Page 12 of The Girl with a Secret
At least on this matter, she could offer some encouragement, Rosa thought. “Captain Schroeder has said they can’t possibly leave tonight,” she told Sophie bracingly. “He has to take on fresh food and water first. My father says we won’t move off at least until tomorrow afternoon.”
“That’s something, then,” Rachel offered with a small smile.
“But where will we go?” Sophie asked.
“Some are saying Miami,” Rosa offered, although her father had said it was wishful thinking, and she thought he was probably right. “Maybe Washington.” She wished she could believe it. “Not too far.”
The sudden click of heels on the parquet floor of the reading room had all three women turning. Sophie’s stepmother walked toward them, her face alight with fierce purpose. She wore a smart, belted dress of black taffeta, and her face was powdered, her lips slicked with crimson, her eyes burning darkly in her pale face. What, Rosa wondered, had happened now?
“Margarete—” Sophie half-rose from her chair as she looked at her stepmother in alarmed query. “Has something happened? Have you had any news?”
“Of your father? No.” Margarete’s tone was tense. Her gaze flicked to Rachel and Rosa, and then back to Sophie again. “We must talk in private, Sophie.”
“Of course.” Rachel rose from her seat with quiet dignity while Rosa could only bristle at the abrupt dismissal. “We will leave you in peace.”
“There’s no need,” Margarete replied briefly, without meeting the other woman’s eye. “We’ll go back to our cabin.”
Sophie turned back to her friends. “Can you look after Heinrich for me, if I’m not here when Hannah brings him back?—?”
“Of course,” Rachel said again, quickly, while Rosa watched Margarete; the older woman looked as if she was going to burst out of her skin. What could be going on? “We are always here to help.”
As Sophie left with her stepmother, a steward came with a tray of coffee and several delicious, apple-filled slices ofApfelkuchen.
“Ladies,” he stated genteelly as he set the tray down, and Rachel murmured her thanks. Rosa watched Sophie hurry after her stepmother.
“What do you think that was all about?” she asked after the steward had left.
Rachel shook her head as she poured the coffee. “I have no idea.”
Rosa thought she did. Her father had said Sophie’s stepmother had been sending cables to America; the likelihood was she’d finally had a reply. A shaming sensation of envy twisted Rosa’s gut. If Sophie was saved and she was not… Well, she’d be glad for her friend. She would not begrudge Sophie a chance at happiness, atlife, and yet…oh!How she wished for it for herself. How she wished her father hadn’t set himself up as a Nazi stooge and that she was the one with a prospect, a possibility, and yet she didn’t even know if that was why Sophie’s stepmother had summoned her.
They found out just half an hour later. Rosa and Rachel had gone out to the deck and were lolling in chairs, wilting in the heat, trying to keep their anxiety at bay when Rachel caught sight of Sophie, hurrying toward them.
“Sophie!” Rachel straightened in her chair. “What did your stepmother want?”
“Where is Hannah?” Sophie asked, her voice tight with tension. “And Heinrich?”
Rachel frowned. “They’re still at the pool.”
“I need to speak to you all,” Sophie said. Her voice hitched and now Rosa was the one frowning. Why did Sophie look so upset?
“Sophie,” she began, “what?—”
“Please, wait. Let’s get Heinrich and Lotte settled, and then…” She bit her lip, almost as if she were holding back tears.
She’d been right, Rosa realized with a lurch of understanding. Sophie was going to be rescued, and she clearly felt guilty about abandoning them all, as she would, being so tender-hearted. Rosa felt a stab of shame; she didn’t thinkshewould feel that guilty. She’d sprint straight off this ship if she could, without looking back. What kind of person did that make her? “What’s happened?” she asked, her voice turning sharp. “Something has happened.” It was painfully obvious.
“Yes, but… please. I’ll tell you. Just…” Sophie shook her head. “Let me settle Heinrich first.”
Rachel and Rosa waited in a tense silence as Sophie went to find her brother. A quarter of an hour later, she was back, with Hannah as well, the four of them gathered around the table in the corner of the reading room.
“Sophie, what on earth is going on?” Rosa asked, and she heard the impatience in her voice, needling through the concern like holes being picked in a cloth. She tried for a laugh and didn’tmanage it. “All this mystery and drama!” Her voice sounded high and brittle, and her fists had clenched of their own accord.
“No mystery, no drama.” Sophie’s voice trembled. “I just wanted to tell you what… what is happening.”
“Whatishappening?” Hannah demanded, frowning.
Rosa thought she looked caught between anger and alarm, as she so often was. Rachel simply shook her head slightly, looking both concerned and confused. Rosa tried to school her expression into something pleasant and interested, when inside she felt like shrieking.Don’t leave us, she wanted to cry.Don’t leaveme.
