. They decided against it, considering that work had been slow lately anyway, and there was at least a partial threat of party members making their presence felt. Business was never good for agitators. The army pay would have to do.



Suits hung from the rails and the mannequins held their ridiculous poses. I think that one likes you, Liesel said after a while. It was her way of telling him it was time to keep going.



On Himmel Street, Rosa Hubermann and Barbara Steiner stood together on the footpath.



Oh, Maria, Liesel said. Do they look worried?



They look mad.



There were many questions when they arrived, mainly of the Just where in the hell have you two been? nature, but the anger quickly gave way to relief.



It was Barbara who pursued the answers. Well, Rudy?



Liesel answered for him. He was killing the Fhrer, she said, and Rudy looked genuinely happy for a long enough moment to please her.



Bye, Liesel.



Several hours later, there was a noise in the living room. It stretched toward Liesel in bed. She awoke and remained still, thinking ghosts and Papa and intruders and Max. There was the sound of opening and dragging, and then the fuzzy silence who followed. The silence was always the greatest temptation.



Dont move.



She thought that thought many times, but she didnt think it enough.



Her feet scolded the floor.



Air breathed up her pajama sleeves.



She walked through the corridor darkness in the direction of silence that had once been noisy, toward the thread of moonlight standing in the living room. She stopped, feeling the bareness of her ankles and toes. She watched.



It took longer than she expected for her eyes to adjust, and when they did, there was no denying the fact that Rosa Hubermann was sitting on the edge of the bed with her husbands accordion tied to her chest. Her fingers hovered above the keys. She did not move. She didnt even appear to be breathing.



The sight of it propelled itself to the girl in the hallway.





A PAINTED IMAGE

Rosa with Accordion.

Moonlight on Dark.

51 Instrument Silence.





Liesel stayed and watched.



Many minutes dripped past. The book thiefs desire to hear a note was exhausting, and still, it would not come. The keys were not struck. The bellows didnt breathe. There was only the moonlight, like a long strand of hair in the curtain, and there was Rosa.