Chasing Down Secrets (5 page)

I wake up the next morning with tear stained cheeks; letters are spread out all over the bed and Emmett lies next to me, sleeping peacefully. I try to get out of bed quietly so he won’t wake but no luck.

“How are you?” His gruff voice asks gently.

“I’m fine, thanks. I just want to walk around and stretch my legs.” I whisper back.

His eyes slide shut again. I creep quietly down the hallway following the sound of hushed voices being carried along from the study. I recognize the first voice as Mr. Cavell’s, the other is a mystery.

“Are you sure she’s here?” The unknown man whispers.

“Yes, she is in my guest room. Don’t take them until I’ve left.” Mr. Cavell says his voice is dry of any emotion.

“When will that be, sir?” There is an undetectable emotion in his voice, fear, possibly?

“Now,” he says, I do not know if he says anything else because I am already scurrying back to my room.

“Emmett, wake up, there’s a soldier here, Emmett, come
on
!” I whisper, my voice dripping with urgency, I shake him hard.

His eyes fly open and he grabs our bag, scanning the room for an exit. I make a quick decision and grab a fistful of letters and shove them in the bag. We could escape down the secret door, like we did before, it has to stop somewhere. If only we could get to it without being caught. A young man appears in the doorway. At first his expression is triumphant, but that quickly changes when he lays eyes on Emmett. He has a look somewhere between disgust, relief, and surprise.

“Emmett…” He mutters under his breath.

“James.”I reply before Emmett has a chance to say anything, “What are you doing here?” After I take a long look at him I can easily tell it is James. He has tan skin and his hair, which is a light brown that holds flecks of gold that makes it seem as if it is a dark golden color in the sunlight, hair is sleeked back, and his eyes are almost gray. He still has chub on his cheeks making his cheek bones slightly less prominent. He looks as if he wants to run to Emmett and hug him but he thinks better of it.

“We were told you were dead,” James whispers to Emmett while ignoring me.

“Dead, they only told you that because I ran away. It would have looked bad if that got out.” Emmett spits bitterly.

“But
why
did you leave?” He insists.

“I think you know.” Emmett says harshly while entwining our fingers, “and I’m not letting you take her in.”

“I’ve got to, Emmett. What have you gotten yourself into?” I can’t tell if the last part is directed at Emmett or himself, “I’ve gotta take you, too.” It causes him so much distress to say it.

“James, please, don’t take him. I’ll go, just, please, let him go.” I plead quietly; Emmett’s arm instinctively holds me against his hard stomach. I look at James again; my big green eyes well with tears as I try to make him remember me and the late nights we spent talking before Emmett came and James forgot me.

“You’re not like most Jews, you know.” James chuckles to himself.

“I know you know who I am.” I say louder than before.

“Then, I don’t understand why you were at camp.” How can he act like this?

“Since you clearly refuse to acknowledge that we know each other, I will tell you why I was at camp. But you already know.” I reply angrily.

I take a deep breath and explain the day I was brought in to both James and Emmett. Emmett’s eyes are filled with sorrow and James tries to hide any emotion. When I am done they are silent, both afraid to say something.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” James asks suddenly.

“What do you mean?” I ask timidly.

“Go. I’ll come up with an excuse.” James explains beginning to sound excited.

I leave the room, wanting to let them talk but hang by the door, listening.

“I hope you know what you are doing.” James says, sighing.

“I don’t know what I am doing; I just know that I love that girl. I’m not giving up just yet.”

“Well, I wanna be happy for you, but do you know what you’re doing?” James says, honestly.

“What did Maria mean when she said she knows you remember her?” Emmett asks.

“I think she’s spent too many nights in that place, it must have gotten to her.” James says coolly.

“That better be it, because if she actually knows you then our whole plan will be ruined and you know what happens to people when they cross me.” Emmett threatens.

“She doesn’t know me,” is all James says.

Emmett nods before turning and exiting the room.

“Come on, Maria, let’s go.” He walks right past me and into the living room, and then he pulls back the carpet. He lifts the hatch then climbed down the ladder without as much as a goodbye to James. I stand there for a moment looking at James.

“What plan?” I ask quietly so Emmett will not hear.

“How much of that did you hear?” James counters.

“Enough. Is there something I should be worried about?” I say back.

“No.”

“Did they make you look for me or did you volunteer?” I ask while a lump forms in my throat.

“I volunteered, because I thought you were out here alone and I wanted to be the one to save you from this. But, as usual, Emmett is.” He says looking deeply into my eyes. I thought he might try to kiss me but he doesn’t, probably because Emmett is still waiting down in the tunnel for me.

I climbed down the ladder and felt Emmett’s hands grab my waist to help me down. The last I see of James is him shutting the hatch door and then it is dark.

“Good thing I prepared this time.” Emmett says while lighting a candle, “come on, Maria.”

I think of what he had said to James. What plan? And why had he sounded so violent when talking about it? James had told me not to worry so I brush it off and focus on the sound of our footsteps.

Hours go by and there is no sound except from the soft pattering of our footsteps. Where will we go? We can’t keep running it is too hard. We have almost been caught too many times. Emmett shouldn’t have come. Now, when we get caught he’ll get hurt, too. Maybe I can leave, when we stop to rest, I will go. He doesn’t need to get hurt. I am selfish to keep him with me. I just hope we stop soon; we have been walking for a while now.

