#

  A knock at the door woke her. Anton hadn’t said anything about anyone coming by, and he said he would keep a key and let himself in. She wouldn’t be able to see anything from her windows—they were at street level and her door was at basement level. She heard the knock again. She pulled the blanket over her head and pulled a pillow on top of her in the hope that she would look like an unmade bed if the caller went back up the stairs and looked in the window. Then she heard someone ascending the stairs and going down the street. It couldn’t have been the Nazis. They would have broken the door down.

  The next time she woke, Anton was standing beside the bed, looking down at her. “Have you eaten something? How are you feeling?”

  “I’m okay. Someone knocked on the door today. We had discussed the fact that I shouldn’t answer, so I kept still until they went away. Do you have any idea who it was?”

  “There’s a young man who’ll be installing a phone for you. He was due to come next week. He’s one of us, so you can let him in, but I need to let you know exactly when he’s coming. I’ll check and see if that’s who came today. Have you had something to eat?”

  “I ate some crackers and some of the green beans for lunch. You must eat the rest—they’re on the counter. I saved them for you.”

  “You mustn’t save things for me. I want you to eat as much as you can. I brought you a few smoked oysters—three, to be exact, and a few crackers. That’s all I managed to salvage from a can a friend brought to my apartment. Here, eat these. You need the protein.”

  “How did your friend get something like this?” She popped one into her mouth.

  “I’m not sure, and I was afraid to ask.”

  She wondered whether it was a girlfriend who brought the oysters. She absolutely would not ask about a girlfriend or whether he was married. All that was totally beside the point and not something she should be giving a second thought to. “However he got them, I’m grateful. They explained the black market to me in training and said we might be able to get food that way. They also said that I might be able to get food at the palace. Maybe I can bring some for you, too.”

  “Please don’t worry about me. You need to eat as much as you can to keep your strength up and heal your wounds. Speaking of wounds, I need to check the cuts the doctor sewed up. He gave me some medicine and bandages for changing and told me to check every day to make sure there’s no infection. I’m afraid it’s past time to do that.”

  She unbuttoned the shirtwaist dress to reveal the bandage on her stomach. Fortunately, she had found some ill-fitting underwear in the knapsack and had put it on. Anton removed the bandage and applied some of the medicine Dr. Havelka had given him.

  “This wound looks as if it were healing properly. Fortunately, you’re a healthy young woman, and you’ll heal quickly.” He applied a bandage. “Now, your leg.”

  She pulled the dress up to reveal her right thigh, and he repeated the procedure. “You have quite a bruise on that leg, too. I’ll put all this in the chest, and if for some reason I can’t get here, you’ll need to change the bandages every day. It’s just easier if I can do it.”

  “Have you heard any news of the war?”

  “I saw a paper earlier, but unfortunately, all we get is Nazi propaganda. We can’t be sure any of it’s true. I’d love to have a radio, but they’re outlawed. Actually, I have one hidden away, but I’m afraid to use it. My landlady lives in the back of her shop, and I live upstairs. I’m afraid she’d hear it, and that would put her in a bad position.”

  “What about my rent here? I know they explained about my financial situation, but I can’t remember how my rent is to be paid.”

  “My law firm administers a trust your parents left you. That’s the cover story, and that’s the sort of thing we need to concentrate on. I paid your rent three months in advance. I’ll have cash for you later on, too, when you need it. In the meantime, I’ll use it to get food when I can, and maybe I can get some clothes, or have the doctor’s wife get them.”

  “I have enough clothes for now. None of them fit, and I’ll have to have some things before I go to work at the palace, but for now I’m okay. I won’t be going anywhere and you’re the only one who’ll see me except for the telephone man, so I can get by with what I have. Where is this palace, by the way?”

  “It isn’t very far from here. You could walk, but you’ll have a bicycle. You may have to walk it up the hill if it’s too steep for you, but at least you can coast down.”

