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chucker,’” Natalia said, changing the subject.
    â€œRabbit?”
    â€œHe’s being reassigned to sewer duty. It was announced at the briefing. You weren’t there.”
    â€œI was exhausted,” Berta said. “Besides, sometimes I feel better not knowing too much.”
    â€œHah, you
always
want to know what’s going on.”
    â€œI used to . . . in the days when there were just a few of us making decisions, running our own show, like we did during those years on the railway.”
    Natalia nodded. “You ran a good operation then, Berta. I learned a lot from you.”
    Berta shrugged and sat back in the chair. “You always knew what you were doing. I just covered your tracks once in a while when you took a few too many chances.”
    â€œOr when I was just plain stupid, like the time I ordered the Gestapo agent off the train because he didn’t have a ticket.”
    Berta laughed but caught herself, trying not to wake the others. “Christ, I’d almost forgotten about that. He wanted to have your head on a platter, bitched and carried on like a madman.”
    â€œWell, he also didn’t have his ID, claimed he’d left his wallet at home, so I didn’t know who he was. Just another arrogant ass who spoke German.”
    â€œAnd there were plenty of those characters around.”
    â€œDidn’t you give him a bottle of cognac or something to calm him down?”
    â€œNot just a bottle—a whole damn
case.
I offered him a bottle, but the greedy son of a bitch followed me into the store room and spotted the case. The station manager almost had
my
head on a platter when he found out. It was his own private stock.” Then, still chuckling, Berta leaned over the table and said, “And what about the time the SS cleared the whole train just before you were due to leave Krakow because they were convinced there was a smuggler on board.”
    â€œOh God, that’s right. I remember they searched every one of the passengers and tore through every piece of luggage.”
    â€œAnd all the time you were standing right there with stolen documents hidden in your conductor’s pouch.”
    Natalia’s neck tingled as she recalled the incident. “To this day I remember being absolutely terrified that I’d wet my pants.” She paused and was silent for a long moment. She put her hands up to her face, covering her eyes, remembering that day.
    Berta touched her arm. “What is it? Something wrong?”
    Natalia sat still, looking at Berta, trying to decide. Finally she said quietly, “There’s something else . . . something I never told anyone . . . something that happened later that day.”
    â€œWhen, on the train?”
    â€œYes, just before we got to Warsaw. A man was walking toward me in the aisle of the first-class compartment, and just as we passed each other he suddenly stopped. He gripped my shoulder and whispered in my ear, ‘I know what’s in the bag.’”
    Berta flinched. “Good God, what did you do?”
    â€œNothing—I mean, not right then. I turned around, but he walked away very quickly and passed through into the next car. A few minutes later we were in the station. I was petrified because I really didn’t know what he looked like. It all happened so fast, I never got a good look at him, and . . . I was afraid to get off the train. I was certain that he’d be there, waiting.”
    â€œDid you meet your contact? Did you report it?”
    â€œNo. I said, I’ve never told anyone. Falcon was my contact—I guess I can tell you that now that it’s all over. Anyway, we’d just started working together the week before. I was afraid that he . . . this man, whoever he was, I was afraid he’d see us.”
    â€œSo, what did you do?”
    Natalia dropped her eyes. “I destroyed the documents.”
    Berta was silent.
    â€œI rushed into the toilet