His smile widened a bit. “Ah, so she speaks of me? This is good news.” They both glanced at Charlotte, whose face had turned an even deeper shade of red as she was studying the floor. “Yes, I am the forger. Among other things. Today, though, I am a messenger. May I come in?”
Ruby hesitated. The boy seemed nice enough, but there was something about him that made her uneasy. Or was she just reacting to the way Charlotte was behaving? This was no time for idle crushes. Especially not for a child. Ruby shook the thought off quickly. She wasn’t being fair. “Yes, of course. Come in.”
Lucien held out his hand and gestured for Charlotte and Ruby to enter the apartment first, then he followed them in.
“What is it?” Charlotte asked once they were inside. “What’s wrong, Lucien?”
He hesitated, and in the silence, Charlotte and Ruby exchanged worried looks.
“Is it my parents?” Charlotte asked, her voice small.
“What? No. No, I have no word about your parents.”
“Oh.” Charlotte’s shoulders slumped in relief.
“It’s about Philippe.”
Aubert’s code name. Ruby could feel the tension crackling in the air, and from Lucien’s suddenly downcast eyes, she knew that something was terribly wrong. “What’s happened?”
Lucien looked up to meet her gaze. “He was arrested.” His voice was flat, but Ruby could see the storm in his eyes. “Several days ago. One of the men in Urrugne gave him up, along with several others who were part of the operation.”
“Oh, no,” Ruby breathed. Charlotte looked as if she was about to cry, so Ruby put an arm around her shoulder and tried not to break down.
“Is he okay?” Charlotte asked.
Lucien hesitated, and before he spoke, Ruby knew what he was going to say. “I’m afraid he’s gone,” he said softly. “Firing squad. He refused to talk, and they didn’t have any leverage against him. He doesn’t have any family; there was no one they could threaten to arrest. He’d covered his tracks well.”
“He’s dead?” Charlotte asked.
“Yes.”
“My God.” Ruby hung her head and said a silent prayer. “Laure is all right?” She was surprised how concerned she felt for her.
“Yes, as far as I know. But I’m afraid the line has been compromised too greatly. There won’t be any more pilots sent to us for now.”
Ruby let the words sink in. “Should we relocate? Is there a chance the Nazis know about us?”
“No.” Lucien’s answer was firm. “You’re safer here; you haven’t lived here for long. Monsieur Savatier will help protect you.” His gaze lingered on Charlotte. “I will too. I will be nearby. I won’t let anything happen to you.” His last words were spoken directly to the girl.
“Perhaps it’s better if Charlotte and I leave the city,” Ruby said.
“No,” Charlotte replied immediately. “If we leave, how will my parents find us when they return?”
Lucien glanced at Ruby, and she could see in his eyes that he shared her fear about the Dachers’ fate.
“I can’t put your life in any more danger than I already have,” Ruby said after a long pause.
“I don’t think either of us will feel complete if we’re not doing something,” Charlotte said. “But what can we do? Our part of the line is dead.”
Lucien cleared his throat. “There are others trying to establish a new escape route. The British are behind it.”
Ruby closed her eyes for a moment. How easy it would be to simply remove herself and Charlotte from danger by taking a step back. But then she’d be letting the Nazis win, wouldn’t she? Aubert’s death would be in vain. Everything she’d worked for would be in vain. “Please,” she said at last, glancing at Charlotte, “keep us informed.”
“I will.” Lucien nodded at her and held Charlotte’s gaze for a long time before making his way to the door. “I’ll be in touch. I’m very sorry to be the bearer of such bad news.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
February 1943
“I’m afraid Ruby no longer believes that we’ll be able to help,” Charlotte said to Lucien one cold winter night two weeks later. Ruby had gone to bed early, and Lucien, seeing her bedroom light go out, had stopped by. It had become a habit of his: waiting thirty minutes or so after Ruby had turned in and then tapping lightly on their front door. Ruby hadn’t caught them yet, but then again, they weren’t really doing anything wrong. Lucien hadn’t even kissed her; they merely sat and talked for hours. But Charlotte had never had a boy look at her the way he did, and she’d never felt her heart race like it did when they locked eyes.
“Why do you say that?” Lucien asked. He was sitting just inches from Charlotte on the couch, close enough that she could feel his breath on her cheek.
“She talks now about how useless she feels. How she fears that by doing nothing, she’s letting the Germans win.”
Lucien scooted a bit closer. “You understand, though, don’t you, that I’m reluctant to place you in harm’s way?”
“Why?”
Lucien looked into her eyes before looking down. “Because I’ve come to care for you very much.”
Her heart skipped. “And I for you. But there is no future for us if the Germans are allowed to remain here.”
“Charlotte . . .” Lucien didn’t complete his thought.
“You know I’m right. I’m Jewish, Lucien. The Germans wouldn’t even let us be friends.” She summoned her courage and added, “Never mind more than friends.”
“More than friends?” The corner of his mouth turned up into a half smile. “What did you have in mind?”
“Does it matter? As long as the Germans are here, it is impossible. Everything is impossible.”
“Don’t talk like that, Charlotte,” he said softly. She loved it when he called her by her real name. He and Ruby were the only ones who did; the handful of others who knew her, including Monsieur Savatier and his wife, knew her only as Hélène.
“Lucien, I can’t help it. There’s no place in this society for people like me.”
“Well,” he said after a moment, “I have no desire to be part of a society that would turn its back on you. So that makes two of us who would find it impossible to make a home here.”
She blinked back tears. The strange thing was that she knew he was telling her the truth. Lucien was complicated, but he never lied. Not to her, anyhow. “Thank you,” she said. “But there’s no point in us talking about that now. We need to talk about how we can make things better. Ruby and I need to help.” She had abandoned calling Ruby by her code name when speaking with Lucien. Charlotte had discovered a few weeks ago that Lucien’s father had been the one to forge Ruby’s new identity papers when she started working with the line, so he’d known her name all along.
Lucien didn’t say anything. After a moment, he got up and began to pace. “Charlotte,” he said at last, “it is very dangerous. The Nazis don’t have morals. Do you know they sent the police to arrest children at an orphanage this week? Children, Charlotte, some as young as five!”
Charlotte went still. “That can’t be. What reason did they give?”
Lucien laughed bitterly. “They needed some more Jews to fill up their train cars.”
Charlotte looked at her hands. Reports like that terrified her; she’d been mostly sheltered from the news about the Jewish arrests because her main link to the outside world was Ruby. And of course it made sense that Ruby would try to protect her, but Charlotte wanted to know the truth. She wanted to be aware of the horrors. “I need to help.” Her tone was resolute this time, and she hoped that Lucien could hear that she wasn’t frightened. “The Allies have to win, Lucien. They have to. I can’t do nothing while the Germans take everything.”
He sighed and sat down beside her again. This time, their knees were touching. “I’ve heard rumors of a new escape line, but it’s not operational yet. They’re still trying to work out the details. In the meantime, some of the pilots are simply being held in place, mostly in the countryside. If someone were to be sent here, he might be with you for a very long time.”
“We could handle that.”
“And we don’t have extra ration cards now.”
“That’s fine.” Charlotte smiled at him. “I know a forger who might be able to help us with that.”
Lucien smiled. “Sounds like he’s a good person to know.”