“Where are we going?” I speak quietly, as if someone might over hear.

“Mr. Cavell had a map of underground tunnels. I’m taking us a bit further this time.” He says without even glancing up, “here it is.”

“Are they expecting us?”

Chapter Six:

They aren’t. The second Emmett steps out of the dark two figures take him out of my line of vision.

“Emmett!” I cry climbing up the ladder after him. Crap, that’s the word, I think. I don’t know. I don’t cuss.

In front of me stands a woman with graying hair, two young men who are holding Emmett and a man in a uniform I recognize all too well, Emmett has one just like it. Except this man has a symbol that shows he has more power. He is looking at me with a strange look on his face, as if he is in a trance.

“And who might
you
be?” The woman spits.

“My name is Maria Kaiser and this is Emmett Ritter, I am very sorry to intrude on your home,” I say as politely as possible.

“Let him go,” The man speaks stiffly to the boys. They release Emmett immediately.

“Benjamin, what are you think...” His wife is silenced by the man’s solid glare.

“It can’t be,” Benjamin says in awe walking closer, analyzing my features. “How is it possible, I thought you died?”

What does he mean, he thought I died? Does he know me? Suddenly, it comes to me why he had been looking at me earlier, we bore a resemblance. We had the same green eyes, head of auburn hair, a button nose, pale skin, and high cheek bones. This man is my father.

“Father,” I say in a breathy tone.

“What are you doing?” His face breaks out into a grin while mine remains solemn.

“Come on, Emmett, we’ll find some place else.” I speak, my eyes never leaving my fathers.

“You’re leaving? You just got here,” Benjamin’s face falls. I do not understand what he wants. I had no clue who he was until I came here.

“Yes, I am sorry, but I only found out you existed days ago. And
now
I find out you are one of
them
and have a whole new family.” I can feel my cheeks burning and hear my voice crack.

“What do you mean one of them?”

“You do not know?”

“Know what? Am I missing something?” How can he act so utterly clueless?

“I am on the run or we are. I was brought to a concentration camp when I was thirteen, Emmett was a soldier there, and we got out.” I see his face change as he takes in the information. He really has no clue.

“Maria, I am so sorry, I swear I did not know. Please, you have to believe me.”

“I do, come one Emmett,” my voice is softer than before.

“Please, stay, we have the room,” I can tell by the way his wife’s eyes flit around the room that she does not want me here.

“I am okay, thanks.” I say my voice devoid of emotion.

“You don’t want to meet your brothers?”

“They are
not
my brothers.” I spit harshly at the man I have learned to be my father. How can he say that? Who does he think he is calling these strangers my family? I had a family and now she is dead.

“Fine by me, I don’t want to be related to a Jew, anyway.” The taller of the two boys says after a moment.

“Well, then, I guess it’s a good thing I am
not
Jewish,” I shoot back

“Okay, enough! You are staying or I will turn you in myself. Is that clear?” Benjamin says staring me down as if he thinks I will run.

“I thought you wanted me to
like
you?” I mutter shoving past him in search of a dark room, luckily no one followed me. Some place small so I can curl up and cry. I walk aimlessly until I find a broom cupboard that is just big enough for my petite figure.

I stay in there for hours, tears pouring down my face, my eyes starting to itch. I can feel my face swelling up and I am glad no one is looking for me. I am a mess. I can taste the sticky green goo that oozes from my nose on my lips. My eyes barely stay open from being so swollen and crusty. I wish more than anything for the dark closet to swallow me up. Promising I will never have to see light again. That would be okay with me. Soon my thoughts begin to fade as I drift in and out of consciousness.

The morning comes all too quickly. And it brings pain. My neck is stiff and my legs and arms scream as I straighten myself. Tear stains are pasted to my face causing my cheeks to be coated in dried sorrows.

I have no way of fixing myself in this dark cabinet so I have no choice but to leave my haven and journey out into the painful reality. And who knows what I will find.

Slowly, I slide open the door, thankfully there is not a person in sight. I think it is safe to dart to the bathroom but I meet someone along the way.

“Oh, there you are, we have been looking everywhere for you.” A flustered woman says; John’s wife. She seems calmer than yesterday.

“What’s the matter?” She questions taking in my appearance.

“Claudia, have you found her yet?” Benjamin’s voice bellows from somewhere off in the distance.

“They don’t need to see you like this, come with me.” She gingerly places her arm around my waist and tugs my into a room a few doors down from the cupboard.

The bathroom is large with a huge mirror hanging above the sink. The bright light causes the mess that is myself to look even worse, if possible. Claudia’s face softens as she turns on the faucet.

“We can clean you up,” she says encouragingly. But I still feel like bawling, not because of the way I look, I have given up any hopes of looking nice.

A few soap bars later my face is bright pink from being washed over and over and I wonder how I still have any skin left from the amount of scrubbing Claudia has done to my face. My hair is shiny and smooth again. The curls swish below my waist as she weaves it into an intricate braid. She has given me one of her gowns and it fits perfectly. We have been in this bathroom for most of the day and I can smell supper. It leaks in from the crack between the door and the floor.