This morning Dr. Weiss’s office was closed.
He tugged a paper bag out of his rucksack, the contents a loaf of rye, some salami, cheese, and cherries imported from Greece. He didn’t know much about caring for people, not like the pets he’d collected over the years, but he wanted to be faithful in helping the Weiss family and anyone else he could until God made right this world that had turned upside down. Then he could help restore some of what had been lost.
He pressed his ear against the door, hoping to catch the melody of Luzi’s violin, but he heard nothing now. Not even the shuffling of feet.
“Nina?” He pounded on the door again. “Luzi?”
His voice echoed off the walls on the landing and trailed down the steps, fading away. He wanted to kick the door down, if only to make sure Luzi was well, but even if he was able to manage it, it would only make her parents more angry at him.
Just as he stepped away, the doorknob began to turn. He froze on the landing, waiting for it to open, hoping Luzi was waiting for him on the other side. Instead it was Frau Weiss, her normally groomed hair a frightening sight matted to her scalp, her neat attire replaced by a housedress like Nina wore.
He rushed forward. “Are you ill?”
She shook her head slowly, her shoulders slumped. “What do you want from us, Max?”
“You’re still angry at me....”
“Of course I’m angry. That ball was supposed to be a crowning moment for Luzia, to show Vienna that she is talented and bright and—” her voice broke—“unique.”
“Everyone knows she’s talented.”
“But it didn’t change anything. They released her from the conservatory last week.”
He swore. “Because of the dance?”
She shook her head. “They expelled all the Jewish students. The walls are closing in around us....”
If only he could assure her that the Viennese would come together soon and fight for all their citizens. “I want to help.”
“You must stay away from her, Max.”
But staying away was the last thing he could do. “We will find a way for you to leave Vienna.”
“No country has welcomed us yet, and the Nazis, they are making it difficult for us to go.”
Max clenched his fists. His father said that Hitler wanted theJews out of Vienna, but why wouldn’t he let them leave? “If Luzi and I married, we could obtain visas for your whole family.”
“Oh, Max. It’s no longer legal for her to marry an Aryan man, even if she converts.”
His chest seemed to collapse at her words. How could it be illegal for them to marry?
“Some of our friends have received visas into England and China. Dr. Weiss is at the American consulate today, hoping to obtain a visa to work there. Luzia’s received a letter of acceptance into Juilliard—”
“Surely one of Dr. Weiss’s patients could speak for your family.”
Frau Weiss seemed to look through him, her gaze traveling someplace else for the moment. “The Nazis closed his practice.”
“That’s not possible—”
“We’re all cursed, it seems, in their eyes.”
“What about Hungary?” he asked. “You must still have relatives there.”
She shook her head. “My family fled from the anti-Semitism.”
He picked up the paper bag with food and held it out. She eyed it but didn’t reach out. “Please take it.”
He listened carefully, hoping to hear the violin or at least Luzi’s voice, but all he heard was a clock ticking inside. “May I see her while I’m here?”
