But Anna remembers hearing that the SS can be bribed, particularly if the supplicant is pretty and desperate enough. She has used her looks for lesser things. And the safe in Gerhard's study surely contains something of value. Anna need only think of a way to get her father out of the house.
She sets the terrier's body down, its eyes having long since filmed over. Then, after cleaning her sticky hands as best she can with straw, Anna leaves through Max's back garden so as not to be seen. The SS may still be abroad, and the last thing Anna needs is to be detained for questioning as to why she is in this district. The premature dusk is smoky and raw, its uniform grayness an ally to Anna in her dark Zellwolle coat. She races through the alleys of the forsaken Jewish Quarter, skirting tricycles and ducking lines of washing, all the while clutching the spectacles in her pocket.
4
THAT EVENING, GERHARD IS FORCED TO AMEND HIS DINner plans. He telephones his important new acquaintances and arranges to meet them at a restaurant. After all, Anna hears him explaining into the receiver, he doesn't want them to catch his daughter's influenza. Anna has told him that it is rampant in Weimar just now, the streets a symphony of sneezes, the shops like TB wards. Gerhard's companions must be pleased with his concern for their health, for Anna hears him humming as he dresses and descends the stairs. The cloying fragrance of his Kölnischwasser, of which he has used a great deal, lingers long after his car disappears from the drive.
Some time later, Anna creeps down to the kitchen. Breaking into her father's safe has been useless, as the strongbox contains only Gerhard's traveling papers and a gold pocketwatch that no longer tells time. Anna sits dully in a chair, forcing herself to nibble a wedge of cheddar while she considers alternate plans. None comes to mind. Perhaps the watch would be worth something on the black market, but Anna has no idea who might be involved with this risky venture nor how to find out. In despair she abandons the cheese on the table.
She is attempting an apple next when she hears a rap on the window near the maid's entrance. She freezes with her teeth half-sunk into the fruit. The knock comes again, faint but insistent.
Anna rushes to the door and flings it open to find Max standing there.
Oh, my God, she cries, dropping the apple, which wobbles unheeded across the floorboards. Oh, thank God you're all right-
Max tries to smile.
May I come in? he asks.
Don't be a fool, Anna tells him. She tugs him into the kitchen by the shirtsleeve.
Max props himself against the icebox as Anna secures the lock and begins whisking the curtains shut.
So you know, he says. About the Aktion this morning.
Anna turns to examine him. He is covered in mud, his hair plastered to one side of his head as if he has just awakened, and there is a shallow scratch on one cheek. Other than this, he appears unharmed.
I was in the Quarter and I ran across Herr Nussbaum, she says. And when I went to your house, I found the animals-
They killed them, Max says.
Yes.
Max frowns at the floor, his Adam's apple bobbing in his throat.
I was afraid of that, he says. I wanted to do it myself, the humane way, but there wasn't time.
Anna begins rummaging through the pockets of her skirt.
I have your glasses here somewhere, she says. I know you're hopeless without them-
Then, without warning, she begins to weep.
Max comes to Anna and takes her in his arms. This is the first time he has held her properly, and Anna relishes it, damp and filthy as he is. She sways against him, closing her eyes, but Max stares at the wall over her shoulder, distracted.
How long will your father be gone? he asks, detaching her.
How did you know he's not here?
I've been in the bushes much of the afternoon. I saw him leave a half hour ago, off to dine with his friends, am I right? Top brass, all of them.
Max rubs his eyes. Dear God, of all the places I could have come, he groans. I'm so sorry, Anna…
He runs a hand down the side of his face, which rasps with stubble. I just need a bite to eat, he says. Then I'll be on my way.
Of course I'll fix you something, Anna says, collecting herself. But first we must get you out of those wet rags.
Anna-
Ignoring his protests, Anna leads Max from the kitchen and into the house, beneath the twisting, exaggerated shadows cast by the chandelier in the entrance hall, up the main staircase.
Here, she says, once she has shown him to the WC. Clean yourself up. I'll be back in a moment.
Then she ransacks Gerhard's bedroom closet for clothes he will not miss, keenly attuned all the while to the small splashes Max makes as he bathes and shaves, the noises she would hear each morning if they lived here together. It is ridiculous, given the circumstances, but there it is: the fierce joy that Max is in her house. Anna shakes her head at herself and returns to the WC with a pair of old tweed trousers and a shirt.
Thank you, Max says, accepting them. I'll be quick.
Anna ignores this, exiting to let him change but leaving the door open a few centimeters. From behind it, she says, So you left before the SS began the Aktion. How did you know they were coming?
Silence from the WC. Stealing closer, Anna watches Max remove his shirt. His skin is very white, blotched here and there with a fair man's spreading freckles; because he is so thin, his body looks much older than that of a man in his mid-thirties. His chest, however, is furred with a surprisingly healthy crop of reddish hair. He slides his trousers and briefs from his hips.
Please, Max, Anna says, touching her burning face. Tell me what happened.
Max dresses in Gerhard's clothes, which, Gerhard being a portly fellow, bag comically on his narrow frame. Then he opens the door all the way. Anna slides past him into the narrow room and perches on the lip of the tub.
I'm sorry about your father's dog, Max says. Jews aren't allowed to own pets. The animals were killed because they're considered contaminated by Jewish blood-
Anna makes a dismissive gesture.
Herr Nussbaum said the SS were turning the entire Quarter inside out, she says. You can't expect me to believe they were only looking for who might still have a dog or two.
Max contemplates Anna for some time, stroking his razor-reddened chin. Then he says, My being here is placing you in terrible danger. The less you know, the better.
Anna leaps to her feet.
You listen, she says, giving Max a small shove. Do I mean so little to you that you can't trust me? Were all those nights we spent talking and playing chess nothing more than that, only games?
Max sighs.
Of course not, he says. All right. Since I've already involved you by coming here-
Yes, tell me.
I did know about the Aktion before it happened. More than that, I'm afraid I was its cause.
I don't understand. How-
Max looks sternly at her. Quiet, young lady. Let me explain in my own way.
He sits beside Anna on the tub.
You know of the concentration camp?
Chastened, Anna nods.
There's been some talk, she says. It's up on the Ettersberg, yes?
Yes. In the forest on the mountain. Established for political prisoners and criminals and Jews and anyone else who offends the Nazis. They're put into this Buchenwald for re-education, which means they are used for slave labor. They are starved and beaten and then, when they're half-dead, they are considered dispensable.