Simon was pleased to see that Ursula had returned to her senses. Her face was alive, and her voice sounded normal to him, with a put-upon tone that was perfectly normal for the moment.
The sergeant stepped forward and took the bag from Ursula’s hand. His eyes widened as he hefted it. All things considered, Simon was glad the Polizei man had it rather than leaving it to him to carry.
Ursula looked around the sitting room, sighed, and moved toward the door at her slow pace.
“If Hans says go, we had best go.”
“Wait,” Simon said. He pulled the purse from his jacket. “Put this in the bag.”
Sergeant Hoch looked to Ursula, who hesitated for a moment, then nodded. He placed the bag on the table and opened it up, whistling when he saw the coins filling the bottom of it. Simon handed him the purse, and a moment later it the bag was closed again around the addition to its load.
The sergeant picked the bag up again and looked at Ursula with a nod. She opened the outer door without a word and stepped out onto the landing. Simon hesitated for a moment, then grabbed Ursula’s old Bible and her embroidery from the table and stuffed them inside his jacket before following her.
* * *
Hans watched as the door to their room finally opened and Ursula came out. She turned and locked the door after Simon and the sergeant joined her.
The eyes of Lieutenant Chieske and the cart driver were fixed on the crippled woman as she negotiated the stars. It made Hans almost sick to watch her lurching movements step by step.
He shook his head, hard, and moved back a step. After a moment, another step. After another moment, another step.
By the time Ursula reached the bottom of the steps, he had retreated totally into the shadows and was about to turn the corner of the nearest street.
Her plaintive “But where is Hans?” tore at his heart as he hurried away.
Hans had never been one for much more that rote lip service to the church, but for the first time in years, he truly prayed. Go with God, Uschi. Maybe He can keep you safe now, for I can’t. Please, God.
* * *
Simon saw Lieutenant Chieske’s head whip around after Ursula’s cry. He joined both of the detectives in shooting glances in every direction. He even went so far as to run over to the nearby corner and look up and down the other street. Nothing caught his eye.
“Simon,” Sergeant Hoch called out. “You’ve got to come with Fraulein Metzger. Come on.”
With a heart full of dread for his friend, Simon turned his reluctant steps back to the cart, where Ursula waited with the detectives and their driver.
“No sign of him?” the lieutenant asked.
Simon shook his head.
“Right. He knows what he’s doing, and he knows how to get ahold of us. Our job now is to get you two to safety.”
“I’m not going anywhere without Hans,” Ursula declared in strident tones.
“Sorry, Fraulein, but your brother has taken himself off on his own and of his own free will. I don’t know where he went, or what he’s planning on doing. But I do know that he asked us to take you to a safer place than this, and we promised to do it. Ask the boy.”
Ursula looked to Simon, and he nodded. “I heard Hans ask it, Ursula, and I heard the lieutenant and sergeant promise to do it.”
“But where is he?” Desperation now rang in the young woman’s voice.
“Fraulein Metzger,” Sergeant Hoch said, “the way he left tells us that he doesn’t want us to know where he is. My guess is he thinks that by doing this he makes it safer for you. He may well be right.”
The sergeant placed the bag in the cart, then turned back to Ursula. “Take Simon’s word for it, if you won’t take ours, but we need to get you out of here now, before those Hans is running from show up.”
He held out a hand to her, a nonverbal plea.
For a long moment Ursula stood, rigid and unbending, in rejection. But then she sighed, her shoulders slumped, and she reached out a tentative hand to take his.
“Right. That’s settled.” Chieske looked over at Hoch. “Where do you think? The police station for now?”
Hoch shook his head. “My home. They would never think of looking for them there, and there are enough servants around the place to provide protection.”
Chieske mulled that over, and nodded. “Works for me. We’ll post a couple of patrolmen outside as well.”
It took a bit of doing to get the young woman up into the cart without violating her dignity. In the end, Sergeant Hoch scrambled into the cart and took her hands and Chieske placed his hands on her waist. Simon watched with envy as they lifted her into the cart with seeming lack of effort.
The next moment the lieutenant almost threw Simon up into the cart, then he vaulted up to sit beside the driver. He pointed a finger at the driver, the sergeant rapped out some directions, and with a lurch they were off.