Chapter Nine
They were still driving well past daylight. Anya couldn’t say how long they had been traveling. She didn’t have a watch to check the time, and she had never been one to gauge the time by the rising of the sun. It didn’t matter though. It could have been an hour or five, and her anxiety level still would not have leveled off.
Silence had filled the car the entire time Arthur had been driving. She had expected him to ask her a lot of questions. He had surely acted as if he would before they’d left. Now that he hadn’t, it made her a thousand times more nervous. Why hadn’t he said anything? Was he waiting for her to start speaking? Should she tell him everything? Somehow, she doubted he would understand her situation. She barely did, and she was living it.
“Are you going to tell me where we are going?” Anya couldn’t take the never-ending quiet any longer. She’d never been the sort to sit still and enjoy the calm. That wouldn’t change no matter what body she inhabited.
“You decided it was time to talk.” He tapped the steering wheel. “It took a whole two hours. I’m amazed it took so long.”
Two hours?She wouldn’t have guessed it had been that long. How had he been able to keep track of the time? Should she ask that too? “You could have said something sooner if it bothered you.” Now she was starting to get snippy. It was probably from lack of sleep, and hunger. Her stomach growled on cue.
“You told me you would explain everything on the way.” His lips tilted downward, but he kept his focus on the road. That was probably a good thing. She had no desire to be in a car accident. “I am letting you control the pace. I suspect what you have to say is not easy to discuss with anyone.”
She hadn’t realized she was that transparent. “There isn’t much to say.” Anya shrugged noncommittally. “My father.” She had a hard time referring to Edward Wegner as anyone related to her. “Wanted me to marry Dierk. I’m not in a position to deny him anything.”
“But you don’t even like him.” He sounded exasperated as he spoke. “Why don’t you put up a fight even if it is a token one.”
How could she answer that? She didn’t know what Anastasia had done. Had she protested the match, or had she gone willingly to the slaughter? Anya would have screamed and cried and begged until her father relented. The difference was Anya’s father was a normal human who actually cared for her. They had a good relationship, and she could rely on him to protect her and care for her if needed. She missed him terribly… Anastasia’s father was a controlling misogynistic arse who didn’t care about anyone except himself and his own ambitions. “How do you know I didn’t?” she said softly. “Or if I did that, it would matter? What good is a token effort if it ends with pain you cannot imagine?”
She had a feeling that Edward Wegner believed in physical punishment. He was harsh with her whenever they had to spend any amount of time together. She hadn’t wanted to feel the sting of a slap or anything worse, so she had remained quiet and pretended to be a demure and obedient daughter. When they returned, she might not be able to escape that type of punishment.
The muscles in Arthur’s jaw tightened. Had she made him angry? She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She hated this. What could she say to make this all right? Somehow, she didn’t think the words existed, and she honestly didn’t know if she cared.
“We should get married before we return,” he said. His voice had no emotion in it as if he stated a fact that could not be disputed.
“Married?” She couldn’t have heard him correctly.
“Yes,” he confirmed.
“How is that going to solve anything?” Anya couldn’t marry him. She could still return to her time. and when Anastasia woke up married to him, she would be horrified. She didn’t have to know Anastasia to understand that. Anya wouldn’t want anyone making that huge of a decision for her. “That would make everything so much worse.”
“It won’t,” he insisted. “We need a reason for you to be gone for so long. They will have already sounded the alarm, and then they’ll notice I am gone too. Naturally, they’ll assume we are together. There is only one reason we would have left together that is acceptable. If they discover what we have really been doing, we might not live to see another day.”
Well, when he put it like that… “You think they would kill us?” What was she saying? Of course they would. They’d do it and not think twice about it. The Nazis were committing genocide—one man and woman helping two Jewish children would be nothing compared to that. “Oh, God, why did I do this.”
“Because you have a good heart,” he said softly. “Those children needed help, and you didn’t think about how that would affect you. Don’t be hard on yourself.”
“I had no plan and no clue what I was doing. I’d already be dead if I was on my own. If you hadn’t found me…”
“I was already planning on helping the children,” he said. “This is what I do. They don’t watch me as much as they do you. I could have driven to Poland and back with none of them the wiser.”
“Is that where we are going?” Poland was safe right now, but it wouldn’t stay that way. In 1939, Germany would invade Poland and take over. The Jews there would be targeted. “The children can’t stay there. They need to go to the States.” That was the only place she believed they would truly be safe. She would have suggested home if she was anyone other than Anastasia Wegner. To Arthur, the Americans were home to both of them. That would make sense…
“Do you think that is necessary?” he lifted a brow.
“Yes,” she said. “They won’t stop with Germany. They’ll reach a point where the power consumes them, and they will want to control the world. They’re extremist that believe they are righteous.”
He was quiet for several moments. “I can see that happening. I’ll make arrangements for them to go to my family in California. They’ll keep them protected.”
That was all she could hope for. This wouldn’t all be for nothing if the children made it out alive. Anastasia might wake up one day married to Arthur, but that would be far better than being married to Dierk. “Good. Then I’ll agree to whatever you think is necessary.” Even if she didn’t quite like it… She hated making decisions that would affect Anastasia’s life. Anya prayed she was not making a mistake. There was no turning back now though. She couldn’t change it even if she wanted to. Besides, Arthur was a good man. Anastasia would be far better off with him and she couldn’t feel bad about that.
* * *
Later that day…
The children were safe. They had made it to Kostrzyn, Poland and were finally able to let the children out of the hidden part of the car. They hadn’t dared while they were still in Germany. The entire trip had taken almost three hours. Arthur hadn’t wanted to drive too fast and gain any unwanted notice. After they dropped Oskar and Johanna off with a lovely Polish family and arranged for them to travel to California, they had left. They didn’t look back once. They did their duty, and that was all they could do.
After that, Arthur drove them to the nearest registry office in Poland for them to get married. They filed the necessary paperwork and waited for it to be approved, then made an appointment for a civil ceremony. The wedding was a blur and nothing like she had ever imagined. She was still dressed head to toe in black, and men’s clothing to boot. Anya’s attire suited a funeral more than a wedding.
