harsh pose slip and had smiled at Kirsti.
But these men were older and their faces were set with anger.
Her parents were standing beside each other, their faces tense, but Kirsti was nowhere in sight. Thank goodness that Kirsti slept through almost everything. If they had wakened her, she would be wailingâor worse, she would be angry, and her fists would fly.
âYour names?â the officer barked.
âAnnemarie Johansen. And this is my sisterââ
âQuiet! Let her speak for herself. Your name?â He was glaring at Ellen.
Ellen swallowed. âLise,â she said, and cleared her throat. âLise Johansen.â
The officer stared at them grimly.
âNow,â Mama said in a strong voice, âyou have seen that we are not hiding anything. May my children go back to bed?â
The officer ignored her. Suddenly he grabbed a handful of Ellenâs hair. Ellen winced.
He laughed scornfully. âYou have a blond child sleeping in the other room. And you have this blond daughterââ He gestured toward Annemarie with his head. âWhere did you get the dark-haired one?â He twisted the lock of Ellenâs hair. âFrom a different father? From the milkman?
Papa stepped forward. âDonât speak to my wife in such a way. Let go of my daughter or I will report you for such treatment.â
âOr maybe you got her someplace else?â the officer continued with a sneer. âFrom the Rosens?â
For a moment no one spoke. Then Annemarie, watching in panic, saw her father move swiftly to the small bookcase and take out a book. She saw that he was holding the family photograph album. Very quickly he searched through its pages, found what he was looking for, and tore out three pictures from three separate pages.
He handed them to the German officer, who released Ellenâs hair.
âYou will see each of my daughters, each with her name written on the photograph,â Papa said.
Annemarie knew instantly which photographs he had chosen. The album had many snapshotsâall the poorly focused pictures of school events and birthday parties. But it also contained a portrait, taken by a photographer, of each girl as a tiny infant. Mama had written, in her delicate handwriting, the name of each baby daughter across the bottom of those photographs.
She realized too, with an icy feeling, why Papa had torn them from the book. At the bottom of each page, below the photograph itself, was written the date. And the real Lise Johansen had been born twenty-one years earlier.
âKirsten Elisabeth,â the officer read, looking at Kirstiâs baby picture. He let the photograph fall to the floor.
âAnnemarie,â he read next, glanced at her, and dropped the second photograph.
âLise Margrete,â he read finally, and stared at Ellen for a long, unwavering moment. In her mind, Annemarie pictured the photograph that he held: the baby, wide-eyed, propped against a pillow, her tiny hand holding a silver teething ring, her bare feet visible below the hem of an embroidered dress. The wispy curls. Dark.
The officer tore the photograph in half and dropped the pieces on the floor. Then he turned, the heels of his shiny boots grinding into the pictures, and left the apartment. Without a word, the other two officers followed. Papa stepped forward and closed the door behind him.
Annemarie relaxed the clenched fingers of her right hand, which still clutched Ellenâs necklace. She looked down, and saw that she had imprinted the Star of David into her palm.
6
Is the Weather Good for Fishing?
âWe must think what to do,â Papa said. âThey are suspicious, now. To be honest, I thought that if they came here at a1lâand I hoped they wouldnâtâthat they would just glance around, see that we had no place to hide anyone, and would go away.â
âIâm sorry I have dark hair,â Ellen murmured. âIt made them
Elmore - Carl Webster 03 Leonard