“No, Maman!” Charlotte tried again. “If they come, I will go with you.”
“No, darling, you won’t.” Madame Dacher took her daughter’s hands. “Now there isn’t much time, and you mustn’t argue. You must be strong, Charlotte. And you must be brave. Don’t be afraid to be who you are. Promise you’ll never forget us.”
“But, Maman!” Charlotte was sobbing now, but Madame Dacher kissed her on the forehead and backed away.
“You must go, before it’s too late.” Madame Dacher looked at Ruby with tears coursing down her cheeks and mouthed Thank you before turning back to Monsieur Dacher. “Say good-bye to Charlotte, Reuven.”
He knelt before his daughter. “Your mother is overreacting, dear. If the police come for us, it’s just a misunderstanding that we’ll have cleared up soon. But in the meantime, be good for Madame Benoit.”
“We must go.” Ruby felt as if her heart were shattering as she took Charlotte’s hand and pulled the girl away. “Before the police arrive.” She paused at the doorway and turned back to Monsieur Dacher once more. “You are sure you don’t want to try to get away while there’s still time? I could hide you too.”
He met her gaze and smiled. “This is France, Madame Benoit. We are French citizens. I feel very certain we will see you in the morning.”
Ruby knew that there wasn’t enough time to change Monsieur Dacher’s mind, so she nodded at him, locked eyes with Madame Dacher for a few awful seconds, and led a sobbing Charlotte down the hall and into her own apartment.
“You must climb into the wardrobe, sweetheart,” she said quickly, as soon as she had shut and locked the door behind her.
“No!” Charlotte said, beginning to cry harder. “Maybe I can convince my parents to leave.”
“There’s no time, honey.”
“But what if they’re taken away?”
“Then we hope and pray that your father is right,” Ruby said, wiping away Charlotte’s tears.
“But you don’t believe he is, do you?”
Ruby didn’t know how to reply. Being honest with Charlotte would only make the girl feel worse, but she didn’t want to lie to her either. She settled for saying gently, “Perhaps the police won’t come for your parents at all. But just to be on the safe side, Charlotte, let’s get you hidden. You mustn’t make a sound, no matter what. Understand?” Ruby pulled the girl into a tight hug and then took her hand and led her quickly into the bedroom, where she arranged some blankets on the floor of the wardrobe in which she’d once hidden Thomas.
“I’ll come get you as soon as I’m sure the police are gone,” she promised.
Charlotte nodded, and Ruby quickly closed the wardrobe. No sooner had she done so than she heard noises in the hall. She made her way to her door as quietly as possible and peered out the peephole, terrified for both her hidden pilot and Charlotte’s parents.
The police were here, just as Ruby had feared.
There were four of them—the same four who had dragged the woman and her children from the building across the way—and they made a beeline for the Dachers’ door, knocking loudly. After a moment, Monsieur Dacher answered, already dressed in crisp gray slacks, a button-down shirt, and suspenders. He looked like he was headed out for a business meeting. “We are here for Reuven Dacher and his family,” one of the policemen, the one who had slapped the crying woman across the street, said.
“I am Reuven Dacher.” His voice was shaky but strong. “But there is some mistake. I am a French citizen, a war veteran. I am a furrier. I have many ties to the community, and I—”
“You will come with us. I’m sure if there is a mistake, it will be sorted out in the morning.” The police officer consulted the papers in his hands. “Your wife, Sarah, and your daughter, Charlotte, must also come.”
Ruby could feel herself shudder. This was no ordinary arrest if they had children on their list. She could see the same realization cross Monsieur Dacher’s face.
“My wife, I will get her.” His voice was trembling now. “But Charlotte—our daughter—is with friends in Aubergenville.”
The policeman smirked at him. “You expect us to believe that?”
“You can come in and search all you like, but she is not here.” Monsieur Dacher cleared his throat and added, “Besides, she was born here in France. She is as French as anyone else in this building.”
“And yet you and your wife are not. You were born in”—the policeman consulted his list again—“Poland.”
“I’ve lived here nearly all my life, as has my wife.”
The policeman laughed. “And you think that makes you French like us?” He didn’t wait for an answer before shoving past Monsieur Dacher. “We will find where your daughter is hiding.”
Monsieur Dacher stood rigid in the doorway as two other officers followed the first into the apartment. The fourth policeman stayed outside, looking uncomfortable. Ruby watched him as he glanced between Monsieur Dacher’s white face and the floor several times. She prayed the pilot, who was hidden just a few feet away, wouldn’t make a sound. She had the feeling that this particular officer was distressed to be a part of these roundups, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t do his job if it came down to it.
After a moment, Monsieur Dacher turned and went into the apartment, and Ruby could hear him saying something. He emerged a few minutes later, clutching Madame Dacher’s hand. Each of them held a suitcase as the four policemen escorted them out of the building. Neither of the Dachers looked back, and Ruby knew it must have been tearing Madame Dacher apart to leave Charlotte behind. Ruby wished she had said more to reassure the Dachers that she would protect their daughter with her life, but there simply hadn’t been time.
Ruby waited until the policemen were long gone before she slipped into the hall outside the apartment. She said a silent prayer of thanks that the pilot hadn’t been discovered, and then she moved to the front windows of the building and looked out. The street outside was deserted again. If she hadn’t witnessed it herself, she never would have known anything had happened here at all.
She took a deep breath. She had to get ahold of herself before going back inside and facing Charlotte. She’d do that before tending to the pilot, because the girl was probably beside herself by now.
A few minutes later, she opened the door to the wardrobe to find Charlotte staring at her. “What happened?” the girl asked, her voice flat.
“The police took them away.” Ruby was trying to sound as unconcerned as possible, although her insides were screaming.
“Well, we have to go after them.”
“Honey, we can’t. They had you on their list too. There’s no way I’d risk anything happening to you. Your parents told them you were in Aubergenville, and they must have believed it.”
“But . . . we have to do something.”
“I’m certain things will be sorted out in a few days,” Ruby said, trying to project a confidence she didn’t feel. “Surely there’s been a mistake. In the meantime, let’s get you out of this wardrobe, shall we?”
Charlotte’s hand was ice-cold as she slipped it into Ruby’s. Ruby could feel the girl shaking as she led her to the sofa in the living room.
“Papa is so sure that being French will save him,” Charlotte said softly once she sat down.
“Yes.”
“But there is no French anymore, Ruby. There are just Jews, those who hate us, and people who are too scared for their own lives to fight back.”
“But there are also people like you and me, Charlotte, people who are doing what they can to help. We’ll win in the end.”
“It will be too late for my parents by then.”
“No,” Ruby said firmly. “When morning comes, I’ll see what I can find out, all right? I don’t know what these raids were about, but your parents must have been included by mistake. I’ll fix this.”
Charlotte shook her head. “But what if you can’t, Ruby? What if you can’t?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR