When the moon rises over Berlin

      Walking down the streets with quiet steps, Holly and Arthur passed house after house. Holly’s heart was beating so hard that she thought someone was bound to hear it pounding in the deserted night street and come up to them.        Night Berlin was full of mystery. The streetlights, though shining brightly, still could not illuminate everything. Arthur and Holly moved through nooks and little streets between the houses. Winter Berlin gave her memories of sadness, flakes of snow and mountains of unploughed roads. It did not changed even years after she had left.       Holly, walking quietly behind Arthur, did not even realise whether she was afraid of the big open city streets, which frightened her with the emptiness she had been lost in since childhood, or of the fact that she would meet Wilhelm again. She was so eager to finally see him in his country house and sit on his soft sofas, her heart fluttered at the thought of it. If it had not been for all these circumstances, she would have taken a taxi and gone to see him. But it could not be done that way.       “Holly,” Arthur said in a half whisper, standing to her right side somewhere in the darkness. It was very dark, the girl could not even see the silhouette. “Now I’ll take the car and we’ll go to Wilhelm’s house, we’re practically on the outskirts of the city, we’ve already crossed the most dangerous part. There are no cops here, so we can breathe, but we still need to be vigilant.”       “Arthur, do I have to wait here for you?”, the man gave a nod to indicate yes. She could not go anywhere from here. “But I’m so afraid of the dark!”       “Holly, just look at the circle of light by the lantern and everything will be fine,” whispered Arthur, knowing that Holly did not like the dark.       She had told him how she had been locked in a basement full of rats by the boys at the orphanage when she was a little girl. She did not like the dark or being in it for long since then. He said this and disappeared behind the gate of a small house. The girl wrapped her arms around herself so she would not feel lonely. At times like this she felt like the loneliest creature in the world. She did not know who her parents were, having run away from the orphanage, she had wandered around the city until Ingrid had picked her up like a discarded kitten. She brought her to her home, cleaned her, fed her and became like a big sister to her.       At the back of the yard the heavy sounds of an engine were heard, a rather shabby looking car with lots of scratches and dents appeared in front of her. Holly did not like it, but she walked over, opened the door and ducked inside. Into the warmth. Arthur, as soon as she got in and closed the door, immediately sped off, squeezing out all the speed he could.       They sat in silence, none of them wanted to break it. Arthur was lost in his own thoughts, Holly was exploring her mind. Something was sucking Holly up inside and preventing her from looking at life calmly and soberly at that moment.       “Holly,” Arthur called out to her, “after we get back to Britain,” he began, worriedly. He jerked the gearbox and twisted the steering wheel abruptly. “I want you to quit the organisation.”       Holly opened her eyes and mouth in surprise. Arthur on the other hand only glanced at her, it seemed to her that he did not care at all what happened to her or what would happen to them next.       “Will you tell me why?”, the girl asked quietly. Holly did not want to cry, but his words hurt her and her soul so much that her voice was shaking badly.       “Holly, you see, I didn’t tell… you one thing Ingrid and Wilhelm asked me to tell you,” Arthur said, trying as if to soften the circumstances at the moment.       “What did they want you to tell me?”, Holly had leaned towards him and was looking at Arthur point-blank. It was getting on the man’s nerves. He was not used to so much attention.       “They wanted you to quit our group…”, Arthur said in one breath. “No, Holly, don’t get me wrong, you’re a great girl and all, but it’s just that Ingrid and Wilhelm said in one voice that you shouldn’t be doing this. It’s not a job or a lifestyle for someone your age. They wanted to tell you themselves, but they said to tell you if things didn’t go according to plan. They left you money at Heinrich’s safe house. He knows about it too, so we’ll go to his place and take them.       There was silence, the girl squirmed and hugged her knees.       “So, Wilhelm and Ingrid,” she said slowly stretching each word. “Good for them, but have they thought about what will happen to me next? They know I have no one but you. Money is good, but I don’t think there’s enough,” Holly sobbed, Arthur exhaled. He stopped the car abruptly, Wilhelm’s house was seen in the distance. Arthur handed her a crumpled and slightly tattered piece of paper from the inside pocket of his coat.       “Holly, there’s a bank account number you can withdraw money from for the rest of your life. That’s the way Wilhelm arranged it. The money he earned belongs to you, it was said out of love for you, great love. Just because you stop working with us doesn’t mean you cease to exist for us. I know I said it at a bad time, but please don’t take offence,” Arthur looked away. “Come on, we’ve arrived at Wilhelm’s house.”       When Holly heard these words, she jumped up like a stunned woman and ran towards the house, which was illuminated by the moonlight peeking out from behind the clouds. She ran, falling into the snowdrifts, but still she ran, she wanted to hear those words in person and to see Wilhelm. She could not hear the heavy beating of her heart in her ears, she could not feel the shortness of her breath. But when she reached the house, all she saw was a closed door and a sign that said the house was sealed and no one was allowed to enter.       Holly was standing for ten minutes, looking at the sign and running her hand over it. Not believing his eyes, Arthur, who had come up at the same time, looked at the sign and went into the house opening the door and breaking the seal.       The house was quiet and empty, Arthur lit the penlight that was in his pocket and shone the surroundings. The furniture had been put away and it did not look like Wilhelm had just left here for a while. Figuring something out in his head, Arthur ordered Holly to wait for him on the ground floor and went to the basement, going down the stairs. If memory served him correctly he would find gold there. Holly, standing on the ground floor, could not get why Wilhelm had not warned them. Maybe he had sold the house. Even though the house had been sealed off by the police, Holly was more inclined to think that they had left with Ingrid.       Arthur had been gone for quite some time, Holly was beginning to worry, but then his outline appeared in the doorway and Arthur himself approached her.       “The gold is gone,” he said quietly and quickly.       “What does that mean? Do you think it has been taken away?”, the fearful thought flashed through her mind that the police were here at the moment and they were about to be captured.       “I think so, yes. The police were here. We have to go,” he grabbed Holly’s arm and dragged her towards the car so that the girl stumbled as she walked. She tried to break free, but Arthur was pulling her so hard she did not stand a chance.       After finally getting her into the car, Arthur turned round and pressed the pedal hard, so they sped off. Arthur kept whispering something under his breath, it annoyed the girl.       “Arthur, tell me at least something. What about the house? Where is Wilhelm? What does it all mean?”, blurted out Holly when she was just tired of being kept in the dark.       “What do you want me to say?!”, shouted Arthur, being at the limit of his mental strength. “Wilhelm is not in that house. There are two possibilities! Either he’s gone and the police have raided his house, searched it and found the gold, so they’re looking for us all now, or he’s dead. Then the question is: what about Ingrid? We’re going to her place, if it’s the same crap there, we’ll contact Britain and wait for further instructions. You know yourself how tightly we’re all tied up!”       “Wilhelm? Was he killed? By whom?”       “How should I know, Holly?! My head is about to explode. I’m assuming Heinrich has the same story. We should check, though. But I don’t know. I’m starting to get scared,” Arthur exhaled and turned away, staring at the road. He was sick of this whole situation, sick of Wilhelm and Ingrid, who were now his responsibility. Not even Holly, who could not remember half of anything and could not be counted on to help.       “Really?”, she said with a hint of venom. “You said yourself we’d all end up in the grave!”, Holly said sarcastically.       Arthur rolled his eyes, it was useless to argue with her and try to calm her down at those times. If she also stomped her foot and walked away, she would remind of children. ***       Ingrid’s flat was in no better condition; it was also locked and with the same sign. No matter how many times he and Holly tried to break in, the door would not budge. They decided not to make any noise because it was dangerous to wake the neighbours. When they arrived at Heinrich’s flat, the second safe house from which he kept his notes and sent messages, Arthur found everything scattered and in disarray. Heinrich’s phone was lying on the floor.       “So the killer has been here after all…” Arthur said sadly and sat back in his chair. “I don’t think Heinrich was here the day he disappeared, maybe later, maybe earlier, but no. Otherwise the place would have been sealed up too.”       “Do you think Heinrich was killed too?” Holly said painfully, she could not believe it, it all seemed like a nightmare to her.       “I suppose so,” Arthur thought slowly.       If all three of them were killed, that meant they were being hunted as well, unless the police beat them to it, but that was unlikely. Arthur wondered what to do. The threat loomed over them as the last of their group, they would need to leave town as soon as possible. But where were the goods? It had been made clear to him that they could not return without them, but where were they? In the police, in the Gestapo? Heinrich had many things that pointed to their connection to Holly, Ingrid and Wilhelm. He could not take that risk. But who had killed them all? That remained a mystery and an even greater danger hanging over them. How had all of them been tracked? Were they probably still being tracked at the moment? The surveillance had been started from the board. Yeah, probably. Holly. She had probably still be followed, that person would not dare kill two of them now, it was too risky. Or the killer finished all three of them at once, not spaced them out.       “Arthur, what are we going to do?”, Arthur looked at the girl, at the moment she looked like a frightened rabbit trying to run but not knowing where to. Big open eyes and twitching lips, hands pressed to her chest and trembling. “No Ingrid, no Wilhelm, no Heinrich, who can help us? We can’t even contact our own. They must have discovered the wiring here.”       “No, I think if they found Heinrich, they found him in his main flat, not in this one. I think the killer was here, trying to find traces,” he glanced in the mirror, something changed in his gaze for a moment or two, but Holly did not feel it, she was so preoccupied with herself and her thoughts that she did not realise anything. Arthur sat down opposite her, took her by the shoulders and gave her a good shake. His glassy unblinking eyes stared at her, saying nothing. For a minute or two Holly felt scared.       “We can’t stay here. Holly, you know how to drive a car, don’t you?”       “Yes, why do you ask? I learnt from Ingrid,” the girl looked at him incredulously. He leaned down to her ear, whispering faintly, but Holly could make it out.       “Get in the car now and drive two blocks, abandon the car there, parking it carelessly. Then walk to the old hotel where we’re staying. If I’m not there by morning, then you must leave the country and the city as soon as possible. Don’t say anything to me, just do as I say. Remember the bill. Here is the money that Heinrich kept with him,” Arthur took a note of one thousand Reichsmarks out of the sofa and discreetly held it out to Holly.       He pulled away from her. Holly took one last look at him and walked out, her eyes were downcast. *** Holly did everything as Arthur told her, at that moment she was sitting in a half-empty room, along with Arthur’s belongings. All she could do was to look at the clock. Hour after hour passed, yet Arthur still did not appear at the door. Holly rang Heinrich’s flat, thinking Arthur had stayed there, but no one answered the phone. She called Ingrid, but she did not answer the phone. Remembering the sign that was there, she called Wilhelm’s flat, but there was no answer. Towards the end, despair swept over her! It seemed to her that she was really alone now, that she had been abandoned by everyone, all four had decided to play with her. So, when she started to cry, everyone would come out of their seats and say that they had had a bad joke and that it was all a prank. But Holly had been calling numbers all night. All bloody night. Looking at the clock, at the door. But no one turned up. No one answered. Holly picked up the phone in desperation and threw it against the floor. Sobbing, she was shaking, small shivers were going through her entire body. Holly did not calm down until an hour later, when it was early morning and Holly realised that Arthur had been killed too. Although this realisation had not yet reached her soul, her mind already knew the answer. She picked up the phone and asked to be connected to Britain. She needed to get in touch with Helmut.