THE WOLFF’S GRIN

‘Stay where you are.’

He saw us immediately. We were out in the open and the light from inside that dreadful building was enough to spill out and illuminate the short path.

‘Stay exactly where you are.’ Wolff’s voice was soft and menacing.

Lisa and I were fixed to the spot, as if our feet had grown roots and sent them deep into the earth. My muscles were locked tight. My blood ran cold. I felt as if a million insects were fighting for space inside my stomach.

The light dimmed and then disappeared as Wolff closed the door and came towards us.

‘Karl Friedmann.’ He looked down at me. ‘And Lisa Herz.’ Wolff stood straight and stared at us. His face was without any expression at all as he looked from me to Lisa and back again. ‘Well?’ He raised his eyebrows.

We remained silent.

‘There must be a reason why I would find you outside Gestapo Headquarters at this time of night. Has something happened that requires my attention?’

‘Umm …’ I tried to think. There had to be something that would lure him away from this place without looking back. I couldn’t let him turn around because then he would see the words on the wall.

‘Well, come on. Out with it.’

‘We …’

‘Perhaps you need my help with something?’ He moved his head as if he were going to look back, and I knew he was going to see it. He was going to look back and see the words and—

‘A bomb.’ Lisa blurted it out so the words almost exploded from her. ‘There’s a bomb.’

Wolff looked at her with surprise. ‘A bomb? But there have been bombs going off all night. Do you think I haven’t heard them?’

‘Unexploded,’ Lisa said. ‘An unexploded bomb.’

‘Ah. I see.’ Wolff didn’t seem worried by Lisa’s news, and when he spoke, his expression was suspicious and his tone was disbelieving. ‘You came out in the middle of the night to …’ he raised his eyebrows at us again, ‘… to look at the damage? And you found an unexploded bomb. So, naturally, the first thing you thought was to come and tell me.’ There was a sense of unpleasantness to what he said, as if every word tasted bad to him.

‘I—’

‘Please.’ Wolff interrupted. ‘Let me tell you what I think really happened. You see, I don’t think you came out in the night to look at bomb damage, at all.’

My stomach tightened.

‘As soon as I saw you from the window, I thought to myself, Ah, the Friedmann boy has come to rescue his brother. Or, at least, to see him. But now I’ve changed my mind.’

‘The bomb—’ Lisa started to say, but Wolff held out his hand, one finger extended.

His face darkened into an expression of pure evil, and his next words were laced with venom. ‘Let. Me. Finish. Don’t speak again, young lady.’

Lisa clamped her mouth shut.

‘Now.’ Wolff’s eyes slipped over to stare at me. ‘The reason I have changed my mind, Karl Friedmann, is that I see you are carrying something, and because I see you have white paint on your hands … again … and on your jacket …’ he touched my chest with one finger, pointing to the white splashes that stood out against the dark material.

I said nothing.

‘I hope I am wrong,’ Wolff went on. ‘I sincerely hope I am wrong.’ He shook his head. ‘I also hope that when I turn around I don’t see anything that will make me want to punish you. It would be a shame to fall out with you. You showed so much promise. The Führer believes the youth is our future; you do know that, don’t you?’

I swallowed hard.

‘But, I suppose there are always those who must be … brought into line. Take your brother, for example.’ Wolff stared at me for a few moments longer, then he stepped between Lisa and me, so he was standing behind us. When he turned around he put one hand on each of us.

Above us, the breeze whispered in the treetops. Behind us, Wolff’s breathing was heavy.

‘Interesting brushwork,’ he said at last.

The words on the wall were clearly visible.

Their message was clear, too.

HITLER IS KILLING

OUR FATHERS

‘I particularly like what you have done with the flower.’

Wolff pushed us both forward. ‘Now, why don’t we go inside and you can tell me all about it.’