The Violin Maker's Daughter by Sharon Maas

Author:Sharon Maas
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bookouture

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They explore Poitiers for a while and finally find a suitable little café, the Café Bleu, in a quiet and picturesque part of the city. They select stale-looking pastries at the counter and order coffee, then choose a table on the pavement outside.

‘It almost feels like Colmar in peacetime,’ sighs Sarah. ‘For the first time I can relax.’

‘Well, don’t relax too much. Like I said earlier, keep your guard up. Even here, danger is just around the corner.’

‘But I don’t feel it lurking, for a change, and that makes all the difference. I feel free!’

‘You are not free, Sarah, not as long as this war is still raging.’

‘I know, I know! I’m just saying the war seems so far away here. It’s almost as if—’

‘Sarah, I told you back at the house that there’s something we must discuss. Something I need to tell you. The thing is, you cannot just blot out the war because you don’t see or feel it. As we speak, people are being killed, persecuted, abused. The fight against the perpetrators must continue. It is my country that is responsible and I, as a citizen of that country, have to do something. I have to respond. Because that makes me responsible. I have to help put things right.’

‘What do you mean, Ralf? What can you do? You’re just a deserter, a soldier without a home and without even a name and a country because they’d kill you if they knew.’

‘That’s exactly it. I’ve cut my ties with Germany but I am still German at heart and I need to help right this great wrong my country has done. Sarah, I am joining the French Resistance.’

‘What? No! You can’t!’

‘I can and I will. See, when I was in Metz I met people from the Free French, de Gaulle’s unofficial army fighting the Germans. They accepted me as a volunteer. As a soldier I have skills they need and can put them to good use. They want me to work with the Poitiers maquisards. I have a phone number – I am to contact them and I will join up as soon as possible.’

‘No, Ralf, no! Don’t, please don’t! What about us? I’ve only just found you, we’ve found each other – you said you loved me. You can’t go off again! Don’t leave me!’

Tears gather in her eyes. ‘You said you loved me!’

He glances around, puts a finger on his lips to warn her, then reaches across the table, takes both her hands in his.

‘And I do. Don’t cry, Sarah. It’s true. I love you so much, I— But that’s exactly it. I love you, Sarah. I do. I’ve known it ever since – well, actually, ever since I was forced to tie you to that tree in the forest, but I didn’t realise it then. But now – yes, I tried to suppress it, deny it, but I can’t. But it’s because I love you that I am doing this. Because I want us to be together in a free and safe world, a world at peace.

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