  “Has the doctor given any indication of how long it’ll take till I can get started at my assignment?”

  “He said six to eight weeks, but if your leg heals as fast as the tears he sewed up, my guess would be six. Are you eager to get started?

  “I’m eager, and I’m nervous. I hope I can remember everything I need to know.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Zita came home in a panic. “The Gestapo is searching the area. I saw them in the next block. We have to do something with Gustav, and fast.”

  Adelka took the shopping bag from her. “Go upstairs. Get him into one of the old housedresses I left in the closet up there, and my garden shoes. Tie his head up in a kerchief. Then get him down here as quickly as possible so he can be cutting up the potatoes for soup when they arrive. He’s my cook, and his name will be Ivana Orlova. Go, quickly!”

  Zita and Gustav were just coming down the stairs when Adelka heard a knock at the door. She looked at the young man and decided it might work. It would have been better to hide him somewhere, but she hadn’t been able to think of a secure place on such short notice. She took a deep breath. “Answer the door, Zita. I’ll get Ivana started in the kitchen.”

  Gustav followed her, and she dumped the three potatoes from the shopping bag into the sink. “Wash those, and then cut them up on this board. We leave the skins on; no need to waste anything. Put them in this pan when you’re through. Take your time, though. The job needs to last till the Gestapo leaves.” She heard Zita and the officers coming down the hall.

  “These gentlemen are here to search the house, Miss.”

  Two men stood beside Zita. One was a member of the Gestapo, the other a Prague policeman who obviously was there as translator. She gave them the coldest stare she could muster. “What’s the purpose of this?”

  “We’re looking for a fugitive. He was seen to cross the Charles Bridge recently, so we suspect he’s in this area. We need to search your house.”

  “What makes you think he might be here?”

  The policeman was doing the talking. The Gestapo officer hadn’t said anything. “We’re searching all the houses in Mala Strana. He could have slipped in. Might have climbed up on your roof and entered through an upstairs window.”

  “What’s he wanted for?”

  “Crimes against the Protectorate.”

  Adelka put the shopping bag on the table and came to stand directly in front of the policeman while Gustav continued to struggle with the potatoes at the sink. “What sort of crimes?”

  “He’s a member of the resistance, and he’s dangerous.”

  “I can assure you, there’s no one here but my maid, my cook, and me. Oh, well, help yourself. Zita, show them around. I’ll help Ivana with lunch and the groceries.” She hoped to God Zita had done something with Gustav’s clothes, which she hadn’t thought to mention.

  They started up the stairs, and she could hear the policeman speaking German to the Gestapo officer. Then she heard them going through the upstairs rooms with Zita chattering at them as they went. After several minutes they came back downstairs and searched the rooms on the first floor.

  “All clear, Miss Janakova,” the officer said as Zita let them out the front door.

  So they knew her name. Suddenly, she was trembling. Adelka sat down at the kitchen table and put her head in her hands.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  He hadn’t worn the tuxedo since he’d gone to a friend’s wedding in Pilzen before the war. He had no doubt he could still get into it, what with food rationing. It might be too big. He didn’t have a full-length mirror, but it felt as if it fitted him when he put it on. His dress shoes were old, but when he polished them with some ancient paste polish he had in his medicine cabinet, they were acceptable.

  He walked to Eliska’s house, feeling conspicuous in the tuxedo. She was planning for him to spend the night after the party, and this would simplify matters, since they would be riding with the enemy. He didn’t want them to know where he lived. Her house was in the same area as Teta Adelka and the doctor, but on a different street. He’d never been inside, but walked by once to see where she lived. The place was even grander than Teta Adelka’s and the doctor’s, at least on the outside.

  He knocked on her door, and a young woman in a maid’s uniform answered. “I’m here to see Mrs. Muller.”

  “If you’ll wait in the library, I’ll let her know you’re here.” She disappeared and was gone for quite a while. When she came back, she said, “Mrs. Muller is upstairs. She wants you to join her there.” She walked with him to the staircase. “It’s upstairs, down the hallway on the right, first door on the right.”

