was not given to empty promises, and so she did not rush to assure him that he would indeed make it safely back to America. “We will do our best to help you,” she said.
“I know. I trust that—believe me. But the truth is that after everything I’ve seen and experienced these last eighteen months, small-town living is not likely to satisfy me. There’s a silly song.” He started to sing the words in English, “How’re you gonna keep ‘em down on the farm after they’ve seen Pair-ee.” He executed a little dance step, and she laughed.
But their mood did not improve. “I suppose I’ll be seeing Pair-ee soon, won’t I? I mean isn’t that the next stop on this underground railroad you and the others have created?” He had told her what he knew of the American version of the escape line—the Underground Railroad that operated during the Civil War.
“You’ll go to Paris,” she confirmed. “And then on to Bordeaux and Bayonne and—”
“Have you traveled to all those places?”
“Me? I’m just a simple farm girl and fisherman’s daughter, remember?” She hoped that her flippant answer would serve as a reminder that he was not to ask questions where the answers could be used against her or the others.
“Frankly, I can’t imagine you living out your life on a farm or even in a fishing village somewhere in Denmark.”
“We do have cities there,” she protested, but she knew he was right.
“Will you marry again?” he asked, his voice so soft she wasn’t certain that he had meant to ask the question aloud.
She was surprised at how easily the answer came to her. “I doubt it. By the time this war ends, I’m going to be well into my middle age and not—”
“Mikel would marry you tomorrow or fifty years from now—he is that patient, and he loves you that much.”
“But I do not love him,” she replied.
They walked on—farther than they normally did because she was reluctant to end the evening.
“Tell me about
Nacht und Nebel
.”
“That has nothing to do with you,” she replied as an unavoidable shiver overtook her.
“It has to do with you and the Buchermanns and others. Tell me.”
She sighed. “It was a policy that Hitler announced back in December of 1941—actually on the same day that the Japanese bombed your base in Pearl Harbor.”
“What are the words?
Night?
And …”
“
Fog
. It’s what he called this new program. Certain prisoners are to vanish without a trace—into the night so to speak.”
“And the fog?”
“No information is ever to be given about their whereabouts or their fate.”
“And this could happen to you and the others?”
Anja shrugged. It was something she tried not to think about because her heart broke for Daniel if she should be taken and simply disappear with no word to him.
Peter was silent for several minutes. “I can’t let you do this, Anja. I won’t. You have a family—a son.”
“It is for Daniel and his future that I must do the work I do,” she replied. “Anything I can do to bring this horror to an end so that he and other children can grow up in peace is worth every risk.”
“And how does saving someone like me, or any airman for that matter, further your cause to give Daniel and his generation a better world?”
“This is not for me to decide. We do what we are led to believe is the right thing. Helping you and the others is the right thing to do—it is what we
can
do, and therefore it is what we
must
do.” A clock chimed the hour, and she turned sharply and headed back in the direction of the café. “It’s later than I thought,” she said. “We must hurry or risk being stopped for violating curfew.”
He caught up to her, and taking hold of her arm, spun her into his embrace. “Someone’s coming,” he whispered just before he kissed her.
Peter didn’t really have to kiss her. He could just as easily have pulled her into his arms and faked a kiss while the two German soldiers passed by. The
“I know. I trust that—believe me. But the truth is that after everything I’ve seen and experienced these last eighteen months, small-town living is not likely to satisfy me. There’s a silly song.” He started to sing the words in English, “How’re you gonna keep ‘em down on the farm after they’ve seen Pair-ee.” He executed a little dance step, and she laughed.
But their mood did not improve. “I suppose I’ll be seeing Pair-ee soon, won’t I? I mean isn’t that the next stop on this underground railroad you and the others have created?” He had told her what he knew of the American version of the escape line—the Underground Railroad that operated during the Civil War.
“You’ll go to Paris,” she confirmed. “And then on to Bordeaux and Bayonne and—”
“Have you traveled to all those places?”
“Me? I’m just a simple farm girl and fisherman’s daughter, remember?” She hoped that her flippant answer would serve as a reminder that he was not to ask questions where the answers could be used against her or the others.
“Frankly, I can’t imagine you living out your life on a farm or even in a fishing village somewhere in Denmark.”
“We do have cities there,” she protested, but she knew he was right.
“Will you marry again?” he asked, his voice so soft she wasn’t certain that he had meant to ask the question aloud.
She was surprised at how easily the answer came to her. “I doubt it. By the time this war ends, I’m going to be well into my middle age and not—”
“Mikel would marry you tomorrow or fifty years from now—he is that patient, and he loves you that much.”
“But I do not love him,” she replied.
They walked on—farther than they normally did because she was reluctant to end the evening.
“Tell me about
Nacht und Nebel
.”
“That has nothing to do with you,” she replied as an unavoidable shiver overtook her.
“It has to do with you and the Buchermanns and others. Tell me.”
She sighed. “It was a policy that Hitler announced back in December of 1941—actually on the same day that the Japanese bombed your base in Pearl Harbor.”
“What are the words?
Night?
And …”
“
Fog
. It’s what he called this new program. Certain prisoners are to vanish without a trace—into the night so to speak.”
“And the fog?”
“No information is ever to be given about their whereabouts or their fate.”
“And this could happen to you and the others?”
Anja shrugged. It was something she tried not to think about because her heart broke for Daniel if she should be taken and simply disappear with no word to him.
Peter was silent for several minutes. “I can’t let you do this, Anja. I won’t. You have a family—a son.”
“It is for Daniel and his future that I must do the work I do,” she replied. “Anything I can do to bring this horror to an end so that he and other children can grow up in peace is worth every risk.”
“And how does saving someone like me, or any airman for that matter, further your cause to give Daniel and his generation a better world?”
“This is not for me to decide. We do what we are led to believe is the right thing. Helping you and the others is the right thing to do—it is what we
can
do, and therefore it is what we
must
do.” A clock chimed the hour, and she turned sharply and headed back in the direction of the café. “It’s later than I thought,” she said. “We must hurry or risk being stopped for violating curfew.”
He caught up to her, and taking hold of her arm, spun her into his embrace. “Someone’s coming,” he whispered just before he kissed her.
Peter didn’t really have to kiss her. He could just as easily have pulled her into his arms and faked a kiss while the two German soldiers passed by. The
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