Page 55 of The Girl with a Secret
Kendrick was silent for a moment, his gaze fixed somewhere on the ceiling, before he leveled it at Rosa. “Did you happen to notice the watchtowers outside, Miss Herzelfeld?”
“Yes,” she admitted unsteadily.
“It reminded you of the Manx camp, perhaps.”
“Yes.” Her voice wavered and she forced herself to lift her chin, meet his thoughtful yet shrewd gaze directly. “It did.”
“That’s because this is another internment camp, of sorts, but one for German prisoners of war. Soldiers, pilots, officers, the lot. Those we have captured come here for a week or two usually, a respite of sorts, before they are moved on to a proper camp. They are interrogated here and any information they give us is then analyzed.”
He paused again, as if waiting for her to speak, yet Rosa had no idea what to say.
Prisoners of war? She was still reeling from the knowledge that her father had something to do with her being here. Was this what he’d meant when he’d said everything would change? Had he given the information then, back on the Isle of Man, and mentioned her, as well? But why hadn’t he explained any of it to her?
“Your role here,” Kendrick continued, “would be to translate the transcripts of the interrogations.”
This seemed to require some response, so Rosa murmured, “I see.”
“When we first started this business,” Kendrick’s tone turned almost jocular, “it was all Brits who were fluent in German. They served well, but having it as a second language can only take you so far. We soon realized we needed proper German speakers, those who knew dialects, slang, specialized language.” He raised his eyebrows as if expecting an answer, and Rosa did her bestto nod her understanding. “We’ve got people here who know all the parts of an airplane, and others who know all the Wehrmacht lingo.” He gave her an appraising look. “You were recommended because of your knowledge of the Berlin dialect, as well as some of the regional slang. You’ve rubbed elbows, I believe, with a number of Nazi officers, some of them high-ranking?”
Rosa could not keep a flush from rising to her face. So, he knew. “Before the war, yes…” she admitted quietly.
Kendrick nodded, unsurprised, matter-of-fact. “That could prove to be immensely helpful in your translations,” he stated briskly. “We’ve become stumped, you see, on some of the words these blighters use.” He smiled then, looking quite cheerful, yet Rosa remained deeply shaken by it all. She thought of Peter, telling her at the beginning of the war that her German might prove useful. She had never expected her former associations to be useful, as well, quite the opposite, but that seemed to be what the colonel was saying…
“I will do whatever I can to help,” she finally remarked.
“Good.” Kendrick nodded again, like an ending to their conversation. “You can see the quartermaster for your digs. Naturally, there is to be no discussion whatsoever about what you are doing with others who work here. Remember, it’s all on a need-to-know basis.Strictly.”
“Yes,” Rosa agreed as she stood up; it seemed the interview was over. “I won’t say a word.”
She was almost at the door when Colonel Kendrick spoke again. “You know, I worked as a British Passport Officer in Vienna, years ago.”
Rosa turned around slowly, having no idea why he was telling her such a thing now, yet clearly, he’d waited until just this moment to mention the fact. “Oh, yes?” she replied politely.
“Yes, I struck a bargain with Adolf Eichmann, a few years ago now. He wanted the Jews out of Germany, just as I did. Weagreed, between the two of us, to give a thousand Jews visas for British Palestine. The British authorities never knew a thing about the deal.”
Rosa simply blinked at him.
“Sometimes,” he finished softly, “you have to do a deal with the devil. There’s no shame in it. In fact, I think it requires its own kind of valor.” He nodded toward the door. “You may go, Miss Herzelfeld.”
Rosa walked out of the room in a daze. She felt as if she needed to sit somewhere quiet for a long time, and simply let all she’d learned settle inside her. Right now, everything felt jumbled up; she had a strange yet strong urge to burst into tears.
Then, quite suddenly, she felt a pair of hands grip her shoulders rather hard, making her gasp.
“Rosa,” a man said, and Rosa lifted her head to blink him into focus. He was standing right in front of her, his hands still on her shoulders, a look of wonder and joy on his face.
Rosa’s mouth dropped open as her mind reeled yet again.
“Peter…” she whispered.
CHAPTER 22
“I can’t believe you’re here!”
Peter squeezed her shoulders before dropping his hands as he shook his head wonderingly. “How did you… Have you just arrived?”
“Yes, just this moment almost,” Rosa replied.
It seemed truly incredible that Peter was standing there in front of her, looking exactly as he always did—mussed hair, glinting eyes, a wry smile. He’d tucked his right hand behind his back, just the way she remembered. He looked wonderful, she thought with a rush of both awe and affection, as her heart turned over.Wonderful. She let out a little laugh of disbelief and joy.
