Page 99 of The Ringmaster’s Daughter

Kacper sat down on an upturned bucket and nodded.

‘I am tired. You must be too. It’s all a mess.’

Kacper held his palms upwards as if to say, What can you do?

‘I agree. Kacper, tell me about yourself.’

Kacper raised his eyebrows, then pulled out a harmonica from his pocket. He began to play, and Michel sat forward.

‘I know this one!’ he said. ‘My mother – my mother loved this song.’ And Michel began to sing along – a song of talking about love, of wanting to hear it as much as possible.

‘I told you that you were a beautiful singer.’ Frieda stood in the doorway watching.

Kacper did not stop playing so Michel turned to Frieda, and sang to her that he loved her, that he would tell her he loved her every day and never stop.

‘Are you awake?’ Michel’s head swam in a dream and he thought he could hear Bertrand.

‘Are you awake?’ the voice said again.

Michel tried to open his eyes, the lids heavy and unmoving. ‘What time is it?’ he muttered.

‘Five in the evening, I think. It is getting dark.’

His left eye opened and he saw Hugo sitting on the sofa opposite Werner’s bed, on which he now slept.

‘I had to sleep last night with his feet in my face. Can you imagine? Kacper’s. And Giordano had the cheek to say I snore. Do I snore, Michel?’

Michel groaned and pulled the blanket up to his chin. His nose was cold, and he wanted to bury his face in the pillow.

‘Why are you sleeping in the afternoon? I suppose you did not sleep much for the past few nights – days, in fact.’

‘Hugo, why are you still talking to me?’ Michel opened both eyes and sat up, rubbing away the sleep.

‘Do you think we are safe at last?’

Michel saw now that Hugo’s left leg danced as he spoke, and his nails were bitten and raw. ‘We are.’

‘I don’t know, I really don’t. Madame Rosie says she saw something in her cards, something awful, like… a beast.’

‘A beast?’

‘Well, something like that. Or death. Maybe she said death? Or maybe she said a beast would kill us. I cannot remember. It was late, I was tired. But I have been thinking of beasts all day and then Giordano says I snore! It’s not good, Michel, it really is not.’ Hugo extinguished his cigarette, then lit another.

‘You need to calm down.’ Michel climbed out of bed and quickly into his trousers, pulling a thin brown woollen jumper over his head.

‘That’s easy for you to say! You are not Jewish, are you? Or, are you? Well, you don’t look it, not to me anyway. I am. Kacper is. Jean is. Giordano – well – he isn’t but I hear they don’t like freaks. Is that true? Don’t look at me like that, Michel. I love Giordano, I do. I am just saying. Frieda is Jewish too. And Madame Rosie. The triplets also. You know their father was killed for printing a pamphlet against the Reich? Frieda rescued them. She rescued all of us. But you are not Jewish, are you, Michel?’

Michel had dressed, tied his laces and lit his own cigarette by the time Hugo had finished. ‘No. I am not.’

‘There, see? I told you.’ Hugo was pleased that he had figured something out, even if it was of little importance. ‘But you won’t tell, will you? You won’t tell anyone?’

‘I won’t, Hugo. I promise you.’

‘You’re a good man. Frieda says you are a good man, that she trusts you. If she says that then I do too.’

‘Thank you, Hugo.’

‘Felix too – he was Jewish. They took him. Werner said that he was taken because he was fighting, but I know he was lying – I know it!’