  Eliska was seated at a dressing table in a sheer dressing gown, with nothing on underneath. “Maria didn’t show you the way up here? It’s impossible to get decent help with this damned war on. The butler quit a month ago, and I won’t be able to replace him, I’m sure.”

  “No problem. I found my way. I could smell your perfume down the hallway.”

  “Not too strong, I hope.”

  “Just right.”

  “You’re absolutely luscious in that tuxedo. Shut the door and take it off.”

  He leaned over and kissed her, then untied the ribbon that was holding her gown closed. She began taking off his tuxedo, and he realized the door was still open. He closed it and came back. She tossed his clothes onto a nearby chair as she removed each item and then dropped her gown to the floor. They slipped between the gold satin sheets on her bed, and the caress of the sheets combined with those of Eliska drove all thoughts of war and Nazis out of his mind.

  She offered him a cigarette afterward, and he took it gladly. He had run out two days ago and hadn’t been able to buy more. He was enveloped in such euphoria with a cigarette, satin sheets, and the satin skin of Eliska touching his that he almost forgot who he was. But not entirely. All this was lovely, but if it wasn’t going to bring information he could use, he’d have to think of a way to avoid partying with Nazis.

  “Your house is wonderful. All those books in the library—have you read them all?”

  “Of course not, silly. This was my parents’ house, and that was my father’s library. I haven’t read any of them. They deeded this house to me when they went to live in the Sudetenland just before the invasion. They have a large estate there.”

  Early in their affair, when he had walked by her house, he wondered whether she might ask him to come and live with her. It would have been impossible for various reasons, but he had thought she might ask. Later on, he began to guess that he wasn’t her only lover, and having him in her house would put a crimp in her style. His vanity caused him to hope he was her favorite.

  #

  They were picked up an hour later in a black Mercedes driven by a German private who opened the car doors for them and was careful to see that Eliska’s long, silky dress of some champagne-colored fabric was safely inside the car before shutting the door. It didn’t take long to reach a house that was even more elegant than Eliska’s, with a manicured lawn all around.

  A U-shaped driveway led to the front entrance, and that’s where the young man assisted them from the backseat. Anton rang the doorbell and a butler answered. They were shown into a drawing room that was pure elegance, from the velvet curtains to the Rembrandt over the fireplace. Anton spotted two German officers, both colonels, and the rest of the group wore civilian clothes. He assumed they were Czech.

  Eliska introduced him to everyone, and he tried to remember all their names, setting them in his memory with a brief description. The information might be useful later. The colonels were Hans Schiller and Frederich Hesse. Anton suspected, if one of them were Eliska’s lover, it would be Schiller. He was handsome in a purely Aryan way, a little over Anton’s six feet in height, and gave the impression of being in charge of the room without lifting a finger. Hesse was more jovial, and shook Anton’s hand a little longer than was necessary. If you’re one of us, it’s a pleasure to meet you.

  It was a nerve-wracking experience, trying to appear pleasant and at ease in a group where Germans were present. Anton made sure his handshakes were firm and confident, and he hoped his smile appeared to be friendly.

  The hostess was a short, stout woman with yellow hair and a beaming smile. Nothing would go wrong at one of her dinner parties. The butler announced that dinner would be served shortly, and she led them into the dining room. Anton found his place at the right hand of the hostess. The stranger would be given the place of honor, and if he proved to be an equal, would be taken into the fold of the anti-Communists, the anti-most-everyone that wasn’t rich and of the upper crust.

  Eliska was seated near the other end of the table beside Schiller on one side and a woman whose name Anton was trying to remember on the other. A thin woman with her hair piled high, her name was . . . Hasprova. His hostess was Veronika Horakova, and while making small talk with her, he’d try to review the others in the room to establish them in his mind more firmly.

