*
They were to meet Rebecca two days later at a restaurant she had visited on her first trip. But before going there the Francks would have to shake off the secret police. Lili was worried, but her parents seemed unreasonably calm.
On the first day, Werner and Carla left early in the bronze Trabi, saying they were going to reconnoitre. The Stasi men followed them in a green Skoda. Werner and Carla were out all day and returned looking confident.
Next morning, Werner told Lili he was taking her for a hike. They stood outside the tent with rucksacks, helping each other adjust them. They put on stout boots and wide-brimmed hats. It was clear to anyone who looked that they were setting out for a long walk.
At the same time, Carla prepared to depart with shopping bags, making a list and saying loudly: ‘Ham, cheese, bread . . . anything else?’
Lili worried that they were being too obvious.
They were watched by the secret policemen, who were sitting outside their tent, smoking.
They set off in opposite directions, Carla heading for the car park, Lili and Werner for the beach. The Stasi agent with the Beatle haircut went after Carla, and the fair one followed Werner and Lili.
‘So far, so good,’ said Werner. ‘We’ve split them.’
When Lili and Werner got to the lake Werner turned west, following the shoreline. He had obviously scouted this the day before. The ground was intermittently rough. The fair-haired Stasi agent followed them at a distance, not without difficulty: he was not dressed for hiking. Sometimes they paused, pretending they needed a rest, to let him catch up.
They walked for two hours then came to a long, deserted beach. Part way along, a rough track emerged from trees to dead-end at the high tide mark.
Parked there was the bronze Trabant with Carla at the wheel.
There was no one else in sight.
Werner and Lili got into the car and Carla drove off, leaving the Stasi man stranded.
Lili resisted the temptation to wave goodbye.
Werner said to Carla: ‘You shook off the other guy.’
‘Yes,’ said Carla. ‘I created a diversion outside the grocery store by setting fire to a rubbish bin.’
Werner grinned. ‘A trick you learned from me many years ago.’
‘Absolutely. Naturally, he got out of his car and went to see what was happening.’
‘And then . . .’
‘While he was distracted, I put a nail in his tyre. Left him changing the wheel.’
‘Nice.’
Lili said: ‘You two did this stuff in the war, didn’t you?’
There was a pause. They never spoke much about the war. Eventually, Carla said: ‘Yes, we did a little bit, nothing worth boasting about.’
That was all they ever said.
They drove to a village and slowed down at a small house with a sign in English saying ‘Bar’. A man standing outside directed them to park in a field at the back, out of sight.
They went inside to a small bar too charming to be a government enterprise. Right away Lili saw her sister, Rebecca, and threw her arms around her. They had not been together for eighteen years. Lili tried to look at Rebecca’s face but could not see for tears. Carla and Werner hugged Rebecca in turn.
When at last Lili’s vision cleared she saw that Rebecca looked middle-aged, which was no surprise: she would be fifty next birthday. She was heavier than Lili remembered.
But the most striking thing was how smart she looked. She wore a blue summer dress with a pattern of small dots, and a matching jacket. Around her neck was a silver chain with a single large pearl, and she had a chunky silver bracelet on her arm. Her smart sandals had a cork heel. Slung over her shoulder was a navy-blue leather bag. Politics was not notably well paid, as far as Lili knew. Could it be that everyone in West Germany was this well dressed?
Rebecca led them through the bar to a private room at the back where a long table was already laid with cold meat platters, bowls of salad and bottles of wine. Standing by the table was a thin, handsome, wasted-looking man in a white T-shirt and skinny black jeans. He might have been in his forties, or perhaps younger if he had suffered an illness. Lili assumed he must be an employee of the bar.
Carla gasped, and Werner said ‘Oh, my God.’
Lili saw that the thin man was gazing expectantly at her. She suddenly noticed his almond-shaped eyes and realized that she was looking at her brother, Walli. She let out a small scream of shock: he looked so old!
Carla embraced Walli, saying: ‘My little boy! My poor little boy!’
Lili hugged and kissed him, crying all over again. ‘You look so different,’ she sobbed. ‘What happened to you?’
