“You shouldn’t have come,” he said, wrapping her in his arms. “But I’m so happy you did.”
“Five minutes,” said Hani Hartmann, coming into the hallway, too. “I mean it. It’s too dangerous for you here, Emi,” she said, but she stopped and embraced her before hurrying into another room and closing the door.
“You can’t stay here,” Emi said, sobbing once she and Leo were alone again. “They’ll kill you.”
“We’re not going to stay,” said Leo, holding her shoulders, looking at her. “We have visas to enter Switzerland. The border is going to become much more difficult for Jews to cross, so we have to go soon. My parents are preparing everything now.”
“But how will you get there?” asked Emi, trying to calm herself. “How did you obtain Swiss visas?”
“We paid for them, probably ten times what everyone else paid, which is why we already have them. Money will help us escape now, but they say that it won’t help for long. Switzerland already doesn’t want Jews. But they do want money. If we don’t leave in the next few days, then we might not ever leave. And if we can’t leave Austria—”
“Don’t say it, Froschi!” she said, putting her hand on his mouth. “Don’t ever say it.”
“Okay,” he said, kissing the inside of her palm. She moved it to his cheek and he whispered, “I won’t say it.”
Emi, her hand still on Leo, looked around her at the paintings on the wall. “What will you do with your house? With all these beautiful things?”
“We hope they can be shipped to us when we have a place to ship them to. Right now, we are hiding the best of them with friends. There are still friends, Christians, who will help us. Former employees at the factory who have known us for many years. But I don’t know if any of our property will make it through all this. We have to be prepared for it to disappear. It’s funny, I don’t think any of us care about such things anymore. It’s strange to me now, that my father spent so much time amassing art and furniture and everything. What for?”
“Because it’s so beautiful,” said Emi. “It’s not wrong that he did.”
“Isn’t it?” said Leo. “It feels very small-minded.”
“No,” said Emi. “He was focused on being alive, and now when the focus is staying alive, priorities change.”
“Staying alive. I wonder if we will all make it through this.”
“Froschi,” she said, her voice strained and tired. “Please don’t say that, please.”
Leo was about to reply when the carved oak door of Max Hartmann’s study opened and he and Hani walked out together.
“Oh Emi,” said Max, coming over to her. “I said not to come. You should not have taken the risk.”
“I had to,” she said. “I’m sorry.”
“You are too brave right now,” said Max, his eyes bloodshot, his face still heavily bruised, the bags under his eyes dark. “But it’s not the time to be brave, it’s the time to be safe. We will see you again, but now, you have to go. Please.” He put his hand on her head and said, “May God keep you safe.” He recited several lines of the Tefilat Ha’derekh, the Traveler’s Prayer, explained what it said, and kissed her on the cheek.
“But I will see you again,” said Emi. “Before you leave for Switzerland. I must.”
“It’s not possible anymore,” said Hani, putting her arm around Emi’s shoulder to comfort her. “We have to say our goodbyes. But we will call them ‘when we meet agains’ instead of goodbyes.”
Max and Hani took her by the hands and then left the room. She was alone with Leo.
“I will see you before you leave, despite your parents’ wishes,” she said, leaning against him. “I’ll come here tomorrow. I don’t care what happens. This can’t be the last time I see you before you go.”
“It has to be. If anything were to happen to you, and it was my fault—”
“But none of this is your fault!” she said. “You are the persecuted. The rest of this country, they have gone crazy with hate. They are the animals.”
“It’s the last time in this house in Austria,” said Leo. “But I will see you again soon. Of course I will. That alone will be enough to keep me alive. Please don’t worry. I know we will end up together in the end. Froschi and Emi,” he said, smiling confidently. “Always.”
“How can I do anything but worry?” said Emi. “Promise me we will see each other again soon. Look at me and say ‘I promise.’?”
“I promise,” said Leo. “I promise.” He kissed Emi and she held on to him until he whispered that she had to go.
“I don’t want Zalan to take you back,” he said. “I think it will be more dangerous for you in a Hartmann’s car than on foot. Even the little car.”
“I’ll walk,” said Emi. “You’re right, it’s safer. Tell your parents that I love them.” She wiped her eyes, threw her arms around Leo, and said, “And you. I love you the most.”
“I love you, too,” said Leo. “Together forever. But with a slight, unplanned intermission in between forever.” He kissed her and let her go.
Scared that if she touched him again she would never be able to leave, she hurried out their back door, happy that the glass was covered in intricate bars of iron. She looked at her watch. Her amah was going to be at the school in five minutes and Emi, on foot, would not be able to beat her there.
She hurried around to the front of the house and was about to start running toward the Ringstrasse when she heard someone scream her name.
Down the street, a tall blond girl was looking her way.
“That’s her! There!” the girl shouted. She had changed out of her school uniform, but it was Kersten.
Emi turned in the other direction out of instinct, but not before glimpsing three boys from their school behind Kersten. As soon as they saw her lock eyes on them, they all began sprinting toward her.
Adrenaline pumping, Emi ran as fast as she could, turning a corner to the back of the Hartmanns’ house again, but despite her speed, the boys reached her before she made it to the door.
She felt two grab her arms, and she screamed as one of them put his free hand over her mouth. They pulled her against the Hartmanns’ house and then turned her around to face Kersten when she caught up. Emi was being held so tightly that she could only move her head and feet, so Kersten slowed down and sauntered up to her. She put out her hand, touched Emi at the top of her cheek, and ran her fingers slowly down her face.
“It would be so much easier for you if you listened to me,” she said in a pitying tone. “I told you it was illegal to be with Jews. I told you it was dangerous to see Leo Hartmann again. But what did you do but take off straight here after school. I saw you leave through the chapel,” she said. “Didn’t you think someone might be watching you? And know exactly where you were going?”