Page 27 of The Little Liar

“Wait! Herr Graf!”

The next thing Pinto knew, a German guard was nudging a rifle into his shoulder blades, pushing him toward a ramp.

“No! No!” Pinto screamed. “I am with theHauptsturmführer! I am with Herr Graf!”

Those were the last words he spoke as a member of the protected class. He was shoved into the cattle car and swallowed by the crowd, becoming one of the desperate faces he had so wanted to escape.

The door bolted shut.

The second betrayal.

***

“The train is going north,” Nico whispered as he moved between bodies. “It’s all right. Don’t be scared.”

Faces turned his way. Anxious eyes. Trembling lips.

“What did you say?”

“I heard it from a German officer. They are sending us to Poland. We will have new homes. And jobs.”

“Jobs?”

“Yes. And our families will be together again.”

Wherever Nico went, murmurs followed behind him.Did you hear? We will have jobs. It’s not so bad.You might ask why these captive travelers would believe him. But in desperate moments people hear what they want to hear, despite what they might see right in front of them.

Nico kept moving, weaving through the crowd. Some faces looked familiar. He spotted the baker’s wife, who burst into tears when she saw him.

“Chioni! You are alive!”

“Yes, Mrs. Paliti! We are being resettled! Don’t be afraid.”

“Nico, no—”

Before she could continue, a guard shoved her forward. Nico moved on. The platform noise was deafening, so many people crying, yelling questions, guards shouting orders.

“Families will be reunited,” Nico whispered. He put a hand to the side of his mouth as if sharing a secret. “There will be jobs. I heard it from a German officer!”

He felt sweat dripping under his arms. There seemed to bemore people today than any other boarding. He wished he could finish and go back to his house.

And then Nico saw Fannie.

She was holding on to the arm of a woman in front of her. Her head was down. Her raven hair was tucked under a cap. Nico pushed forward until he was close enough to call her name.

“Fannie!”

She looked up and reacted slowly, as if something had to be peeled from her mouth before she could move it.

“Fannie! It’s OK! We will all be together! They’re taking us someplace safe!”

Fannie cocked her head. She smiled. Then her expression changed and her gaze lifted to someone behind Nico—which is when the boy felt two thick hands grab him under the arms and raise him off the ground.

“Stop telling people that!” a deep voice grumbled. “It’s a lie. They’re taking us to die.”

Nico was dropped. His shoes smacked the platform and he tumbled over. He looked up to see a large man glaring at him as he boarded the train and disappeared. Gathering himself, wiping his palms, Nico tried to find Fannie, but she, too, had been swallowed by the crowd.

Nico felt a burning in his stomach. Until that point, he was merely doing what he was told to do, certain it was the right thing. Why would that man say that to him?It’s a lie?Nicothought of his grandfather.Never be the one to tell lies, Nico. God is always watching.No. It couldn’t be.They’re taking us to die?Not true! Herr Graf had promised they would all be getting jobs. Reuniting families. The large man was the liar! He had to be!