‘Rock and roll,’ he replied with a laugh. ‘But I’m getting over it.’ He looked at his older sister. ‘Rebecca sacrificed a year of her life – and a great career opportunity – to save me.’
‘Of course I did,’ said Rebecca. ‘I’m your sister.’
Lili felt sure Rebecca had not hesitated. For her, nothing came before family. Lili had a theory that it was because she was adopted that she felt so strongly.
Werner held Walli in his arms a long time. ‘We didn’t know,’ he said, his voice thick with emotion. ‘We didn’t know you were coming.’
Rebecca said: ‘I decided to keep it a complete secret.’
Carla said: ‘Isn’t it dangerous?’
‘It certainly is,’ said Rebecca. ‘But Walli wanted to take the risk.’
Then Karolin walked in with her family. Like the others, she took a few moments to recognize Walli, then she gave a cry of shock.
‘Hello, Karolin,’ he said. He took her hands and kissed her on both cheeks. ‘It’s so good to see you again.’
Odo said: ‘I’m Odo, Karolin’s husband. I’m very glad to meet you at last.’
Something flashed across Walli’s face. It was gone in a split-second, but Lili knew that Walli had seen and understood something about Odo that had shocked him, and had then covered up his shock instantly. The two men shook hands amiably.
Karolin said: ‘And this is Alice.’
‘Alice?’ said Walli. He looked dazedly at the tall sixteen-year-old girl with long fair hair draping her face like curtains. ‘I wrote a song about you,’ he said. ‘When you were little.’
‘I know,’ she said, and kissed his cheek.
Odo said: ‘Alice knows her history. We told her everything, as soon as she was old enough to understand.’
Lili wondered whether Walli heard the note of righteousness in Odo’s voice. Or was she being oversensitive?
Walli said to Alice: ‘I love you, but Odo raised you. I’ll never forget that, and I’m sure you won’t either.’
For a minute he choked up. Then he regained control and said: ‘Everybody, let’s sit down and eat. This is a happy day.’ Lili realized that Walli had probably paid for everything.
They all sat around the table. For a few moments they were like strangers, feeling awkward, trying to think of something to say. Then several people spoke at once, all asking Walli questions. Everyone laughed. ‘One at a time!’ Walli said, and they all relaxed.
Walli told them he had a penthouse in Hamburg. He was not married, though he had a girlfriend. About every eighteen months or two years he went to California, moved into Dave Williams’s farmhouse for four months, and made a new album with Plum Nellie. ‘I’m an addict,’ he said. ‘But I’ve been clean for seven years, eight come September. When I do a gig with the band, I have a guard outside my dressing room to search people for drugs.’ He shrugged. ‘It seems extreme, I know, but there it is.’
Walli had questions, too, especially for Alice. While she was answering them, Lili looked around the table. This was her family: her parents, her sister, her brother, her niece, and her oldest friend and singing partner. How lucky she was to have them all together in the same room, eating and talking and drinking wine.
The thought occurred to her that some families did this every week, and took it for granted.
Karolin was sitting next to Walli, and Lili watched them together. They were having a good time. They still made one another laugh, she noticed. If things had been different – if the Berlin Wall had fallen – might their romance have been rekindled? They were still young: Walli was thirty-three, Karolin thirty-five. Lili pushed the thought away: it was an idle speculation, a foolish fantasy.
Walli retold the story of his escape from Berlin for Alice’s benefit. When he got to the part where he sat all night waiting for Karolin, who did not show up, she interrupted him. ‘I was frightened,’ she said. ‘Frightened for myself, and for the baby inside me.’
‘I don’t blame you,’ Walli said. ‘You did nothing wrong. I did nothing wrong. The only wrong was the Wall.’
He described how he had driven through the checkpoint, busting the barrier. ‘I’ll never forget that man I killed,’ he said.
Carla said: ‘It wasn’t your fault – he was shooting at you!’
‘I know,’ Walli said, and Lili knew from his tone of voice that at last he was at peace about this. ‘I feel sorry, but I don’t feel guilty. I wasn’t wrong to escape; he wasn’t wrong to shoot at me.’
‘Like you said,’ Lili put in, ‘the only wrong is the Wall.’