Page 17

“I will see to it right away.”

Johanna returned to the dining room. Müller hovered on the threshold to the foyer. A shiver snaked down her spine as he stared at her, undressed her. He had an air about him she didn’t like, didn’t trust. She felt disrespected, violated and powerless, even though he hadn’t done anything to her. “You are dismissed, Müller.”

“I am under instruction from the kommandant to keep guard over you, Frau Neumann. It is a job I take with the utmost seriousness. And the kommandant would not be pleased if I failed in my duties.” He smiled.

She detested that he made her feel like a prisoner in what was supposed to be her home. She straightened her back and held his gaze. “And I said you may leave.”

He continued to contest her with his stare, until eventually he clicked his heels and saluted. “Very well, I will wait out of sight, Frau Neumann.” He went towards the back of the foyer, under the stairs.

Knowing he was there, she couldn’t relax.

Fraulein Brun entered from the kitchen with a plate of food. “Where would you like this, Frau Neumann?”

Johanna pointed to a spot at the table and addressed her daughter. “Come along, darling. Dinner is ready.”

Fraulein Brun crouched down and tapped the floor with her fingers. Lakritze ran to her and attacked her hand playfully.

Astrid laughed at the kitten’s antics. She sat and quickly ate the meat stew and potatoes.

Fraulein Brun stood up, and the kitten bounded towards Astrid and attacked her feet as she swung them under the chair.

Astrid squealed and reached down, and he pawed her hand.

The brief step into normality was heart-warming.

Astrid jumped down from the table and picked up Lakritze. “I’m going to my room.”

Once Astrid had gone, Fraulein Brun turned to Johanna. “Can I get you a drink?”

Johanna nodded. “Wine is in order, I think.”

Fraulein Brun returned quicky and held a glass out to Johanna and for a moment the look they shared was as intimate as anything Johanna had ever experienced. She took the glass, and her fingertips lightly grazed the back of Fraulein Brun’s hand. The bruises she’d sustained when “fixing the sink” had healed – she suspected Müller had been the cause of them, but she hadn’t been able to ask in front of Müller – and she was thankful no new marks had appeared in the months since.

Johanna’s breath hitched at the contact and her heart raced, and then she burned with anger.

“Frau Neumann?”

She jolted at Müller’s voice and turned towards him. How long had he been standing in the doorway? What had he seen? Her heart thundered heavily and her hand trembled around the glass.

“The kommandant is here,” he said. He clicked his heels and went to greet him.

“Would you like me to serve the food now or after your drink?” Fraulein Brun asked.

Johanna shook her head. “Go home. I will serve us tonight.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Now go, before my husband overrules my decision.”

Fraulein Brun nodded. “We made you a bean stew. Both pots are on the stove.”

Johanna waited until the back door closed before heading into the kitchen to fetch a bottle of wine. She poured her husband a glass and handed it to him as he entered the dining room. Müller stood to attention in the foyer, watching through the doorway into the room.

“Can we dismiss him, please?” She glanced in his direction.

“You may go,” Gerhard said. He took a slug of his wine, almost emptying the glass. He took off his hat and tapped the snow from it and placed it on the sideboard. “Where’s Astrid?”

Johanna refilled his glass. “She was tired. I sent her to bed. I hope you don’t mind.”