  His contacts in the resistance knew about Eliska and the fact that she was married to a German. They knew more than he did about her, probably, and he always assumed they hoped he could acquire helpful information through her. He’d have to make it clear to them that she now wanted to include him in socializing that included German officers. Even more deadly than the Gestapo or the SS was a resistance group suspicious of being sold out.

  Mrs. Horakova, at least he assumed she was a Mrs.—even though there was no Mr. Horak around—was saying something to him while his mind was wandering. He pretended he hadn’t heard due to the babble going on around them and asked her to repeat.

  “What sort of work do you do, Mr. Janak?

  “I’m an attorney. I’m in a partnership with three others.”

  Mrs. Horakova, still beaming, said, “Oh, that’s a wonderful profession. Where’s your office?”

  “It’s in Old Town, on Tynska Street.”

  Old Town. Respectable enough. “Do you have family in Prague?”

  “Only an aunt. My parents are deceased, and I’m an only child.”

  “I know a lady named Adelka Janakova. We go to church together at the cathedral. St. Vitus. Would she be your aunt?”

  He didn’t want these people to know so much about him, but he couldn’t lie. “Yes, that’s my Teta Adelka.”

  “She’s a lovely lady. We’ve been doing volunteer work together for years. She invited the members of our women’s circle to her home for tea one afternoon last year. It was charming, and we all enjoyed her beautiful old home. I haven’t seen as much of her lately, though, and I hope she isn’t ill.”

  That’s because I have her car. “No, she’s fine. I’ll be taking her to church tomorrow—the late mass. Maybe you’ll see her there.”

  “Yes, I planned to attend late tomorrow also. After a party, you know, it’s difficult to make it to the early mass.” Soup was being served now, and she didn’t say anything more, watching to make sure everything was done correctly. When everyone had been served, “And your father—what did he do?”

  “He taught law at Charles University.” She would find this more acceptable than the Humanities.

  “Is that where you attended?”

  “Yes, my partners and I all went there and became friends.” And now the SS is using our law school as a barracks, he thought. Just one more reason to do everything he could to get them out of Czechoslovakia. The soup was good, a puree of vegetables with plenty of seasoning. He only wished he could take some to Tereza. It would be good for her.

  After the soup course, a lamb chop was served with potatoes, Brussels sprouts, and a tasty yeast roll. He hadn’t eaten this well since the occupation began. Wine was flowing freely as well, and his glass was refilled frequently. Time to stop with the wine—he wanted to keep his wits about him. Dessert was a chocolate mousse and real coffee, a rich brew that was so good he accepted a second cup.

  When everyone was finished, they moved back to the drawing room where a trio had set up in a corner. They began playing a polka, and he saw Eliska skip away in the arms of the other German . . . Hesse, Frederich Hesse. He was having trouble remembering even the names of the Germans. More guests began arriving now, and he saw that he had been among the privileged few invited to dinner before the party.

  He should ask someone to dance instead of standing around looking helpless, so he went up to a middle-aged woman who had been at the dinner and she accepted readily. As they whirled around the room, he said, “I’m terribly sorry, but I’ve forgotten your name. I’m not very good at names, and there were so many thrown at me all at once.”

  She giggled. “I’m Clara Plankova. I must admit I’ve forgotten yours too.”

  “Anton Janak. I’m a friend of Eliska Muller.”

  “I’ve known Eliska for years. Her parents are friends of mine.”

  “Yes, I understand they’ve moved to the Sudetenland.”

  Mrs. Plankova put her hand on his arm. “I’ve heard a rumor that Eliska’s divorcing Kurt. Do you suppose there’s anything to that?”

  Of course he had. His partner was handling it. “I haven’t heard anything.”

  “Then I heard an even newer rumor.” She looked around to see if anyone was listening. “Someone told me his family is very upset about the divorce, and they’ve offered her a place on the Rhine and a lot of money to come to Germany and stay married to Kurt. Catholic, of course, and totally opposed to divorce.”