Page 58 of The Watchmaker of Dachau

On the driveway were two cars, one a black town car, the other an older model that was a deep burgundy.

‘Ah, Isaac.’ Becher walked towards him and dismissed the guard with a flick of his wrist. ‘I am sorry I have not needed you for a while, but I need you now. You once told me you could fix anything, is that not so?’

‘I did, I think I did.’

‘Good, well, here are two cars. I bought them myself, and I need them to work perfectly. They are not new, from a friend. And I need you to look at the engines, check everything, make sure that they can go for miles and miles without anything happening to them.’

Isaac looked at the cars and then at Becher, whose smile was set firmly in place, the top button of his shirt undone, the tie askew.

‘So you’ll do it then?’ Becher slapped him on the back, which made Isaac start a coughing fit.

Becher took a step away from him, lit a cigarette and blew the smoke directly in Isaac’s face. ‘You won’t let me down, will you? The mechanic I had, well, he isn’t here anymore, and I need this to stay between us, you understand? The other guards would be jealous if they knew I had bought cars – they’d wonder why they weren’t getting paid more!’ Becher forced a laugh.

Isaac recovered himself, wiping away the tears that had filled his eyes as he coughed. ‘I’m not a mechanic,’ he said simply.

‘But you can fix things.’ Becher took a step towards him, pointing at him with his cigarette. ‘You said you could fix things.’

Isaac nodded. ‘But I’ve rarely fixed cars.’

‘Rarely? So you have done it before?’

Isaac remembered a tractor he had fixed, and he’d helped a neighbour with his car when the fuel pipe had been clogged. ‘Only a couple.’

‘Well, that’ll have to do then. Like I said, take a look. Tell me what you need. Take the pieces back to the shed, clean them, fix them.’ Becher waved his hand in the air. ‘Do whatever you need to do with them. Just make sure I can trust them, is that clear?’

Isaac nodded and Becher grinned at him. ‘I knew I could rely on you. Now, here, I’ll open the bonnets for you. Take a look and then get to work – quickly, now, as quickly as you can.’

Becher switched on the engines and Isaac watched as they sprang to life. The black car seemed to clink and clang every thirty seconds, as if something were knocking against it. He counted and waited for each clang – yes, thirty seconds.

The burgundy car ran quieter, yet there was a churning noise, as if something were rubbing against another part.

Becher turned off the engines. ‘So?’

‘I need to look at them for a while.’

‘Yes. I’ll leave you to it,’ Becher said, but did not move. Isaac saw that Becher’s eyes could not stay still; they roamed the fence, the gate, then settled back on the cars once more. ‘Yes. I’ll leave you to it,’ Becher repeated, then walked back to the house.

Isaac spent a few hours looking at the engines, trying to understand how they worked. His mind was tired, clouded with hunger, and it took him longer than normal to see the basic workings. What was he supposed to do? Clear the carburettor? Clear the fuel pipes, check the oil? That was all he could see to do. He wiped his oil-smeared hands on his coat, then made his way towards the shed. He needed to think.

‘Where are you going? What do you need?’ Becher was bounding towards him.

‘I need to think about the engines,’ Isaac told him calmly. ‘Like I did with the grandfather clock. I need to think.’

‘Yes! Quite right. I will bring you some paper and a pencil like before, and you can do your diagrams and work it all out, yes?’

Before Isaac could answer, Becher was gone, then returned a minute later, the paper in his hands. ‘Remember, you come to me, only to me, and tell me what you need, all right?’

Isaac nodded, took the paper and pencil, and headed towards the shed he’d not seen in weeks.

He was in the shed barely a moment before Anna burst in and took him in an embrace.

‘I thought you were dead,’ she said, her bottom lip trembling.

‘I’m still here.’ Isaac began to cough again, and Anna helped him to sit.

‘Wait here, I’ll be back.’ Anna ran from the shed, leaving Isaac to find his breath.

‘Here.’ Anna was back, the hot mug of coffee in one hand, a lump of bread and cheese in the other. ‘Take it, eat, drink. You look so weak.’